THE TRUE TALE OF THE MONSTER Billy DEAN Review

Title: THE TRUE TALE OF THE MONSTER Billy DEAN telt by hisself

Author: David Almond

Release Date: 5^th July 2012

Publisher: Penguin

 

I WOS A SECRIT SHY AND TUNGTIED EMPTY HEDED THING.

 

I WAS TORT TO READ and rite and spell by my Tenda little Muther & by MR McCaufrey the butcha & by MISSUS MALONE AND HER GOSTS. SO I AM NOT CLEVA, SO PLEASE FORGIV MY FOLTS AND MY MISTAYKS.

 

 

I AM THE WON that GLARES INTO YOUR HARTS & THAT PROWLS INSYDE YOR DEEPIST DREMES.

 

WONCE I WAS THE ANJEL CHILDE.

NOW I AM THE MONSTER.

JUST READ AND LISSEN AND TAKE NOTE.

LET the words enter yor BLUD & BOANS.

 

I AM BILLY DEAN.

THIS IS THE TRUTH.

THIS IS MY TALE.

 

The amazing and astounding Billy Dean, brought up in a small room in the town of Blinkbonny by his aggressive father and his meek mother is finally introduced into the world in this unusual account.

This book was recommended to me by a friend and although it didn’t appear something I would enjoy, I thought I would give it a go. How I wish I hadn’t! While I understand the beauty within a novel such as this one and I don’t doubt that many readers will find it profound and intriguing, I did not. Some readers might enjoy reading about the dissection of a dead mouse or the neglect of a small boy but I am not one of those people. Although I prefer a good laugh out loud novel, I appreciate and have been known to enjoy a few thrillers and tear-jerkers but maybe my tiny little brain couldn’t comprehend the enormity of the message within the novel as I just ‘didn’t get it’.  
 

Written from the point of view of Billy, the narrative followed his train of thought and many words were spelt phonetically. I found this surprisingly easy to follow and it definitely created Billy’s character. There are some brilliant characters in the book and my favourite one was Missus Malone who seemed a cross between a pantomime baddie and a pantomime dame, melodramatic and over the top but with a tragic story of her own.

The plot lifted off about a third of the way in but up until that point, the limits of Billy’s surroundings meant that the reader was offered the strange musings in his head rather than much story. When Billy does venture into the outside world, his description of the landscape was poetic and I enjoyed this much more than his troubled thoughts. However, this didn’t lift the mood of the book enough and I felt it was all just a bit slow and strange.

I decided to persevere with the novel as it had been recommended but I must admit, I felt I was wading through mud at times. There isn’t a proper climax at the end of the novel, more of a collection of events that happen. Having read other reviews of this book, there are a variety of responses so I wouldn’t dissuade people from reading this book but it really wasn’t my cup of tea.

2.5/5 I hated it but you might not.