Soo sad. Really want to read this yet the only place selling it has used copys for over a hundred pounds!!!! The only chance I have of getting this is if I become very rich. Well Lottery here I come. ******Update******Thank goodness for the internet. While searching for information on this book I came across a site that not only told me a bit about the book but also allowed me to read the whole book for free! I usually don’t agree with these sorts of sites as I know most authors struggle making money from their books and these sites aren’t exactly helping. This case though I’ll make an exception seeing as it was based on a book that would set me back over a hundred pounds if I decided to buy it. Unable to believe my luck-not to mention the fact I worried I wouldn’t be able to find the site again-I was determined to read the whole book that night. Thankfully it wasn’t a great long book and by midnight I was finished so what did I think of it?I’ll start with the bad points seeing as there are only a few small ones. First thing was something that I thought personally and I don’t know if anyone else thought it or not but here, there were parts that seemed to me to be copied straight from movie to book with no depth added in almost like he was just describing what he saw on the screen if you get what I mean. These parts were rare though but they were there and I couldn’t help but feel he may have gotten a little lazy at these parts. Secondly there were spelling mistakes, not a lot, though the ones I found where the sort that really stuck out at you in an obvious way that would distract me from my reading but then that might have been the sites fault rather than the authors (most likely typed straight from book to site or something).Finally there were descriptions used at some parts that had I not watched the movie I would have had no idea what he was on about. Then again some of the characters are hard to describe. Good points...well there’s a lot. I love the depth I get in the characters for I get to see inside their thoughts and see things through their eyes something which movies-no matter how good the actors or directors are-are unable to do. I loved how the book seemed to be more mature than the movie and all those tiny added scenes-no matter how small they were-were a wonderful bonus which I enjoyed greatly. The descriptions and use of words were wonderful and the ending though sad from the point of view of us romantic fans (though yes I do understand what with the age difference, some boundaries should never be crossed.) was still perfect and I think any other ending wouldn’t have worked. Though the book is based on a girl trying to get her brother back from a magical yet scary world I feel the real message to the book is about growing up and maturing as Sarah does. It’s about understanding that life isn’t fair and that we can’t live it forever in a safety blanket but at some point we have to accept the unfairness of it all and prepare ourselves to walk it alone for though we have our friends and family to help us when it comes to choices, hard decisions and dead ends we need to learn how to conquer them ourselves. It also asks us what is more important in our lives, the things we own or the people we know and love? Well that’s what I got from it anyway. A beautifully written book based on a wonderful movie and if I ever become rich it is the first thing I’m buying with my money.
So a GoodReads friend told me a few months ago they were re-releasing The Labyrinth. I couldn't believe it. After finding out years ago it was out of print, searching, finding it for hundreds of dollars I had given up the hope of reading it. I finally got it and I was flying high on new book happies for daysExcuse my gushing but here we go.David Bowe is the Labyrinth to meI lived on the songs from the movie for months and still adore them today.Happy times.Now the book.With the extras included in this new edition I learned that the movie was not based on the book, but the book was written as a companion to the movie. It is so beautifully similar to the movie. The characters are the same and you get a wonderful peek into their heads as they go about the adventure. For those of you sadly unfamiliar here is a little into to them:David Bowie um Goblin KingHe has taken her baby brother (lesson one: be careful what you wish for). 'Forget about the baby' he tells her but when she insists she must have him back, Jareth generously gives her 13 hours to find the castle beyond the Goblin city. This is of course at the center of a Labyrinth.HoggleOur first character met on our journey. She hasn't even gotten into the Labyrinth and she is learning lesson two: Not everything is as it seems. I love the added dialogue and getting to know Hoggle a little better.LudoAfter getting lost some more and meeting a few more challenges Sarah is lucky enough to meet sweet Ludo. With a heart as big and fluffy as himself he is so easy to fall in love with. Ludo....friend.Sir DidymusIn the Bog of Eternal Stench she meets an unlikely ally. A knight (self proclaimed? probably) with a keen sense of....smell? Well that is questionable but he is brave and fast and well..a bit single minded. He is eager to prove himself and eagerly (after some quick moves) jumps in with her band of travelers. The FireysI throw the Fireys in, not because they are important characters, but because they are so much fun. I still listen to their song when I am feeling down. Don't judge.Full of Life lessons:Sarah's favorite thing to say"Its not fair!"I adore when Jereth cooly statesThis is such an amazing coming of age story disguised as a simple fun (delightfully dark) movie/book. I really got lost with Sarah when she found the goblins with the 'junk' on their backs.She felt everything that used to be so very important to her weighing her down. She began to realize that it was all just junk, that the room that she treasured had become her jail and that she was missing out on the things that truly mattered in life.But she starts to grow up. It sounds so Disney but she truly begins to understand life it not fair, you have to watch what you say to people, DON'T take things for granted and sometimes the way forward is the way back.So she makes friends. She learns lessons and has the best line of all time:I really could go on but you must watch the movie and read the book or read the book and watch the movie.
