NP Sheila Burnford

[Charles Albert]

Just finished reading her Bel Ria Dog of War to my 8 year old last
night.........it had been recommended for 9 and up in the NYRB....

I am probably one of the few people on earth entirely unfamiliar with The
Incredible Journey, but I thought it appropriate to plug her.


First, the bad news.........this book is not for weepers......Burnford is a
master manipulator, and possesses a remarkable skill for expressing an
animal's POV.
Dog zealots can generally anticipate the narrative turns, but there is no
way on earth to brace yourself for Burnford's ability to work a scene.

The good news........Burnford can really write.......

"When she came to some hours later, lying there with her arms by her sides,
in thick black silence, she thought that she was in her coffin, additional
proof being that when she spoke up indignantly to say that there had been
some mistake, she heard no words. She resigned herself, with black fury, to
eternal rest..."

I suggest that it NOT be read to children under 12, though.......I had to
stay up and start Golden Compass, in an effort to distract my mourning
heiress....


love,
cfa
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