(For those of you on feed and don’t come to the site, don’t forget to stick your name down on the facebook group for the site at http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/the_wheel_is_turning_but_the_hamster_is_dead/ - You wont get anything apart from the satisfaction that you are signed up to yet another group and can increase your friend count by adding me as a friend if that’s the kinda thing you do. Did I mention that it’s awesome and makes you popular with the opposite sex? Failing that, come on over to Twitter and you can read the absolute drivel I put on there once every so often. Imagine something unbelieveably exciting and then smash yourself over the head with a pan. Yup, that’s pretty much what you will get!) Anyway…the post.
Through my short (read 34 years) life, I have had at least two people say “You should read more books if you are bored!”. I never quite understood that statement because to me, reading books is quite possibly the second most boring thing in the world beaten only by being forced to have a “stimulating” conversation with myself.
But I figured I would give it a go. So I have been reading “Eric the mischievous elephant”. I was going to put a link to it so you could maybe get yourself a copy, but strangely I cant see it on any UK sites….which leads me to believe I have no idea where it came from. I could ask my wife, but she has gone out without me leaving me as a man-child home alone. Geez I wish I had friends and wasn’t so lonely. There is only so much time you can spend with your stuffed toys before you start to realise you need more in life.
But anyway. This book. I thought I would do a book review on it because you know…why the hell not! After all, I have spent a LOT of time reading it and taking in it’s poignant message.
Naturally, Eric is a blue elephant with red feet much like the elephants in Africa who are going through an identity crisis and think that they are actually a frozen polar bear who just went swimming in blue food colouring. Other characters in the book are Harold Hippo (also blue), Fiona Flamingo (very red) and at least 3 others. If you look deeply at the story, you will find it is about Eric wanting to bath in the water and the other animals are already in there. It’s real hard hitting when you see Eric becoming very naughty and jumping in the water.
Look away now if you don’t want to know how it ends…….. a mouse comes along and scares Eric. And get this…if you squeeze the mouse, it SQUEEKS! Yeah, I know! It’s something else. And the beauty of this book is that you can read it in the bath and it can get wet. It is also only 10 pages long so keeps you entertained long enough to read it all, but not so long that you get bored. Oh, and there are LOTS of pictures and not many words.
So. The first (and realistically last) book review I have ever written. I am sure you are impressed with my reviewing skills, but if you aren’t, can I suggest that those of you who like those “book things” head over HERE to Alcott and Earhart and read a review on something that ISNT a kids book to read in the bath. (I was going to just post their post here, but figured you should really go there and read it and then read some others and then send me money…but not in that order).
Well, I am off to research Eric and see where he came from. You should probably read “He is off to make the most of the fact that he is home alone with the PC and Internet and his wife isn’t here”. Of course, read in to that what you want. Perv.
10 responses so far ↓
1 mandal81
// Mar 16, 2009 at 8:35 pm
I just stumbled upon your blog & now I’m hooked… What better way to make myself look busy for 8 hours a day than to read through your archives. Although, my occasional chuckle seems to have a few of my co-workers a little worried.
2 Sy
// Mar 16, 2009 at 9:11 pm
You know that work isnt about “productivity”. It is about reading stuff. Fun stuff. And the interweb. That’s what it is about! I am glad you are enjoying the back catalogue though! And dont tell the co-workers…it is more fun watching them squirm wondering what you are doing! Or is that just me?? Hmmm….
3 Flying Saucer Jones
// Mar 17, 2009 at 2:30 am
You’ll be wanting the sequels:
Eric Discovers His Trunk
Eric and Fiona and What Harold Saw
These are also waterproof, flame retardent and contain soothing aloe in case of chafing.
Flying Saucer Jones’s last blog post..Is That a Phoenix Head Poking Out Of the Ashes?
4 Sy
// Mar 17, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I reckon that Fiona is a hottie underneath the feathers!
I also found out where the book came from! South Africa. All it said was “Made in china” as most thigns are…. It was all so confusing.
5 Phil T McNasty
// Mar 17, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I also read your blog archives and chuckle out loud. Of course, my co-workers just assume that I forgot to break my prozacs in half again.
Phil T McNasty’s last blog post..Jesus’ Image Appears on Crotch of a Pair of Jeans
6 G.
// Mar 17, 2009 at 10:36 pm
I don’t know, that book sounds like pretty hefty reading.
Kind of like the Dick and Jane primers we had in elementary school.
G.’s last blog post..Book Review: "Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life And Many Legends" by Allen Barra
7 Tami
// Mar 18, 2009 at 2:23 am
Ehh..I’m trying to think of something “grown-up” to write, and I am failing. You may want to read this book again, and if you do you can buy some rubber yellow duckies for the bath-water, while you read about Eric…poor Eric..
Tami’s last blog post..Top ‘O the Mornin’!
8 Insanewm
// Mar 18, 2009 at 8:56 am
Damn You Internet!
Now I already know the end of this chef d’oeuvre. This masterpiece of art is forever lost to me as I will never enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed. Sure, you warned about the spoilers, but temptation is a sin, my friend! Those wounds may never heal and my sorrow grows deeper everytimes I think about Eric, the blue elephant, who just wished to jump in the water.
Should I open a paypal account for donation or you’d rather have my bank account information and make a direct transfer?
Regards,
PS: your book reviews are terrible, but I guess it didn’t help that you chose such a difficult topic. Next time, start with something easy, such as War & Peace, it’s a tad longer, but since no one actually read it until the end, you can quite easily make up some kind of deep psychological analysis of a character appearing toward the end, for a brief period of time.
Insanewm’s last blog post..A new journey begins…
9 Sy
// Mar 18, 2009 at 9:43 am
@Phil – Half a prozac? Do the whole lot in one and wash it down with a cold beer. Yeah it stings in the morning…but hell, what a night!
@G – Hefty? It was a nightmare I tells ya! I was going to stop half way through for a break, but ya know…there was something about it that made me keep reading. That naughty elephant!
@Tami – The reason you were “trying” to think of something grown up is because you in fact are NOT an adult…bring on the crazy! It makes you feel all fuzzy inside!
@InsaneWM – I know. I should have made the text white and then you have that additional step of highlighting it to see the ending.
I think sending me you bank card number, pin number, sort code…you know…all your internet banking details would be easier for me I reckon.
But I do have to agree. My book reviews are missing something. I think that it may be “sense”. I might do a psychological profile on Eric the naughty blue elephant though. I think there is some serious work to be done there.
10 Mrs T
// Mar 18, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Geez, those kids’ books are always so predictable.. so many identity crisises..The swan in the Ugly Duckling, the wolf Red Riding Hood, the beast in Beauty and the Beast…. what don’t they all just get therapy??
What I want to know is why do all the characters have to be alliterated? (Okay, I’ll explain… Eric Elephant, Fiona Flamingo etc etc… AHHHHHHH!! Just for once I like to read a book about a monkey called Sheila, a snake called Kylie and a Hippo called Frank…..
Know what I mean??
Mrs T’s last blog post..Music Tuesday; An Irish Rollercoaster
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