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The Swallowed Man
I am writing this account, in another man's book, by candlelight, inside the belly of a fish. I have been eaten. I have been eaten, yet I am living still. From the acclaimed author of Little comes this beautiful and haunting imagining of the years Geppetto spends within the belly of a sea beast. Drawing upon the Pinocchio story while creating something entirely his own, Carey tells an unforgettable tale of fatherly love and loss, pride and regret, and of the sustaining power of art and imagination.
160 pages, Paperback
First published November 5, 2020
About the author
Edward Carey
25 books510 followersEdward Carey is a writer and illustrator who was born in North Walsham, Norfolk, England, during an April snowstorm. Like his father and his grandfather, both officers in the Royal Navy, he attended Pangbourne Nautical College, where the closest he came to following his family calling was playing Captain Andy in the school’s production of Showboat. Afterwards he joined the National Youth Theatre and studied drama at Hull University.
He has written plays for the National Theatre of Romania and the Vilnius Small State Theatre, Lithuania. In England his plays and adaptations have been performed at the Young Vic Studio, the Battersea Arts Centre, and the Royal Opera House Studio. He has collaborated on a shadow puppet production of Macbeth in Malaysia, and with the Faulty Optic Theatre of Puppets.
He is also the author of the novels Observatory Mansions and Alva and Irva: the Twins Who Saved a City, which have been translated into thirteen different languages, and both of which he illustrated. He always draws the characters he writes about, but often the illustrations contradict the writing and vice versa and getting both to agree with each other takes him far too long. He has taught creative writing and fairy tales on numerous occasions at the Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, and at the Michener Center and the English Department at the University of Texas at Austin.
He has lived in England, France, Romania, Lithuania, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, and the United States. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, which is not near the sea.
He has written plays for the National Theatre of Romania and the Vilnius Small State Theatre, Lithuania. In England his plays and adaptations have been performed at the Young Vic Studio, the Battersea Arts Centre, and the Royal Opera House Studio. He has collaborated on a shadow puppet production of Macbeth in Malaysia, and with the Faulty Optic Theatre of Puppets.
He is also the author of the novels Observatory Mansions and Alva and Irva: the Twins Who Saved a City, which have been translated into thirteen different languages, and both of which he illustrated. He always draws the characters he writes about, but often the illustrations contradict the writing and vice versa and getting both to agree with each other takes him far too long. He has taught creative writing and fairy tales on numerous occasions at the Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, and at the Michener Center and the English Department at the University of Texas at Austin.
He has lived in England, France, Romania, Lithuania, Germany, Ireland, Denmark, and the United States. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, which is not near the sea.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 306 reviews
December 1, 2023
I really hope to see more interesting take on classic stories like this in the future! I loved following Geppetto and seeing his angle on the story of Pinnochio.
December 4, 2020
When thinking in more depth about the story of Pinocchio I realized that it is absolutely a story about loneliness. What bigger expression of loneliness can there be than to ascribe consciousness to inanimate objects and pretend they are your family? Edward Carey beautifully plays off from this classic fairy tale by writing from the perspective of Geppetto during the period when he became trapped in the belly of a whale after embarking out onto the ocean to try to find his lost puppet son. He describes a ship that the whale also swallowed and how this becomes his home with a limited supply box of candles and hard tack to sustain him. Interspersed with Gepetto's text are illustrations of the pictures and figures he newly creates within the prison of this marine mammal. What emerges is the most touching and creative portrait of a solitary individual desperately trying to fashion some companionship for himself as he contemplates the meaning of his life.
Read my full review of The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey on LonesomeReader
Read my full review of The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey on LonesomeReader
October 6, 2020
Eerily lovely.
December 6, 2020
Enjoyable, inventive, energetic, handsomely illustrated, perfectly strange retelling of a familiar story from an author/artist who's earned his name's resemblance to Edward Gorey's.
November 5, 2020
Carey’s historical novel Little was one of my highlights of 2018, so I jumped at the chance to read his new book. Interestingly, this riff on the Pinocchio story, narrated by Geppetto from the belly of a giant shark, originally appeared in Italian to accompany an exhibition hosted by the Fondazione Nazionale Carlo Collodi at the Parco di Pinocchio in Collodi. Geppetto came from a pottery-painting family but turned to wood when creating a little companion for his loneliness, the wooden boy who astounded him by coming to life. Now a son rather than a mere block of wood, Pinocchio sets off for school but never comes home. When he gets word that a troublesome automaton has been thrown into the sea, Geppetto sets out in a dinghy to find his son but is swallowed by the enormous fish that has been seen off the coast.
The picture of this new world-within-a-world is enthralling. Geppetto finds himself inside a swallowed ship, the Danish schooner Maria. Within the vessel is all he needs to occupy himself, at least for now: wood on which to paint the women he has loved; candle wax and hardtack for sculpting figures. Seaweed to cover his bald spot. Squid ink for his pen so he can write this notebook. A crab that lives in his beard. Relics of the captain’s life to intrigue him.
As a narrator, Geppetto is funny and gifted at wordplay (“This tome is my tomb”; “I unobjected him. Can you object to that?”), yet haunted by his decisions. Carey deftly traces Geppetto’s state of mind as he muses on his loss and imprisonment. The Afterword adds a sly pseudohistorical note to the fantasy. There are black-and-white illustrations throughout, as well as photos of the objects described in the text (and, presumably, featured in the exhibition). For me this didn’t live up to Little, but it would be a great introduction to Carey’s work.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
The picture of this new world-within-a-world is enthralling. Geppetto finds himself inside a swallowed ship, the Danish schooner Maria. Within the vessel is all he needs to occupy himself, at least for now: wood on which to paint the women he has loved; candle wax and hardtack for sculpting figures. Seaweed to cover his bald spot. Squid ink for his pen so he can write this notebook. A crab that lives in his beard. Relics of the captain’s life to intrigue him.
As a narrator, Geppetto is funny and gifted at wordplay (“This tome is my tomb”; “I unobjected him. Can you object to that?”), yet haunted by his decisions. Carey deftly traces Geppetto’s state of mind as he muses on his loss and imprisonment. The Afterword adds a sly pseudohistorical note to the fantasy. There are black-and-white illustrations throughout, as well as photos of the objects described in the text (and, presumably, featured in the exhibition). For me this didn’t live up to Little, but it would be a great introduction to Carey’s work.
Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
April 15, 2020
Love love love!
February 6, 2021
What a wondrous little novel! It's Pinocchio, told from Geppetto's point of view. When they say that books are magic, this is the kind of book they mean. I cannot recommend this highly enough.
April 12, 2022
I was first introduced to Edward Carey’s quirky and inventive writing when I read his historical novel, Little at the end of last year. It quickly found a place on the list of my favourite books of 2021.
The Swallowed Man is the author’s retelling of the story of Pinocchio, the wooden boy created by the carpenter Geppetto who comes to life. In the author’s version, Pinocchio (a rather recalcitrant child it has to be said) is shunned by the local people because he is different. They call him a heathen, unholy, the Devil’s work. Geppetto is told, ‘He was not one of us, you do see that?’
Geppetto’s imprisonment within the belly of the fish gives him time for reflection. He recalls the many disappointments in his life but more than anything he mourns the loss of Pinocchio, berating himself for having viewed him initially as just proof of his own skill or as a means of making money. ‘And I own it: I was expecting not just a boy, but a fortune. I was wishing not just for family but for fame…’ Now that it is too late to rectify his mistakes, he reflects sadly ‘My past and present are not friends’. I don’t think it’s necessary to believe, as Geppetto does, that Pinocchio was a living boy in order to feel sympathy for his loss. Any parent mourning a lost child I’m sure would identify with Geppetto’s observation, ‘He cannot grow, my boy… Not like all the others. Wherever he is, he stays as he is’.
I was struck by the idea of Geppetto’s confinement inside the great fish being a metaphor for lockdown. For example, he welcomes the objects he receives in the ‘post’ (random items which have been swallowed by the fish) and passes the time on projects such as painting, carving and, of course, writing in his journal, the former logbook of the captain of the Maria. As time goes by his solitary existence brings on a kind of madness; he starts to have disturbing visions and even comes to believe someone is writing in his journal. The epilogue provides yet another pandemic parallel as a community is forced to exclude themselves ‘for a time, from the rest of humanity’ in order to prevent the spread of a contagion.
The book’s short sentences give the impression that we are privy to Geppetto’s random thoughts and to phrases he’s trying out in his head, sometimes playfully. For instance, with no way to rid himself of the awful stink of the fish’s insides, he considers rechristening himself ‘Josephus Odorous. Joey ‘The Kipper’ Lorenzini. Putrefaction ‘Petto’. There are other brilliant touches of humor such as when Geppetto recalls purchasing his first wig and explaining euphemistically – much to the wigmaker’s confusion – that ‘The garden atop me has gone barren’, ‘I wilt in the north’ and ‘I have been abandoned, hairly’. And as always with one of Edward Carey’s books, there are wonderful illustrations and lovely little touches such as smudge marks on some of the pages suggesting ink blots or drops of candle wax.
