Pro-Fic Recommendation: "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children"
I recently pre-ordered and devoured a copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. If anyone else is a frequent reader of mental_floss, you may recognize him as a frequent contributor of articles about old photographs, abandoned buildings, and "strange geographies." Miss Peregrine's is his first novel, and it's technically categorized as Young Adult fiction, but only barely. I would never have thought twice if it were categorized for adults.
The novel combines his major interests in vintage photographs, abandoned buildings, and remote locations. Here's the official summary from Amazon:
As a kid, Jacob formed a special bond with his grandfather over his bizarre tales and photos of levitating girls and invisible boys. Now at 16, he is reeling from the old man's unexpected death. Then Jacob is given a mysterious letter that propels him on a journey to the remote Welsh island where his grandfather grew up. There, he finds the children from the photographs--alive and well--despite the islanders’ assertion that all were killed decades ago. As Jacob begins to unravel more about his grandfather’s childhood, he suspects he is being trailed by a monster only he can see. A haunting and out-of-the-ordinary read, debut author Ransom Rigg’s first-person narration is convincing and absorbing, and every detail he draws our eye to is deftly woven into an unforgettable whole. Interspersed with photos throughout, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a truly atmospheric novel with plot twists, turns, and surprises that will delight readers of any age.
I won't spoil the plot further, but the most interesting thing about the book is its integration of actual vintage photographs into the text. The story is told from the first person, and the narrator finds various photographs (clues to the mystery) as the plot progresses. Those photographs are shown in the book, so the reader gets to make the same observations and discoveries as the protagonist. In addition, Riggs' time spent in abandoned and remote locations seems to have given him a knack for describing them, so even without photographs the descriptions are very engaging.
The writing is not flawless. I can tell that this is his first novel due to minor voicing inconsistencies, occasionally odd structure choices, and a slightly rushed feeling in some chapters. I don't think I could do any better on a first attempt, though, and I'm sure that his writing will improve with time.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am considering reading it again immediately. I recommend it to anyone who has wound up on Metafic for obvious reasons. You can preview the first three chapters, with the accompanying photos, at the publisher's site: http://quirkbooks.com/book/miss-peregrines-home-peculiar-children .
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Peregrines-Home-Peculiar-Children/dp/15947447...
(Watch the book trailer, if nothing else. Riggs traveled around Europe to find the perfect place [read: abandoned manor] in which to film it.)
The book was released on June 7, and already it's jumped to #20 on Amazon's top 100 list. I don't know what's considered 'normal' for that list, but such a jump seems pretty good to me.
I recently pre-ordered and devoured a copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. If anyone else is a frequent reader of mental_floss, you may recognize him as a frequent contributor of articles about old photographs, abandoned buildings, and "strange geographies." Miss Peregrine's is his first novel, and it's technically categorized as Young Adult fiction, but only barely. I would never have thought twice if it were categorized for adults.
The novel combines his major interests in vintage photographs, abandoned buildings, and remote locations. Here's the official summary from Amazon:
I won't spoil the plot further, but the most interesting thing about the book is its integration of actual vintage photographs into the text. The story is told from the first person, and the narrator finds various photographs (clues to the mystery) as the plot progresses. Those photographs are shown in the book, so the reader gets to make the same observations and discoveries as the protagonist. In addition, Riggs' time spent in abandoned and remote locations seems to have given him a knack for describing them, so even without photographs the descriptions are very engaging.
The writing is not flawless. I can tell that this is his first novel due to minor voicing inconsistencies, occasionally odd structure choices, and a slightly rushed feeling in some chapters. I don't think I could do any better on a first attempt, though, and I'm sure that his writing will improve with time.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am considering reading it again immediately. I recommend it to anyone who has wound up on Metafic for obvious reasons. You can preview the first three chapters, with the accompanying photos, at the publisher's site: http://quirkbooks.com/book/miss-peregrines-home-peculiar-children .
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Peregrines-Home-Peculiar-Children/dp/15947447...
(Watch the book trailer, if nothing else. Riggs traveled around Europe to find the perfect place [read: abandoned manor] in which to film it.)
The book was released on June 7, and already it's jumped to #20 on Amazon's top 100 list. I don't know what's considered 'normal' for that list, but such a jump seems pretty good to me.
If you're interested in some of the background, check out Riggs' blog on mental_floss. The entries relating to the book are easy to spot: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/author/randy
I'd be very interested to hear what anyone else thinks of the book if you decide to read it.
Dave