The Pearl and the Pumpkin

by Paul West, W.W. Denslow (illustrator)

A children's fantasy, illustrated by William Wallace Denslow.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1904

About the author

Paul West (February 23, 1930) was an English-born novelist, literary historian and poet, the author of 24 novels, who lived in America since the early 1960s. He resided in upstate New York with his wife, the writer, poet and well-known naturalist Diane Ackerman, until his death in 2015. Paul, still remembered with affection by his old colleagues and friends in England as a big, jolly man, was born in Eckington, which is near (and now considered a part of) Sheffield in South Yorkshire, but was during West’s childhood a Derbyshire village associated with the famous literary Sitwells of Renishaw.
Paul was honoured with the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award (1985), the Lannan Prize for Fiction (1993), the Grand Prix Halperine-Kaminsky Award (1993), and three Pushcart Prizes (1987, 1991, 2003). He was also a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Public Library Literary Lion (1987), and a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters 1996, France).
His parents, Alfred and Mildred, really cared for books, and created an environment which ensured that young Paul inherited a great passion for literature, which was enhanced when he went from his native village to study first at Oxford University in England and later at Columbia University in America. He never lived in England again after going to Columbia, and in later years Paul was involved with other US universities in teaching roles, notably Pennsylvania State University.
Paul West’s novels have included: ‘A Quality of Mercy’ (1961); ‘Tenement of Clay’ (1965); ‘Alley Jaggers’ (1966); ‘I'm Expecting to Live Quite Soon’ (1970); ‘Bela Lugosi's White Christmas’ (1972); ‘The Very Rich Hours of Count von Stauffenberg’ (1980); ‘Rat Man of Paris’ (1986); ‘The Women of Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper’ (1991); and ‘OK: The Corral, the Earps and Doc Holliday’ (2000).
His non-fiction has included the autobiographical ‘I, Said the Sparrow’, a delightful essay on his Eckington childhood; ‘The Growth of the Novel’ (1959), ‘The Modern Novel’ (in 2 vols, 1963); ‘Robert Penn Warren’ (1964); ‘Words for a Deaf Daughter’ (1969); ‘A Stroke of Genius: Illness and Self-discovery’ (1995); and the remarkable ‘The Shadow Factory’ (2008), the aphasic memoir he dictated with such struggle and resolve –it brings tears to the eyes and admiration to the heart, as we are reminded in reading it of the courage of this man. It is a ‘must-read’ in the context of the terrible stroke he suffered in 2003. Paul’s wife, Diane, also wrote about that stroke and its consequences in her book ‘One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage and the Language of Healing’. Paul’s poetry collections include ‘Poems’ (1952), ‘The Spellbound Horses’ (1960), and ‘The Snow Leopard’ (1964).


Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Chrissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the drawings throughout, which are entertaining and illustrate the characters well. This was a fun read but it felt like it was pulling from many disparate places without really having a central coherency. Also, the wickedness in the book was often passed off as mischief, which--since I read this an adult--was a bit annoying. On the whole, a good, light read to kick off the spooky season and make one crave a good slice of pumpkin pie. :)

[Freder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but the Denslow illustrations are what makes the book.

[David McElroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fun little find at a used bookstore that I visited while on vacation. I had never heard of it before but instantly recognized the art style on the cover as the same as The Wizard of Oz.

It was a relatively quick and simple read and I'm finding it a little difficult to rate. Compared to more modern children's fantasy stories, this book isn't too great, however, when compared with other children's fantasies of the age (ie: The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, etc.), it's not too bad. I probably will rate it a little higher because of my love of Halloween (or Hallow E'en as they spell it in the book). My biggest issue is the drawn out ending which definitely could have been shortened by about 50 pages.

The story itself I'd probably give 3 stars to but I'll add a fourth star due to the charming illustrations throughout.

[Cat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow I've become a harsh critic. It was an interesting story, but it didn't catch me. And it was strange to read. I wasn't engaged at all. I didn't like any of the characters except for maybe Davey Jones. Everyone was selfish or greedy or rude.

[Earl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t particularly enjoy this book recommended and lent to me by a customer. It seemed like a poor imitation of The Wizard of Oz although really the only thing they shared was the illustrator. There were some enjoyable parts but overall it kept missing the mark.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantasy by co-written by one of the illustrators of L. Frank Baum's Oz books.