The Swallowed Man is a delightfully bizarre gem of a book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. (In fact, I’ve yet to read a book published by Gallic Books that I haven’t enjoyed.)
The Swallowed Man is the author’s retelling of the story of Pinocchio, the wooden boy created by the carpenter Geppetto who comes to life. In the author’s version, Pinocchio (a rather recalcitrant child it has to be said) is shunned by the local people because he is different. They call him a heathen, unholy, the Devil’s work. Geppetto is told, ‘He was not one of us, you do see that?’
Geppetto’s imprisonment within the belly of the fish gives him time for reflection. He recalls the many disappointments in his life but more than anything he mourns the loss of Pinocchio, berating himself for having viewed him initially as just proof of his own skill or as a means of making money. ‘And I own it: I was expecting not just a boy, but a fortune. I was wishing not just for family but for fame…’ Now that it is too late to rectify his mistakes, he reflects sadly ‘My past and present are not friends’. I don’t think it’s necessary to believe, as Geppetto does, that Pinocchio was a living boy in order to feel sympathy for his loss. Any parent mourning a lost child I’m sure would identify with Geppetto’s observation, ‘He cannot grow, my boy… Not like all the others. Wherever he is, he stays as he is’.
I was struck by the idea of Geppetto’s confinement inside the great fish being a metaphor for lockdown. For example, he welcomes the objects he receives in the ‘post’ (random items which have been swallowed by the fish) and passes the time on projects such as painting, carving and, of course, writing in his journal, the former logbook of the captain of the Maria. As time goes by his solitary existence brings on a kind of madness; he starts to have disturbing visions and even comes to believe someone is writing in his journal. The epilogue provides yet another pandemic parallel as a community is forced to exclude themselves ‘for a time, from the rest of humanity’ in order to prevent the spread of a contagion.
The book’s short sentences give the impression that we are privy to Geppetto’s random thoughts and to phrases he’s trying out in his head, sometimes playfully. For instance, with no way to rid himself of the awful stink of the fish’s insides, he considers rechristening himself ‘Josephus Odorous. Joey ‘The Kipper’ Lorenzini. Putrefaction ‘Petto’. There are other brilliant touches of humor such as when Geppetto recalls purchasing his first wig and explaining euphemistically – much to the wigmaker’s confusion – that ‘The garden atop me has gone barren’, ‘I wilt in the north’ and ‘I have been abandoned, hairly’. And as always with one of Edward Carey’s books, there are wonderful illustrations and lovely little touches such as smudge marks on some of the pages suggesting ink blots or drops of candle wax.
The Swallowed Man is a delightfully bizarre gem of a book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. (In fact, I’ve yet to read a book published by Gallic Books that I haven’t enjoyed.)
March 7, 2021
We all heard the story of Pinocchio but this book follows Geppetto when he was eaten by a sea beast. And in in candle light he tries to write down his story before it's to late.
I really enjoyed the premise of this and was really hoping it would be a five stars. But I didn't enjoy the audiobook of this. Geppetto sounded so very whiny and I could barely stand listening to him complain. But maybe this book does better in the written format.
I really enjoyed the premise of this and was really hoping it would be a five stars. But I didn't enjoy the audiobook of this. Geppetto sounded so very whiny and I could barely stand listening to him complain. But maybe this book does better in the written format.
March 22, 2020
A fantastic retelling of Pinocchio, told from deep within the belly of the beast that swallowed his father.
-
Brilliantly written and dusted with a dash of Carey’s signature eeriness. A great short read that kept me entertained for hours.
-
Brilliantly written and dusted with a dash of Carey’s signature eeriness. A great short read that kept me entertained for hours.
March 26, 2023
I picked this one up at an independent bookstore in Indiana while I was travelling for work. I hadn't heard of it before but while browsing the shelves, the title and the cover intrigued me. When I realized it was a retelling of Pinocchio from Geppetto's pov inside the belly of the whale, I knew I had to have it.
I read it on my flight home and enjoyed it, though it didn't quite go where I anticipated it would have. It's less about the relationship between Geppetto and Pinocchio and more the journaling of a man who is slowly becoming unhinged, as you'd imagine one would when trapped inside the stomach of a giant sea beast.
