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Summary: A Masterpiece - For All Ages - Totally Captivating
Review: I cannot believe that I did not have the incredible enjoyment that I received from reading this book until I was sixty years old. My only consolation is that it is occasional finds like this book that help keep me young; what a tremendous treat! Normally I would not bother to review a book with so many glowing reviews (almost 300 as I write this), but in this case I guess that I probably suffer from the same compulsion as many of the other reviewers to share this wonderful find with as many other friends as possible who may have also somehow overlooked it. When the anniversary edition of THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH was published six years with an introduction by Maurice Sendak (WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was one of my favorite books to read to my growing children), someone sent it to me and I put it in that large "to read "pile but somehow never got around to it. After all, after thirty five years what could the hurry be. A few days ago, I was looking for a quick fun read and picked it up; the rest is history, I couldn't put it down until I was finished. Perfect, including the great illustrations by Jules Feiffer. I start telling my wife all the great lines, but realized that it was so good that I didn't want to spoil it for her.This is the story of Milo, the boy bored with life whose worldview is suddenly changed forever when he visits the lands on the other side of the phantom tollbooth. He ends up traversing the foothills of confusion, the sea of knowledge, the mountains of ignorance and Dictionopolis ( a kingdom of words) and Digitopolis (a kingdom of numbers) as he searches for the sisters Rhyme and Reason. And seldom have we met a companion as delightful as TOCK, who is, of course, a literal "watch dog" in a world where words mean what they say. The word play is so wonderful and the characters so self explanatory (e.g. the Mathemagician or the Soundkeeper in the Silent Valley), that the profunditry and power of the insights contained in this simple tale can easily be overlooked. Hopefully, an illustration will help, as Milo, Tock and their friend The Humbug travel along, they unexpectedly find themselves in a strange place: "To be sure " said Canby, "you're on the Island of Conclusions. Make yourself at home. You're apt to be here for some time."
"But how did we get here?" asked Milo, who was still a bit puzzled by being there at all.
"You jumped, of course" explained Canby. "That's the way most everyone gets here." So don't jump to a conclusion that you have better things to do than read a children's book, since this book is for anyone who is young at heart; in fact, the longer that you have lived the more that you will recognize the power of its simple yet sophisticated truths. And even if you are not as totally capitivated as I was, the word play and just pure fun make it worthwhile. And it is a very fast read. Only one flaw that I spotted, which as a former math major I cannot resist including a comment. The author doesn't know the rules of math, one long equation does not sum to zero as claimed, so just accept this and continue with the story rather than let it distract you as it did me. Please read this book, unless you are too busy and too serious to have fun. No wonder it has become a classic, and good ideas should always be shared, especially when they are this enjoyable.I only hope that after you finish reading this book that you share my excitement and feel as compelled it to share it with others as I now do.
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Summary: The Phantom Tollbooth By Norman Juster
Review: I think that htis book is good because it was interesting to me. It was very funny at some times and sad at others. I enjoyed it so much I think it should have been a Newbery winner. The Phantom Tollbooth was one of the best books I've ever read!
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Summary: my childhood's missing piece
Review: My childhood reading was equally divided between the entire Baby-Sitters Club series and "everything else." Somehow, The Phantom Tollbooth slipped past me. I finally heard of it and subsequently read it for the first time at the age of twenty. I was amazed. Generally, I find the simplicity of vocabulary in most children's chapter books waters down the power of the narrative and drains detail from the accompanying descriptions. The Phantom Tollbooth, with its lighthearted handling of subject matter, avoids this by substituting comedy for drama. Don't be deceived: this is no slapstick tribute to bathroom humor masquerading as children's literature. The Phantom Tollbooth paints a fantastic world of fantasy and word play, weaving homonyms and mathematical brain busters into a vibrant tapestry of allegory. It doesn't deal with life's "deeper issues," but brings readers on a comical exploration of learning's importance without a trace of preachiness. I highly recommend it.
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Summary: Even better on a 10-year-later re-read
Review: Like many people, I first read this book when I was young, Perhaps 8-9 years old, and loved it. But now, I'm 18 and I sat down to give this book another try to see what I would think. While some of the jokes that I found great before had lost their luster, this was more than made up for with all the little jokes I got the 2nd time around. After aquiring a analytical eye in high school, I got so much more from this book. Juster is certainly a genius and to those reviewers who say this book is wasted potential, I'd like to see them write a book of this magnitude. Also, to the people who "didn't get it" and so gave it 0 or 1 stars, I would tell them to not blame it on the author when they are too ,*gasp*, slow to get jokes that are at the same time simple and sophisticated. But I digress, Milo's journeys are varied and always interesting and the lessons he learns can be applied to anyone's life. To the ninth grader who said this book was way to easy, I would caution him that he is only seeing the surface of the book and not understanding the deeper levels. To conclude, go out and read this book! if you have kids, go out and read it with them. If a child could understand everything presented within this novel, they would have a very good lease on life indeed.
