The Stone Book Quartet

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Is there anything to this book? - Rated
I'm giving my own opinion on (yet another) completely overrated book, which is beginning to be something of a personal cause.
Sure, the book can be touching, but, where on earth is the story? Amazon recommended this to me because I purchased 'The Dark Is Rising Sequence' by Susan Cooper, and of the two, the latter is so vastly superior as to render this superfluous to the collections of any reading enthusiast.
I'll try to sum up the story. Four children, each of different generations, and generally little vagrants at that, doing kids things, and then deciding what vocations they want to do when they're older. And, thats it!
Okay, so people will argue that its a charming depiction of four eras, but it takes more than that to hold my interest. Nor was I enraptured by the charm of the characters. In fact, some of the rhetoric had me positively stumped, not being from near Chorley in the 19th-early 20th century.
Perhaps I'm shallow, perhaps it is my own cynicism that turned me against books like this, but I want an actual story, not a narrative of a group of malcontents. My advice, steer clear or brace for disappointment.
But, hey, what do I know? You might like it. But if your expecting a thrilling childrens fantasy, forget it.

Delightful Evocation of Elemental Magic - Rated
The book is set in England in the 18th or 19th Century, where people are working by hand on various Elements (Stone, Wood, Metal etc,), and brings out the magic of the relationship between Man and the basic Natural elements that are available for him to fashion items from.

The Stone Mason who is building a Church Spire - which is more than just a set of blocks of stone (and has the most terrifying passage for someone like me who is scared of heights - I felt dizzy just reading it!). The Black Smith working with Fire and Metal, and so on...

Very realistic but very magical at the same time - shows what we have lost in our TV society, where everything comes shrink-wrapped and pre-prepared.

Astounding but not for children - Rated
Alan Garner is very much the precursor of the current cross-over authors like Pullman and Haddon, but is still mystifyingly pigeonholed as a children's writer. Yes the lovely Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Elidor and Moon of Gomrath are classic books for 9-11 year olds, but everything he has written since the spooky Owl Service has become more complex and elusive.

The Stone Book Quartet has to be his finest book and I would suspect possibly one of the major landmarks of 20th century literature. It is a book of awesome power and depth, particularly considering its brevity, but I cannot imagine the child that would read it willingly. This is adult fiction, superbly crafted, pin-point observation and deeply sophisticated. It examines the cumulative layers of human change over four generations of a cheshire family through an oblique lens. Garner's not a kind writer and unswervingly peels back the layers of frailty (and strength) in his characters. I love the Stone Book Quartet unreservedly for its poetic prose and its precision - but I would not expect a child to 'get' it - well maybe a 16/17 year old at a push. I tried to read it when I was about 14, and drifted away from it completely - fortunately I came back to it as an adult. I hope many others will.

Surprising! - Rated
I first found the book, believing it had a connection to the fantasy books I have read earlier. As I read it, though, I was not in the least disappointed!
Garner's eye for detail, lore and sentiments is as accurate as ever, bringing the four stories to life in a wonderful way.
The family, all working with stone, in one way or the other, telling their lives' stories.
It's amazing how close to fantasy he gets, while telling real stories, filling the pages with a rich lore surrounding to the lives of ordinary working people.
Take the sledge down the hill with the children, experience this great novel. I only wish I could read it again, for the first time!!

Gentle, compelling reading - Rated
Alan Garner, author of the classics 'The Weirdstone of Brisinghamen' and 'The Moon of Gomrath' among others, here writes four connected stories, chronicling significant events in the lives of various craftsmen and their families in Cheshire over several generations. The four short stories can each stand alone, but the recurrence of families, places and even people links them together, so that overall we are given a picture of change and continuity in a small community.

Crafts such as those of stone-workers and blacksmiths are described, as one generation passes on secrets and wisdom to the next. People's thoughts on God, war, industry and other social issues are dealt with in passing, as the characters go about their lives.

A gentle but profound book, chronicling a place and an era, and showing beautifully how children move into the adult world as they learn the wisdom and the skills of their elders.