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Liked It “This is an amazing book and is really one of my favriots and well worth the read. =D” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Clunkily narrated retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamilin set in medieval Germany. Salz is a 12 year old boy with cystic fibrosis, and the townspeople are maddened, not by rats somuch as by a grain fungus (ergot) that gives them horrific physical ailments and LSD halluncinations. So this is making...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“A story about the Pied Piper told from the point of view of a child with Cystic Fibrosis. This is a very dark story to match a dark period in history. ”
Michelle J wrote this review yesterday. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This is an amazing book and is really one of my favriots and well worth the read. =D”
Kay-Lin wrote this review Sunday, March 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This book is a definite quick read. I enjoyed the story, but I was left feeling like I wanted more information about Salz and his coven. I felt like the back story behind the coven was dropped somewhere before the ending of the Pied Piper story. However, books should leave you wanting more, right? So, I'd like to read another book about this time period to fill in the gaps about Medieval Germany, the crusades, and such.”
Debbie wrote this review Tuesday, February 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Clunkily narrated retelling of The Pied Piper of Hamilin set in medieval Germany. Salz is a 12 year old boy with cystic fibrosis, and the townspeople are maddened, not by rats somuch as by a grain fungus (ergot) that gives them horrific physical ailments and LSD halluncinations. So this is making a magical story into a naturalistic one. She goes way too far. The end note pedantically explains the grain fungus. ”
Beverly N wrote this review Saturday, March 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Some of this book was really hard to follow with all the characters (I'm still not sure how many brothers he had) and a couple of different priests (which one was his teacher?) and an assortment of childhood friends, coven members (apparently Salz is a warlock in training), and townspeople. The cast might have been a little bit too big.
BookSnake wrote this review Saturday, September 20 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
But setting that aside, there were several things about the story that were really haunting. Salz's description of his little sisters and his sadness at losing them - one to death (cystic fibrosis) at age 4 and the others sold by their father into slavery at ages 3 and 6 after the death of their mother - is heartbreaking. His guilt for not being able to help his sisters and his grief for them is almost overwhelming and is the most compelling aspect of his character. The introduction midway through the book of a small orphan girl gives him a chance to redeem some of his guilt and loss.
The description of the coven's increasingly desperate efforts to end the sickness is gripping. You know at any moment the community will turn on them as witches, so their desperation has multiple facets!
The scenes were Salz's family is gripped by the illness were gripping also. You feel Salz's horror right along with him.
The author hints at the real cause of the plague several times in the book, but the hints are subtle enough for the reader to figure it out on his own. With such a natural explanation for the events. It seems a little strange to have the Pied Piper appear and magically draw away both rats and children from the village. Still, the images are vividly portrayed.”“"Breath", by Donna Jo Napoli, is the story of a 12 year old medieval boy with cystic fibrosis named Salz (meaning "salt", a nickname referring to the salty sweat of people with cystic fibrosis).
Coffee and a book wrote this review Tuesday, September 16 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
In the course of the story, we learn about his participation in the strange practices of the village coven, his difficult position within his own family and the horrific ailment that is afflicting every person except for him and the village preschoolers. Napoli also manages to throw the Pied Piper of Hamlin into the mix.
There was a lot going on in this book and Napoli is an experienced writer who knows how to pace a story to keep the reader interested.
This book will appeal most to readers who enjoy historical fiction, although it might, surpisingly, appeal to the horror crowd too. As the villagers sink towards death from ergot poisoning, caused by a toxic mold that has been growing on their grain, Napoli spares no detail about the course of the disease. We are treated to descriptions of self-injurious madness as well as the gangrenous effects of ergot, which cause extremities to literally fall off. This is not a book for the faint-of-heart.
As the reader struggles to understand the medical implications of ergot poisoning, we are also confronted with Salz's cystic fibrosis, with an entirely different set of symptoms. Napoli's experience as an author saves the book from careening in more directions than the reader can comfortably follow, but at times, you may feel that it's a close call.”
“I actually enjoyed this book a lot. A lot of Donna Jo Napoli's other books are a better read, however.”
millicent_rox wrote this review Friday, May 11 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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