The Phantom Tollbooth
By Norton Juster
Publisher: Random House, 272 pages
ISBN: 0394820371
Milo, a moody, apathetic little boy who thinks that nothing is worth doing, is sent a mysterious package that turns out to be a magical tollbooth, the entrance to many strange lands.
I was reminded right away of Alice's Adventures Underground and Through the Looking Glass because of Juster's constant use of puns and other amusing wordplay, as well as, obviously, Milo's journey to another world.
In fact, words are taken very literally in this book, with dire or hilarious (or both) consequences. This makes me realise how much we take the language we speak (if it happens to be English, that is) for granted.
Milo picks up two companions on his travels: A Watchdog named Tock (yes, he has a clock embedded in his body) and a bug called the Humbug who humbugs constantly.
Amongst the many lands they visit are The Kingdom of Words, The Isle of Conclusions (jumping to conclusion is the preferred manner of reaching this place) and Digitopolis. At various points the threesome meet interesting characters like Canby who can be very brave, can be very naughty, can be very good, can be very cowardly and so on; a child who is .58s of the avarage 2.58 children couples have; and Dischord and Dynne, two creatures with an unholy taste in nasty sounds!
Milo's quest (there must be a quest) is to bring back Rhyme and Reason (twin princesses) who have been banished from the land.
OK, I'm going to make some enemies by saying this but I thought this story would have worked better as a picture book (i.e. condensed somewhat).
To me, the joke goes on for a little too long and ceases to be funny after a bit. Then again, this is true for Alice too, and yet those books remain fresh and engaging throughout. The problem with Tollbooth may be that the characters aren't as interesting as Lewis's. I know many would disagree with me, but I find Milo pretty colourless - even when he becomes less bored with the world around him. The other characters, I find just superficially interesting - the concepts they are based on are good, but there's not much substance under the initial amusement offered.
PS This edition has a foreword by Maurice Sendak - I think I enjoyed it more than I did the actual story!
Read it when I was 9 or was it 10 years old.Loved it. I just loved the whole notion of a quest and all the weirdly wonderful new characters. Maybe I wouldn't have been so enchanted with it if I'd read it ten or more years later.
Posted by: Erna | Monday, February 27, 2006 at 11:03