The Mouse and His Child

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant touching story
Review: Simply a breathtaking book, that made me and my daughter laugh, sit at the edge of our seats in anticipation and cry. A book rich with many levels on which to enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Wish I'd written this book...
Review: This book is a masterpiece. It is poignant and heartbreaking and quite beautiful. There are also many humorous and witty moments. What more could you want from a book? I understand that those who prefer the bland and vacuous chirpiness of Disney films may find The Mouse And His Child a little bleak, well - too bad! I think it has similarities with the work of Samuel Beckett - small people tossed about in a hard, cruel world. It's interesting to compare this book to the recent Toy Story films - the themes are similar - but of course, Russell Hoban's work is much more powerful...

Rating:
Summary: An American classic with new illustrations
Review: When I first heard that Mouse and his Child was coming back into print I was happy but not elated. I already own a few copies I tend to loan to those who need to read slightly warped children literature, and I was also skeptical about the new illustrations. Although Mouse and his Child marked the last joint project between Russell and Lillian Hoban, the illustration matched the text perfectly, and one is stuck asking 'if it already works, why fix it?' With that, I put the book out of my mind and didn't think of it again until I happened upon it at a local book store. Given a chance to peruse through this book I was immediately convinced about the quality of this reissue. The new illustrations are as perfect as Lillian's (though with their own particular bent, eschewing both the comedic and dark aspects of the story) while the book is in all other respects put together beautifully. For those who have been dealing with beat-up paperback copies, your long years of wait are over. The cover cannot be truly appreciated from the small pic on Amazon's page (no slight to them, but you simply need to pick up the book and examine it to see how wonderful it is.) Once you remove the dust jacket, Small's beautiful sketch is found to take the WHOLE of the cover, wrapping around from back to front, while the inside cover shows a series of sketches depicting the constant rotations of the 'mouse and child' toy. I imagine that taste may very in regards to Small's drawings, but they are tasteful and do not depart from the spirit of the story. Its a beautifully crafted book.
As to the story itself, I refered to this as an American classic, and it truly is, though perhaps a classic never appreciated in its place of origin. Mouse and his Child was widely hailed as such throughout Europe but seemed to scare kids in the US (perhaps because Mouse was not intended as a children story but rather got marketed as such.) It remains among the likes of other stories for all ages (its regularly compared to Tolkien, Richard Adams...personally I'd be more likely to compare it to a strange amalgamation of Kenneth Graham and Herman Melville) and addresses difficult issues while posessing a potentially terrifying plot (though black humor abounds). It is hard to think that while Twain's Huck Finn is claimed as one of the pillars of our national identity that we do not equally embrace Hoban's Mouse, for both are journey's through our cultural landscape, both dark and at times frightening, yet ultimately rewarding. Whether 'Mouse' will reach a new generation with this reprinting is hard to say, but it is still good to see this one back on the shelves.