It's dark (pun intended) and haunting, and sheds a whole new perspective on the beloved children's book.
I read it on my flight home and enjoyed it, though it didn't quite go where I anticipated it would have. It's less about the relationship between Geppetto and Pinocchio and more the journaling of a man who is slowly becoming unhinged, as you'd imagine one would when trapped inside the stomach of a giant sea beast.
It's dark (pun intended) and haunting, and sheds a whole new perspective on the beloved children's book.
March 15, 2021
3.5*
I am writing this account, in another man's book, by candlelight, inside the belly of a fish. I have been eaten. I have been eaten, yet I am living still.
Carlo Collodi Pinocchio (Pinokio) tėvas Geppetto (Džiuzepe), kaip koks Jona sėdi pilve prarytas didelės žuvies. Sėdi ir mąsto apie tėvyste. Apie savo, kaip kūrėjo viltis ir nusivylimus.
Šis keistas nedidukas romanas - apie tėvų-vaikų santykius, kūrybą.
Rekomrnduoju tik spausdintinę knygą, NE audio variantą. Nes labai jau fainai iliustruota. O audio įgarsinta, kad ir paties autoriaus, bet tikrai per daug artistiškai. Labai nervino šnabždesiai netikėtai pereinantys į parėkavimus ir kiti "gėriai"... Beje, autorius rašo ir pjeses teatrams, tame tarpe ir Vilniaus Mažajam teatrui (The Pickwick Papers, 2001, a free adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens for the Small State Theatre of Lithuania, 2005.)
Lietuviškai yra išleistas jo kitas romanas "Alva ir Irva" (2007)
I am writing this account, in another man's book, by candlelight, inside the belly of a fish. I have been eaten. I have been eaten, yet I am living still.
Carlo Collodi Pinocchio (Pinokio) tėvas Geppetto (Džiuzepe), kaip koks Jona sėdi pilve prarytas didelės žuvies. Sėdi ir mąsto apie tėvyste. Apie savo, kaip kūrėjo viltis ir nusivylimus.
Šis keistas nedidukas romanas - apie tėvų-vaikų santykius, kūrybą.
Rekomrnduoju tik spausdintinę knygą, NE audio variantą. Nes labai jau fainai iliustruota. O audio įgarsinta, kad ir paties autoriaus, bet tikrai per daug artistiškai. Labai nervino šnabždesiai netikėtai pereinantys į parėkavimus ir kiti "gėriai"... Beje, autorius rašo ir pjeses teatrams, tame tarpe ir Vilniaus Mažajam teatrui (The Pickwick Papers, 2001, a free adaptation of the novel by Charles Dickens for the Small State Theatre of Lithuania, 2005.)
Lietuviškai yra išleistas jo kitas romanas "Alva ir Irva" (2007)
June 24, 2020
Carey endlessly catalogues. At times, his writing devolves into nothing more than a recitation of objects. One wonders if that’s his actual process, throw a pile of objects onto the floor and create a story about them. Sometimes it works; here, it doesn’t. The narrator is obsessive, more consumed with possessing his wooden child than loving him. The whole thing is unsettling and disturbing, totally in line with Carey’s earlier works.
This book didn’t work for me, but it may work well for others. Carey’s a good writer, but I prefer his earlier work. When you decide to retread such well-worn ground as Pinocchio, you need to do something new and exciting. This falls far short of that.
This book didn’t work for me, but it may work well for others. Carey’s a good writer, but I prefer his earlier work. When you decide to retread such well-worn ground as Pinocchio, you need to do something new and exciting. This falls far short of that.
July 6, 2023
As much as I wanted to like this story, it just wasn't for me. With a bunch of good ratings, I was really surprised.
This was a spin on Pinocchio in which the story was from Geppetto's journey instead of the wooden boy's. It started off well enough. We find the woodcarver already swallowed by the monstrous creature that some refer to as a shark and some as a whale. He tells us his story of how he ended up where he was.
The book started off well enough and with the artwork throughout, I thought I was in for a wonderful journey. Instead, I ended up not liking Geppetto very well and became increasingly bored with this tale. When I finally finished, all I felt was relief.
This was a spin on Pinocchio in which the story was from Geppetto's journey instead of the wooden boy's. It started off well enough. We find the woodcarver already swallowed by the monstrous creature that some refer to as a shark and some as a whale. He tells us his story of how he ended up where he was.
The book started off well enough and with the artwork throughout, I thought I was in for a wonderful journey. Instead, I ended up not liking Geppetto very well and became increasingly bored with this tale. When I finally finished, all I felt was relief.
