Sunday, July 26, 2009
Book review: Bears of England by Mick Jackson
This is a charmingly eccentric book full of delightful illustrations, alongside these short stories that all weave together mixing folk story and myth, history and fantasy until it arrives at it’s strange and haunting ending.
Featuring bears in chains, and skirts, the circus bears of Bristol, the Sin Eating bears of yore and Victorian sewer bears, and a few more bears that now live under my bed. This book shows great affection and respect for Bears.
I enjoyed this book, it was fun to read, making me smile at the prose and dark feverish ideas in each story. Some terribly sad, some sadly terrible, all believable, if you ignore the cheeky wink that comes from the authors style.
Booker shortlisted Mick Jackson is a bit of a cult and his previously acclaimed oddities have left the reading public lurking around his bins for more scraps from his imagination, here we are treated to a full slap up tea, although it’s no party. His stories mix up cruelty with comedy and are delightfully disturbing for grown ups or kids. I dreamed about one of his bears after putting the book down one night, he’s that type of writer.
Beautifully crafted but sneaky, his stories, like the bears in them, creep up on you in the dark, look you in the eye and then hulk off into the twilight leaving you thoughtful and altered.
A great present for the grown up reading bear or much younger cub and perfect for someone with a fondness for our Ursine friends.
£12.99 Hardback
From all good book shops and online at:
www.faber.co.uk
