A House Called Awful End (Eddie Dickens Trilogy Series #1) by Philip Ardagh , Martin Rayner (Read by)

Overview

The first book in a hilarious, action-packed trilogy.

Eddie Dickens is sent off to stay with his aunt and uncle and a riotously funny comedy of errors ensues.

When both Eddie Dickens's parents catch a disease that makes them turn yellow, go a bit crinkly around the edges, and smell of hot water bottles, it's agreed he should go and stay with relatives at their house, Awful End. Unfortunately for Eddie, those relatives are Mad Uncle Jack and Even-Madder Aunt Maud. . . .

This hilarious historical spoof, the first in the Eddie Dickens trilogy, has been called "a scrumptious cross between Dickens and Monty Python."

When eleven-year-old Eddie Dickens's sickly parents become "a bit crinkly round the edges," he is taken in by his great-uncle and great-aunt, Mad Uncle Jack and Mad Aunt Maude, and embarks on adventures that involve strolling actors, St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans, and a carnival float shaped like a giant cow.
 

My thoughts:

This sounded like it was going to be a really fun audio book, and I have to admit that my children really thought it was funny, but it just didn't hit the spot for me.  A lot of the time it felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny.  The story is told in parts that were sent as installments to someone who was away at school.  That gave the story a bit of a disjointed feeling.  Then the whole thing with Eddie's parents having some weird sickness and their doctor prescribing things like only being allowed to leave the bed three times a day, having to sleep on paper bag sheets and eat ice cubes shaped like people was just way bizarre in a weird not funny way.
 

I don't have any plans to look for the other two books in the trilogy, I really don't care what happens to Eddie from this point forward.  It filled two hours plus of driving time, but was nowhere near as enjoyable as some of the other books we've listened to.

 

Details

•Pub. Date: June 2004

•Publisher: Random House Audio Publishing Group

•Format: Compact Disc

•Series: Eddie Dickens Trilogy Series #1

•ISBN-13: 9780807219997

•ISBN: 0807219991

Meet The Author

Philip Ardagh is over 6 feet 7 inches tall with a big bushy beard. Not only is he very large and very hairy, but he has also written around sixty children's books for all ages, though nothing quite like A House Called Awful End . . . until now. Currently living as a full-time writer with a wife and two cats in a seaside town somewhere in England, he has been—among other things—an advertising copywriter, a hospital cleaner, a (highly unqualified) librarian, and a reader for the blind.

David Roberts is so busy drawing pictures that no one is really sure what he looks like. We do know that he has illustrated several books for children and lives somewhere in England, but whether his home is near the sea or not is anybody's guess