The Doldrums

"The doldrums," as defined by the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary is, "A spell of listlessness or despondency," or "a state or period of inactivity, stagnation or slump." Not only can it be defined as the above, but it can also be defined as a charming novel written and illustrated by Nicolas Gannon.

It is safe to say that this 2015 middle-grade novel made a bigger impact on my life than I realize. I don't quite remember how we found it---most likely at a Barnes and Noble when they were still popular---but my family and I read this book together in the evenings a couple years after it came out, and it is still one of the best books I think we've ever read together.

There are a couple reasons that I think of this book fondly. First, nostalgia. I was seven or eight, my siblings were younger, and we had just moved when we began reading this. My dad, who had a new job, often came home late. Because of this, the only time we usually saw him was right before dinner. Of course we ate dinner together, but then we would read. Because reading was (and always will be) one of my favorite things to do, and because we were doing it together, times like these will always be remembered fondly by me.

But especially when the book we read was The Doldrums.

I would class this book as excellent. The plot is unique, and the era fits perfectly with the storyline and its characters. To put the plot in a nutshell,

When Archer B. Helmsley's explorer grandparents go missing, Archer's overprotective parents clamp down, determined not to let his adventurous spirit (inherited from his grandparents) give him any opportunity to get in trouble. Archer is desperate to escape his tall brownstone, and it grows even worse when his parents decide not to let him leave the house for anything but school. Why does he want to escape? Why, to find his grandparents, of course. However, given his own limited resources, escaping seems impossible. But as he becomes friends with the boy next door, Oliver Glubb, and a wooden-legged French girl named Adélaïde (who claims her leg was eaten by a crocodile), it begins to seem that his dream really might come true.

The storyline is original and fascinating, and I have never read another book like it. It is also such a clean, wholesome, friend and family-oriented book that I would recommend it for almost anyone who is old enough to understand it. In a world where darkness has a hold on the movies, books and music we consume, it is always so encouraging to find a bit of light. Not just a clean book, but an excellently written, clean book.

Another reason I like this book is because it is illustrated by the author. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love to draw. Illustrating my books has always seemed like a distant dream. Nicholas Gannon proved that excellence in both writing and illustrating is possible. His illustrations are perfect for the character and vibe of the book. Whenever I pick up his work, it encourages me that I could see my own name on a well-written, well-illustrated book one day.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, this book is funny. Not full of crude humor, but truly funny. And the wonderful thing about it is that it never feels forced. Not only does Gannon fill his pages with amusing dialect, but his way of describing certain situations is so effortlessly humorous. I remember rereading it as a family a few years ago, and my dad said something along the lines of, "He describes things in a way that no one else would see them." I never forgot that, and I have somewhat unconsciously been putting that kind of style into my writing ever since. For example, when Archer is sitting unnoticed at dinner, quietly stuffing peas into the mouth of a taxidermy gazelle, Gannon describes his being caught as,

But just as Archer was about to make the deposit, a shadow from the east fell upon them.

My family rolled when we read this sentence for the first time. Who would ever think to describe someone's arrival in that way? In another instance, Archer and his friend Oliver indirectly meet their horrible new neighbor...who also happens to be their new schoolteacher. What's worse, this same woman, named Mrs. Murkley, will be attending dinner at Archer's house that night. As Oliver and Archer recover from their heart-stopping experience, Oliver says,

"She's not really going to dinner at your house, is she?"

Archer nodded. In a few short hours, he would be breaking bread with that woman.

And, when describing this Mrs. Murkley, Gannon says,

Seeing Mrs. Murkley from a balcony or a tree was one thing. From this angle, her figure bore a striking resemblance to a hot air balloon. (Archer) made an educated guess, however, that this lady would never float so gracefully off the ground.

It is short humorous bits like this that make my day when I read them---and make me want to insert them into my own writing. Of course, it is hard for me to say how much alike my style is to Gannon's; one is always the worst possible judge of himself. But perhaps friends or family may think we sound the same. At any rate, I think the humor in The Doldrums made the biggest impression on me because it was something that I wanted to copy myself.

I would definitely recommend this book to anybody looking for something with a classic, humorous vibe. And, though Nicholas Gannon isn't a common household name, I hope you will find in him the upholding of excellence and wholesomeness.

If you take me up on my recommendation, I'd love to know! :)

Gannon, Nicholas. The Doldrums, Harper Collins, New York, New York, 2015, pp. 70, 73, 81. Print.