| Title | : | The Figure in the Shadows (Lewis Barnavelt, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0142402605 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780142402603 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1975 |
Lewis is sure that Grandpa Barnavelt's 1859 lucky coin is really a magic talisman in disguise. With its power, he could do anything he wante--like get back at bully Woody Mingo.
But as soon as he begins wearing the coin around his neck, strange things start to happen. Mysterious letters arrive in the dead of night. A strange, shadowy figure seems to be tracking him. And when Lewis finally gets his revenge on Woody, he feels as if someone else is inside his body, urging him to go even further. Has Lewis awakened a force beyond his control?
The Figure in the Shadows (Lewis Barnavelt, #2) Reviews
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This is the sequel to The House With a Clock in its Walls. The Figure in the Shadows is just as good, and for many of the same reasons.
There's a good level of scary, the characters come across as real, with their own quirks and difficulties. The addition of Rose Rita to Lewis' circle of friends is brilliant.
These books have been around for more than a quarter of a century. You might think they'd be badly dated, but with a diverse cast of empowered characters, I think they read very well today.
Important to me, both the magic and real world difficulties that Lewis faces are handled in a way that admits that real world problems with a bully can be just as frightening as dark magic! -
John Bellairs' series featuring the adventures of young Lewis Barnavelt and his friend Rose Rita is a surprisingly gray and realistic offering, despite the magic and tenderness. in my mind, it is what elevates it: even kids' lit shouldn't always be glowing, romantic wish fulfillment. fiction for children can sometimes have heroes full of self-hate and and reluctance and duplicity. it can have magic that is threatening and that is less of a toy and more of window into a terrible world that kids should never go through. it can have situations that are not ever fully understood by its protagonists, experiences that are not even understandable until adulthood. this is a series that features addiction and self-loathing, the waning of power and the waxing of evil with age, shadowy figures of great menace, small journeys that can change a life, and yet that life goes on as normal... and it is a series that is gentle in heart and warm in spirit. a child doesn't always become a wizard; sometimes it is triumph enough that they become a person who understands even a little of the complexity of the world around them.
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I flew home from my holiday today and this was the perfect book to read on the plane. I was able to finish it in one sitting.
This is the second book in the Lewis Barnavelt series. Lewis has made a friend in tomboy Rose Rita. They make a good pair. Lewis needs Rose to help him grow up a bit. Lewis is mostly a coward and he has weight issues. He is still, a likable character. Rose Rita is tough and stands up to bullies.
Lewis is given his Grandfathers 'magic coin' and he believes it will make him brave. When he figures out it has turned him into a puppet, he gets scared and he needs all the help he can get.
I really enjoy reading these books. John Bellairs has an amazing style. He is good at setting mood and his characters are different. There is more magic and sorcery in this book. The setting is winter from October to Christmas and they do exchange presents. I love all the snow in the book. I have not seen any this year, so it was nice to read about weather we should be having. -
Gosh, this was no “The House With A Clock In Its Walls”! I know you can’t duplicate discovering the house and magic for the first time. However, an author ought to continue the ingredients that thrill us. Since reading it, I loved the film that came out, starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett. As a favourite story, can you imagine how much I looked forward to “The Figure In The Shadows”? I searched a few years to obtain it. Finally, I opened.... a book all about bullying. I was appalled that Lewis’ magic Uncle, formidable Mrs. Zimmerman, and teachers did nothing. Being 1948 was no excuse.
Sure, Lewis needed to handle whatever he could; not fear every aggressive person. Unfortunately, Lewis is so weepy, sympathy is scarce. How can this be the sequel to a creative boy who saved the world? Lewis knew the peril of keeping secrets in his last ordeal. He contributed nothing to the resolution, this time. When the magical component did arise, you might enjoy it if you were unfamiliar with the first Johnny Dixon novel: “The Curse Of The Blue Figurine”. The plot about getting possessed by an old object and freaked-out by a shadow is identical! I wasn’t elated about that novel either but Johnny’s suspense, adventure, and history of his figurine are superior.
