What do you think?
Rate this book
The Way Home
After surviving a car accident and a bush fire, three young Australians find that everything seems changed and they are traveling through different places and times.
188 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
17 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 10, 2012
Well, let me say right off that I hated this book; it royally ticked me off. The following may contain a few mild spoilers, but frankly I don't care.
The story starts out promisingly enough, though tragically: the automobile containing siblings Prue and Peter, along with their cousin Richard and Aunt Kate, is washed away in a flash flood as the car is crossing a stream. The three children, battered and bruised and sliding in and out of consciousness, eventually find one another---but there is no sign of Aunt Kate. Unable to climb the cliffs upstream, they follow the flow of the water while looking for any signs of civilisation. They trudge on for days before finally being overcome by a bush fire; taking shelter in a dry creek bed, they miraculously escape the flames----and then things go very strange indeed.
When their journey resumes it immediately becomes obvious that they are sliding backward and forwards in time, throughout a variety of prehistorical eras, each one with its own pleasures and dangers. And all the while the two younger children feel that they are being led and protected by a mysterious figure that only they can see. Richard, with his reliance on logical scientific fact, seems unable to view their protector at first---and when he finally can, he fears it.
And here's where I got a very strong Narnia vibe from this book---the figure tells them things like "you already know me" and "this journey is to help you to get to know me better." But instead of being a specifically Christian metaphor, in this case it would appear that the figure is---what.... Mother Earth? Father Sky? An embodiment of the spirit of nature? Whatever---its treatment of Richard annoyed me. Throughout the entire story, Richard seemed to be getting punished simply because he was calm and logical and rational. He wasn't prone to flights of fancy---and because of this, he was treated like the village idiot by this supposedly caring---or at least benign---creature who sometimes is there to help them out, and other times vanishes without a trace while they face dangers on their own.
If we're thinking of this creature as Nature with a capital "N," its dismissal of Richard might make sense if we found out that Richard was a total jerk who treated the world like crap---throwing garbage out of car windows while kicking little puppies and stomping on kittens, for example, or something like that. But there is no sign that Richard has any flaw other than being a level-headed rationalist. And so the entire focus of the book---that Richard had a problem because he wouldn't Believe---REALLY ticked me off because, to my way of thinking, he didn't.
And don't even get me started about how the story ended. Man, I was IRRITATED, in a "throw the book across the room" kind of way. That ending was totally unwarranted---guess what, this supernatural creature is a nasty jerk. The finish was total BS---I can't state how strongly I disagreed with some of the conclusions presented by the author. It annoyed me so much, in fact, that even though I had another book by the same author out from the library, I decided to return it unread. Wow, look at me here---I'm getting annoyed all over again just thinking about this book. I'll give it two stars because the quality of the writing is decent enough, but overall I disliked it intensely----Not recommended.
The cover is intriguing, I'll admit. While the scene it depicts does vary a bit from the specifics of this part of the book, it is very likely to get a young person's attention. But I think that any kid choosing this book based on the cover is going to be bitterly disappointed.... Oh, would you believe I only just now noticed the huge face on the cover? (It's one of those optical illusions---now you see it, now you don't.) And seeing this face again reminded me of how much I hate this book.
The story starts out promisingly enough, though tragically: the automobile containing siblings Prue and Peter, along with their cousin Richard and Aunt Kate, is washed away in a flash flood as the car is crossing a stream. The three children, battered and bruised and sliding in and out of consciousness, eventually find one another---but there is no sign of Aunt Kate. Unable to climb the cliffs upstream, they follow the flow of the water while looking for any signs of civilisation. They trudge on for days before finally being overcome by a bush fire; taking shelter in a dry creek bed, they miraculously escape the flames----and then things go very strange indeed.
When their journey resumes it immediately becomes obvious that they are sliding backward and forwards in time, throughout a variety of prehistorical eras, each one with its own pleasures and dangers. And all the while the two younger children feel that they are being led and protected by a mysterious figure that only they can see. Richard, with his reliance on logical scientific fact, seems unable to view their protector at first---and when he finally can, he fears it.
And here's where I got a very strong Narnia vibe from this book---the figure tells them things like "you already know me" and "this journey is to help you to get to know me better." But instead of being a specifically Christian metaphor, in this case it would appear that the figure is---what.... Mother Earth? Father Sky? An embodiment of the spirit of nature? Whatever---its treatment of Richard annoyed me. Throughout the entire story, Richard seemed to be getting punished simply because he was calm and logical and rational. He wasn't prone to flights of fancy---and because of this, he was treated like the village idiot by this supposedly caring---or at least benign---creature who sometimes is there to help them out, and other times vanishes without a trace while they face dangers on their own.
If we're thinking of this creature as Nature with a capital "N," its dismissal of Richard might make sense if we found out that Richard was a total jerk who treated the world like crap---throwing garbage out of car windows while kicking little puppies and stomping on kittens, for example, or something like that. But there is no sign that Richard has any flaw other than being a level-headed rationalist. And so the entire focus of the book---that Richard had a problem because he wouldn't Believe---REALLY ticked me off because, to my way of thinking, he didn't.
And don't even get me started about how the story ended. Man, I was IRRITATED, in a "throw the book across the room" kind of way. That ending was totally unwarranted---guess what, this supernatural creature is a nasty jerk. The finish was total BS---I can't state how strongly I disagreed with some of the conclusions presented by the author. It annoyed me so much, in fact, that even though I had another book by the same author out from the library, I decided to return it unread. Wow, look at me here---I'm getting annoyed all over again just thinking about this book. I'll give it two stars because the quality of the writing is decent enough, but overall I disliked it intensely----Not recommended.
The cover is intriguing, I'll admit. While the scene it depicts does vary a bit from the specifics of this part of the book, it is very likely to get a young person's attention. But I think that any kid choosing this book based on the cover is going to be bitterly disappointed.... Oh, would you believe I only just now noticed the huge face on the cover? (It's one of those optical illusions---now you see it, now you don't.) And seeing this face again reminded me of how much I hate this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review