Category: Readers

Rosemary Sutcliff’s books a “phenomenal introduction to literature”

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Katie A Green commented on an internet review of  The Eagle:

I’ll admit, I started loathing this film from first glance at movie-image re-printed books, as a from-early-childhood lover of the novel (and no great Tatum enthusiast). Then I saw it.

And loved it for the exact same reasons you’ve described: the rather refreshing old-fashioned approach, as well as the complete lack of overwrought CGI, and the way the muddy landscape is truly a character force of its own. It was a much more damp and rather less romantic world than Gladiator portrayed, I felt. I ended up seeing it three times– not because it was the Best Movie Ever, but because for me the “escape” into a completely raw and physical world (where relationships are defined by touch and strife and distance) was as deeply refreshing for me the Pandora of Avatar was for larger audiences …
Source: The Eagle (review) | MaryAnn Johanson’s FlickFilosopher.com.

I asked Katie if I could reproduce the comment above, and as well as saying yes – as you can see – she wrote:

I’ve been to this site a few times, in fact. Her books were not only a phenomenal introduction to literature for me (I read The Eagle of the Ninth when I was eleven), but shaped my later interests and academic paths. I read Y Goddin and studied Anglo-Saxon Literature at Oxford – because of The Shining Company. Because of Sun Horse Moon Horse, Outcast, The Lantern Bearers – the list goes on.

More than anything, I hope the motion picture brings some of her out of print books back into print. It is the rare writer, these days, who bring Sutcliff’s beautiful prose and deep comprehension of human nature to “children’s” literature.

We will be working hard to encourage some of those book back into print. I will keep you posted here!

Readers on Rosemary Sutcliff as a ‘friend’

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Comments about Rosemary Sutcliff from facebook

Rosemary Sutcliff book Frontier Wolf 5-star review by reader on Goodreads

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Rosemary Sutcliff's Frontier Wolf coverInto this simple tale, Sutcliff pours in everything that makes her great as an author: Careful attention to detail when describing Roman military society, British native society, and the world of nature. The ability to sum up a character’s personality through a few well-chosen words. A gift for understatement that heightens rather than diminishes drama. A lyrical tongue. She caps all this off with an ending that is surprising, yet wholly satisfying.
Source: Dusk Peterson writing at Goodreads

‘Vivid and real’ | Rosemary Sutcliff’s writing | Brian Keaney

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Rosemary Sutcliff's famous novel was first published in the UK in 1954
UK hardback 1954 cover

Of Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth, writer  Brian Keaney commented on Goodreads:

First published in 1954, The Eagle Of The Ninth was once to be found in every children’s library in the UK. For the last fifteen or twenty years, however, Rosemary Sutcliff’ has been somewhat forgotten as the solid, carefully written style of her books has given way to fiction that thrusts itself more brazenly upon its readers.

Hearing that there was a film coming out in 2011, I thought I would renew my acquaintance and I am very glad that I did. Based upon the mystery of the fate of the Ninth Legion which marched from its station in what is now York some time around AD 117 and was never seen again, this is the story of a young Roman soldier, the son of a centurion of that ill-fated legion, who sets out some eight years later to discover his father’s fate, it is a terrific read.

Rosemary Sutcliff makes the world of Roman Britain as vivid and real as if it were still standing to this day. Her characters are strongly drawn and her observation of nature is wonderfully well conveyed in tightly-written prose. This is a delight to read and a timeless classic

Boys Rule Boys Read! goes WOW about The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutclliff

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Over there (from here in England) at Charlotte Mecklenburg Library they work very energetically to encourage boys to read, and they are really, really enthusiastic about Rosemary Sutcliff‘s The Eagle of the Ninth

Wow.Wow …. Have you ever sat in a theatre after a movie was over, stunned and unable to get up because the movie was so great? Doesn’t happen often, does it? Well, books as great as The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff don’t come along that often either. And just like a great movie, this book left me sitting there going, “Wow.”The whole purpose of this blog is to tell you about terrific books, so I’m going to tell you guys right now that his is one terrific book!
Source: Boys Rule Boys Read!: The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutclliff.

And the in their view the book is excellent for group discussions: Read More »