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Loading... The Thief Lord (2000)by Cornelia Funke
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Magic A YA read aimed at (perhaps?) a middle grade audience. The plot ran along the lines of a band of homeless kids in Venice, with a mysterious leader not really much older than they were (except for Bo, the youngest, a brother of Prosper, the other MC). Without revealing the plot twists, there developed an untenable situation for the kids remaining in their hideout. How this developed was an engaging adventure, with amusing character developments. Inevitably, they ran into difficulties beyond their ability to cope. Two supporting characters ('Victor' and the countess 'Ida') manage to intervene in crucial, if unrealistic ways. As an adult reading the story, I found the adventure which Scipio and Prosper had, on an offshore Venetian island, out of context with the lead up in the story, not to mention the fantasy developments afterwards. The story especially became convoluted with Against the expectation created by the title and cover, till around page 176, this book appeared to be a rather boring tale about orphan children living rough in a condemned cinema in Venice, two of them on the run from their aunt who wants only the five year old, and plans to pack the twelve year old off to a boarding school. The children live off the proceeds of objects stolen by the mysterious Thief Lord, a twelve or thirteen year old boy who does not live at the cinema and comes and goes intermittently. Before long, their precarious existence starts to unravel when they accept a commission to steal a wooden wing on behalf of a mysterious Conte (count). Without giving away the fantasy element which finally starts to turn this into something like the adventure story I was expecting, I found this unsatisfactory on a number of levels. There is a wish fulfilment aspect which undermines the initial idea of children who are living rough and relying on stealing. By the end, all plights are resolved in a fairy tale manner - the children who want a secure home are granted one by a woman who, we have been told, is a famous photographer and travels a lot, but seems to throw it all over to take in a number of children and their kittens. The kids who want to remain independent are able to go off to another squat and carry on as before. The one who solved his home problems magically (the Thief Lord) has no difficulties caused by the fact that he now has no paperwork to prove who he is Another aspect that irritated me is the role of girls and women. One of the kids in the cinema is a girl but despite the scene early on when she manages to thwart the detective when he is tracking the two runaways on behalf of the aunt, she spends most of the time worrying about other characters, and volunteers to look after the five year old when he would otherwise be a liability when the others go to do the robbery for the Conte. The photographer, as I've said, seems to chuck her career without there being any question even raised, and even the aunt who decides to dump both boys in an orphanage when the younger one plays up, is so gooey eyed about having a kid that she is persuaded into adopting a boy she has hardly met I'm guessing that if this book had been around when I was the target age group, I would've been too bored to finish it. Prosper and Bo are orphans on the run from their cruel aunt and uncle. The brothers decide to hide out in Venice, where they meet a mysterious character who calls himself the "Thief Lord." Brilliant and charismatic, the Thief Lord leads a ring of street children who dabble in petty crimes. Prosper and Bo relish being part of this colorful new family. But the Thief Lord has secrets of his own. And soon the boys are thrust into circumstances that will lead them, and readers, to a fantastic, spellbinding conclusion. no reviews | add a review
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Two brothers, having run away from the aunt who plans to adopt the younger one, are sought by a detective hired by their aunt, but they have found shelter with--and protection from--Venice's "Thief Lord." No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)833.914Literature German and related languages German fiction Modern period (1900-) 1900-1990 1945-1990LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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