Saturday, February 26, 2011

Top ten tales of metamorphosis

Thomas Bloor is the author of the three book series that begins with Worm in the Blood, continues with Beast Beneath the Skin, and concludes with Heart of the Serpent.

A few years ago he named a top ten list of tales of metamorphosis for the Guardian, including:
The Witches by Roald Dahl

In which the main character, a boy who narrates the story, is turned into a mouse. This happens towards the end of the book, and provokes the mouse and his redoubtable grandmother to take spectacular revenge on the witches responsible for the transformation. Against all the usual expectations, it turns out the boy cannot ever be changed back into a human again. The book ends with our hero stoically looking forward to living out an extended nine-year life-span as a mouse.
Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue