Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Yes, it’s a long name, but it’s definitely eye-catching. Ransom Riggs’ novel is a unique combination of YA fiction, sci fi, and old black-and-white photographs. It’s a unique work of art full of colorful characters and terrifying monsters, and a fantasy universe that you’ll love to dive into. Without giving away too much of the plot, I’ll attempt to tell you why you should read this book, and you definitely should.
For a bit of background, Ransom Riggs is a writer and movie maker (short films, I think) and I believe this is his first real novel. He’s a friend of another well-known author: John Green. So, Ransom Riggs likes old photographs, he collects them. He searches far and wide for the coolest weirdest photos he can find, be they in pawn shops or garage sales.
I can’t imagine how the idea popped into his head, but he decided to write a novel which incorporates a lot of the pictures he’s found. The result is Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The photos can be found right in the book. Many of them show children supposedly displaying supernatural abilities, for instance, the little girl on the book’s cover appears to be levitating. These are the children referred to in the title, and of course, these children all live in a home under the protection of an equally peculiar woman named Miss Peregrine.
It’s unbelievably clever how Riggs uses these photos to tell a really great story. Some of the photos serve as simple illustrations of what the characters are seeing, but others are used as “props” if you will. The protagonist will find a photograph in a drawer and it’s the same one that appears on the very next page. It’s a really cool way to read a book, and can also be a bit creepy. I refer you to this picture of Emma, one of the peculiar children. Creepy, eh?
I should mention that these photos have not been “shopped” in any way. They appear exactly the way he found them. If something in them appears impossible, it’s because the photographer staged it that way. It’s just old-fashioned camera trickery and illusion, and it’s neat to see what people were capable of prior to photoshopping and air-brushing.
There’s one more eerie detail I’d like to share. The antagonists of the story are these evil child-snatchers called wights. They look like normal people, except for their pupil-less eyes. Now, I’m not easily frightened by books, but these guys are scary! The photos greatly enhance this.
Ransom Riggs also announced recently that there will be a sequel to the novel entitled Hollow City. This is somewhat expected, since the book’s ending is left very open. The sequel will included photos as well, and it will be very interesting to see what new pictures he’s found.
One more little tidbit. Since I always talk about books that will soon become movies, I should tell you that Jane Goldman, the screenwriter behind Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-men First Class, and The Woman in Black, has apparently adapted the novel into a film, and at the moment, it looks like Tim Burton will direct. It seems like a Burton-esque story, akin to his earlier (better) works like Edward Scissorhands. 21st Century Fox has listed a release date of July 31st, 2015 for the film, which apparently has the slightly shorter title Peregrine’s Home for Peculiars. While this is an understandable change, the novel’s title is not impossibly long to use for a movie; The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has even more syllables than Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, but whatever, it’s only a minor change. It’s still very early, but I’m keeping an eye out for more news on the project, because it has great potential.
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This is a very ambitious work from a little-known author, and an exemplary addition to the YA sci fi/fantasy genre. I guarantee you’ve never read anything quite like it, and some of the characters you’ll simply fall in love with. Riggs chose to write a story which incorporates old photographs, and I don’t think anyone could’ve done a better job. Read it in hardcover, paperback, ebook, but just make sure that if you listen to the audiobook like I did, you download the pdf that comes with it. The pictures are a necessity.
