"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Review and quotes: WHERE THE WORLD ENDS


Title:
Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean

Book Beginnings quote: 

Friday56 quote:
Summary: In August 1727, eight boys and three men set sail from Hirta Island, the largest island in the St. Kilta cluster of islands and sea stacs---the most remote part of the British Isles. Their mission was to hunt and kill sea birds nesting on the Warrior Stac, located just a few miles away from their home by boat. Men and boys had been doing this task for as long as anyone could remember. Ordinarily the hunting trip lasted two or three weeks and then the hunting party would be ready to head home when someone from the village came to collect them and their quarry. This year no one came to get them and they ended up having to live on the stac in the middle of the North Atlantic for a whole winter. This really happened. But there is no record of what the boys and men did to survive and how they passed the time as they waited and hoped for rescue. Author Geraldine McCaughrean decided to make a story of their story. She said, "What you are reading is a true story...and there again, it's not. Fiction is elastic: it stretches to encircle true facts and then crimps them into shape to create Story."

Review: I listened to the audiobook of Where the World Ends read by Angus King. He read the words with a beautiful brogue, helping me hear the words that helped my imagination, allowing me to picture the severe setting where the boys were stuck on the edge of the British Isle. The cover illustration of the steep rock stac also made me aware of the bleak setting. At first the story seemed small and uninteresting but as the reality of the situation descended on the group it became much more complex and realistic to me. Think about what you know from history and what people in that time would do when they didn't understand something. There were no cell phones or any way of communicating their plight. Since they had no way of figuring out what happened, the members of hunting party decided that the rapture must have happened and the angels missed them since they weren't home at the time. Their religious faith was strong and the thought that the angels would remember them eventually but it also caused anxiety. What was taking God so long? The book really did build that tension. That along with the development of the complexity of relationships between the boys ended up creating a marvelous 'Story.'

I read this book as part of my Printz Award challenge. It won a Printz honor in 2020.

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City ReaderShare the opening quote from current book.
Th
e Friday56 is hosted at Freda's VoiceFind a quote from page 56 to share. 

Visit these two websites to participate. Click on links to read quotes from books other people are reading. It is a great way to make blog friends and to get suggestions for new reading material.   
   

-Anne

14 comments:

  1. This sounds like a fascinating read. Thanks for mentioning it!

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  2. This one sounds interesting, and I like the bit about fiction being elastic. So true. Thanks for sharing, and here's mine: “THE SHADOW BOX”

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  3. Love that cover and those snippets!!! Happy weekend!

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  4. I did not expect it to be based on a true historical event. This sounds like quite the fascinating read!

    I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  5. Hi Anne,

    I have read quite a few of these blended fact and fictions novels just recently, and I have to say that I am really enjoying them.

    I am a bit of a nerd with online research, so I spent a lovely few minutes checking out the available facts and pictures about the true story behind the book, although as the author says, information is quite scant!

    Thank you for sharing, I am seriously thinking about reading this one for myself!

    Stay safe :)

    Yvonne x

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  6. Hi Anne,

    I had not heard about this book until now. That cover looks great and premise sounds like something I might enjoy. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. really cool opening!!
    My post is here https://francebooktours.com/2021/02/05/loving-modigliani-book-beginnings/

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  8. I can't even imagine being in that situation. Although in that time period, they were probably better equipped for survival than many would be now. From the excerpts you shared, the writing sounds beautiful. I'm definitely interested! I hope you have a great weekend, Anne!

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  9. Wow...I find everything you've shared about this book intriguing!

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  10. This sounds like an interesting book. Great choice!

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  11. The cover and the first paragraph sounds amazing 🤔 Thank you for sharing! 💖💕

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  12. This sounds fascinating! Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a great weekend! :)

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  13. I like that this is a combination of real survival story and fiction. Surviving NOW on that island would be tough, I cannot imagine in the mid 1700s!

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  14. I've been thinking about picking this one up too. It sounds great!

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