Ratsmagic

by Christopher Logue, Wayne Anderson (Illustrator)

Ratsmagic

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Christopher Logue, CBE was an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival. He also wrote for the theatre and cinema as well as acting in a number of films. His two screenplays are Savage Messiah and The End of Arthur's Marriage. He was also a long-term contributor to Private Eye magazine, as well as writing for the Merlin literary journal of Alexander Trocchi. He won the 2005 Whitbread Poetry Award for Cold Calls.

His early popularity was marked by the release of a loose adaptation of Pablo Neruda's "Twenty Love Poems", later released as an extended play recording, "Red Bird: Jazz and Poetry", backed by a Jazz group led by Tony Kinsey.

One of his poems, "Be Not Too Hard" was set to music by Donovan Leach, and made popular by Joan Baez, from her 1967 album "Joan". Donovan's version appeared in the film "Poor Cow"(1967).

His major poetical work was an ongoing project to render Homer's Iliad into a modernist idiom. This work is published in a number of small books, usually equating to two or three books of the original text. (The volume entitled Homer: War Music was shortlisted for the 2002 International Griffin Poetry Prize.) He also published an autobiography called Prince Charming (1999).

His lines tend to be short, pithy and frequently political, as in Song of Autobiography:

"I, Christopher Logue, was baptized the year
Many thousands of Englishmen
Fists clenched, their bellies empty,
Walked day and night on the capital city."

He wrote the couplet that is sung at the beginning and end of the 1965 film A High Wind in Jamaica, the screenplay for Savage Messiah (1972), a television version of Antigone (1962), and a short play for the TV series The Wednesday Play titled The End of Arthur's Marriage (1965).

He also appeared in a number of films as an actor, most notably as Cardinal Richelieu in Ken Russell's 1971 film The Devils and as the spaghetti-eating fanatic in Terry Gilliam's 1977 film Jabberwocky.

Logue wrote for the Olympia Press under the pseudonym, Count Palmiro Vicarion, including a pornographic novel, Lust.

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source: wikipedia.org

Reviews

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Outstanding children’s book, if permanent scarring and lifelong nightmares are your ideas of formative childhood experiences. I really must track down the relative that gave this to me at a tender age, and appropriately thank them.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

This rather surreal picture-book, first published in Britain in 1976, and here in the USA in 1979, seems like more of a vehicle for Wayne Anderson's artwork (he alone is credited on the front cover, although he is not the author), rather than an actual storybook. The tale itself - all about Bluebird and her long-looked-for egg, which all the residents of the Valley of Peace expect to be "the most marvellous Egg ever laid;" her kidnapping by the evil Witch Dole, who lived inside The Dragon of Tears, underneath The Lake of Sadness, deep in The Forest of Gloom; and her rescue (along with the Queen of Midnight) by Rat, with his magic stick - felt rather convoluted to me, and more than a little bit loopy, in that distinctly 1970s way.

Still, the illustrations themselves are quite interesting, particularly for those Wayne Anderson fans (like myself) who have enjoyed his work in other volumes, from Peter Dickinson's The Flight of Dragons , to Philippa Pearce's The Squirrel Wife (the newer edition). Full-page plates, in sepia-tone colors, and smaller black-and-white inset illustrations, all add to the magic. I think my favorite "portrait" was of Witch Dole, poised on her broomstick, with her snake-encircled hat on, and her black cat perched on her shoulder. Definitely one I would recommend primarily for the artwork!

[Janne Uusitalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The five stars are not because of the plot but for the illustration. This book used to scare me as a kid and fascinate all at the same time. Didn't like the storyline as a child either, but rather looked at the pictures only and tried to duplicate the pictures, which are fantastic indeed and rather "gothic".

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books as a child, the illustrations are amazing!

[Evelyn Tan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book harboured great potential as the illustrations were so beautiful and poetic. A few pages into the story, my three kids and I were pretty lost. There was a story, but also a huge disconnect. The sentences were not cohesive and my son mentioned that he didn't understand a page of it. It is a little dark and the fact that one of the fairies had nipples (pointed out by my daughter, haha). It's like you get the story, but maybe, maybe not.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still have the copy of this I received for a birthday some 40-mumble years ago. It's stunningly beautiful though the story is pretty dark for a children's book. Very unique art style.