After Percy Jackson (cf. http://cheminsantiques.blogspot.com/2010/07/mythologie-la-sauce-u.html ), I'm back in children's literature, again with American origin, but for younger people. This is the series "The Magic Cabin", discovered by my daughter. This series currently has a large success judging by his presence not only on the shelves of bookstores, but also in those stores and hypermarkets press!
The idea is simple and seductive. Heroes, Tom and Leah (a brother and sister aged 9 and 7), travel through time and space through a magical shack (led by Morgan le Fay, who takes her own orders of the Merlin) and books. In each book in the series, they are given a mission, usually to save a book or a work of art important to humanity, and must solve puzzles to get there. The result
is not so much height. The writing is pretty poor (everything is also written in the present, which I find rather odd) and rebounds largely predictable (perhaps not by the readers of the target age, it is true, but I like that is ambitious in children's literature). Finally, in the early volumes, written in the late 1990s, the cultural contributions are limited to a few big shots known to the general public. However, I admit, the author (Mary Pope Osborne) has evolved and the latest volumes (much longer in fact), written in recent years are built on a plot more complex and contain much less obvious cultural contributions.
I speak here of three volumes concerning my favorite subjects - like, for that matter, Tom and Leah are not yet gone to Mesopotamia! This may come ... - The Romans in Pompeii with Panic (1998), Ancient Greece, with chariot race at Olympia (1998) and the Golden Age of Arab-Muslim world with Sandstorm (2007) .
In the first two, Tom and Lea save a book about a legend in Olympia that of Pegasus (whose name is spelled in Greek early the novel (with an error on the spelling of the capital eta!): this is supposed to generate suspense unbearable, except that when we read Greek (I know, I know is rare in the age of targeted readers! ), we know immediately the last word!) and Pompeii, that of Hercules ("vir FORTISSIMUS in mundi": again I quickly guessed that was "the strongest man in the world" !).
The passage made me laugh the most (in dismay!) Is the meeting of Tom and Lea Plato in chariot race at Olympia :
Both are moving towards the entrance when a voice calls out:
- Wait!
They turn. A white-bearded man walking towards them.
- Hello, he said, watching the little girl. Who are you?
- And you? reply Leah aggressive. The bearded
smiled
- My name is Plato.
- Plato? repeated Tom. Your name sounds familiar ...
- Maybe you've heard of me. I am a philosopher.
- What is a phiso ... a philosopher? asked Leah.
- A man who seeks wisdom.
- Wow! did the little girl in awe. This
laugh Plato.
Which Plato is then presented as a staunch feminist, which is totally outdated! Most importantly, I found this great figure just ridiculed in his role as bearded pass!
It is quite different from Sandstorm . Remember my recent articles on the transmission of Greek science (including works of Aristotle) to the Arabs of the eighth-ninth century, which were then forwarded to Western Europe:
cf. "Books very heavy" http://cheminsantiques.blogspot.com/2010/01/des-livres-tres-lourds.html
cf. "The Greeks, Arabs and us": http://cheminsantiques.blogspot.com/2010/05/les-grecs-les-arabes-et-nous.html
cf. "Greek Thought, Arab Culture ": http://cheminsantiques.blogspot.com/2010/08/pensee-grecque-culture-arabe.html
What was my surprise to see that it is this - for once more pointed that the eruption of Vesuvius at Pompeii or the Games of Olympia! - Which is processed by Mary Pope Osborne in this novel! And obviously, you have guessed that we need the transmission of the writings of Aristotle (which seem to be any integer in a little book, which is curious when you know how prolific author was, but nevermind!) To the caliph al- Mamoun ... Yes, to Tom and Leah, of course!
But here, despite some inevitable cliches (camels, palm trees, flying carpet (tiens! a flying carpet, one more: cf. "The mystery of the flying carpet" http://cheminsantiques.blogspot.com/2008/04/le-mystre-des-tapis- volants.html )), the story is well documented, and the character of the Caliph al-Mamun was treated with splendor, far from the ridiculous poor Plato.
Finally, I must say I appreciate that in 2007, while U.S. troops occupied Baghdad frightening delivered to a civil war, an American author chose to mention in a book for children a beautiful Baghdad, carrier culture and wisdom ...
