The Iron Woman - Softcover

Ted Hughes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571226132 ISBN 13: 9780571226139

Publisher: Gardners Books, 2005

Synopsis

The Iron Woman has come to take revenge on mankind. Full of the power and fantastic imagination of his book "The Iron Man", this sequel from the late Poet Laureate is a cry against the relentless pollution of the Earth's waterways through the dumping of industrial waste.

About this title

About the Author:

Andrew Davidson graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1982 and his exquisite woodcuts and engravings have been in demand ever since. He has worked on an extraordinarily broad range of commissions, from Royal Mail stamps to Wimbledon's Centre Court doors and, of course, books.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-7?A strange cry and quaking earth alert Lucy (age 10?) to a Presence in the marsh. Next day at dawn, snowdrops and foxgloves at her bedroom window signal the arrival of a huge woman of iron. Benevolent toward Lucy, she rages implacably against the factory where Lucy's father works: it is polluting the waters and their wildlife, as Lucy learns in an apocalyptic vision, accompanied by the terrifying screams of the tortured creatures (including a human baby). Lucy enlists Hogarth, who enlists the Iron Man (both from The Iron Giant [HarperCollins, 1988]). Lucy and Hogarth confront the factory manager, but in the end it is the magic of the Space-Bat-Angel-Dragon that saves the Iron Woman from having to "DESTROY THE POISONERS." All-too-obviously politically correct on the surface, this novel is riddled with problems. The centrality of the female figures is a mere nod to feminism: Hogarth has all the ideas, and the Iron Man has all the power. The wicked factory is, confusingly, in the business of recycling. The predictable triumph of right is achieved by a blatant deus ex machina, and pollution is banished by entirely magical means (with some mumbling about "change within" the human agents). Even the critique of greed is undercut when Hughes assures readers that the post-miracle factory makes greater profits than before. The language has occasional brilliance, but for the most part it is as feeble as the plot. The integrity of Tales of the Early World (Farrar, 1991) is nowhere to be found. Hughes's name, and Moser's powerful illustrations, are likely to attract browsers; but keeping readers is another story.?Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport,
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Gardners Books
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0571226132
• ISBN 13: 9780571226139
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96