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Read The Ogre Downstairs (2015)

The Ogre Downstairs (2015)

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Rating
3.84 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
0007154690 (ISBN13: 9780007154692)
Language
English
Publisher
harpercollins

The Ogre Downstairs (2015) - Plot & Excerpts

Casper, Johnny, and Gwinny are quite unhappy when their mother marries Jack, whose dour nature and heavy handed approach to discipline lead them to dub him The Ogre. Adding to their unhappiness are their two new stepbrothers, Malcolm and Douglas, who are every bit as unappealing as The Ogre, albeit in different ways. When Jack gives each group of children a chemistry set, everyone is surprised, but no one expects magical results. However, they soon discover that some combinations of ingredients lead to such fantastic results as being literally lighter than air ... or to having inanimate objects come to life. This leads not only to great fun but opens the door to greater understanding between the children as their magical misadventures force them out of their comfortable roles of resenting others who they have not made any attempt to understand.As with many of the books written for younger readers, this one was less interesting to me than other Wynne Jones wrote. However, also as with others of this stripe, anything by this author winds up being compelling, or such is my experience. If the reader hangs on until the last fourth of the book, the action ratchets up and the book becomes quite compelling. I would have liked to see the Ogre's character developed more, as well as his relationship with Sally. We are never shown a reason for her to be so fond of him, at least from the children's point of view. That is what keeps this book from being better than it is. However, it does end on a note of new beginnings and the beginning of everyone's attempt to understand each other better is probably the reason these characters are left fairly undeveloped.I especially enjoyed the toffee bars, the pipe, and the dust bunnies. Confused? Read the book and you'll know what I'm talking about.

I was a bit disappointed by the book. Another author mentioned this book on her blog as one of the funniest things she'd ever read and an old favourite - so I gave it a go. Unfortunately, I didn't find it that funny. It's quite a sweet story about a group of children and a magical chemistry set. A mum of three has recently remarried to a man her children think of as the Ogre, who has two children of his own. The children hate each other and all hate the Ogre. The Ogre, in an attempt to be nice, buys two fo the kids a chemistry set which has some various strange items in it. Experimenting with the chemicals, the children end up with various concoctions which let them fly, bring inanimate objects to life, swap bodies or turn invisible. Everything they do just seems to bring them in more and more trouble with the Ogre - but helps them understand their new step-siblings. It's quite nice to watch the friendship develop between the children as they're forced to rely on each other to get out of trouble. Also, as the story develops, I started to feel more and more for the Ogre who had to put up with it all. I liked the story and characters as I got into it but struggled at first with sympathising with the protagonists. It's an enjoyable book for younger readers but not one of my favourites. It also feels a bit dated - with the children using record players as such.

What do You think about The Ogre Downstairs (2015)?

I think this was one of the most fun 'kid gets his hands on magic toys' tale I have read. It reminded me of E. Nesbit's 'Five Children and It' but far less preachy feeling. This book was more like kids dealing with each other, (and being genuinely mean in their rivalry at first). It was interlining to watch their ways of cleaning up the chaos caused by the magic (imagine trying to pull your flying sister down from the ceiling with a mop!) and it was charming to see how they grew through the book from heartless rivals to genuinely caring for and protecting one another. Usually stories limit themselves to one thing, like invisibility or live toys, or switching bodies, or flying, but I found it pretty impressive that Diana was able to stick it all together in one book. Also, she makes a lot of it feel out of control and accidental and dangerously close to mishap, which is a nice change from all this books where the magic just conveniently works out just so...The main complaint I have with this book is the last amount of magic was never really explained. (I think Diana Wynne Jones likes to do this for some reason.) Otherwise I thought this was a pretty good book for the magic chemistry set primise.
—Katharine

The story of a gaggle of youngsters who can't stand their overbearing step-father and new step-brothers. They're given a chemistry set to bribe them into good behavior, but quickly discover that it can actually be used to make magic potions. The potions get them into ever more convoluted schemes and increasing amounts of trouble, until their dysfunctional household finally reaches a crisis point. This is a really charming story, filled with little touches of 1970s Britain that I found quaint and sweet. Each of the children has a distinct and memorable personality, and the uses to which they put their magic are both imaginative and relatable (who wouldn't make their dolls come to life?). I was truthfully a bit troubled by (view spoiler)[how easily the step-father's constant yelling and intermittent hitting were explained away, but I think this is a generational divide rather than a narrative misstep. (hide spoiler)]
—Wealhtheow

This riff on "Jack and the Beanstalk" is one of Diana Wynne Jones' best standalone fantasy titles. The twists come from the fact that the character of the giant (here nicknamed the Ogre) is "downstairs" and not up the sky as in the fairytale, and that it's the Ogre whose name is Jack and not the hero of the tale. All the DWJ features are there: the fun with words (the compounds in the magic chemistry sets have abbreviations similar to homeopathic rememdies), the sly Arthurian allusions (the most obvious being the girl Gwinny: Guinevere in British folklore was sometimes described as a giant's daughter) and, not least, the convoluted plot in a claustrophobic setting. What makes the story particularly attractive is the conflict resolutions that emerge from the initially strained sibling relationships, combined with the increasingly sympathetic description of the Ogre as an ordinary adult with human failings rather than the mere monster of one's nightmares. And, of course, anybody who's ever had a flying dream will recognise how it feels to be the Ogre's children and stepchildren in the opening chapters.
—Chris

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