Rachel's Corner
It is that time of the year again, when the days get shorter and the nights get longer, leaves fall off the trees and it's freezing cold outside. What I love most about fall is to sit down somewhere comfortable and wrap myself in a cosy blanket, accompanied by a cup of hot cocoa and - most importantly - a book. Here are a couple of books that I personally find suitable during the month of October.
Mio, My Son
By Astrid Lindgren
Rachel's Rating: G
The first book I will mention is Mio, My Son by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. This is one of my personal favourite books written by her, and I read it when I was a child. It was Lindgren's first book in the high fantasy genre, but the writing style is more like folklore, somewhat poetic. It's written for children, but I would say that older persons, even grown-ups, also can get something out of it. The strongest themes throughout the book are those of friendship, putting oneself in danger for a greater cause, and that evil causes unhappiness. What's typical for high fantasy is also apparent here: fair or white equals good, dark or black equals evil.
The story is about the 9-year-old boy Bo "Bosse" Vilhelm Olsson (in some editions called Karl Anders Nilsson) who lives with his adoptive parents in the Swedish city Stockholm. They don't like children, and he doesn't enjoy living there, being harassed every day. One day the shopkeeper Mrs. Lundin gives him an apple and asks him to mail a postcard for her. It is addressed to a king and the message is that his son will soon be coming home, and he will carry a golden apple as a sign. Bosse mails the postcard, and when he looks at the apple it suddenly turns into gold. He then finds a bottle with a genie inside. Bosse frees it, and when the genie sees the golden apple, he takes Bosse with him to a land far away. It turns out that Bosse is actually called Mio and that he is the son of the king of this country, Farawayland. His father gives him a horse and lots of love and attention, and Mio gets to meet other children living in the Land of Faraway. The boy Jum-Jum (in some editions called Pompoo) becomes his best friend.
But before long, Mio learns that things are not so wonderful as he first believes, and that not everyone is happy. In a land beyond his father's, in Outer Land, lives the evil Sir Kato who captures children and takes them with him to his black castle. There is a prophecy saying that Mio is destined to go to Outer Land together with his best friend, to try and defeat Sir Kato and bring back the captured children. So begins Mio's journey.
Parts of the book are pretty creepy, especially if you're young, but it is beautifully written and has become a children's classic. It is definitely worth reading, whether you're a child or not!
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
By Robert Louis Stevenson
Rachel's Rating: PG-13 (though I recommend it for age 15+)
The second book is the classic The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A perfect book during dark nights! It's a psychological thriller written in 1886 from the view of the lawyer Mr Gabriel John Utterson. We get to follow Mr Utterson as he tries to uncover the mystery about his friend Dr Henry Jekyll and the mysterious Mr Edward Hyde.
Dr Jekyll is doing some research where he tries to produce a potion which should separate his good side from his bad side. One could say that he succeeds. The potion transforms Dr Jekyll into the evil Mr Hyde, who is completely free of conscience and morals. But while Dr Jekyll managed to separate his bad side (Mr Hyde) from himself, he didn't succeed to do the same with his good side, which means that Dr Jekyll is still human, in that he is not completely good in the same way that Mr Hyde is completely evil.
Mr Hyde spends the nights outside on the dark streets of London, taking pleasure in evil and lustful activities. Mr Utterson notices him one night as he returns to a shack at the back of Mr Jekyll's house, and he starts trying to find out the connection between the two of them. As time goes by, Mr Hyde becomes more and more violent, and eventually Dr Jekyll discovers that Mr Hyde is getting stronger and doesn't need the potion to take over his body. What will happen if Dr Jekyll completely loses control over his second identity?
This is a thought-provoking book about good and evil, split personalities, and a little psychology. What is good? What is evil? Can someone be completely good, or does everyone have a little bit of evil inside of them? What would someone who was completely evil be like? There is a phrase, "Jekyll and Hyde", that I assume most people have heard at one point or another, referring to someone who acts like they have two personalities that are the complete opposites of each other. Well, here's the source of that phrase. Get ready to get a look at the dark side of humanity....