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"The Thief Of Always"
The book I read for Mr.Pfordte's, was the very interesting, "Thief of Always" for Language Arts/Reading class. The "Thief of Always" is by the author, Clive Barker. The book was published in 1992 by HarperCollinsPublishers. Some of the reasons I chose this particular book, was because the cover interested me. The title seemed fairly interesting as well, and I hadn't read a book in a while. Before the book report, I had already read half way through it, and I really enjoyed it. So, I didn't feel like starting another one. I really enjoyed reading it, it's become my favorite book.
The main characters of the book, are Harvey Swick, Wendell, Lulu and Rictus with his siblings. Harvey is more so important, because he is the main character of the story. Harvey's role in "The Thief of Always", is to save all those who were trapped by Mr.Hood's magic in the Holiday House. Mr.Hood is an evil person, who devours children's souls for power. Harvey is by far the brightest soul in all of the c
children who had visited the Holiday House, as said by Mrs.Griffin the maid of Holiday House. Who is also trapped by it's evil. Harvey goes through, his fears and saves all that means the world to him. He also saves himself, by realizing what he was missing. That all his life, he never realized what he was capable of accomplishing by defeating his fears.
The other characters in the story, also play important roles along with Harvey. One of Harvey's friend's in the story, Wendell was one of the Houses' victims. It was almost too late for him, because he had already been there for a while, and the magic at the Holiday House was already drowning Wendell. Though, Wendell is saved. Wendell's role in the story, is that, even with-out saying anything, he motivates Harvey to save him. Wendell is Harvey's friend, and he helps find Mr.Hood, the doer behind it all. Another one of Harvey's important friends, would be Lulu. She had also been in the house for far too long, and she, like Harvey, knew the evil of Mr.Hood's Holiday House. She had turned into a fish once she entered the dark lake to save Harvey's beloved Noah's toy Ark, that his father made him. At Holiday House, the lake was filled with gritty, disgusting water filled with fish. Who were actually children who either, stepped into the lake, drowned or fell in. Who were doomed to swim in circles, for eternity. If it were not for Lulu becoming a fish amongst the others, Harvey would have not been determined to go back and save her, after he and Wendell had managed to escape the Holiday House. They both cared about each other deeply, but Lulu was born when Harvey hadn't existed. Though, they were re-united when she was much, much older. Like they promised. Rictus and his siblings, are creations of Mr.Hood's magical magic. Each sibling is designed for certain purposes. Rictus is to just dance and grin, and look inviting, so that children are drawn to him. Jive was created, to cook. Marr, is the witch who does magic. And Carna is the evil demon who protects whatever Mr.Hoods desires are to protect, she is most dangerous. But eventually, Harvey defeats all of them, by their own magic. And all turn into dust, from which they were created.
Mrs. Griffin, is the maid of the Holiday House, who was captivated by one of the siblings to come and stay. Mr.Hood had promised her, as a child she would never die. And he promised her eternity. Though, she had grown old, and very unhappy with such grief of all the children who are doomed by his evilness. Towards the end, Harvey sets her soul free. And she lays in peace. Mr. Hood is the man behind the house. Who Harvey calls a 'vampire', because Mr.Hood is known to take life, souls, like blood of a victim. Mr.Hood offers Harvey any of his souls desires, but Harvey was slowly planning his defeat so he could set all the trapped children free. He defeated Mr.Hood by making him, have all the seasons at the same time, and if he could do it, Harvey would be his apprentice.But Mr.Hood could not do it, and Harvey had to go through a series of fights with Mr.Hood. Eventually a vortex was made, from the magic, and Mr.Hood was devoured by his own magic. All the children, including Harvey were set free.
"The Thief of Always" is a Fiction/Fantasy/Horror genre. It was all in modern times, and did not state what country/state the story comes from. It was very intense in necessary moments, or parts. The story was good in holding my interest. It made complete sense, and some of it sort of scared me. Not obvious, type of scenes. Just the ones you think about. And that Harvey was facing all those fears, in his own dreams. Even though, he conquers all of them. The main plot, is not all that complex, and understandable. Harvey is just a kid absolutely bored with his life, walking to school. Until Rictus, a type of demon, that randomly appears and offers Harvey a place somewhere near,called "The Holiday House", where Harvey's dreams would be brought to life. At first, Harvey is skeptical but eventually follows Rictus into the house. At the beginning everything seems great. All his heart's desires are brought to life, and Rictus promises he can arrive home whenever he wishes. But eventually, he meets trapped souls at the Holiday House, who seemed dazed by it's magic. Except for Harvey, who is not captivated by it's magic,un-believable ways and magic seasons. Harvey soon realizes what real evil is covered by it's magic. And he must save all the children's souls who have been drawn to the Holiday House, and save his friends before they are devoured by Mr.Hood, the 'vampire' who lives inside the house. And devours children's souls for power. And towards the end, Harvey saves all children, and takes them back into the time from which they were taken. And conquers his fears, through his dreams.
My final thoughts on "The Thief of Always", are that it was simply amazing to me, it had alot that I could relate to and it was all very vivid, with Clive Barker's fascinating imagination. I really enjoyed reading it because, the genre is the type I enjoy. Though, not all authors write the same or contain the same imagination. Clive Barker just so happened to be one of the authors I enjoy. His plots have the ability to draw anyone deeply into the book. And his imagination is also binded into the books words, where he describes details of all that the character, Harvey Swick, experiences. But not so much, where as it takes over your own imagination completely. I still could imagine my own details, which I thought made Clive Barker amazing. I thought the good points in the story were all the adventures and how neatly plotted and organized they were. I enjoyed reading Harvey's adventures and could see them as almost as he was proceeding through them all. The only weak points I felt Clive Barker had, was that I did not understand how the Holiday House and Mr.Hood came to existence, or were the magic came from. But it was most likely implied through-out the ending. I did deeply enjoy the book, and I recommend it to others without shame. It is a fantastic book, and the time I spent reading it was not regretted. smile
 Pain-Killer 4 Dead Angels · Sun Nov 30, 2008 @ 02:39am · 1 Comments |
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