Antonia Bernardin

Skelig by David Almond was book number 26 in the failed 100 books in 2019 challenge!

I did read this when I was at school but I suspected that this had somewhat coloured my opinion of the book and since it kept coming up on Amazon as a suggested children’s classic book when I went on a spree of buying them, I decided to give it a second chance.

Now, first thing I will say is, this book is weird and made no more sense to me as an adult than it did when I was a kid. No wonder I grew to resent it as we poured over it’s many possible interpretations at school, mostly because there are sooo many. I still couldn’t tell you what creature Skelig is, perhaps he’s an angel, perhaps he’s a different form of man that envolved closer to birds, perhaps he’s a mix of both. The whole book is weaved with scientific, biblical and magical themes, so you can never be quite sure and perhaps that was done to create wonder in the reader, especially a child. Mostly, I read it driven by curiousity and ended it frustrated by not getting an answer, maybe my inner child is truly dead but to be honest I remember it annoying me just as much when I was younger.

In short, definitely a good read if you were a kid but not worth picking up again as an adult! Have a peak at the GoodReads page on the book if you like…

The next post will contain the last books I read in 2019!

I know, I can feel you trembling with excitement… if you are, don’t forget to give a wee little follow. If you are a writing or book blog I’ll defintely return the favour!