Fattypuffs and Thinifers

Product Information

The book contains a series of amusing and well thought out illustrations that blend well and add to the tale.

The quality of writing and plot are sufficient to warrent a wide adult readership as well, and, like all classics, it will never go out of date.

From France comes this hilariously nonsensical account of an underground land divided into two countries. Apparently -- and obviously, in retrospect -- this is an anti-war allegory, which completely passed over my head. Very sadly she did not survive many years into my life and the flow of wonderful books, at least from that source, dried up all too soon. Came across this and had that shock of recognition - a childhood read and the illustrations brought everything back.

The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance. miserable-thin war and perfect for adults who can examine the true-to-life subtext, all while reading a too-short and much loved classic.

There's always a recipe for choux buns in the back if the thought of Brexit makes you weep after reading this.

The story offers endless possibilities for discussion in the classroom around the subject of politics and international conflicts, but most of all it will be enjoyed for its ingenious plot and zany characterisation. Many of his other works have also been translated into English (mainly by Hamish Miles (1894–1937)), as they often dealt with British people or topics, such as his biographies of Disraeli, Byron, and Shelley. If you are a parent/adult fretting about how to keep up the momentum for a boy who has gone through Harry Potter, Darren Shan, Anthony Horowitz and even the late, excellent children's author Douglas Hill, and who is now drifting ominously back towards the idiot box in the corner or the latest mega-gore-slaughter-death IQ-murdering computer game, then find this, Andre Maurois' finest hour. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. There is a timelessness about this book that everyone would do well to familiarise themselves with, I think.Consequently, the Thinifer president proclaims that the two peoples form a new nation, the United States of the Underground. An adorable little satire with two message that are just as relevant now as they were almost a hundred years ago. The actual book, I hasten to add, is considerably less earnest than my review and has amusing illustrations.

A timeless fable, one to read to the kids in bed which will leave mum and dad equally entertained and enthralled as a reflection of the equally insane world they are growing up in today. That being said I've forgotten quite a bit about what it was even about, and on rereading it I know why. It's a very clever story about mans intolerance to man and how opening the mind to new ways and ideas helps to break down barriers.Despite being total strangers to each culture the boys are taken in and welcomed and given homes and eventually their positions in their relative families allows them to influence decisions being made about the Fattypuff vs Thinifer war. Informed by the author's experiences during The Great War it's a pretty anti-war tome but it's other key message is it doesn't matter whether you're fat or thin just be yourself. On this basis Maurois can be credited with predicting that there would be a new war and that France would be occupied by Germany; he can also be credited with predicting that there would be ultimately a reconciliation and an end to the prolonged enmity between these two countries - even if the actual EU falls a bit short of the complete unification in the story's happy ending. To The Times Literary Supplement on 27 December 1941, 'This most amusing fantasy' won pride of place in a review of many juveniles, but purely as comedy. A Gulliver's Travels for the younger mind, certainly took a few decades off me when I read it again !