One of the things the Internet (especially Google) is good for is finding things you thought were lost. Specifically, figuring out what the name of that book is you read as a kid, but only have fuzzy details on. (I think there was something in last week's NYT on this.) A little Googling enabled me to find The Gammage Cup, but I can't seem to find anything on this book (even with Amazon's new search function). I read this book sometime between 1977 - 1984, got from a local library in upstate New York where we were for the summer. Here's the details I remember:
* Setting is medieval.
* A young man is lame. He has a vision. (A bridle is somehow involved). He must seek out his namesake to be healed.
* There's a quest to find his namesake. (A warrior, perhaps?)
* At one point, he is with a woman / witch at some standing stones (Stonehenge?). She "opens" them and they're really computers, although he doesn't understand what he's seeing.
Thanks for any help!
Man, I loved the "Gammage Cup." It was one of my favorite books as a kid.
If I remember correctly, in the Gammage Cup, there was a bunch of people living in a town who were cast out as misfits (they didn't want to paint their house the same color as everyone else, for instance) who wound up, of course, saving the town.
In other words, I think you're getting your books confused too.
I could be confusing 2 books...
Comment #2 :: link :: November 12, 2003 9:00 AM :: homepageWell, from the first few items I was going to suggest The Door in the Wall by Margeurite de Angeli but there's definitely no Stonehenge or computers in that one...
Comment #3 :: link :: November 12, 2003 9:00 AM :: homepageChris just picked up "The Endless Pavement" on eBay. It's the book that horribly scarred him as a 3rd Grader. He had to see if it was as bad as he thought. His assessment: it's much worse. Although there is some kind of vaguely "up" ending, where the car-bound heroine becomes some kind of Christ figure, the spooky 70's era line-drawing style showing hordes of paralytic pseudo-zombies crawling along the ground is just too much.
Yeah, books'll f your young ass up, if you're not careful.
You're right on the details of the Gammage Cup -- I know, because I went and bought it and re-read it to Ben. I guess we read the same copy at Wayne Elementary? Or did you go to Ithan, I can't remember. Oh, and one of the misfits is named "Muggles," but I don't think there were any lawsuits over that.
I read the abstract for Door in the Wall, Emily, and while it looks interesting, it's not the book I'm looking for. I shall search on!
The standing stones with computers inside sound like the pylons in "Land of the Lost"... Marshall, Will and Holly, remember?
Comment #6 :: link :: November 14, 2003 9:00 AM :: homepage
