Is taking me ages to read.  It’s 260 pages long and I’m 188 pages into it and I started it Tuesday the 12th of June.  All I’ve heard is how good the book is, and with the movie coming out I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

But I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m too old for this book.  Either the kid in me has shrivelled up and died (which I don’t believe for a moment considering the childish thrill I got watching the last 10 minutes of Utopia) or that I should have read the book when I was 15 and when I would have appreciated all the magical gaiety of it all.

 
It is a well written book. But it moves at a snails pace and everything is described as gay – when gay meant something else in 1973. It also has this whole Christmas thing going on which rebounds off my thick Jewish hide.
 
Will is an OK character. I would have related to him well 17 years ago. But now I think of him as a wet blanket. Yeah, he grows as the book develops, taking on his responsibility as an Old One, but there are still moments when I want to kick him in the nuts. Is that bad?
 
And Will’s innocence feeds into the 1970’s sensibilities of the novel. Everyone is so nice, even the Rider doesn’t seem to be that bad of a chap. Yeah, he’s evil. But up to the point I’ve read all he’s done is thrown around the odd veiled threat. Today, the rider would kill off Will’s family one by one, forcing the young boy to fight him before he’s found all 6 signs. But maybe that’s the violent cynic in me.
 
The one thing I do like is the wonderfully cold atmosphere. With the snow falling you do feel the Dark encroaching.
 
I really missed the boat on this book, which is a shame because I can appreciate why it’s a real classic.
 
Still I’ll go see the film with interest – mostly because it’s got Eccles in it.