Note: the Goodreads summary calls this a prequel, but it's just a novelization.After years of sighing at the $40+ copies of the out-of-print Labyrinth novelization, I was thrilled to hear about the newly released hardcover edition (for just $20!). And for the most part, it was awesome! A.C.H. Smith did a fine job fleshing out the story with Sarah’s thought processes and evolving ability to think from other people’s points of view instead of just her own.What I feel more uncomfortable about is the way Smith portrayed the Fireys. With lines like, “Well, that ain’t no problem”… and “Holy Mo!”… and “Why, shoot. We ain’t that wild”… and “Ain’t we a-showin’ you a good time?”… is anyone else reminded a bit of the Dumbo crows? In the movie, the Fireys were fun dancing Muppets, but in the book they’re portrayed as uneducated hooligans – “just crazy good-timers, out of their skulls.”One other thing I didn’t like was the lesson Sarah took from the ballroom scene – that “[s]omehow, it had all been her fault. Those men who pawed her, Jareth trying so rudely to force a kiss upon her—had she been truly innocent, they would not have behaved like that toward her, would they?” Sure, blame the victim of sexual harassment, because she must’ve somehow deserved it.Other than those two problems, the book stands pretty well by itself as a fairy tale coming-of-age quest. And after the story itself, we get to see some of Brian Froud’s goblin illustrations and bits of Jim Henson’s journal, where he plotted his initial concepts for the movie – like a scene he imagined with a king and jester trapped in a cage, held by a “large Buddha type figure.” How neat would that have been?
—Nerija
First up - I have an aversion to 'movie novelizations.' I tend to think that a story is either best told on screen or on page and in general the best way to go is to make movies based on books. (while this is TV, I think 'Bones' the books of the TV series takes the cake as a book based on a TV series based on a book/author)Anyway, just explaining why I was hesitant to read this one. The person who recommended it promised a proper novel, not just a written description of what happened in the movie.It was.I loved the film, which made this book enjoyable, the archived artwork was also a bonus. I didn't much care for the notes at the end as they were A. unreadable and B. clearly someone's personal notes which perhaps interesting one would need to be Henderson himself to fully understand what he was saying.In essence though this book adds little to the film, aside from cutting out the songs and the surrealist scenes working quite well on page, I essentially felt like I was reading a summary of the movie. I guess there is an awkward pressure not to change anything, yet the book served as evidence that much of the brilliance of the film was in the visual effects.It's a relatively quick read and I don't regret it, but I figure this piece is mostly valuable for those wanting a nostalgia trip, rather than anyone unfamiliar with the film.
—T. Edmund
Eh, it was okay. I didn't feel like Sarah actually grew as a character by the end of the book. They talk about her being more mature now but didn't really show it. I also felt like the sub-plot about her mother was dropped without a real resolution. Sarah takes down the posters about her mother's performances but I still don't understand why. As much as I love the movie, I think the screenplay also suffers from this. Sarah doesn't really grow, she just stops saying, "it's not fair!" but I don't feel like she actually matures. Reading about the constant revisions to the script by different authors makes sense why her character arc seems so disjointed. I also felt like the book didn't really enhance the story behind the movie like the "Dark Crystal" did. I was hoping for more backstory on Jareth or a better look into his motivation. Is he really attracted to Sarah or does he merely want to control her like he controls everything else in the Labyrinth?Perhaps I'm just looking for rules in a world where there are no rules, just Jareth's whims.
—Vanessa