November 13, 2020
Am I to account myself as a fortunate or entirely devoid of luck
what on earth I just read!
Wonderful in its unique way. I kept reading and rereading some sentences, tasting it in my mouth, and pondering on its meaning.
Simple and yet thought-provoking. predictable and at the same time will keep you at the edge of your seat.
Probably one of my favorite fiction read this year.
It reminded me a lot of (Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal). Not with its story or characters but maybe, I had the same confusion mixed with the pleasure of finding a new favorite book you know you will reread again at some point in your life.
"Have you ever had those moments when your art has more grace, more life in it that you have intended."
"We all know, we all have experienced the disobedience of objects."
"Today I shall paint a sky, lest I forget it. I shall hang my little blue piece on the wall and call it a window."
"It is the occupation of the listlessness, art comes from doldrums. sailers with sharp point carve time on bones."
"I dig my way to freedom."
"Old age is a single room."
"I would not run out of words. Olivia, I fear very much to go silent."
"Painters in the city asked why he painted such silliness such subjects he answered, at last, I cannot paint a landscape without putting a troll in it. what you call reality, what you see as truth, doesn't interest me. only the certain monster of death."
"Facts, if you want better things than facts to ponder then make them up yourself. I will tell a story, for I have no books to give me theirs, I will improvise a tale, to go where it goes, to keep my mind from idling, to get me out of my self."
"Was it real or were we dreamers."
February 10, 2021
Like his previous publication Little, Carey's wonderful new novel is both dark and warm, as befits a book set inside a whale, uneasily magical in just the right way, as far from the Disney-like vision of Geppetto and his dreadful, irrepressibly naughty son as the original Pinocchio and as perfect in its way as Collodi's own extraordinary book. Highly recommended.
January 31, 2021
alas, this was boring and ended up feeling aimless and meandering more than anything else
February 19, 2021
In Edward Carey’s The Swallowed Man, Carey retells the story of Pinocchio from the perspective of Pinocchio’s dad, Geopetto.
Parts of it worked, parts of it didn’t.
Parts of it worked, parts of it didn’t.
December 17, 2022
read for guillermo del toro reasons...
August 27, 2022
Reminds me of The Old Man and The Sea by Hemingway, which I Fucking hated.
February 23, 2021
Geppetto has landed in the belly of a huge fish...and begins to tell his life story. He is living on a ship, the Maria, which has also landed there in the fish. We learn, as Geppetto writes in the abandoned ship's log, a story of his strange life. A gifted carpenter who makes beautiful works of art, he was born into a family who are known far and wide for their china-painting and decorating. Unfortunately, he cannot duplicate the design, and he is abandoned...to work on his wood. There have been women, but no one stays. There are no friends. Geppetto is alone. Lonely. Until....he uses his skills and talents to whittle and create a boy-puppet.
We know some of that story, but Geppetto's version gives us the pathos...the sadness...the isolation...that drove him to create his 'boy'.
Geppetto is an artist, and his book includes art. Drawings, carvings, sculptures. This visual element makes us see his heart.
AND Geppetto's voice!! Oh, his voice. Archaic...awkward...formal...almost like he's not accustomed to using his voice. I would stop reading sometimes, just to roll some of these sentences around in my mouth.
We know some of that story, but Geppetto's version gives us the pathos...the sadness...the isolation...that drove him to create his 'boy'.
Geppetto is an artist, and his book includes art. Drawings, carvings, sculptures. This visual element makes us see his heart.
AND Geppetto's voice!! Oh, his voice. Archaic...awkward...formal...almost like he's not accustomed to using his voice. I would stop reading sometimes, just to roll some of these sentences around in my mouth.
February 13, 2021
The story of Pinocchio as told by Geppetto from within the belly of the whale. Very weird tone--the narrator is trapped completely alone for years and you can feel him losing his grip on reality (ultimately calling into question his account of his earlier life and creation of his puppet son).
Interesting use of visual art interspersed with the narrative; the narrator is an artist, and he interacts with his world and his memories by creating art in many forms. For a short book, this was a surprisingly long read--the style of writing was a bit heavy--best for sipping, not gulping. I might not seek out more of Carey's work, but I'm glad I read this one, just because it's so unique.
Interesting use of visual art interspersed with the narrative; the narrator is an artist, and he interacts with his world and his memories by creating art in many forms. For a short book, this was a surprisingly long read--the style of writing was a bit heavy--best for sipping, not gulping. I might not seek out more of Carey's work, but I'm glad I read this one, just because it's so unique.
