The broken mirror

by Jonathan Coe

Un giorno la piccola Claire, sottraendosi ai genitori litigiosi, si rifugia nella discarica dietro casa, dove trova uno specchietto rotto dal quale si sente stranamente attratta. È un brutto pezzo di vetro tagliente, ma ha il magico potere di trasformare anche la più squallida realtà in un mondo fiabesco: il cielo bigio nel riflesso diventa azzurro paradiso e la casa di Claire, una modesta villetta di periferia, si trasforma in un castello turrito sormontato da fantastiche conchiglie. Intanto il tempo passa e Claire cresce, sempre accompagnata dal suo specchio magico, in cui può vedere il proprio viso senza l’acne dell’adolescenza, e il padre che abbraccia teneramente la madre al pub. Ma nella realtà il padre sta flirtando con la sua nuova fidanzata, per la quale abbandonerà la famiglia, e il ragazzo di cui Claire è innamorata sta con la sua peggiore nemica. Quello specchio crea solo illusioni e Claire, arrabbiata, sta quasi per buttarlo, quando interviene Peter, un ex compagno delle medie. Ma quando lui la invita a uscire una sera e le dà appuntamento alla discarica, Claire rimane sbigottita: anche Peter ha trovato un pezzo di specchio rotto, che in realtà è il tassello di un puzzle più ampio.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Young Adult

81 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

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

Jonathan Coe, born 19 August 1961 in Birmingham, is a British novelist and writer. His work usually has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, What a Carve Up! reworks the plot of an old 1960s spoof horror film of the same name, in the light of the 'carve up' of the UK's resources which some felt was carried out by Margaret Thatcher's right wing Conservative governments of the 1980s. Coe studied at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Trinity College, Cambridge, before teaching at the University of Warwick where he completed a PhD in English Literature. In July 2006 he was given an honorary degree by The University of Birmingham.

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Retrieved 10:55, February 2, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan...

Reviews

[Gerasimos Evangelatos]

Πόσο δύσκολο να γράψεις ενα άρτιο παραμύθι τελικα. Ακόμα κι αν εισαι ο Jonathan Coe (με όλη τη σπουδαιότητα σου εμφανέστατη. ) Τρόμος τα παιδια κι η λογοτεχνία τους.

[Thal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Κάποιος αναγκάζει τον κύριο Κόου να γραφει κακά βιβλία κατα παραγγελία. Αυτο εδω ξέφυγε απο τον Αριθμό 11 - ή ακομα χειρότερα, αποτέλεσε έμπνευση για τον Αριθμό 11 - και ηρθε με περιτύλιγμα μια οδυνηρή για τα ματια μου εικονογράφηση.
Κύριε Κόου, αν χρειάζεστε βοήθεια κάντε τρεις απανωτές φορες retweet το @trump_is_hip και θα έρθουμε να σας σώσουμε.

[Katerina Koltsida · Rating 3 out of 5]

Μολονότι η ιστορία του σπασμένου καθρέφτη είναι ενδιαφέρουσα, πρωτοτυπη και καλογραμμένη, το παραμύθι είναι γεμάτο από κλισέ (η κακιά πλούσια συμμαθήτρια, ο ασχημούτσικος εφηβος που τελικά δίνει τη λύση κλπ)

Το, δε, τελικο εύρημα, που ειναι ενδιαφέρον, έρχεται απότομα, ενώ θα ειχε ενδιαφέρον να βλεπαμε τη διαδρομή άλλων κομματιών του καθρεφτη.

[Maria Barulli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una delusione. L‘autore ha sprecato il Potenziale della storia. Una adolescente che usa il suo specchio magico come rifugio dal triste mondo reale. Bello, no? Ma sprecato. Il libro era troppo corto. Una storia del genere avrebbe avuto bisogno di più pagine, più descrizioni e più sentimenti.
Neanche il modo come era scritto mi faceva impazzire. Per non parlare delle illustrazioni.