Anti-bullying work is important. However, when you choose the magical and paranormal for entertainment; you shouldn’t get the plight of peer-harassment. What misplaced focus: it should have been a predominantly magic adventure, with bullying as a side topic. I appreciated being introduced to a story about Great-Grandfather Barnavelt but his connection was minor. This disappointing outing received three stars because I am a fan of this series, environment, and characters. I have no doubt I will love the other novels. -
I read this book as a child. In fact, it was one of my favorite books. It was one of the few books which made the short list of books I read over and over again. I remember that it was the second in a series, and once I found the first in the series (The Clock in the Walls) and read it, but the first book didn't stick in my memory as much as this one did.
I ordered a copy of it online, once I remembered the title, and recently re-read it to see if it was still as good as I remembered, and moreover, to figure out what it was about it that I liked.
The main character is a chubby, nerdy 11-year-old orphan named Lewis, who lives with his uncle Jonathan, who happens to be a wizard. The fact that Jonathan is a wizard is kind of a throwaway fact about him at first, which was my only clue as a child that this was the second in a series. Jonathan's next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman, is a witch who is even better at magic than Jonathan is, and she often comes over to cook for Jonathan and Lewis.
The house that Jonathan and Lewis live in is a sprawling mansion-like house in a small town set someplace exotic (as a child, exotic meant anywhere that got snow) like New England. I loved that they had farms and abandoned wells and mansions and Masonic temples--all things nonexistent in the Southwestern suburb I grew up in. The time had its own exoticisms for me. Lewis was allowed to come home for his lunch hour (we got something like 17 minutes to eat) and he was always worried about the bully beating him up. I never saw bullies at school, at least, not physical bullying. (Girls generally bullied with psychological torture, which is harder to prosecute. The idea that you could combat your tormenters by hitting them was a refreshing novelty.)
Most of all, I liked Lewis's best friend Rose Rita. Rose Rita was like an idealized version of me. She's fierce and brave, and asserts her independence. She's also, like Lewis, a little nerdy. The two of them spend time making a Roman War Galley (complete with Latin motto) and neither of them find this overly nerdy or weird. When I was 11, I knew that if Rose Rita and Lewis had been real people, I would have been their friends.
Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman are good characters too. They're not exactly parents to Lewis, being an uncle and his neighbor, they they provide parental support without being overbearing. Lewis takes comfort in their presence, but since he's an orphan, he also isn't sure how far this tolerance and love will extend. When he gets into trouble, he doesn't automatically turn to them to solve it.
The plot revolves around a lucky three cent piece that Lewis gets from his grandfather's trunk of old things. He hopes it is a magic amulet, but his uncle and Mrs. Zimmerman test it and say it's not. Still, Lewis isn't so sure. As soon as he gets it, it starts to change him. It makes him feel brave and aggressive, for one, and strange things begin to happen.
The first thing is when a card mysteriously appears in the mail slot. The card is blank on one side, but when he flips it over and back again, a word appears "Venio" which Lewis knows is Latin for "I come." To me, that was awesome, both that a word appeared, and that it was in a foreign language, and that it was in a foreign language that an 11 year old boy might actually know. (This could be the scene that made me choose to study Latin in High School.) Lewis' personality, and the strange sightings of the figure in the shadows intensify, until he gets so scared he tells Rose Rita about it.
Rose Rita offers to take the coin, and Lewis agrees, but then he changes his mind and she has to fight him for it. He's at first grateful, but as time goes on, he feels the urge to get the coin back, and concocts a scheme to steal it from Rose Rita.
There were a couple of things which struck me, reading this as an adult, that I didn't notice as a child. While the point of view hops a few times, I didn't notice or care when I read this as a child. Now it's been pounded into my head that POV switches without scene changes are a no-no, but I'm starting to think that this is a current fashion, rather than an inviolate rule. Also, at a certain point Lewis needs to be rescued, and it's up to Rose Rita, Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman to rescue him. Mrs. Zimmerman does most of it, providing the means and the knowledge of where and when they need to go. If I were looking at this critically, with a fresh eye, I might suggest that we have a little more foreshadowing of who and what the figure was. Having Mrs. Zimmerman provide a parlour-room "this is what happened" scene struck me as another one of those writing conventions that people don't use so much anymore. It's also a wee bit Deus Ex Machina, that Mrs. Zimmerman both knows where to go, what to do, and has the tools (to give Rose Rita) to solve the problem.
