Keeper
Mal Peet
Candlewick (February 13, 2007)
SPOILER ALERT: The following review contains plot points that you may not want to know about before reading the book.
In short: With a strong setting and memorable characters this lyrical novel is mysterious and fast-paced, especially for young soccer fans.
South American journalist Paul Faustino doesn’t expect much from his interview with World Cup soccer star, El Gato. El Gato surprises him, however, with a tale of mystery, apparitions and struggle. Paul doesn’t quite know what to think of his story.
“The first and most obvious was that the world’s greatest goalkeeper was barking, moonstruck mad…But no. He’d known the man for years, and if there’d been any sign of buried craziness, he’d have spotted it. Besides, Gato’s tone of voice was so matter-of-fact, with none of the passion of the fantasist. Okay, then: this jungle story was an elaborate, carefully thought-through scam.”
With lyrical descriptions of setting and family there are a few gems of insight about parenting.
“He was teaching me things, skills, of course. But he was doing something else as well. He was showing me what weakness and fear were. But in a safe place. That clearing in the jungle was like a place taken out of the real world, separate from it. Do you know what I mean? It was a place where I was allowed to feel frightened, hopeless, awkward, ashamed, but it was a place where no harm could come to me. I was protected there. I could get things wrong but have other chances to ge them right. So that, later, out there in a bigger and more dangerous world, I would be able to manage these things. He, the keeper, was getting me ready for the life he knew I would have.
Faustino considered this. “It seems to me,” he said, “that you are describing what a father should do for his son.”
And the perils of a single minded focus.
“I think it is true to say that I hardly ever looked up until I stopped playing soccer.”
With the exception of a couple of profanities and a graphic description of a logging accident there is nothing else truly objectionable here. Some discussion is merited about the ghostly goalkeeper, although it isn’t clear to me whether he was meant to be metaphorical or real. The exciting soccer action, along with the mystery, will keep fans of the sport, enthralled.
Mal Peet
Candlewick (February 13, 2007)
SPOILER ALERT: The following review contains plot points that you may not want to know about before reading the book.
In short: With a strong setting and memorable characters this lyrical novel is mysterious and fast-paced, especially for young soccer fans.
South American journalist Paul Faustino doesn’t expect much from his interview with World Cup soccer star, El Gato. El Gato surprises him, however, with a tale of mystery, apparitions and struggle. Paul doesn’t quite know what to think of his story.
“The first and most obvious was that the world’s greatest goalkeeper was barking, moonstruck mad…But no. He’d known the man for years, and if there’d been any sign of buried craziness, he’d have spotted it. Besides, Gato’s tone of voice was so matter-of-fact, with none of the passion of the fantasist. Okay, then: this jungle story was an elaborate, carefully thought-through scam.”
With lyrical descriptions of setting and family there are a few gems of insight about parenting.
“He was teaching me things, skills, of course. But he was doing something else as well. He was showing me what weakness and fear were. But in a safe place. That clearing in the jungle was like a place taken out of the real world, separate from it. Do you know what I mean? It was a place where I was allowed to feel frightened, hopeless, awkward, ashamed, but it was a place where no harm could come to me. I was protected there. I could get things wrong but have other chances to ge them right. So that, later, out there in a bigger and more dangerous world, I would be able to manage these things. He, the keeper, was getting me ready for the life he knew I would have.
Faustino considered this. “It seems to me,” he said, “that you are describing what a father should do for his son.”
And the perils of a single minded focus.
“I think it is true to say that I hardly ever looked up until I stopped playing soccer.”
With the exception of a couple of profanities and a graphic description of a logging accident there is nothing else truly objectionable here. Some discussion is merited about the ghostly goalkeeper, although it isn’t clear to me whether he was meant to be metaphorical or real. The exciting soccer action, along with the mystery, will keep fans of the sport, enthralled.
.jpg)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment