The Scarecrow and His Servant by Philip Pullman

[katekintailbc]

The Scarecrow and His Servant
by Philip Pullman
(Audio)

Well... this was strange. I've liked Pullman's stories, and though this one looked strange, I thought I'd give it a try. It definitely lived up to its cover. The story is of a scarecrow who was created by a farmer who then dies. The scarecrow gets stolen and restolen until he is far from home. Then he gets hit by lightning and comes to life. He meets a young boy, Jack, who becomes his manservant and they go on many adventures. Lord Scarecrow's head is a turnip. His arms and legs are sticks (one arm ends up being a signpost hand, the other an umbrella). There's no explanation of how he works; everyone just accepts that he does (I have a hard time with stories like that).

But the weirdest part is the the Scarecrow gets soooo much wrong. He thinks caged birds are prisoners of war. He thinks he's in love with an inanimate broom. He thinks he, as a prop, is the star of a stage play. Jack TRIES to explain to him, but Scarecrow won't listen to reason/thinks he knows best. And that was infuriating and frustrating to me, knowing the truth. And, yet, things work out for him and he ends up being right in a weird way every time. Even Jack, who is the voice of reason, learns quite quickly to believe him on matters. And when the BIG things come up... that's when you expect it to all go wrong. But it doesn't! Or, well, it does, but then somehow it all works out brilliantly in the end in ways I could not have guessed.

In that way, the story is sweet and magical. But it's super strange. Everything from a bird eating his brain to Jack having to eat his head because he's about to starve to death on a deserted island to birds suddenly talking to everyone. Strange.

But enjoyable and fun. Definitely the sort of creative fun I can admire and respect.

But strange.