What do You think about Gideon The Cutpurse (2006)?
I decided to read this series of books to make my mum happy, since as she had bought them for me because she thought I would enjoyed them.She was right: I liked this first book. The story is nice, well structured, readable indeed. The time travel is something which always captures my attention, moreover the description of the London of the past is well done (in my opinion, at least) and it reflects perfectly my idea of the common life and people in the XVIII century.The characters are interesting, too: they have distinct and well-defined personalities and it was easy to sympathize with them, even though they are not always strictly confined in the categories of "good guys" and "bad guys".What made me decide to give 3 stars to this book and not 4 is the writing style. While I was reading, I felt like there were wonderful ideas but they were not developed in all their possibilities. I don't know if this is due to the fact that the book is addressed to a younger public than me, or because the translator has not done a good work or because of the writer herself. I don't really know, but that was a pity because there were all the premises for a great novel. The strange thing is that the parts in which the author "quotes" Gideon's autobiography are really well written, in a completely different style, and I enjoyed them very much (I wish they were longer).Anyway, I will surely read the other two books because I'm pretty curious to know how they story is going to end.
—Fede
This is what I wrote for my school book report: Peter Sholock and Kate Dyer are just ordinary kids. Then their life changes when Peter goes to Kate’s farm, and Mr.Dyer shows them his work. (He is an astrologist.) They try his assistant’s new invention, an anti gravity machine. Then their dog gets spooked and starts running, the kids run after him because he could break something. The anti gravity machine sparks and then the children find themselves in a whole different place: a green grassy meadow! Peter woke up and saw an ugly, stinky, gross man looking at him. He said, “MY NAME IS THE TAR MAN and I WANT YOU TO GIVE ME ALL YOUR GOLD!” Then out of nowhere a pebble came and hit the Tar Man on the head and he then fainted. A man then came running toward them and asked, “Are you all right?”They answered “Yes, I think so.”Just then the Tar Man got up and ran to an old handcart and started to run with all his might. It was too late when the children found out that on the handcart was Mr. Dyer’s anti gravity machine. They ran after him calling things like, “Stop! Wait. That’s ours. Come back!” But he did not, he kept on running. The children ran till their legs ached and their throats hurt, then they stopped. The man then came to a stop by them and said, “My name is Gideon Seymour and I saw you appear out thin air!” It was then the children saw what kind of clothes Gideon and the Tar Man were wearing. They weren’t clothes like we wear today, they were like the clothes people wore in the 1700’s when boys had ponytails and girls had to wear strips of string around their middle, chest and back, they were called corsets. Then Peter asks Gideon, “What year is it?” And Gideon reply’s, “Um………1763.” (I didn’t want to finish this book because it had a bad word in it.)
—Hyrum
I'm starting to like snow days. It's too cold to do anything but sit indoors and read, so I manage to finish The Time Travelers (it feels weird reading an ebook somehow). I previously talked about in Teaser Tuesday (link), and it was as good as I expected!The book revolves around Peter Schock, Kate Dyer and Gideon Seymour. There are a few other main characters, but I think these three are the most important. So when Peter's dad breaks his promise (a birthday promise to Peter no less), Peter ends up at Kate's farm. And due to something about an anti-gravity machine, the two are thrown into the year 1763, where they meet Gideon (cutpurse and gentlemen), and go after the Tar Man, who has stolen their machine.I read on Wikipedia that this book is so accurate in its depictions of eighteenth century England that some schools use it as a textbook. Those lucky students.The book is interesting, both in terms of plot and character. I enjoyed learning about all the characters and seeing them develop. I think my favourite characters were Peter and Gideon. Peter was just this sad little boy, who felt neglected by his parents. Gideon was a flawed hero, and the connection between the two of them was touching.What I also liked was how there was a double narrative, the second narrative following the children's parents back in the modern days. Of course something like this would cause a fuss, and I'm glad the author included it, and managed to weave the two threads together. I think the most touching scenes came from the Schock family; Peter's mom sounds like a nice lady. I think his parents really did try, but just forgot that they had a choice - son or career.The only character I didn't like was Kate. I hope I don't become someone like her if this ever happens to me. Perhaps it's because as a reader I know more than her, but she seems like a complainer, and that was a little annoying. Plus, for someone supposed to be brave, she seemed to faint an awful lot. Why can't she be like George from the Famous Five or something?And what's with the sudden love story between Peter and Kate in the end? It felt too sudden and unrealistic, especially since they were at loggerheads for so long. Plus, I'm pretty sure they're only in the their early teens. Why not just let them be friends first?But really, this is an awesome book overall. If you like historical fiction, you should definitely read this.First published at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
—Eustacia Tan