Still, as a child, none of these bothered me. I didn't need to know where Mrs. Z got the magic nasal spray, only that Rose Rita had to wield it. I guess I loved that the girl rescues the guy, and that the old woman is smarter and more powerful than the old man (and that both of them are pretty much okay with that.) I loved the gothic spookiness of it, and the matter-of-fact way that magic is presented. I also loved that the adults treat the children like people, people with their own problems and strengths and personalities and motives.
And last, but not least, the fact that it was illustrated by Mercer Meyer didn't hurt anything.
I'm glad that this book didn't suffer from the Gilligan's Island syndrome, where something beloved as a child sucks now that you view it with adult eyes. I'm also glad that I'm able to figure out what I liked about it so that I can hopefully replicate some of these elements in my own work.
I recommend this book for 4th to 6th grade children who want something a little spooky, and will be intrigued by (rather than put off by) the fact that it's set in the 20th century. -
This was my first time reading The Figure in the Shadows, even though I'm a HUGE John Bellairs fan, there are still quite a few of his books I haven't read and this was one of them. It was fun, scary, and kept me on the edge of my seat during the last pages as do most Bellairs books do. Since this is the sequel/companion to The House with a Clock in its Walls, I'm thinking they might try to adapt this to a movie since the first one did so well in theaters, if so I think it will be a pretty cool and creepy movie. :)
- Richard -
As a special treat Uncle Jonathon opens up Grandpa Barnavelt's old trunk. In it they find his old 1859 lucky coin and Lewis gets to keep it - only after Mrs Zimmerman has checked that it's not magical of course. But as soon as Lewis starts to wear it, strange things start to happen; letters arrive in the dead of night, he's finally brave enough to stand up to the awful bully, Woody Mingo and then a mysterious dark figure seems to be following him. What's happening to him? Does it have anything to do with the coin?
Book 2 in the Lewis Barnavelt series. It can be easily read as a standalone though. What I liked most about this book is that we meet Rose-Rita. As a young girl reading these back in the 80s, she was always my favourite - feisty and tough and always standing up for the weaker Lewis. It's the usual magical mystery, filled with unease and dark shadows and a wonderfully climatic ending. I've said it before, I'll say it again, John Bellairs was so ahead of his time and it's wonderful to see his books getting republished now.
And now it's nearly time for book 3 - The Letter, the Witch and the Ring - my absolute favourite as a kid. Let's hope it lives up to my memories! -
There are a couple of big problems with this book.
It is a sequel so one can't help but compare this book to the original. Now I'm not saying that the original was a masterpiece and this was a drop in quality, rather instead, that the first book established what you were going to get from the series and then the second book didn't deliver any of it. In the first book, the main character's parents die and he comes to live with his lively, caring, magic-wielding uncle and his "friend" who also happens to be a powerful witch. Lewis cries excessively, but you expect this because his parents just died and he's in a new strange place. His relationship with his new guardians and the exploration of the house and the town are the backbone of the story, and it works.
It seems that there is some sense of growth to the character, he learns to trust himself and his new family, and he recognizes that they trust him and have faith in his capabilities. So why is it that the character is still such a whiny crybaby? It bogs the story down and makes him unlikeable. To make matters worse he is overwhelmed by a force to make him even more unpleasant. Why do I want to read about this kid any more?
Now instead of discovering the fantastic things about the house and his family and the town, he's caught up in mundane repetitive bullying. This is mostly just a school drama and an afterschool special about being a "junkie for magic".
I'll skip to the ending, everything worthwhile about the story is pasted on and crammed into the last chapter giving us a cliff notes version of something that we never felt a part of. I wish he'd taken these ideas, elaborated on them and made the characters more of an active part in the story rather than being passive or at best reactive.