[Sara Oachesu · Rating 4 out of 5]

cartea este una foarte interesantă, ma fascinează sa văd cum autorul depune un efort pt a crea cărți pentru toate vârstele. recomand acesta lectura deoarece mesajul pe care îl transmite este unul foarte valoros și benefic tututor! am reușit sa citesc cartea in 2 ore și pe parcursul ei am fost socata și ținuta in suspans. Claire este personajul principal, o văd ca pe o fire plină de compasiune, inteligenta și cu capul pe umeri. ii acord 5 steluțe pentru ca as reciti-o de nenumărate ori! :)

[Oryx · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crap

[Cintya Faliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading this book!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fable which is similar to something Neil Gaiman would write. It focuses on a girl who discovers a broken mirror and uses the shard of glass to project an ideal situation as a means of escaping reality. Stick on to the end cause it’s a good one.

[Ilana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Broken Mirror is a completely different yet fully literary enjoyable work created by Jonathan Coe, an author I am always delighted to discover.

It was first published in Italian, French, Greek and Dutch before being translated into English three years ago. Considered ´A Fable´ it is more than a children - midgrade level - book as it deals with the ginger balance between dreams and reality, real world versus the power to dream the change.

It is located in the town of Kennaway, a real town in Fife, Scotland, where Jonathan Coe´s grandgrandparents used to live, but as the author himself explains, there is no connection with the real place.

Claire, the fictional character of The Broken Mirror lives somewhere in England. As a child, in a garbage heap, she finds a fragment of a mirror that projects the creations of her imagination into her real world. ´How could something that she could see so clearly not be real? How could the mirror be showing things that were twice as exciting, a hundred times more magical tghan the dull, wokaday world that was all around her?´

Year after year, she is facing the pangs of growing: discovering the injustices of the world, being bullied in school, retreating in her world from her quarelling parents, feeling in obsessive love with a guy who utterly ignore her. Around her, there is a new world expanding, where the small stores and libraries are destroyed for the sake of ´great´ real estate projects encouraged by a mayor that pretends to put the hometown ´first´. Immigrants are the target of street attacks.

She mostly ignored the fragment of mirror that makes the world better. Until one day, when Peter, her secret admirer, shares with her the secret of his fragment of mirror. And they are not alone, it seems that there are more and more people that together, will try to put the fragments together trying to show ´how the world might look if it was a better place´. What one can see in the full miror is in the eye of the beholder.

The Broken Mirror is an encouraging read in dark times, both political and generally human. It relies upon us the power to hope and to do not give up the checking once in a while the projection of our worlds into the mirror. It helps although it might not change the surroundings - not right now.

The illustrations, by Italian artist Chiara Coccorese are collages, which is such an appropriate way to introduce dreams and wishes. Aren´t they made of disparate fragments of ideas, concepts and projections?

Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

[Collezionedistorie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jonathan Coe è stato per anni uno dei miei autori più amati, dal visionario scoperto per caso "Questa notte mi ha aperto gli occhi" che Polillo pubblicò nel lontano 1996. Oggi Coe viene pubblicato da Feltrinelli, e tutti i suoi romanzi sono stati tradotti in italiano. Questo più che un romanzo è un racconto breve, pubblicato da Feltrinelli Kids e quindi pensato per un pubblico di lettori giovani. Il fatto di indirizzare però un'opera ai più piccoli non dovrebbe legittimare a scrivere racconti privi di spessore... La protagonista Claire ha otto anni, due genitori distratti e un pomeriggio noioso quando trova un frammento di specchio in una discarica. Ogni qualvolta vi guarda dentro però esso non riflette la realtà, bensì immagini fantastiche, castelli e aquile, e la sua tigre di peluche trasformata in un animale feroce. Lo specchio rende magiche le giornate dell'infanzia di Claire per anni, finché l'adolescenza non la spinge a lasciarlo per un po' a prendere polvere sul fondo di un cassetto. Non che questo corrisponda a dimenticarlo: in un momento difficile infatti -la lotta con il proprio corpo e il divorzio dei suoi genitori- il frammento di specchio torna ad accompagnarla. Ora vi vede riflesse immagini molto meno fantasiose, il suo viso privo di foruncoli, il padre e la madre di nuovo insieme... Quello di Claire, ricordiamoci, è però solo un frammento. Qui, dopo una settantina di pagine, Coe mette il turbo e decide di farci scoprire in pochi minuti che di frammenti in giro ne esistono parecchi: uno lo possiede Peter, coetaneo di Claire con cui non è difficile immaginare una giovane storia d'amore, e tanti altri i loro concittadini. Coe, che ricordavo uno sperimentatore sempre audace, conclude il racconto con un ritrovo allo zucchero dove tutti si associano ad unire i propri frammenti di specchio per creare insieme un mondo migliore. La conclusione è a dir poco frettolosa ed insoddisfacente, mentre questa sorta di favola all'inizio non mi era dispiaciuta. Il pregio sono le belle illustrazioni di Chiara Coccorese, e una certa creatività nell'aver inserito in ultima pagina una carta lucida e frastagliata dove specchiarsi -ed immaginarsi nel riflesso ciò che più ci aggrada.

[Joanne Sheppard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Broken Mirror is a fable ostensibly for children, but I suspect most readers will actually be adults, to whom Jonathan Coe is best known as a writer of darkly humorous literary novels.

This particular book was published in Italian in 2012 but this is the first time it's been available in English. It's a collaboration with Italian artist Chiara Coccorese, who has provided the illustrations.

Eight-year-old Claire finds a piece of broken mirror at her local rubbish tip, and discovers that it reflects the world not as it really is, but how she subconsciously wants it to be. At first, she sees fantastical images of magic castles and her favourite toy becomes a real tiger who sleeps cuddled up to her on he bed. As she grows older the mirror's reflections become more realistic, but still represent something a little better than reality. As she enters her teenage years she looks in the mirror less and less, but returns to it when political developments begin to have a negative impact not just on her own family, but on the whole town.

It's a simple story but one that addresses some fairly complex ideas and, as in a lot of Jonathan Coe's novels for adults, there's clearly a strong message about the current state of the nation and how we might improve it. Despite the simplicity of this 96-page story, Claire is a realistically flawed character - initially disdainful of a kind but nerdy classmate, for example, and losing touch with her best friend upon leaving primary school. And although this story was originally written in 2012, there are certainly some moments which seem all too plausible in light of the Brexit referendum.

There are parts of this story which are terribly sad, but it ends on a note of hope and the overall message is a positive and progressive one. As a book for children, I'm not sure what age group it would appeal to; at under 100 pages it's a very short and simple read, although Claire is a teenager for most of the story. But as an adult I enjoyed this as a quick and beautifully written read.

It's published by Unbound, which is of interest in itself - Unbound is a crowdfunding publisher which asks patrons to pledge a contribution to help finance the publication of the book. Contributions can can vary and what you'll receive depends on what you pledge - in this case, starting from a limited edition copy, but some pledges would buy you a invitation to the launch party, for instance. This helps to finance a wider print run so copies can be made available for anyone else to buy.

I was one of the patrons of this particular project - which gives you an idea of how small a contribution can be to make a difference; I think I pledged £20 to get a limited edition, numbered copy with my name in the list of patrons printed at the start. I would definitely contribute again to a project I really cared about. It's a nice way to support authors whose work you really value to be able to publish books that might not be otherwise commercially viable.

[Aramis Windels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een meisje genaamd Claire is op vakantie in Wales met haar ouders. Waneer ze thuis komt ligt er een overvloed aan post waar haar ouders wat over ruziën. Ze besluit om in de tuin te spelen maar dat steekt al snel tegen. Ze weet niet wat te doen dus gaat ze maar naar een vuilnisbelt een eindje verderop, waar ze wat rond speelt. Opeens ziet ze iets glinsteren op een berg vuilnis. Ze beklimt de berg en vindt een glas scherf van een spiegel. Als ze erin kijkt ziet ze een zeeblauwe hemel met prachtige vogels. Als ze in de realiteit naar de hemel kijkt ziet ze niks dan een grijze lucht met inktzwarte wolken. Vanaf dat moment beslist ze om de spiegel altijd bij zich te dragen en telkens als ze de behoefte voelt om even te ontsnappen, kijkt ze erin. Hierna is een tijdsprong van 2 jaar. Ze ontmoet iemand die vreemd genoeg ook een scherf heeft van de spiegel.


Het boek telt slechts 80 pagina's en heeft niet zoveel verhaal. Er gebeurt niet echt veel maar het boek bleef me toch steeds opnieuw en opnieuw verrassen. Het is een zeer leuk boek maar vereist veel fantasie en inlevingsvermogen. Je moet zelf veel dingen voor je proberen zien om het boek te snappen. Ik raad het boek zeker aan voor kinderen tussen de tien en veertien jaar. Ik raad het ook aan aan mensen die niet zo graag lange boeken lezen omdat het slechts 80 pagina's heeft. Het boek is ook vertaald uit het Engels wat soms wel opvallend is.

[Keen Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s strange when one of your favourite authors does something quite different to their usual work. It’s a bit like when one of your favourite bands does a quirky cover version of a well-known song, with one tongue in their cheek. Initially I was a little sceptical when I opened this book and read the first few pages. An eight year old girl and the story of her mirror, sounded like I was in the wrong genre, but I pushed on and it wasn’t long at all before it all started to come together.

Fellow contemporary, Ian McEwan had also dipped his toe into YA when he published, “The Daydreamer” and I don’t really think he pulled it off at all, and I found it to be easily his weakest book so far. I feared that Coe was about to make a similar faux pas, but he has cooked up a nice little fable here, that speaks about the current maladies of our modern world, almost like a literary “Black Mirror” that shows us an ugly, jagged reflection, but poses some interesting questions along the way too. This book is illustrated by Chiara Coccorese, who does a good job of complementing the story, with some colourful images.

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hmmm… billed as a fable, and with lovely computer graphic-styled montage illustration, this comes with a vocabulary to alienate a lot of the potential children in the audience, and a very wishy-washy structure. It starts wonderfully with a young girl finding a broken fragment of mirror that shows her a wondrous alternative reality. But then spots, bad men who do things like develop towns, bad crushes and more all get in the way of her life and soon she can't see the fabulous for the ever-encroaching grey of her lot – only for the book to lurch into lefty parable at the end. I don't know what she wanted, really – she already had parents so laissez-faire they let her romp around with a broken shard of mirror as a pet, for crying out loud. And I can't help notice the ill-fitting, and ill-thought, way the developers are lumped in with racist scum – this is a book that seems to think building new developments and more modern housing and so on is something best left to Nazis. It's that kind of children's book.

[Elsje · Rating 3 out of 5]

De vormgeving van dit boekje trok me enorm aan: prachtige tekeningen, mooi papier, goede bladspiegel, fijn lettertype.

De blurb gaf aan dat het een politiek sprookje voor kinderen of een parabel voor volwassenen zou moeten zijn. Mwah... laten we het erop houden dat ik het verhaal over een jong meisje dat een stukje spiegel vindt - een spiegel die haar een blik gunt op hoe de wereld Sou kunnen zijn - wat dunnetjes vond, Coe heeft echt vee betere boeken geschreven. Maar toch heb ik er twee fijne uurtjes mee doorgebracht.

Dit boekje is trouwens dmv crowdfunding tot stand gekomen: lezers konden “inschrijven” obv de synopsis. Al de namen van de donoren staan voor in het boek. Geinig!