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Summary: A Fantasty World
Review: Milo finds himself cruising in a red convertable in a fantasty world. Milo, who thinks there is no point in life, travels through Dictionopalis, the Doldrums, Math Mines, and many more places. when he travels in tis enchanting and fun land, he realizes there is more in life than bad math grades. This is exciting when Milo meets demons and rescues a princess. Also it is funny in the town of Reality. This book will keep you reading for hours, just like me.
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Summary: Still One of My Favorite Books
Review: I was ten years old when this book was first published. My father had the foresight to buy a copy of it as a Christmas gift for me. One of my most treasured childhood memories was having him read this astounding novel out loud. This is a remarkable story about an ordinary boy. He discovers the magic in the mundane world that surrounds him and he does so by getting involved with math, science, words, fractions, sound, humbugs, whiches (spelled correctly!) and some terrible demons. Now when I read the book I find the demons even more menacing because they are the demons that dwell in the world of being grownup. Juster wrote the almost impossible - a book for children that is just as good for adults. This intelligent book doesn't forego story for message, but the message is vital, a whole lot of fun and interesting from the start. After all, who wouldn't be intrigued by finding a phantom tollbooth in his bedroom?
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Summary: The Phantom Tollbooth
Review: The Phantom tollbooth is an action packed book you can't put down. With great description that paints vivid images in your mind and clever wording The Phantom tollbooth is a book that all ages can enjoy!
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Summary: Errors in mathmatics (throughly disgusted)
Review: In Digitopolis on page 188 the equation does not equal 0 (if the stantard mathematical precedence is observed)!!!!! The correct answer is 47.6008. Multiplacation and division take precedence over addition and subtraction. I ,for one, am throughly disgusted that the author would teach young readers, like myself, inaccurate mathematical precedence.
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Summary: Read it when you're young
Review: I think the buildup that I got for this book was too high to allow me to enjoy it fully. Had I not read the voluminous streams of unabashed praise from r.a.b.bers (that is the rabble that inhabits rec.arts.books) as well as recommendations from my First Impressions subscribers, I might have been pleasantly surprised by this book. As it was, I read it with an uncommonly sharp critical eye, thinking "it can't be that good," and unfortunately the book wasn't able to overcome my, admitedly, unreasonable bias. Milo is just your average kid that receives a magic tollbooth in the mail and then proceeds to discover how to view the world differently by saving a magic kingdom. Hmmm, a few shades of Narnia? Yes, but no. Juster loves wordplay, and, while I admit some of it is incredibly clever, he tends to sacrifice story for puns. The disjointed movement between "scenes" reminded me of another clever book of wordplay, Silverlock (in which the wordplay is allusions rather than puns), in that Juster moves the characters to different realms solely to pun more rather than a smooth movement of characters to their goal. The book becomes almost dull in the areas between encounters, and definitely feels segmented. But, to return to my beginning, I'm probably being unfair. I cannot say that The Phantom Tollbooth isn't clever, and some of the bits are simply wonderful, like the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping). I would have thought the wordplay would be too esoteric for kids, but given this book's popularity, I think I'm selling youth short. If you haven't read this, you probably should. Perhaps my unfavorable tone will cancel some of the more shameless paeons for it, and you will be able to evaluate it without bias.
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Summary: The Phantom Tollbooth
Review: The Phantom Tollbooth
By: Norton Juster
September 19, 2002
The book that I read was called The Phantom Tollbooth. The author is Norton Juster. The Phantom Tollbooth is about a boy named Milo, who is the main character. Milo doesn't really do anything at all; he just sits around. Another main character is Tock, who is the watchdog. Milo thinks that life is boring until a box appears with a Tollbooth in it and a car. It says on the Tollbooth that you just have to drop a coin in the slot to play a game. Milo was having a boring afternoon like usual, so he decided to play the game and dropped the coin in. After Milo dropped the coin in, he sat in the car and pretended he was driving. Then all of a sudden, he drove to a place that he had never been to before. This is when Milo's adventure starts. The main theme of The Phantom Tollbooth is when Milo all of a sudden is driving in a place that he has never been to and he doesn't care, he just keeps on driving. While Milo is driving, he meets many different people and mostly all of the people that he meets tell him about the princesses and how they made the world a better place. The princesses' names are Rhyme and Reason. Now since Rhyme and Reason are in a castle and need to be rescued, people don't get along as well. Milo also meets somebody and becomes friends with him and he is a watchdog named Tock. Also, Milo meets another friend, which is the Humbug. Milo, Tock, and the Humbug go on a wild adventure because they want to save the princesses. Milo, Tock and the Humbug go to many different places and meet so many new people. By a surprise, Milo, Tock and the Humbug did rescue Rhyme and Reason. To find out what happens at the end of this book read it! The book The Phantom Tollbooth taught me many new facts and taught me to never give up even if you think the thing you are trying to do is impossible. An example is when Milo went on his journey with his friends. Even though the adventure was tough, Milo, the Humbug and Tock didn't give up. That is what I think that author was trying to say. The Phantom Tollbooth was an awesome book and I am sure that anybody who likes fantasy books and adventure books will like this book. This book was very descriptive with words and settings and when I first starting reading it, I couldn't put it down. I definitely recommend this book to other kids.
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