The Three Mulla-Mulgars by Walter De La Mare: book review

The Three Mulla-Mulgars (1910, this edition 2015) is about three royal monkeys, princes of Tishnar.

Monkeys Seelem (the father, a Mulla-Mulgar of royal blood) and Mutta-matutta (the mother, a fruit-monkey) had three sons: Thumma (Thumb) the eldest, Thimbulla (Thimble), and the youngest Ummanodda (Nod). They learned their own secret language of the Mullla-Mulgars, the royal monkeys but also the ways and languages of the Munza-Mulgars (the forest monkeys), the dreaded Gunga-Mulgars, and the Babbaboomas.

However their father could not teach them the language of the man-monkeys – the Oomgars and the Minimal-Mulgars – because he did not know them. But Seelem did teach his three sons four important ways of the man-monkeys: to never walk flambo (on all fours) but to walk upright; to never taste blood; to never climb trees; and to never grow a tail – unless in danger and despair.

Seelem, the father, had vanished one day, and as Mutta-matutta was dying, she gave Nod a milk-white Wonderstone – which he was to keep with him always.

To escape winter, the three monkeys travel towards the Valleys of Assasimmon. On the long journey, the Mulla-Mulgars outwit Gunga-Mulgars, but Nod is captured by a man-monkey. The man-monkey is a sailor. The sailor, Andrew Battle, attempts to communicate with Nod and to teach him words in English. He tells Nod to escape into the forest if other sailors come. Nod befriends Mischa, an old hare, and asks her to find Thumb and Thimble.

These are the adventures of the three monkeys, with challenges and hardships – and the use of the magical Wonderstone – as they search for their father Seelem. Moreso it is about brotherly bonds and arguments. Nod is young and naive, making many mistakes, which results in constant criticism of his actions. In spite of this, his habitual kindness and compassion make him a lovable character.

It is long since I have read the poems and scarey tales of Walter De La Mare, and while this may be a forgotten classic, it is a legendary fairytale with familiar themes and lifelong lessons.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog