The Box of Delights: Or When the Wolves Were Running (Kay Harker)

Product Information

I'd wanted to read this for a number of years - and finally got my hands on a copy, at just the right time, it seems - this is a perfect December read, lots of snow and carolers and such within! a b Kingsley, Madeleine (17 November 1984), "A Box Full of Magic", Radio Times, pp.101–103 , retrieved 14 October 2017 I had high expectations for this book, and while I did enjoy it, I was a little disappointed. The plot has many gaping holes in it, the characters act in ways that don't really make sense, and I never did figure out WHY exactly the villains wanted to steal the Box of Delights.

In 1930, due to the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in office until his death in 1967. Masefield took his appointment seriously and produced a large quantity of verse. Poems composed in his official capacity were sent to The Times. Masefield’s humility was shown by his inclusion of a stamped envelope with each submission so that his composition could be returned if it were found unacceptable for publication. Le Père Martin" (1888) by Ruben Saillens and unwittingly plagiarized as " Papa Panov's Special Christmas" by Leo Tolstoy Because I was reading them simultaneously, I couldn't resist making numerous comparisons between The Box of Delights and The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper. In many ways, the books are similar, right down to the involvement of folk hero Herne the Hunter in both stories, and the midwinter setting. But I felt much more comfortable in the world of The Dark is Rising. Even when I didn't fully understand an allusion, I still knew exactly what was happening and how each event contributed to the overall story arc. There were times in The Box of Delights when I had to re-read passages to be sure I had even a vague sense of what was going on, and in general, it just felt very slow to me, even though lots of things were happening. For it is a cliché. We can probably let Lewis Carroll get away with it in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as it’s a foundational example in children’s literature (and it becomes positively admirable in Through the Looking Glass when Carroll inverts it and Alice is told that she’s nothing but a thing in the Red King’s dream), but even there it’s an unsatisfactory rug-pull. The Box of Delights was first published in 1935, and achieved immediate success in Britain, where it is viewed with the same reverence as A Christmas Carol. It follows the adventures of Kay, who meets Cole Hawlings, a traveling Punch and Judy man, at a train station. Hawlings has a magical box, which is coveted by a gang of criminals disguised as clergy. Knowing he’ll soon be “scrobbled” by the gang, Hawling gives the box to Kay, who gets into adventures.

You might also like

Every chapter in this book is marvelous, but the real delight derives from Masefield's style and the idiosyncratic, colorful speech of his various characters...Lovely stuff. In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile. He recorded his experiences while sailing through the extreme weather. Upon reaching Chile, Masefield suffered from sunstroke and was hospitalized. He eventually returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steam ship. Dr Philip W Errington, a senior specialist at Peter Harrington Rare Books, leading antiquarian specialists, and an expert on Masefield, has been working with the RSC as a consultant on The Box of Delights, which will be performed at the RST between 31 October and 7 January. At once a thriller, a romp, and a spellbinding fantasy, The Box of Delights is a great English children’s book and a perfect Christmas treat.

The dream cliche' makes me feel like I've wasted my time somehow, ESPECIALLY because 'The Midnight Folk' was JUST as magical and hard-to-believe (if you don't use imagination), yet it was all proclaimed true. There was NO reason whatsoever to write this off as a dream. None. I'm disappointed. It's mentioned many many times that several Rats really hate Kay. They say over and over that Kay "should have his head chopped off, because he is going to get a Dog for Christmas." And I kept waiting for that famous Dog to make an appearance. Why is so important that Kay is going to get a Dog for Christmas? How will this affect our plot? Why are the Rats so upset over this? And why is it always "Dog" with a capital D, and not just "dog"? What is so amazingly special about this Dog?Poet John Masefield's 1935 British Empire-era fantasy finds twelve-year-old Kay Harker home from his boarding school just in time to help a magical old Punch and Judy showman. At least, that seems to be what happens. The plot's pretty convoluted. But the images Masefield conjures up are gorgeous. Christmas Eve" ( Noch pered Rozhdestvom, 1832) by Nikolai Gogol (from Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka) It seems that many other reviewers had not read 'The Midnight Folk' first, yet jumped into this, its sequel. They seemed confused, and seem to think that it is because they are reading a sequel.

Flynn, Simon: "A Magic Curiously Suited to Radio?": The BBC and The Box of Delights. The Journal of the John Masefield Society, No. 12 (May 2003), pp.21–35.

Contents

Tis the night before Christmas and Herne the Hunter and the Lady of the Ring and the King & Queen of Fairies will all come a'calling! My kids and I were eager to finish, not because they cared at all about the ending, but because they wanted it to be over with. My daughter (age 8) was also convinced that the epilogue would tie it all together and it would suddenly make sense. When we got to the final line, she yelled out, "Are you kidding me?" Kay Harker is returning from boarding school when he finds himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box. It allows the owner to shrink in size, to fly swiftly, to go into the past and to experience the magical wonders contained within the box.