![]() ![]() Apparently, the sight of these paintings alone led Disney to buy the movie rights to Abarat for tankerloads of money. Instead, the rich oil paintings that fill Abarat are muscular, expressionist, often frightening: unconstrained by mimetic realism or cutesy-pie kiddy-lit condescension. The joy is that all these imagined things are enthusiastically illustrated by Barker himself.īarker's art is not the carefully drafted work of, say, Maurice Sendak or Walter Moers. Islands carved into colossal heads, giant moths made of coloured ether, words that turn into aeroplanes, tentacled maggot-monsters: they dance past like a carnival, a true surrender to the weird, vastly more inventive than the tired figures that visit some bespectacled boy-wizards. Above all, this is a deeply lovely catalogue of the strange. In a subtle subversion, Barker quietly begins to intimate that the "dark lord" may not be the problem at all: it may be the ambitious, urbane Rojo Pixler, capitalist extraordinaire, whose cheery brand the Commexo Kid is spreading through Abarat with all the vigour of Starbucks.īut though the intricacies of the political machinations are well done, and there is plenty of foreshadowing to keep us coming back, Abarat is not a book in which plot is paramount. But in fact, nothing is so simply moralistic in Barker's universe. The story appears to revolve around Candy's impending struggle with Christopher Carrion, Lord of Midnight, and his attempts to establish eternal night. The narrative takes the reader to some of the 25 islands of Abarat: each of them, in a mystical way, is an hour of the day, and one is the time outside time. A foundation of ethical seriousness is established, which is not too badly undermined by intimations of Candy's "destiny" - an annoying trope impossible to pull off except at the cost of the characters' agency.įor the most part, people will read this book for the setting, and for the monsters. The moral and philosophical stakes are raised: actions have consequences in what must be a real, though alternate, world. By introducing Candy to what we have already seen, the solipsism of childhood is undercut: there is no room for this to be only a dream. What is inevitably lost is the first astonishment - the sense of awe as we step out of the Kansas house with our child-avatar into a Technicolor Oz.īut something is also gained. In other words, we do not fall down a rabbit hole into the magic kingdom with our protagonist: we know about the magic already, and have to wait for her to catch up. Christopher is survived by his mother, Marilyn Carrion of McAlester brother, Garrett Carrion of McAlester maternal grandfather, Robert Joe "Bob" Manos of McAlester uncle, Gary Manos and wife, Pamela aunts, Janet Million and husband, Paul, Maria Parham-Franks and husband, Danny, Ann Hooser and Robin cousins, Kyle Million, Michael Million, Joshua Parham, Samuel Parham, Alicia Weeden special friends, Cassandra Martin, Ethan Pearson numerous other family members and friends.Unlike most classics of this kind, Abarat starts with a prologue in the fantasyland itself, tracking an incomprehensible conversation between three of its inhabitants, before we meet Candy. Christopher was preceded in death by his father, Christopher Carrion maternal grandmother, Mary Jane (Manning) Manos paternal grandparents, Joe and Dorma (Blevins) Carrion and cousin, Amanda Manos special friend, Matthew Cable. Chris loved his Papa Bob and his brother, Garrett. Chris enjoyed listening to music, hunting, fishing and his dog "Mac". ![]() Chris was currently working as a construction worker building metal buildings and also loved to cut firewood, he had recently cut and stacked firewood at his mother's house that created a privacy fence. He was baptized at the McAlester Church of the Nazarene. He was raised in McAlester and attended McAlester schools. Christopher was born to Christopher and Marilyn (Manos) Carrion on Augin McAlester. Honorary pallbearers, Kyle Million, Michael Million, Samuel Parham, Josh Parham, Dusty Shropshire, Michael Anderson, Garrett Grivett, Kenny Stephenson and Lucas Nail. Cremation arrangements are entrusted to Bishop Funeral Service and Crematory. A private inurnment will be at a later date in Blue Cemetery. Monday, Septemat McAlester Church of the Nazarene officiated by Rev. A memorial service will be held 2:00 p.m. Christopher Blake Carrion, 30, of McAlester died Sunday Septemin Stuart. ![]()
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