The Game

Definitely lesser-Diana Wynne Jones. The Game seems to have as plot as your average younger-skewing DWJ book except it’s about a hundred pages shorter, which really leaves out all the characterization and the slow build-up (so basically, arguably all the best parts of her work*) that usually form the filling of her opening-premise-and-crazy-explain-y-ending-with-several-identity-reversals-sandwich. The result is just so bland and oddly clipped that it feels like she found she didn’t really like the story as she was working it and just bundled up what she already had to move on to the next idea. It’s not totally without merit, however. I do really love how she describes the “mythosphere”, where all the stories people tell show more intermingle on a different plane. All the major types of stories reside nearby each other and recurrent themes and motifs and small changes are visible as crossing threads. It’s a mythologists dream come true!:

“This is the mythosphere. It's made up of all the stories, theories and beliefs, legends, myths and hopes, that are generated here on Earth. As you can see, it's constantly growing and moving as people invent new tales to tell or find new things to believe. The older strands move out to become these spirals, where things tend to become quite crude and dangerous. They've hardened off, you see.”

*It’s the characters and build-up that I think make a good DWJ novel. If the madcap ending actually makes sense and finalizes the concept of the whole book into something actually thought-provoking, now that’s a great one. show less

Thoroughly enjoyable fantasy romp from the mistress. Jones doesn’t subvert conventions, either: she just ignores them. Anything can happen, and her stories can go anywhere, and the whole solar system and the entire world of myth and magic are the playground in this novella.

This delightful little novel takes the reader on a rompt through Greek mythology in the form of a ridiculous family feud. Jones draws on constellations and planets to give life to an exuberant family who live under the thumb of Uncle Jolyon (Jupter's human-esque form) until a little upstart, Hayley )yes, the comet) rebels and put the old man back into his celestial place.

The myths that Jones draws on are some of the lesser known Greek myths, but reader don't need to have an in depth knowledge to enjoy little Hayley's antics and her uncle's mad dash to keep his power.

The concept of the mythosphere is a wonderful thing, typical of Diana Wynne Jones and full of creative potential. It is the place we go to in dreams, the realm of the Collective Unconscious, the landscape where mythical archetypes roam and Jungian symbols are to be encountered, collected and treasured. Hayley gets drawn into the mythosphere when she is sent by her grandparents to stay with relatives in Ireland, who have invented a pastime called the Game where they have to fetch back mythical objects against the clock. However, there are repercussions which not only put her in danger but also reveal who she really is and the nature of her large extended family.

Wonderful as the the concept is, and much as it saddens me to say it, this is show more not the most successful of Jones' novellas. There is a haunting quality to many of the characters but I never quite lose the feeling that they are mere personifications of abstract notions. The once novel but now ancient idea espoused by the 4th-century Euhemerus that the gods were merely deified human beings has been turned on its head here (not for the first time in her books), as spelt out by a final note. Just as, say, in 16th- and 17th-century masques Greek and Roman gods and goddesses were portrayed as fickle humans acting pretty much arbitrarily, so do Jones' characters behave contrary to their presumed elevated and cosmic statuses, acting out personal whims and displaying petty feelings about each other. As with many of the author's other novels humour and wit and insight and intricate plotting are all present in abundance, but here the final outcome is rather a let-down in terms of drama and consequence. In particular, the transference of Mediterranean deities to two Atlantic isles, thereby transforming them into petit bourgeoisie, overly diminishes them for no apparent reason.

This is not to say that this is a poor book: Jones seems never able not to draw you into her storytelling by combining familiar everyday situations with fairytale motifs, mixing the new with the old. However, with The Game she has fallen a little short of her usual high standards and our voracious expectations, to my disappointment.

http://calmgrove.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/gam/ show less

Consider this Jones' version of a Strindberg dream play. It begins like many YA novels with a young orphaned girl, Hayley, who has been living with a mean aunt. The story begins when she is sent away to live with another set of aunts. The new house is full of precocious children, and bits of magic enter the scene. So far, typical. Then Hayley plays the Game and the mode of the story changes completely. Where the Game takes people, who the aunts are, and who Hayley is, is gradually revealed but I won't say more. I do wonder what the target audience made of this though.

It's Diana Wynne Jones. Of course it's recommended.

Diana Wynne Jones on a bad day is still a wonderful treat - and this is not a bad day!
This is a delightful romp through mythology, touching stories from many different eras and traditions, but with a modern twist - the office work scene was hilarious. This reminded me quite a bit of The Eight Days of Luke, it had a similar sense of characters speeding down inevitable paths, yet doing things because they choose to, not because they are destined to. There are so many lovely touches, but they are difficult to describe without spoiling the story. The only off note was the ending, which while it resolved the story, it seemed a little rushed and abrupt emotionally.

Raised by her grandparents since she was a baby, when her parents mysteriously went missing, Hayley is homeschooled, and kept away from other children. When she does something to upset her grandmother she is sent to her aunts in Ireland, where she discovers to her surprise that she has a very large extended family she knew nothing about. As she gets involved in "the game" played by her cousins, a game involving the magical mythosphere, she makes further startling discoveries about the nature of this family to which she belongs...

Although I have read and enjoyed quite a few of Diana Wynne Jones' fantasy novels for young people over the years - I have particularly fond memories of the Chronicles of Chrestomanci, as well as Howl's Moving show more Castle - I never happened to pick up The Game until it was assigned as a text in the course I took on the history of children's literature, while getting my masters a few years back. It utilizes Greek mythology, and to a lesser extent Russian folklore, in ways that are quite interesting and unique, and it kept me entertained, as I was reading. That said, it was not particularly memorable, and if I did not have the detailed notes I kept for all my class readings, I would struggle to recall anything beyond the vague outline. Certainly, none of the characters made a great impression upon me. Perhaps I will reread this, at some point, and change my mind, but overall I would not describe this as one of the author's better works. Recommended primarily to strong Diana Wynne Jones fans, and to readers who enjoy mythology-adjacent fantasy fiction. show less