Review – Jack in the Green

Posted November 9, 2013 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Cover of Jack in the Green by Charles de LintJack in the Green, Charles de Lint

Charles de Lint’s Jack in the Green is quite lovely. It’s a Robin Hood story, sort of. It brings the spirit of Robin Hood to a Hispanic community in the US, during the recession, to steal from the bankers and give to those who can’t pay their bills. It’s not that different a story to Maurice Broaddus’ version of King Arthur in a black neighbourhood, but somehow I don’t mind it at all. It feels truer to the spirit of the Robin Hood stories, I suppose.

It’s written in a straightforward, easy to read way; the magic in it is just… accepted as part of the world, not over-explained or positioned in such a way that it takes over the story. I really liked that casual inclusion of magic, impossible things, because it somehow made it feel more believable.

Admittedly, for me the story was more an interesting intellectual exercise than something that involved me emotionally, but there’s an enjoyment in that, too, in something that makes you think, “How is he going to do this? How will he make it work?”

I should get round to reading more of Charles de Lint’s work.

Review on Goodreads.

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6 responses to “Review – Jack in the Green

  1. I should get round to reading more of Charles de Lint’s work.

    I hope you’ll enjoy them if you do! All the stories I’ve read by him have had that casual inclusion of magic. I should get around to reading the rest of the books I’ve managed to gather so far sometime…

  2. Indeed! It shouldn’t surprise me, given how many books he’s published, but it does. I do want to read the ones you’ve got eventually? (And I forgot Forests of the Heart is on my list too, but it scared me away partway through the first time I read it.)

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