Ésta es de ésas lectura que te encuentras por casualidad, te atraen sin una razón objetiva y decides leer, esperanzada de descubrir alguna pequeña joya narrativa.Al otro lado del espejo, ha resultado ser una novela MÁS JUSTITA QUE DECENTE, PERO CARENTE DE ESPÍRITU AL TRATAR UN GÉNERO LEÍDO Y VISTO EN INFINIDADES DE AUTORES CLÁSICOS, FILMS Y SERIES MAESTRAS (Christie, Conan Doyle, Wilder, Colombo..), con muy distintas lecturas y profundidad.Pero voy un poco más allá con su argumento y puntualizaciones para completar mi argumentación...Ingrid, una adolescente aspirante a actriz y admiradora de Holmes, y con unos padre muy ajetreados, decide marchar sola de la consulta dental hacia el entrenamiento de fútbol ya que sus padres parecen no presentarse a recogerla. Es en ése fortuito casual, que en su camino y estando perdida, se encuentra con una estrafalaria mujer apodada Katie, la chiflada. Ella le da asilo en su extraña y vieja casa mientras le llama a un taxi. Al día siguiente, en el periódico local ve en primera página el asesinato de la estrafalaria mujer y entonces repara en que dejó sus deportivas en aquella casa. ¿volverá Ingrid a el lugar del asesinato para recuperar sus bambas?, ¿ la policía sospechará de ella si no lo hace?, El asesinato acaeció ésa misma tarde o noche ¿Estaba el asesino en la casa mientras ella esperó al taxi?, ¿ lo vio o ella a él?...La narración de la obra es muy minuciosa y rica en detalles de nuestra protagonista y su entorno, presentándonos a muchos personajes y sus circunstancias ya en sus primeras páginas. PERO NO CAIGÁIS EN LA TRAMPA DE PENSAR QUE ES POR LIAR LA TRAMA E INDUCIR A PISTAS VARIADAS, SINO QUE SIMPLEMENTE ES DEBIDO AL SER EL INICIO DE UNA SAGA DE AVENTURAS DETECTIVESCAS. Así mismo EL CORTE de la misma ES TREMENDAMENTE CLÁSICO Y ESTRICTO DENTRO DE SU TEMÁTICA, con situaciones y escenas típicas cómo puede ser encontrarse por casualidad en el meollo del asunto y con el / la asesina a palmos de distancia pero ambos de manera invisible el uno para el otro, más casualidades que delatan posibles pistas, enfrentamiento verbal con el posible asesino/ a, y que Ingrid está afiliada a un compañía de teatro que promueve a sus integrantes de ‘máscaras de actuación’..en fin.. visto mil y una vecesPor otro lado, el fondo de la trama es muy americano, con una familia típica de los mejores telefilmes de sobremesa. De clase media –alta y que perdón, apesta por todos lados. Entro en detalles con los personajes..Ingrid (protagonista): una adolescente despierta y curiosa, en plena crisis existencial al sentirse incomprendida en medio de una familia tan idílica, que le exige demasiado, con un hermano egoísta y vanidoso, al cual se le respeta más que a ella L L . Admira profundamente a Holmes y siempre piensa en clave del personaje.Mark ( padre): Asesor financiero de un rico grupo familiar de la localidad. Estricto pero generoso con su hija, su ojo derechito. Para completar el cuadro, había sido ex presidente y ex capitán de los red raiders en su etapa universitaria. Un hombre 10, xd..Carol ( madre): agente inmobiliaria y ex secretaria de los red raiders ( allí se conocería con mark, vaya, dos destacados ejemplos en los estudios superiores, que unen sus fuerzas y tienen grandes hijos..ufff). Más estricta con su hija. Mamá ejemplo!Ty: Hijo mayor de la familia. Desordenado, caótico pero admirado por sus papis, pues es competitivo y un atleta con un futuro prometedor!!Abuelo de la familia: Una hombre rudo, hecho a sí mismo, con su finca americana y ex cambatiente de guerra, que disfruta contrariando a su hijo ( Mark) y enseñándole a tirar a Ingrid (Dios!)Joey: Compi de clases de Ingrid. Bonachón, enamorado secretamente de ella y casualmente hijo del comisario de policía de Echo Falls.Después viene otros secundarios con más o menos acierto en la fórmula. Algunos de ellos muy evidentes para el relato.A destacar, Nigel, la mascota forzada de la familia. La verdad es que me ha gustado más el perro que los otros personajes. Creo que lo dice todo.A pesar de no llegar a las trescientas páginas, es una lectura bastante pausada y sin casi vuelcos al corazón, CARENTE DE CHISPA PARA MOTIVARTE A SU RESOLUCIÓN, CON UNA TRAMA MUY TRILLADA Y DEMASIADO SIMPLE, PREDECIBLE ( SOBRETODO EL / LA ASESINA), CON UN FINAL MUY A LAS NOVELAS DE CHRISTIE PERO SIN SU ENREVERSAMIENTO. Ciertamente, se le otorga mucha importancia al entrono familiar de la protagonista y ya podéis ver que no son precisamente personajes carismáticos ni atractivos, son simples clichés. Además, Ingrid pasa gran parte del relato preocupada / paranoica acerca de las posibles sospechas que puedan verterse sobre ella, sin causa alguna. Y sin que el lector tenga sensación de agobio en ningún instante.Así pues, Al otro lado del espejo es una obra EXCESIVAMENTE SIMPLE, QUE AUNQUE SE DEJA LEER, NO APORTA NADA AL GÉNERO, CON UN ENGAÑOSO COMIENZO QUE PARECE PROMETEDOR PERO QUE EN SU RESOLUCIÓN QUEDA A MEDIO GAS, POR PREVISIBLE, TRILLADO Y SIMPLE.Recomendado tan sólo para los que no tengan mucho mundo en la novela negra.