April 6, 2021
I wanted to love this, but the one-note tone held throughout was exhausting. I expected more redemption, and so was disappointed by the wallowing and recounting without perception. The undeserved resolution felt like a drip rather than a splash, and the art was not weird enough to pull the rest up into entertaining quirk. Possibly a problem of translation? I don't know.
We do travel, miles and miles, yet I never go anywhere.
Exactly.
We do travel, miles and miles, yet I never go anywhere.
Exactly.
December 11, 2021
This book manages to capture madness.
It makes you feel trapped, helpless and entranced.
The chapters are written with beautiful metaphors, the entire book could have been one long poem.
That mixed with the beautiful mixed media art that’s in the book, makes for an immersive read that I can only recommend! 💛
It makes you feel trapped, helpless and entranced.
The chapters are written with beautiful metaphors, the entire book could have been one long poem.
That mixed with the beautiful mixed media art that’s in the book, makes for an immersive read that I can only recommend! 💛
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January 26, 2021Interview at Ploughshares:
https://blog.pshares.org/to-write-abo...
https://blog.pshares.org/to-write-abo...
June 6, 2021
These books based on pre-established stories always seem so promising, and rarely ever are. This one is heinously pretentious in its writing style, symbolically and visually disturbing, and flat out dumb.
Like Geppetto himself, "The Swallowed Man" never seemed to go anywhere. There was no emotional attachment to Pinocchio, because he was barely in the book, and main-character-guy didn't even like him until he disappeared. There was no real character development for the only real character in the book. I know more about the dead captain of the boat that the whale swallowed than I do about Geppetto.
I guess this book was supposed to be "poetic", but it was difficult to read for no real reason, and thoroughly obnoxious.
And finally, some character or object or thought or metaphorical bull sh*t called "ill-face" shows up in the last third of the book, but it's never explained, but it's talked about on every freaking page and it gets painfully annoying to read about.
It's not the worst thing I've ever read, but that's not saying much.
Like Geppetto himself, "The Swallowed Man" never seemed to go anywhere. There was no emotional attachment to Pinocchio, because he was barely in the book, and main-character-guy didn't even like him until he disappeared. There was no real character development for the only real character in the book. I know more about the dead captain of the boat that the whale swallowed than I do about Geppetto.
I guess this book was supposed to be "poetic", but it was difficult to read for no real reason, and thoroughly obnoxious.
And finally, some character or object or thought or metaphorical bull sh*t called "ill-face" shows up in the last third of the book, but it's never explained, but it's talked about on every freaking page and it gets painfully annoying to read about.
It's not the worst thing I've ever read, but that's not saying much.
January 21, 2021
It's a book that does nothing and says nothing, just like To the Lighthouse does. It is a book to read to distract you, but I don't think this is a book I would read again. It's 165 pages of nothingness, just the ramblings of an old man trapped in a place nothing can ever reach. It is curious to know that a shorter version of this book was originally released alongside an art exhibit in Italy, and that is probably where it belongs: to be looked at, appreciated maybe, but it just doesn't do much for me.
October 29, 2020
It’s been awhile since I saw the Disney version of Pinocchio and after this review I will be doing some googling....
I loved Carey’s odd storytelling and illustrations. I feel it is unlike anything being put out there today. As I would love to read all of his books I’m glad I read this although I think Little, the only other book I read and absolutely fell in love with, I feel was much better.
I felt the story started strong Allen’s waned towards the end...what a unique premise though!
I loved Carey’s odd storytelling and illustrations. I feel it is unlike anything being put out there today. As I would love to read all of his books I’m glad I read this although I think Little, the only other book I read and absolutely fell in love with, I feel was much better.
I felt the story started strong Allen’s waned towards the end...what a unique premise though!
February 4, 2021
One of the most delightful and playful and magical novels I have ever read. I knew it would be dark (literally, he's inside of a stomach) and I knew it would be sorrowful, but I didn't expect it to have this much heart. Every lonely page empathizes with the surrounding world. Olivia Crabb is to Geppetto as Wilson is to Tom Hanks in Cast Away. What an emotional, moving tale.
July 6, 2021
Eerily macabre, yet beautifully written. Carey retells the story of Pinocchio, but from Geppetto's perspective as his dwells in the belly of the giant sea creature. It's a story of longing, loss, regret, and loneliness. But he also examines what happens when you get swallowed whole by grief, and the fight to find the light.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 306 reviews