The reason why supernatural stories work so well is because the main character/characters often can't share their experience with the rest of the world because either no one will believe them, or no one will have the capability of fighting whatever the threat is. It forces a sense of isolationism. The biggest flaw of this book is that Lewis lives in a house of magic and doesn't tell his magic guardians about magic problems. Why would he not tell his guardians? Apparently because they would get mad at him. The only time that they were unhappy with him in the last book was when he didn't tell them about his magic problems. He ultimately saved the world, so there should be some level of trust, right? In this book, we get the introduction of a new friend, the main character feels that relationship with his uncle is one of mistrust so now he confides in her (someone that knows nothing about what he's talking about and has little interest in it).
The only reason why I finished this was because it was so short. Ugh. I thought that I was going to enjoy this series, but I'm done with it now. All in all everything that was charming about the first book is gone entirely. Too bad. -
This was a great second effort from Bellairs, following the stories of Lewis and Rose Rita through yet another story. As mentioned in other reviews, I think I would have enjoyed the illustrations more if edward Gorey had done them, like he did in the first book. Otherwise, while Mercer Mayer is great, (he illustrated so many of my favorite books, INCLUDING the Great Brain series) he's just not as dark and gothic as Gorey.
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3.25
Segunda parte de la serie « La casa del reloj de la pared”. Ha pasado un año desde que Lewis se ha mudado a vivir con su tío Jonathan y descubrir que la magia existe de verdad. Ha conocido gente nueva y ahora tiene que afrontar el nuevo curso escolar.
No me ha gustado tanto como la primera parte. En cuanto a los personajes tampoco se ve un claro desarrollo salvo en su protagonista, Lewis. Por otro lado, el libro sigue teniendo partes oscuras pero que no llegan a dar miedo. Yo creo que todo se debe a que este libro está destinado a un público más infantil.
A pesar de todo esto, disfruté mucho de la lectura. Ha sido como un descanso entre libros densos. -
7 de 10*
“O Mistério do Talismã Mágico” dá continuidade à história de Lewis Barnavelt, Jonathan e a Sra. Zimmerman que já conhecemos no primeiro livro, “O Mistério da Casa do Relógio”. Na minha opinião faz todo o sentido ler os dois livros em sequência, mas este livro tem referências suficientes à história passada para ser compreendido isolado.
Lewis, o menino que perdeu os pais e foi viver com um tio muito especial, feiticeiro, segue a sua vida normal, de estudante, em busca do seu lugar na escola. Mas Lewis é um pouco gordinho e por isso não só não consegue fazer amigos como é gozado e provocado constantemente.
Comentário completo em:
https://abibliotecadajoao.blogspot.co... -
This is a fine follow-up to The House With a Clock in Its Walls, and at least as good. Tomboy Rose Rita is a delightful addition to the cast of characters.
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Don't care for this new too cutesy cover and illustrations but still enjoy reading aloud the series. Will just be on the look out for older editions of the other books in the series.
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Es la segunda parte de una saga (La casa del reloj en la pared) aunque se pueden leer por separado perfectamente. Como ya sabéis, estos son libros muy cortitos y bastante infantiles, pero yo adoro este tipo de libros y como el primero me gustó... Este me ha gustado mucho también, pero le veo el mismo fallo que el primero, no se centra en el tema principal hasta estar bastante más de la mitad del libro. La trama me gusta muchísimo, pero veo que no explica mucho del tema principal hasta el final... Y me hubiese gustado saber más de la historia que hay detrás del problema. Es entretenido y lo he disfrutado mucho, pero el final es muy precipitado (esto es algo que también ocurre en el primero). No obstante, la forma de escribir del autor, su cercanía y su forma de enganchar al lector es algo que me ha fascinado. Es por ello que pienso seguir leyendo esta saga. ¿Vosotros sois de leer estos tipos de libros? ¿Cuáles son vuestros favoritos?
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In this second in the Lewis Barnavelt series, a figure comes back from the grave when Lewis enables an old Civil War amulet. In a way, these books are amulets of a sort: they bring the very powerful voice of John Bellairs back from the grave to enable, energize, and strengthen the individualistic muscle in every kid--to fight back against bullies and to accept who they are and how they look. Bellairs is a man who can bridge that gap between childhood and adulthood, and help kids over the rough bits. He would like to warn kids against taking on more "magic" or adult decisions until they are older, but knows he can't stop them if they try. And he will help to undo the damage by sharing antidotes and explaining outcomes.
