SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: January 10, 2021] Gravepyres School for the Recently Deceased
I found this book at work and was instantly intrigued by many things. The title Gravepyres sounded unusual to me. It also seemed like a children’s book (which it is). Plus, it had a stamp that said “For sale only within the territories of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.” Which I found pretty fascinating.
Even more so because this is a children’s fantasy book about being dead and the kind of “life” that you can have “there.” I thought it might be quite different than an American book.
The book opens on Jose who has just died. He has no idea that he just died and as he is trying to get his bearings, he is greeted by a small, bossy girl named Mishi. She brings him to Gravepyres School for the Recently Deceased. She tours him around the place, scolds him for his poor clothing (she provides him with a tunic) and tells him to get ready for classes..
Of course there is school when you are dead! There is mathamythics. Where the seemingly simple question 6+4= is not what one expects. None of the students answered until finally one of them said four hundred and sixteen. Jose chuckled, but the teacher said “Good, excellent.” Other seemingly correct answers were ninety seven and a half, eight thousand, fifty two, even twelve. But when Jose said the answer is ten, Professor Styx said Oh dear. not quite. The rest of the classes made the same amount of sense.
Like Scare Studies from Madam Morte and Seeing from Dr Chiplunker (who wore the most outrageous spectacles he had ever seen). Can you See the pencil in front of you? Look closely. Look at it for an hour. Jose decided it was the most boring class he had ever heard of. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 