Many months ago, I ordered some books online, and when the box arrived I discovered Peter Abrahams' Down the Rabbit Hole had mistakenly found its way into my box. Being the anarchic thief that I am, I decided to keep the book, tossing it on my tertiary to-read pile and promptly forgot about it. But last week I needed a book to read while doing the dishes, and noticed Down the Rabbit Hole sandwiched between A Game of Thrones and The Drawing of the Three, and since it fulfilled my doing-the-dishes requirements I decided to give it a go. My doing-the-dishes requirements are: 1. it has to be a book that can get wet, which means I can't care about it before reading; 2. it has to be something that doesn't require undivided attention (for instance, Gravity's Rainbow wouldn't qualify); & 3. it has to be a book I can toss aside without guilt (a complex internal system I can't explain here) if I'm not enjoying the experience.Down the Rabbit Hole fulfilled those three requirements, so I found myself reading this totally random book that's full of problems yet somehow manages to be a damn fine read. Problem 1. It is written in the third person, but just screams to be written in the first. Problem 2. Its reference to Alice in the title creates some reader expectations (at least in me) that were never fulfilled. Problem 3. The end made me feel like a lemming who suddenly realizes he's falling off the cliff. I was invested, I was excited, I was looking for more, and then it was over and the chapter to the next book was beginning. Not good. Problem 4. The Sherlock Holmes love fest was just too damn silly for me. Problem 5. Abrahams left too much hanging for future books, making me want to find out about Grampy's farm, how Joey and Ingrid develop as a couple, and all sorts of other things. Clever bastard! So, yeah, there were problems.But I actually DO want to read on. I really took to the characters in this book, and I actually came to love Ingrid. I even felt worried for her. Abrahams generated genuine emotion in me, and I'm impressed by that.Down the Rabbit Hole was a nice diversion while scrubbing pots and glasses and toddler bottles. I am guessing it would be equally welcome when taking a poop, showering, or even lying on a beach. Take your pick.
What do You think about Down The Rabbit Hole (2006)?
A fun, straightforward mystery and coming of age story. 4th grade through middle school. Ingrid wants to emulate Sherlock Holmes and when she stumbles upon a mystery in her town, she decides to solve it. There's certainly a dead body, but whatever the mystery is, it's entwined with something that happened 30 years ago. But what happened? How is the old Prescott mansion involved, or the current Prescott Players and their presentation of Alice in Wonderland? Ingrid will figure it out.Along the way we see Ingrid's struggle to balance solving the mystery with rehearsals, soccer, algebra, and family, her first budding romance, her grandfather's fight against greedy land developers, and her brother's own growing up issues.
—M.
My opinion of children's mysteries hinges a lot upon one issue: how are the authoritarian figures in the child detective's life gotten rid of so that aforementioned child detective can go on a Grand and Dangerous adventures? This may seem trite, but boy oh boy, does it make a difference.Authors seem to go about this in several different ways. There's always the old "I lost my cat" routine, ala Encyclopedia Brown. These neighborhood mysteries tend to be much tamer, with more brainwork and less action. Or, the child detective can sneak around behind his or her parent's back, which usually includes a fair amount of lying and deceit, and thus runs the risk of making the character unlikeable. Or, the author can always orphan the poor child, or grace him or her with parents who don't seem to mind if their child gets kidnapped once or twice a week. For a rousing mystery, I personally prefer orphaning and disinterested parents. Not ideal, but I'm not sure what the right solution is. I've read very few authors who excelled at getting parents out of the way by other methods.So what does Peter Abrahams do with his detective? Ingrid turns out to be a detective of the lying, sneaking variety, and it just doesn't work for me. Abrahams has to work hard to justify her actions. Why doesn't she go to the police? Well, because she's afraid of getting in trouble, and eventually because she doesn't want to disappoint everyone she knows with her various crimes committed in pursuit of the mystery. That works up to a point, but eventually it becomes old. Ingrid has to know that at some point all her "crimes" will be uncovered--whether or not she solves the case on her own--and it becomes ridiculous for her not to take her mystery to the police. To put it plainly, she completely lost my sympathy. There's a fine line between a plucky detective and an annoying reckless one.Although I don't think Abrahams did very well with this issue, he did plenty of other things right. There is much excitement to be had--if you can get past the aspect of the book I've mentioned--and it is decently written on the whole.
—Jo
I think I actually plowed through this book faster than a Harry Potter. I'm really hoping, since "An Echos Falls Mystery" is in the title...maybe that means more will be forthcoming. Our little sleuth, Ingrid Levin-Hill, is a real treat. And if she can come out as well as she did while still in the midst of a lot of teenage craziness (you know, those ideas that should never work, but somehow you manage to get out the other side anyway), by the time she hits her 20's she could be giving her idol Sherlock Homes a run for his money.While the jacket somehow led me to believe this story would be another kind of twisted Alice in Wonderland, that being the next play Ingrid was to star in, the Alice part actually had very little to do with it. But that was fine with me. There was indeed enough madness going on in the plain old world. In fact, my only problem with this book was one sentence somewhere deep into it where the tense was wrong, and I don't even know why my brain picked up on it. Otherwise, solid story, very quick pace, entirely entertaining. As a first foray into writing for Young Adults, this was an awesome entry, and I'm sure any avid Abrahams readers would be just as pleased with this book as with his others.
—Jaemi
