"The Stolen Child" Review

"The Stolen Child: A Novel" is perhaps known for being a novel that was over-hyped, perhaps even given more press than it was needed. Surely this was not a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece, but does it really need to be call "bad"? Of course not! Although it's a piece that has value, you can tell it's in the story, and not in the character development. You do feel at times the book shines, no doubt, but how essential is the writing as it relates to the plot itself? Highly irreleveant, as it feels that Keith Donohue is forcing his way through this book.
Given, I was not expecting Shakespeare, nor was I expecting Hawthorne, but I was expecting some more character depth, and much more personal time with the bacground chacaters, that stood like cardboard. SOme of the reactions are like that found in most novels, a cliché of one-line vernacular that I could have easily left out. Personally, this is a great first novel, I would expect Donohue to continue writing good fiction, and even better storytelling. The use of the German language when necessary was entirely useful to developing the plot themes, which are loss of innocence, and recollection of forgotten time. The themes focus highly on the two children "Henry Day/Aniday. and Gustav Ungerland/Henry Day" to play out the conflict that I expected to be far greater in the end, but it is like the author gave up after chapter 34. The end was sour, and left me unfulfilled. I wanted a great conflict of the two egos to collide, but instead a library burns down, wow, huge conflict. The underlying symbols are easy to spot, and are rather insignificant, although Donohue really tries hard to make reference to the symbols as often as possible, it was not done in a way that made me believe the characters were really latching onto that last piece of civilzed culture that they did not want to lose. For Aniday, he loved to read and write, and used it to keep his memories alive and well, like those with Altheimzers do to from keeping track of their mind. Gustav/Henry Day, becomes a pinao prophet, and the story focuses much on his ablities as a child prodigy that grows up and has his dreams wrkeced by his father dying. He then has to go back home and maintain the household.
Yes, the story and the setting goes well, but I only recommend reading it if you have a few hours to kill, and need to buy or borrow a book. This is defenietly a borrow, although I myself bought the book out of sheer intrest of th e subject. Although the term Changeling and the changelings themselves were part of the novel, I do honestly believe that more could have been said on the subject of the changeling, and perhaps more of a brieft ackowledgment of a book entry/ What I mean, I need the novel to tell me more about the main subject: Changelings!


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Okay, so let me go over the positives: It's a great first novel, and I would definetly try and read another by Donohue, but i am not exactly sure if it would be wise to continue on with another story on the character "Gustav/Henry Day" as I am intersted as how his story is meant to end. Sure I have an imagination, and can gues how his life turns out, but alas, my imagination is not canon. I also think what saves this story is what I mentioned above: an excellent storyteller. Also, this book is a bereak from the average fantasy/sci-fi out there, but I do always recomend Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. for excellent Science Ficiton/Fantasy. I also recomened Ray Bradbury, but I will be honest, they are much a juxtaposistion to what Keith Donohue brings to the paper.
Now the bad, this book is one that needs more description of the characters, and it jumps about a lot. I don't mind these things normally, b ut still, the characters are so two dimensional, it's as if Gustav is the only one that I can empathize with, and Aniday is suppose to be the one we all are suppose to "cry" for, but I really just don't care about his situation. The utter arrogance that Donohue seems to write with is: "Look at my talented writing, aren't I just a splendid writer! I sure put others to shame!" not that I am saying he is vain, but he sure does have an arrogant tone underlying the egostical Gustav/Henry Day. Also, the wrost thing for this book is what many reviewrs say: it was too hyped! This book is at a C+ for the hype, but it's still a read for a rainy day, which the North East has had plent of this summer.
I can't say I liked this book, but I refuse to say it was horrible. I was humopred by it, but still saw the same faults in it that I find in my old work, and hope that much more thought goes into Donohue's next book. Again, this is not a negative review, just one that I feel expresses my honest opinion. I did like this book, but I gues it may not have been my interest. The only other flaw I could truly find was that there was not much information on the history of the changelings themselves. I guess we are all expected to be experts in German folklore, but to give credit where it is due, the two characters that tell the story would not know much about the topic than what they are presented with, also since the story was not focused on the changelings themselves. The story is foucsed on the theme: Loss of Innocence, and perhaos is where my heart should have een settled, but I do miss the fact that I was not given a little, if any information on the changelings, excluding the few first paragraphs in the first page to the second. Stil, I feel more could have been given, but I am also a picky assshole to new writers.
Furthermore, I think this novel, due to so much hype, and so much press it had received made it seem like it was more than it really was: a depressing, abandoned childhood novel, with a fantazy world painted behind the plot. Do not be fooled by the very positive, almost translucent, as if they are being paid for their opinions reviews, but this is an average book, and would never been on the radar without the press hounded it as much as the next Harry Potter novel. Keith Donohue, he's a decent storytell,er a somewat decent writer of prose, but he's not special, not what the reviewers hyped this novel out to be, but it is still worth a read. I do not recommend you to believe you are finding a great fanstay novel full of dark woods with evil creaturs lurking to steal and dehumanize children, but more of a tale about growing up, giving up, and in the end shutting up.