Short description
When the naive David Balfour sets out on his quest for a long lost relative, a terrifying chain of events is set in motion. He is plunged into a world of infamy and violence from which there seems no escape. The music is by Berlioz ( Symphonie Fantastique ) and Ciurlionis ( Symphonies ).
Long description
When the naive David Balfour sets out on his quest for a long lost relative, a terrifying chain of events is set in motion. He is plunged into a world of infamy and violence from which there seems no escape.
Review
These inaugurate a new series of uniform classics, simplified so that little more than their bare essentials remain. Where there may be an excuse for a revision for young moderns of, say, the stilted quality of Defoe's Crusoe or a shortening of Kidnapped's lengthy descriptions - these are matters of individual taste. But it does seem that readers should be willing to take what the authors wrote originally. That case is strengthened by the bone-dryness of these revisions, all of which have been cut so extensively that little atmosphere remains, and the purpose-to introduce young readers to the classics-defeats itself. Attractive size and format and plentiful supplies of colored pictures make up for textual imperfections. Plastic covers. (Kirkus Reviews)