Moments of suspense and terror are interleaved with moments of deepening friendship and understanding among Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmermann and Lewis and Rose Rita. The fear of bad outcomes is thus couched in the warm embrace of helpmeets. I particularly admire the way Bellairs presented Lewis' confusion and ambivalence after he fought Woody and won--Lewis wasn't at all sure he should feel proud of beating someone bloody, and though he was glad Woody didn't bother him anymore, he felt sorry for Woody. Ah, so. That is the adult teaching the child reader, and guiding him/her to better decision-making.
Wish Bellairs could have stuck around: his wonderful imagination seems to get through to kids using humor and fear, warmth and generosity. But we have his books and for that we should be grateful. Do you think kids are too knowledgeable about the world that his books no longer hold as much appeal? Perhaps the ideal reader is getting younger? Do teachers still find Bellairs relevant? -
I was a little sad that this book isn't illustrated by Edward Gorey like The House with a Clock in Its Walls was. This book is the sequel to that one, and introduces us to Lewis Barnavelt's friend, Rose Rita Pottinger, who was mentioned briefly near the end of the first book. Rose Rita is a tomboy who's brash where Lewis is scared; the two are in sixth grade together and the first thing we hear about Rose Rita is that she's been kept after school for "sassing" the teacher. Lewis, meanwhile, is overweight and self-conscious and worried about bullies. Oh, Lewis: "Lewis was fat and moon-faced. In his brown sweater and baggy corduroy trousers, he looked like a balloon ascension. At least, that's what his mean Aunt Mattie had said about him once, and the phrase "balloon ascension" had gotten stuck in Lewis's mind" (p 4).
I liked this book a little less than The House with a Clock in Its Walls, maybe in part because it feels like some of the quirkiness and whimsy of that book is missing, maybe because part of what was appealing to me in that book was that it was mostly about a kid spending his time with the grown-ups in his life, whereas this book has less of that and more of Lewis-at-school and Lewis-with-Rose-Rita. But I still liked it, and I'm still planning to read the next one. -
Quick and creepy and I loved it. I intend to make my way through the entire Lewis Barnavelt series. I love Lewis and his struggles in dealing with bullies and his insecurities and how he works so hard to overcome these in all the wrong ways. I identify with Lewis. Here is a passage to give a sense of Lewis in all his Lewis-ness.
"The next morning when Lewis got up, he decided that he was going to get thing and tough like Woody. He got down on the floor and tried to do ten pushups, but he could only do three before he collapsed. Then he tried sit-ups, but when he lay down flat on his back, he couldn't struggle up to a sitting position unless he thrashed around and used his elbows. He stood up and tried to touch his toes without bending his knees, but he couldn't do it. Trying made his head ache. Finally he tried jumping jacks. They were fun because you could clap your hands over your head when you did them. But the flab on Lewis's thighs clapped too, when his legs came together, and this sound depressed him. Also, he was afraid of bringing down the plaster in the room below. So he gave up and went downstairs to eat breakfast."
Yep. I can touch my toes but other than that, I totally identify with Lewis... -
Classificação: 3,5 em 5 ⭐️
Achei impossível conseguir dar melhor classificação ao segundo livro do que ao primeiro. Ao contrário do livro “O Mistério da Casa do Relógio” neste não senti problema algum com o facto de não ser o meu género. Talvez por ter lido os dois de seguida, ou mais provavelmente porque finalmente conseguir gostar da personagem principal.
Neste segundo livro conseguimos ver que a personagem tornou-se mais madura, o facto disso ter alterado de um livro para o outro foi mais um incentivo para continuar a ler. Li-o rápido, mas novamente quis ler devagar para apreciar.
