Crossing to Paradise
By: Kevin Crossley-Holland
Crossing to Paradise is a
historical-fiction book written by Kevin Crossley-Holland. It was a wonderful
book that made it easier to understand how things were in the Middle Ages, in a
captivating way. The themes and ideas from the book were great and the
characters were brilliant. The characters were full of personality, and that
made it so much easier to relate to them. The author is a well-known writer and
will be discussed later in the review. Not only was this book a pleasure to
read, it solidified and strengthened my knowledge of the way of life in the
Middle Ages.
A few major
themes of this book included religion, the Middle East, and a pilgrimage.
Gatty, who was the main character, was an illiterate, orphaned, 15 year-old
field-girl that lived on the quiet English manor of Caldicot. She was chosen to
go on a Holy Pilgrimage to Jerusalem as Lady Gwyneth de Ewloe’s second chamber
servant. On the pilgrimage, accompanying
Gatty and Lady Gwyneth, were several other people. These people included Nest,
Lady Gwyneth’s first chamber servant; Snout, the cook; Emrys, the stableman;
Nakin, a Chester merchant; Everard, the Chester cathedral choirmaster; and
Tilda, Emrys’ wife. On the trip, Austin was to teach Gatty how to read and write
and Everard would teach her how to properly sing. Lady Gwyneth’s pilgrimage is
to Bethlehem, the Holy Land. Everybody on this pilgrimage was of the Christian
faith. On the way to Jerusalem, they faced many dangers, including encountering
Saracens and robbers. Saracens were what Arabs and Muslims were called around
the time of the Crusades. Most were very
hostile, and sometimes even vicious toward Christian pilgrims. On their
journey, the pilgrims faced many risks. They ate rotten food, were exhausted,
and one person even died. Through the Middle East they traveled, from England
to Jerusalem. They went through France, Sicily, and Venice. They met many
interesting people of different cultures. Pilgrimages, which occurred often
during the Crusades, really helped spread cultural diffusion and other peoples’
ways of life. When the pilgrims finally reached Jerusalem, they were ecstatic.
Then, they were put in a prison! In the prison, they met a Saracen. In
Bethlehem, they met a couple; the man was a Christian and the woman was a
Saracen. Gatty realized that peoples’ religions don’t govern their actions. She
realized that there are good people and bad people of every race, culture, etc.
At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, pilgrims had to pay the Saracens to enter
the holy sanctuary. They had a “pilgrim season,” which governed when and how
long pilgrims got to stay in the Holy Sepulchre. Now that they had made their long and
grueling journey TO Jerusalem, they now had to travel BACK to their
homelands. When they returned home,
everybody was so happy to see them. The pilgrims had blessed their towns. They
met in the Church at Caldicot and the pilgrims told their tale. Even though
Caldicot had had some rough times, they all felt blessed and safe, as their
little pilgrim had returned home. This book ended almost like a fairy-tale. It
was absolutely wonderful.
A few
things that really stood out to me include a couple of quotes. One of the ones
I thought was true goes as follows: “We must look around us, and question what
we see. (171)” It was said by a Saracen astronomer to Gatty as they discussed
whether the Earth was flat or round. I thought that this was an astute remark,
as it showed that curiosity and a little bit of caution is a good thing. If we
took everything people say for true, none of us would be able to think for
ourselves. This was one of the things that spurred the Golden Age during the
Renaissance. The movable-type printing press was developed by Johannes
Gutenberg and this was what allowed people to get their own copies of things,
such as the Bible. When they had these things, they were able to become educated,
read them, and make decisions and come to conclusions for themselves. They did
not have to believe everything they were told anymore, as they could decide for
themselves what they wanted to believe. If people didn’t question the things
around them, we would live in a world of oblivion. A second quote that caught
my attention was said by Raven, Kit the Trader’s brother, “But some clever
people…say the whole point of a journey is the journey.(286)” He said this in
response to Kit the Trader’s comment, “Some people say the whole point of a
journey is to reach your destination.(286)” I agreed with Raven. I thought that
this was a really good point. If you are so focused on your destination, how
will you enjoy and learn on the way there? I thought that the answer to that was
obvious. You won’t. If all Gatty had been interested in was getting to
Jerusalem, then she wouldn’t have had much of a chance to meet all of the
people she did, learn all of the new things she did, or find herself through
her physical and mental journey to the Holy Land. I admired Gatty’s strength
and curiosity as she discovers new things and decides how she feels about them.
A third quote that really astounded me was when Gatty said, “I want to be in
this world, not out of it. (293)” This was one of those quotes that could have been
taken a thousand different ways. To me, it meant that she wanted to be involved
in the world and not be a bystander. She didn't want to sit on the sidelines,
she wanted to be in the game. I felt that she had so much knowledge of the world
and how things work. She was an admirable character and she always kept me
guessing.
The Author,
Kevin Crossley-Holland, is an amazing writer and has made a lot of
accomplishments. He lives in Norfolk, England and was born in 1941. He is the
author of historical fictions, picture books, translations from Anglo-Saxon,
and many more things. His Arthur
Trilogy was published in 21 languages. He has won the Carnegie Medal and the
Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. I think he is a very qualified writer and I
will be reading more of his books. He has written other historical-fiction
books, and the reviews and ratings for them are outstanding. His website (click here to go to website) lists
out all of his accomplishments by name. He has earned 4 awards, has
professional experience publishing and broadcasting, has taught, and has
published many works. I think that he is a great author and encourage anyone to
read his works.
Reading
this book, I noticed some things that I had heard about before. There were also
some things that I had not heard of. When I began reading, I immediately knew
that it was during the times of the Crusades. A pilgrimage is a journey,
usually taken for religious reasons. A lot of pilgrimages were taken during the
Crusades. I knew about the Crusades before I read the book. The first Crusade was between Muslims and
Christians, and it was over the Holy Land. In the book, it stated, “Saladin was
unwilling - unwilling or unable to pay the ransom for them, and so the
crusaders put the whole lot to the sword.” The “them” it talked about were the
Saracens, Saladin’s army. The Siege of Acre began in 1189. In the book, Brother
Gabriel was telling Gatty and Snout about the battle when the Crusaders
besieged Acre and killed three thousand of the Saracens. The book, I believe,
was based off of some major events in history. These were only two examples of
the many that were shown in the book. This book was beautifully written. It was
entertaining and educating. I thought that it was a very good book.
In
conclusion, this was one of the best books I’ve ever read and I would recommend
it to any student of appropriate age. The themes and ideas were very nicely put
together. The author is an amazing writer and has the reviews and statistics to
show it. I loved the characters as well. They were almost like real people. It
really helped me see how life was, how people acted, and how people thought
about things in that time era. It was an absolutely scintillating read and I
hope you decide to read it!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHannah,
ReplyDeleteYou did a very good job on this book review. It was very detailed but you did not give away anything. I enjoy reading books that have anything to do with adventure and so I feel that I would enjoy reading it. This book seems very interesting to read and I hope that I will read it sometime.