Book Review: Jacob's Ladder

Jacob’s Ladder by Brian Keaney

I have deeply conflicting views about Jacob’s Ladder. On one hand, I love the concepts presented in the book and the plot is actually quite brilliant but on the other hand, the writing is rather stodgy, which wastes the clever plot and drags the story down.

The protagonist in the book is Jacob (duh) who wakes up one day in a field without any memory prior to waking up. He is met by an elderly man, Virgil, who brings him to a town of some sort where he is put into a dormitory with other boys of his age. In the dormitory, he meets kind and friendly Toby and aloof and sneering Stefan, along with a bunch of other boys. All the boys are dressed in gray and they have dinner in a central meeting place where tons of other boys and girls come together.

Jacob learns that their dormitory is only one of many and that all the children are in the same boat as him. They have all woken up one day in the field with completely no recollection of their life before that awakening moment. In the day, the children are put to work. There is a bus assigned to every dormitory and the children in each dormitory are ferried to empty plots of land where they have to pick up the stones. The rationale for clearing the stones from the land is to build more dormitories because whoever is running the place is anticipating more amnesiac arrivals.

Jacob is unwilling to settle into the mindless routine that is expected of them. He rebels in various ways (refusing to pick up the stones or staying back in the dormitory when he is supposed to be clearing the land) but fails miserably each time. Eventually he decides to run away. By then, he has heard of the Palace of Remembrance which is a sort of legend amongst the children. It is rumoured to be the residence of the King and Queen of the land and it is said that anyone who arrives there will get his memories back and be returned to his previous life. Thus Jacob decides to set out for the Palace.

Two of his good friends, Toby and Aysha (a girl living in another dormitory who arrived on the same day as Jacob) decide to accompany him on his journey.

The rest of the story deals with the trio’s quest to find the Palace. Along the way, they face several setbacks. They run out of food and water, encounter some ghosts that try to bewitch them into staying, come face-to-face with feral dogs that want to eat them and Jacob gets tricked by a strange man who shares some similarities with the witch in Hansel & Greta. In one pivotal scene, Jacob has to climb a long long ladder that seems never-ending which gives us the title of the book.

Does the Palace of Remembrance really exist? What do Jacob and his friends face at the end of their journey? You’ll have to read the book to find out the ending.

Let’s talk about the pros of the book first. The story is obviously well thought-out. The writer, Brian Keaney, leaves some puzzles and hints along the story and at the end of the story, most of these resolve nicely to form a coherent story. If you’re a sharp reader, you may even guess the truth before the writer reveals it.

Clever plot aside, what I really enjoy when I read the book are the themes explored by Keaney. One key theme is perseverance. On his quest, Jacob faces many difficulties and there are times when he comes close to throwing in the towel. But at each key moment, he will cast his mind back on what he really wants, grit his teeth and soldier on.

This perseverance is very similar to resilience and it is the key to success. Read enough stories about successful people and you will realise that most of them faced a lot of hardships before they achieved success but instead of giving up, they chose to plod along the difficult path, believing firmly in their dream, before they finally became successful.

Life is a bed of roses - not!

This is an important lesson, especially for Singapore’s affluent children. Many of you don’t have to worry where your next meal is coming from or if you would have enough money to pay the school fees. But when you enter society and begin your working life, unless you are lucky enough to have extremely influential or wealthy parents, you’ll realise that life is not a bed of roses. But you know what? It is the struggle that makes life meaningful.

Related to this theme is the theme of passion. Jacob firmly believes in his goal and that is what drives him on, even during the darkest moments of his quest. Do you have a passion? Do you have something that will motivate you, give you hope, even when you are feeling down? Don’t worry if your answer is no. Take the time to think what it is that you enjoy doing. Then see if this is something that can sustain you when things seem dire and begin exploring from this point.

I also like Keaney’s take on second chances. He suggests that many second chances are squandered and although the book ends on an optimistic note, one may forgive him for the overly neat conclusion for this is after all a children’s book and he did do enough work throughout the story so that the ending doesn’t feel like too it’s much of a copout.

Now, the cons. Actually there is only one and that is Keaney’s style of writing. He writes in a very simple and direct manner and is very sparing when it comes to descriptions. The advantage of this is that the book is easy to read, but at the same time it makes the book dull.

As such, I would recommend this book for beginning readers, children who find picture books too easy and are beginning to move on to proper books. Or you could close an eye to the dull language and just read for the ideas.

You could get the book from Amazon by clicking on the link below or borrow it from the library if you’re interested.

Rating: 3/5

Suggested for children aged 9 and above.


By TCC