Appreciation 2

    You could read "The Phantom Tollbooth" a thousand times, and never get sick of it. The funny writing style, the dynamic characters, the originality! The book is a classic fantasy story. Yet, there is something so unique about it that pushes you to think and question life in a way other fantasy books do not. 
   One of the things "The Phantom Tollbooth" is most well known for is the crazy writing style and world. The author, Norton Juster, completely thinks out of the box while creating a world of extremes. The book begins with sending Milo to world called 'Dictionopolois', where people think that words are the most important things in the world. He meets the most wild characters, including a Spelling Bee (a literal bee who spells), a whether man (a man who tells you whether it is going to rain or not rather then the weather), and a sleepy bunch of creatures called the Doldrums (a play on words referring to a zone in the world of complete calmness in weather). From then on, Milo is sent on a quest to find Rhyme and Reason, two princess who are locked away, to restore peace to their world. He continues to go through many different and interesting worlds while on this journey. Reading about Milo traveling through the different worlds really made me think about our life. Seeing Milo travel through 'The Land of Illusions' (where no one was really living, they only thought they were) made me realize that so many people today live in a similar to this world. People live in denial, refusing to deal with issues that they begin to live a lie. The way Norton Juster cleverly put this detail in the book really made me think more about the world.
    When you think of 'fantasy books', you may think of books like The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings. All these books have things like magic, princes, princesses, quests, dragons in them. Although these books can be very entertaining, they never make you think very deeply. 'The Phantom Tollbooth' is different, reading it makes my own mind whirl with ideas and questions. I think the reason that this book is so fascinating is because it subtly taps into emotions and ideas that everyone feels by creating Milo, the protagonist. Reading Milo's thoughts made me realize things about my own life and the people in it that I'd never even realized before.

"When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out he longed to be in. On the way he thought about coming home, bad coming home he thought about going. Wherever he was he wished he were somewhere else, and when he got there he wondered  why he'd bothered. Nothing really interested him-least of all the things that should have." 
    This particular paragraph about Milo  was from the first page of the book, and it really pushed me to think. I compared Milo's feelings to my own and those of the people around me. I had never really realized it, but it was true. As people, we never are truly satisfied with our lives, we always want more. From that realization onward, I was hooked by the original world and how the writing made me think.

       Books like, "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" or "Harry Potter" never have very dynamic characters either. They are all too one note. The way "The Phantom Tollbooth" brings fantasy characters to a whole new level makes the book much more interesting to read. The author, Norton Juster, comes up with characters no ones ever even heard of before! 

       Like in the book when Milo meets the 'Doldrums'. The Doldrums are a group of small creatures that do nothing but waste time all day. These characters are really fun to read about, because not only are they  absolutely hilarious and  completely original, but they also pushed me to think more about the world. All they do all day is sleep or waste time. Reading about this made me think of people in the world today, who just waste there lives away. 

      All in all, I adored the 'Phantom Tollbooth'. I loved the characters, the original writing, and the way it made me think in a way I never had before.