The Crystal Ship Review
Since Frances uses the very poetic language of fairy tales and fables, it may be necessary to read this book more than once before the reader completely understands the narrative thread. So, for the sake of convenience, here is a chapter outline (omitting 10 and 11, which are largely rhetorical). 1. A child playing in a garden wanders among some oak trees, soon finding himself lost in the woods. He tries to hide behind a tree, but its branches open up like arms. The boy then witnesses a strange parade of men (or perhaps angels), leading a man dressed in rags whose rags burn him alive. 2. The reader learns the child is named Frederick, and that he'll be referred to in the narrative as Our Wise Man. He has been a handsome youth, but now he's growing older. Frederick sits in his parlor contemplating his relationship with the young man he mentors. He falls asleep and dreams about a courtroom with walls that appear to be made of a blue gas. Frederick sees a trial being p...