I borrowed a copy of ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ by Charles Mackesy from a friend. It’s a quick 10 minute read and is filled with age-old wisdom and often heard quotes from pretty much everywhere – poets, philosophers, preachers, plays, films, love-songs and what not.
For a 10 minute book, it’s quite expensive and am glad I could just borrow it. However, it’s a pretty cute book for adults who want to read something to distract themselves or draw some inspiration when they are feeling down. The book is a reminder that life’s not all bad.
“Sometimes, just getting up and carrying on is brave and magnificent” – this was one of the nicest quotes in the book.
There is so much deep meaning packed in that little line, it made me think of all of us who might be struggling to find the will to wake up and carry on with a day we don’t look forward to. Almost every page is peppered with such wisdom – to be kind, to not be ashamed in seeking help, to not compare ourselves, to love without judging and to not be too hard on ourselves. That pretty much sums up the book.
I expected there to be more story in the book since the hardback looked quite big, but was disappointed with how soon it was all over. There are just a lot of random thought-provoking quotes ping-ponged between the four characters in the book, with nothing really happening. It was like watching a self-help group take a walk along the woods, where the members are all close friends and each of them keeps saying something nice or motivating to the other.
While I wasn’t blown away by the book or the illustrations in it, reading it served as a nice little distraction. Definitely brings a smile on the reader’s face.