[Teodora Gheorghe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been SOOO much better without all the politics and morals! It's frustrating how enchantingly and magically it started...I thought it would become one of my favorite stories. Instead, it veered away from the beautiful, original path. I might have well stopped after 24-25 pages and considered it a brilliant short story about a girl who sees her dreams come true in a fragment of a broken mirror. As years go by, the bright, vivid, colorful images start fading away, as her illusions start crumbling under the heavy weight of reality.

I loved the illustrations by Chiara Coccorese.

[Barbara Poscolieri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Banalotto e un po’ troppo pieno di cliché, con qualche risvolto non felicissimo (ad esempio, la protagonista che non solo si accorge ma supera il fastidio, del tutto immotivato, che prova per un ragazzino solo quando si rende conto, una volta cresciuti, che non è così brutto come gli sembrava da più piccolo… non il massimo per un personaggio che si vuole far passare come faro di verità e giustizia).
Potrebbe comunque essere un libretto sufficientemente godibile se non fosse per il finale. Quello proprio no.

[Maggie Hesseling · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to put this down. Between the story line, which I wasn't enamored of, and the computer graphic images that I found uninteresting, I gave up about a third the way through. The main character didn't feel like a child to me, some of her reactions seemed abnormal, and the story was taking too long to take shape. This fable was obviously not written for me.

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This delightful book is the story of a young girl who finds a piece of broken mirror. Instead of reflectic things as they are, they reflect what she wishes things to be. Eventually she tires of the mirror, until she meets a boy with a piece of his own.

Thanks to Netgally for ARC.

My blog:

The Interstitial Reader
http://theinterstitialreader.wordpres...

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Coe's modern fairytale/parable is an odd little book. Beautiful illustrations, but reproduced so small that it's difficult to see the detail. A story of how we perceive reality, how we can change the world, but told in an obvious, broad strokes way that disengages the sense of wonder. Coe is a good writer, but this book is wide of the mark. Shame.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stars for the story, one bonus star for the slightly creepy but beautiful illustrations. A nice idea, but just too many political axes to grind, similar to Coe's more recent Middle England. Also, maybe, it got lost in translation slightly. Not sure what age group it's actually aimed at. The only Coe I'm likely to give away.

[Emkoshka · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really odd. I liked the concept, but the writing had such an undercurrent of malevolence and heavy-handedness that I really struggled to connect with or enjoy it. Honestly, it made me feel unsettled and disturbed.

[Kate McGhee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange little book. A crowdfunded (Unbound) novella about childhood in Broken (provincial) Britain through the eyes of a teenage girl.

Third person, quite naively written and this seems deliberate. I could see it sitting well on a KS3 school curriculum.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Broken Mirror (2012)

Il racconto non è niente di che e il finale è fastidioso. Quello che alza la valutazione sono le bellissime illustrazioni di Chiara Coccorese: http://www.chiaracoccorese.com

[Alberto Galassi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un brevissimo racconto dove si sente lo stile di Coe, non saprei definire un era indicata per leggerlo ma di certo posso dire che non mi ha lasciato granché. Contento di averlo letto,si! Mi sentirei di consigliarlo, no.

[Sunil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I sensed this was aimed at a younger audience. It follows a girl who doesn't quite fit in. The broken mirror that she finds gives glimpses into another more fantastic world. I liked the somewhat happy ending. The girl should perhaps have expressed more guilt towards how she herself treated others.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mostly like Jonathan Coe books,but not this one so much.
To me it felt like a series of sentences rather than story.
Fairly forgettable too.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming

[Euan Carlile · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short tale about a young girl who finds a broken bit of mirror that shows things not as they are, but as they could be. It felt cliched and clumsy, but it is arguably more suitable for children.

[Geoffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

By no means Jonathan Coe's masterpiece, but an easy read.