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Spider's Voice
Because he is a young mute person who can hear, Aran becomes involved in the adventures of Eloise and Abelard, France's most famous lovers, who lived during the twelfth century. By the author of Virtual War.
200 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1999
47 people want to read
About the author
Gloria Skurzynski
90 books30 followers"May you live in interesting times."
That ambiguous wish was not meant to be kind, because interesting times can be difficult. You and I certainly live in interesting times - dangerous, challenging, and fascinating.
My parents were born just before the start of the twentieth century; my youngest grandchild arrived in this century's final decade. The years in between have been the most dynamic in the history of the human race. Technical knowledge has exploded; so has the Earth's human population. We can create almost anything, yet each day we lose parts of our planet that can never be replaced.
I'm greedy: I want to write about all of it - the history, the grief, joy, and excitement of being human in times past; the cutting-edge inventions of times almost here.
--from the author's website
Gloria Skurzynski has also co-written books with her daughter Alane Ferguson.
That ambiguous wish was not meant to be kind, because interesting times can be difficult. You and I certainly live in interesting times - dangerous, challenging, and fascinating.
My parents were born just before the start of the twentieth century; my youngest grandchild arrived in this century's final decade. The years in between have been the most dynamic in the history of the human race. Technical knowledge has exploded; so has the Earth's human population. We can create almost anything, yet each day we lose parts of our planet that can never be replaced.
I'm greedy: I want to write about all of it - the history, the grief, joy, and excitement of being human in times past; the cutting-edge inventions of times almost here.
--from the author's website
Gloria Skurzynski has also co-written books with her daughter Alane Ferguson.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 5, 2017
Pretty good. I have never read a mute person’s story, so this was a fun book too read.
September 25, 2021
Eloise and Abelard. Hmm. Not that compelling in my opinion.
The background story involves some of the cruelties of medieval France.
The background story involves some of the cruelties of medieval France.
August 7, 2012
I labeled it "teen" instead of "adult" as the sexual scenes are generally off-camera. It should be considered older-teen, though, for the two mutilations (one deliberate, one accidental). Not having learned much about Peter Abelard, I don't know how accurately it portrays his personality or his teachings. Abelard is portrayed as a cocky, self-centered man who is passionately involved with Eloise, a beautiful and intelligent young woman who refuses to marry him as it would hinder his scholarly advancement. Some of his teachings seem to be that faith requires reason, that God does not expect one to believe until he has understood with his reason. Abelard is treated as a heretic, although the story presents this as being a result of jealousy of his fame, not actually from fault with his writings. The reason I kept reading, and gave it three stars, was the mute boy who is used as the narrator.
August 30, 2011
This book captured me. The story is timeless. the underlying theme is extremely sad, and touches on topics like impotency, castration, and mutilation for sake of entertainment. The writing style is simple but sincerely devoted to our characters, and drives the reader onward to finish the book in one sitting (or while sitting in class to get a detention for not paying attention (as I did when I first read it).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2009
An interesting novelization of the Heloise and Abelard love story told from the perspective of a mute servant of Abelard. Abelard isn't shown in a completely favorable light, even though Spider worships him. Along the way, Spider is drawn into the tragedy of the lovers and the letters that have kept the story alive since then. Also a very interesting look at life in France in the middle ages.
September 2, 2007
This one made me want to read more about Abelard and Heloise, to see how much this author got right. Also made me wonder if in 12th century France they really deformed boys in order to make them servants and "playthings" of the wealthy.
December 16, 2009
This book was a bit of a disappointment for me, I was expecting more. The plot was unique and interesting, but I felt it was poorly developed. I would have appreciated the perspectives of more than one character. On the other hand, I enjoyed how fact and fiction were woven together.
February 7, 2015
I bought this with the hope that it would be great historical fiction about the Middle Ages. It's not. The true story of Abelard and Eloise, the famous twelfth century French lovers, sounds fascinating; however, this retelling is, well, sort of creepy.
September 6, 2011
The story started out good. It was easy to read and the characters flowed together, but towards the middle, the thread seems to get lost.
February 9, 2015
I love finding YA texts about little-known and under-explored time periods. I wasn't disappointed in this one.
January 6, 2016
This book could have been a bit longer, but for a YA novel it was great!! Really loved it!!
Want to read
September 4, 2016I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14180852
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14180852
June 15, 2017
After all this time I remember this book as eye-0pening, realistic, informative, and very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews