Book Review: “Magic Street” by Orson Scott Card

Mack is a nice first name. Street is a nice last name. Mack Street is one neat full name. But hang on, what's the title of this book again? Magic Street. How creative. What's in a name anyway? We have come across this question more than a few times and we have strong fire power on both sides of the argument. Granted that there is more to a book than its title, such as the author and the book cover, it just begs the question why the person who chose the title couldn't have come up with a more original one. When I was reading the first few chapters of the book, I had to refer back to the cover to make sure I remembered the title correctly. I thought I might have misread either “Magic Street” or “Mack Street”, and that they are really one and the same. Before you think I am slamming down the book given that I have dedicated three paragraphs to its questionable choice of title, it's far from it. I like the book, so much so that I went past my bedtime and slept at 6.30am just so that I can finish the book. That wouldn't do too good to my health so I just hope that Puck will do something about it – without twisting the outcome of course. I have to point out that I am not a fan of the original “A Midsummer Night's Dream”. I am also not terribly fascinated by fairy queens or slugs with wings. When the story first mentioned reference to Shakespeare the schoolboy and his writings, I must confess I was tempted to just put the book down. But then, I had read quite a bit already and it seemed an unforgivable waste to not run the book to its end. The story centres on Mack who is really the pristine goofy half of Oberon, the King of fairies. At the beginning when he was still growing up and walking around in diaper, I thought he sounded too old for his age. Then again, I shrugged it off given that he wasn't that normal a child anyway. But subsequently in the book, when he grew up to be a fine lad who was almost 18, he didn't sound much different from when he was 6. Since he had to relearn the alphabet and study like a normal human child, I have to assume that the manner of his speech will change too as he matures in the human realm. If this was factored into consideration, I have not been meticulous enough to notice. I quite like the character of Ceese. After all, he is the only human representative into fairyland and one has to give one's own kind a leg up. Cecil Tucker first appeared in the story with his friend Raymo. From his interaction with this cool-guy-who-forced-him-to-smoke-weed, it just didn't feel like he was too strong-willed. Therefore, it is quite remarkable that he, of all humans, was able to withstand the magical charm of Yo-yo a.k.a. the Queen of fairies. It was suggested that Ceese was more dull than not – though he might have been conditioned to think this way seeing how he turned out to be not that dumb after all as the story progressed. The bag man is one amusing character. The image portrayed when he first appeared to Professor Williams was a stark contrast to the mischievous Puck who was slave to Oberon but in love with his wife. I have to give credit to the creativity of the author for the exchanges between Puck and Yo-yo. The bantering between the two was refreshing and I enjoyed it. The impression I had of Yolanda was more of a motorcycle mum than anything. Her wit and vanity were apparent, but I cannot easily feel her stature as Queen or her love as a wife. Perhaps the hip-hop image was too irresistible when creating the story. I have a gripe about the ending. When Mack found himself to be more Mack than Oberon when they were made one again, that part just felt a little too hastily done. After “waking” up, the strongest feeling Mack had was anguish for the wrongs he did. At this point, he was evidently more Oberon than Mack. If Mack was indeed so much stronger than Oberon, I feel that the feeling would be more like a memory long buried than a wound freshly opened. If you don't agree, you won't arch your eyebrow then over the hasty way I am ending this review. I'll give “Magic Street” by Orson Scott Card 4 out of 5 stars. *wink*