Houveram muitos momentos aborrecidos, foi isso que influenciou a não dar exatamente 4 estrelas. Com mais um pouco chegava as 5 estrelas. Se a continuação for publicada cá em Portugal talvez continue a leitura. Logo veremos. -
3,75⭐
"Una figura en las sombras" es la segunda entrega de la serie de libros sobre Lewis Barnavelt, más conocido por el libro "La casa del reloj en la pared".
En ésta historia, Lewis encuentra una moneda en un viejo baúl que pertenecía a su abuelo. Desde ese momento, Lewis queda convencido de que se trata de un amuleto que le ayudará a hacer frente al abuson del colegio, quién dedica todo su tiempo en hacerle la vida mártir.
Sin embargo, esa moneda esconde algo mucho más amenazante....
Pese a ser libros infantiles, ya comenté en su día que me encantan. La señora Zimmermann es mi favorita, aunque en este tomo apenas ha tenido apariciones. Exactamente igual pasa con el tío Jonathan. La inclusión Rose Rita no ha estado mal, seguramente coja más fuerza en los siguientes libros.
Si bien, me gustó mucho más el primero (más misterioso y creepy), ambos han resultado ser una lectura refrescante y tierna, así qué seguiré con los siguientes muy pronto. -
Out of the first three Lewis Barnavelt stories this might be the weakest, although it's still interesting, and it carries maybe the most character development for Lewis himself. I don't remember having a problem with this as a child, but the adult characters aren't really characters as much as they are part of the setting, not fully developed with personalities and mostly out of the way when they need to be. Then again, from the perspective of children, are adults much more than that anyway? ;)
One thing that is nice about the series is how it captures the feel of a decades-ago northern midwest. There are descriptions of places, and people, and ways of doing things that feel different from where I grew up, and I appreciate these stories as a bit of a window into that time and place. -
Episode 2 in the series about a misfit orphan who moves in with his Uncle Jonathan who just happens to be a wizard with a witch for a neighbor.
I love Lewis, a fat kid who has trouble with bullies and his best friend Rose Rita, a tomboy who's tough enough for ten kids. In this story, Lewis finds a magic talisman which leads him down a dark path and his friends have to come to the rescue.
Thank goodness for YA favorites from childhood. I reread these to escape from our current reality which is dark and depressing.
Highly recommended. -
I can’t believe I read this scary stuff in elementary school! Very legitimate horror. (For kids. Delightful still to this grownup.)
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Дитяча і проста, аніж перша. Але коротко, тому читатиму серію далі.
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A beloved book from childhood, this one remains a great read - spooky and cozy, perfect for this time of year.
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I feel like Bellairs doesn't give enough depth of detail - historical, magical (even if you just make it up, let it feel well-developed), characters.
Mercer Mayer's illustrations seemed too 1970s for me. I just don't buy Uncle Jonathan looking like a shaggy hippie. -
The second book about Lewis Barnavelt is still fun and cool. The entrance of Rose Rita as Lewis' only friend is nice and their friendship is fun to read. The shadowy figure is a scary dude (just check out the pictures of him). Mercer Mayer's pictures are cool, but overall just had me wondering how Edward Gorey would have illustrated this book. It also felt like the quirky coolness of The House With a Clock in It's Walls had fallen by the wayside. Bellairs' peculiar, Gorey-esque writing in House was, for me, one of it's most charming aspects. In Figure, Bellairs seemed to move into a more conventional writing style. Course, the story itself had less of the magical wonder of House and more 'real life' situations - school bullies, friendships, etc. - which might partially explain the style shift. Overall it was good, eerie fun.
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Bellairs does a great job of creating a really creepy story that doesn't use cliches and doesn't pander to its audience by needing to tie up every loose end and resolve every conflict. His characters are real people and respond realistically to their fantastic situations. And yet his books are not so scary that they become inappropriate for their age level. I like that this story in particular spent most of the time with Lewis and how the amulet affected him, building the tension until bringing everything to an exciting and fascinating conclusion.
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When I read this as a kid, I found it deliciously creepy. I finished reading it with my nine-year-old son and still found it a little creepy in places. I asked my son just before leaving him for the night in his dark basement room if he thought it was a scary book. "No." His answer was completely unconcerned. He asked me to get another in the series for him to read on his own.
