W. Heath RobinsonRecensioni

Robinson, W. Heather

The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Snow Queen The titular Snow Queen appears at the beginning and the end. The middle section is Gerda's adventures as she tries to find Kay. Elfin-Mount, The Marsh King's Daughter, The Storks, The Nightingale, The Wild Swans, The Princess and the Pea, The Red Shoes, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Swineherd, The Flying Trunk, The Leaping Match, The Shepherdess and the Chimney-Sweeper, The Ugly Duckling, The Naughty Boy½

I think the inked illustrations and word layout are much more important and interesting than the storyline. This edition, from 1972, notes that it was originally published in 1902.
As the book jacket notes, "In his pursuit of little Peter, the ingenious Uncle Lubin encounters the wicked bag-bird, builds an airship, meets the Vammadopper, goes to the land of Chilblains, invents a submarine, and contends with a sea-serpent, a dragon, a Rajah, and a very tall cocoa-nut tree."

A very interesting selection: the first part contains book illustrations, which are quite attractive (though one isn't sure of the context of the cartoons). The second part is more familiar territory, a mixture of Rube Goldberg and Dr. Seuss, containing a lot of the machines that made a "Heath Robinson" a common phrase in England. Indeed, comparisons to Goldberg are inevitable, given that Robinson also uses similar ideas in presentation. Speaking of presentation, there are some faults in this book -- for obscure editorial reasons, certain drawings are presented in "negative" format, which rather spoils the line work. If you're not familiar with Heath Robinson's work, you might be a little lost, here. Still, a nice collection. Recommended, but really for cartoon lovers.

Clock cricket is very funny.

Aladdin and Other Tales from The Arabian Nights is a children’s classic that will entertain children as well as adult readers. It is based on the original folklore tales of Arabian Nights which dates back to an oral tradition. One of the main characters is Aladdin’s Genie which is a supernatural being who is able to grant Aladdin wishes. I found this story to be incredibly complex with many twists and turns. In fact, it is a collection of different narratives that incorporate many fairy tale motifs such as magical objects, trickery, and the granting of wishes.
In addition, Walt Disney has also produced a variant on this fairy tale and edited the story by producing their Western version of the story. This element lends the story to comparative literature since the original version would represent the ideals of the Islamic culture, while Walt Disney variant would incorporate beliefs that are valued by Western culture. For example, the original story is not romantic in that it’s “author” was apparently a new bride who had to entertain the king, her new husband, by reading him stories since he planned to consummate the marriage and then have her killed so that he was free to marry another. Certainly, this new bride had to earn her right to the thrown by the excellence of her literary compositions. One boring night of storytelling would end in her demise. This is certainly not any woman’s dream come true; in Cinderella, it was enough to wed royalty. In addition, Aladdin is a young ruffian whose adventures take him to outwit pirate like characters starting with a magician. His abilities to survive in an unfriendly world by his cunning behavior make him the hero of the story. In fact, like Cinderella, he falls in love with the Sultan’s daughter and gains entrance into the royal family by an advantageous marriage. Aladdin, like the Cinderella, is initially a financially impoverished character who in the end use supernatural beings to marry into politically established families. Cinderella uses the Fairy Godmother while Aladdin uses his Genie.

Age group: 8 and up½

Alarmingly sexist, with the constant assumption of women's inferiority and somewhat disturbing references to domestic violence. Still, even if we make the leap that it's all tongue in cheek, the undertone of this book throws a glass of cold water over the comic intent.

Even W. Heath Robinson's whimsical illustrations are not at his madcap best.

This may have been funny in 1937, but I hardly cracked a smile. Not a keeper.½

There is a good biographical sketch of Heath Robinson here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/robinson_william_heath.shtml

Heath Robinson is - or perhaps was - a byword for a particular approach to mechanical problem-solving which involves inventiveness and string in equal quantities.

I am thankful that while I'm the only owner of this particular work, there _are_ more popular Heath Robinson books.