An Appreciation

I could read "The Phantom Tollbooth" a thousand times, and never get sick of it. The writing style, the characters, the originality! The book is a classic fantasy story. Yet, there is something so unique about it that pushes me to think and question life in a way other fantasy books do not. (add more)

When I think of 'fantasy books', I think 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 me think very deeply. 'The Phantom Tollbooth' is different, reading it makes my 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 (the main character) 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. I like the way "The Phantom Tollbooth" brings fantasy characters to a whole new level. 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. I like these characters because not only are they are absolutely hailarious and  compleatly original, but they also pushed me to think. 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.