🚣 Tomek is a seventeen year old orphan boy who runs a store that sells everything. By everything, it means everything you can name. One day, a girl of his age came to the store, buying some barley sugar. When the girl asked for a drop of water from river Qjar, Tomek realized three things: one, that his store doesn't sell everything after all; two, that he's actually been bored for a long time, and longed for an adventure; and three, that he's fallen in love with the girl, whom he didn't have chance to ask the name.
🚣 From an old man whom he always calls grandfather, Tomek learned more about river Qjar - it's a magical river; an upside down river that runs from sea, up to the mountain. And drinking a drop of water for that river is believed to make the person immortal. Tomek was intrigued, he wanted to meet the girl, whom he knew would be on the quest of river Qjar, and he also wanted to bring the old grandfather a drop of its water. So, off he went for his journey one fine day. And what a journey and adventure it would proof to be, and what interesting characters he would meet on the way! My favorite is Marie, a widow who travels with her cart and a donkey that farts a lot :)). He met her just at the edge of Forest of Oblivion, inside which one would forget everything that happened before entering, but right after leaving, the memory would return. Not mentioning the colony of huge bears that lived in the forest, and who were blind, but had sharp hearing. Marie was a good travel company, and it's she who give Tomek encouragement to go on his journey.
🚣 But the most exciting of all, is perhaps when Tomek finally met Hannah - the girl who bought barley sugar - and they'd go together to the river Qjar. But not before Tomek went into a sort of comma after smelling a poisonous big blue flower, and got rescued by a group of farmers; and several others strange adventures. But would Tomek and Hannah succeeded to find the river Qjar? And would they get the drops of water from it, up on the summit of the mountain, to bring home? Hannah wanted to save her most beloved bird, I forgot to mention.
🚣 All in all, it's a short read, but packed with fun adventures. Jean-Claude Mourlevat is, surely, a great fairy tale, fable and fantasy books writer! I might perhaps get to read (or listen) the second part of this book someday (Hannah's Journey), but for now, it's my last read for #ParisInJuly2025, and a very satisfying one to wrap it up! Thank you for Emma for hosting it this year. Au revoir!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
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