The Thief of Always: A Fable

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I gave it to HarperCollins and said, ‘I realize you’re taking a huge risk with this, because here’s a children’s book coming from Clive Barker, and maybe nobody will buy it! So I’ll sell it to you for a dollar.’ Actually, they ended up giving me a silver dollar for it. And I did the illustrations and the thing went from there. It has since turned out to be a very successful book. It’s in a lot of languages around the world and it’s being taught in a lot of schools now, which is fun. I think we’re at 1.5 million copies in print in America, so it wasn’t bad for a book that cost them a dollar. You might be reading this thinking, “Hey, that plot sounds familiar.” Indeed, the plot has superficial parallels to Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, which came out ten years later. However, while Coraline proffers more traditional and direct morals such as valuing what you have and being brave, The Thief of Always gets more philosophical, teaching us that facing the darkness within ourselves leads to personal growth, and that we should make the most of our time while we have it.

It was quietly satisfying to read that "Evil, however powerful it seemed, could be undone by its own appetite." three months of my time to do a comic, which is the time it took to write Thief of Always. Which do I think I should be doing; writing Year Outside, Hour Inside: For every day spent at Holiday House, a whole year passes in the real world. Right Behind Me: After Hood is seemingly defeated, Rictus reveals that he had secretly stolen some of Hood's power for himself. But then a hand reaches out of the ruins of the House and grabs him... Mrs. Griffin' – The housekeeper, and a fantastic cook. She has been there longer than anyone and seems to know more than she lets on.Title Drop: In a "Not So Different" Remark, "Vampire King" Hood tells Harvey he is a "Thief of Always" just like him. to HarperCollins and said, 'I realise you're taking a huge risk with this, because here's a children's book coming from Clive Barker, and One night Jive, Rictus’s brother, comes to visit and tells Harvey he needs to scare Wendell. He brings Harvey to the roof and has his sister, Marr, change him into a terrifying vampire bat. Harvey flies off the roof, sending Wendell running for the House. Wendell begs for his life and tells the “creature” to eat a boy named Harvey instead. Harvey is hurt by this betrayal but decides he won’t tell Wendell it was him.

So, when I reviewed Coraline, I mentioned that, in terms of "Young-person-casts-off-illusions-and-outwits-a-vastly-more-powerful-otherworldly-entity-and-comes-to-appreciate-the-realities-of-life" stories, I thought this book was vastly superior. So I jumped onto Bookmooch to see if anyone had a copy. Lo and behold, a nice person in Israel was giving his copy away, so I snagged it. And I stand by my judgment. For the 10-year-old who reads Thief of Always, it is, I think, an adventure primarily. It is about a child who has time stolen from him I loved the warmth of Harvey's greeting when he recognizes a face that he knew "better than any on earth. It was the first face he'd ever loved. It was his mother."

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Rictus stole a bit of Hood's magic as insurance. However, he gloats about this right on top of the ruins, which promptly reform into Hood's hand, and forces him to release the magic, leading to Hood's One-Winged Angel form. Harvey and his friends’ experiences ultimately teach them about gratitude, leaving them with the wisdom to respect their parents and their real lives. Harvey must learn the hard way that actions, including wishes, have consequences and that sometimes it’s better to simply be grateful for what one has instead of focusing on what one could have. Questioning Others and Ourselves I still digress. The book itself has its flaws, though many of these can be argued are results of the book being aimed at children. The main character, Harvey, has really nothing in the way of a personality, beyond being very willful. This makes him a good contrast to the other personalities in the book (much better examined/created) but a little dull and hard to particularly care about. The vague semblance of quasi-romance (just wanted to say that) between Harvey and Lulu was confusing and a felt a bit unnecessary or maybe just underdeveloped. It seemed like an angle that Barker changed his mind about exploring somewhere midway through writing the book, but felt was important enough to keep through to the end. Maybe he thought a ten year old (again, keeping with the protagonist) boy would be bored by a bit of romance. Or at least mystified and unable to relate. Who knows. The writing itself is quite good, however, especially compared to the first two chapters of Coraline that I google booksed to write this review with. Barker knows how to put together flow and express and idea in metaphor and unconventionality. Never does this book come across as insulting the reader's intelligence, something that I value in a book aimed at ten year old boys. Gaiman writes Coraline like a stilted pre-teen forced to write a short story, which is odd because he's usually a pretty decent writer. My best bet is that he fell apart when trying to write for a younger audience, unlike Barker here.

Lotus-Eater Machine: The House functions as one. Hood uses illusions and magic to keep children happy, making them want to stay. One day, as Harvey is contemplating just how boring his life is, a man named Rictus appears to him and offers him the opportunity to travel somewhere exciting, away from his parents and teachers and school, a place called the Holiday House, where every day brings something to celebrate. Barker has a keen interest in movie production, although his films have received mixed receptions. He wrote the screenplays for Underworld (aka Transmutations – 1985) and Rawhead Rex (1986), both directed by George Pavlou. Displeased by how his material was handled, he moved to directing with Hellraiser (1987), based on his novella The Hellbound Heart. His early movies, the shorts The Forbidden and Salome, are experimental art movies with surrealist elements, which have been re-released together to moderate critical acclaim. After his film Nightbreed (Cabal), which was widely considered to be a flop, Barker returned to write and direct Lord of Illusions. Barker was an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which received major critical acclaim. Barker absolutely nailed that tone. I loved the progression of Harvey's story, the way he began to piece together that all wasn't as it appeared at the Holiday House.Besides Harvey the other characters add their own style. Little Wendell is a bit more mischievous but enjoyable. The housekeeper Mrs. Griffin plays a big part and at times I wasn't sure what to make of her. All villains would frighten anyone no matter how old if they were encountered - they are obviously Barker's creations.