The genre of books where this story fits is the one where animals and/or toys are used as proxies for human beings and this canvas is used to portray the complexities of the human condition in allegorical form, full of symbols and metaphors. Books such as Animal Farm, Watership Down, The Narnia Chronicles, The Velveteen Rabbit, the Pooh Bear stories and The Wind in the Willows come to mind. It is an allegory of the human journey which I guess for us all is in the broadest sense a spiritual journey. I found ‘The Mouse and his Child’ a particularly riveting, highly unusual and inventive example of this type of journey and story telling.
Elements of faith, journey, hope, despair, loss, death, evil, betrayal, love, forgiveness, compassion, transformation, back sliding, redemption, war, territory, family, home and much more are woven into the tale.
I feel this creative form (Story) is perhaps one of the best ways in which to express the interweaving of these complex ideas. It’s a book I highly recommend and is well worth the effortless read - I found it a real page turner.
2 comments:
Wow. A whole post to itself. I am so glad you enjoyed it. Now, who are you going to read it to?
At this present point in time I am not intending to read it to anyone - but if anyone reads my recommendation I hope they purchase a copy or borrow if from their local library and read it themselves. I found it a fascinating and insightful book.
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