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A review by mariahistryingtoread
The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
3.0
I read The Egypt Game as a child and had no idea it was so old. The modern cover reprints tricked me. If you had asked me before this, I would have sworn on my life this book must have been released when I was in the fifth grade - or sometime proximal as I don't remember exactly when I read it only that it was in elementary school.
It is unfathomable to me that I liked this as a child. That's not to say it's bad by any means, only that I'm always surprised at my own endurance as a child. I really used to be able to read anything completely no thoughts head empty. I miss when I didn't have the critical awareness to think of quality.
My point is nothing happens in this book. I picked it up because it's classified as a mystery and I've been on a major kid mystery kick the last couple of months. My idea of a kid mystery is that the kids are faced with a problem and must take steps to figure it out. There are puzzles, and clues and maybe an outside force attempting to stop them.
This mystery wasn't one at all. For one, it doesn't start practically until the book is over. For another, the answer is heavily foreshadowed so while the kids have no idea it's abundantly clear who the oracle really is.
Before the oracle game takes a turn at 73% into the book, all you're doing is reading about a group of kids and the kind of weird playacting they do everyday. You read about how they get materials, what rituals they want to do, how they go about performing the rituals, the secret language they make up, the costuming. It’s almost a how to guide on making your own Egypt game.
There’s an additional plot point about a kidnapper in the neighborhood except that’s directly tied to the oracle reveal so it doesn’t pick up until the last quarter either. There’s also no way for the kids to figure out who the kidnapper is nor do they care to investigate either so it plays out realistically. That is, the police don’t have any leads so it simmers in the background until the guy tries again only to luckily be caught.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a lack of racism. I re-read The Westing Game which came out over ten years after The Egypt Game early last year and I was shocked to find how much problematic stuff was in it I never noticed as a kid. There is a reference to the Romani as the G slur, but it is in the very last line of the book so it doesn’t have an impact on anything long term. Still, it is stated so I’m pointing it out.
I spent most of the book a little bored. I love a good classic, but I wasn’t in the mood when I picked this up which affected my enjoyment immensely. Also, I think this just is a little boring in general. Many classics I read transcend the time period they were published. I, unfortunately, don’t think this is one of them.
It is unfathomable to me that I liked this as a child. That's not to say it's bad by any means, only that I'm always surprised at my own endurance as a child. I really used to be able to read anything completely no thoughts head empty. I miss when I didn't have the critical awareness to think of quality.
My point is nothing happens in this book. I picked it up because it's classified as a mystery and I've been on a major kid mystery kick the last couple of months. My idea of a kid mystery is that the kids are faced with a problem and must take steps to figure it out. There are puzzles, and clues and maybe an outside force attempting to stop them.
This mystery wasn't one at all. For one, it doesn't start practically until the book is over. For another, the answer is heavily foreshadowed so while the kids have no idea it's abundantly clear who the oracle really is.
Before the oracle game takes a turn at 73% into the book, all you're doing is reading about a group of kids and the kind of weird playacting they do everyday. You read about how they get materials, what rituals they want to do, how they go about performing the rituals, the secret language they make up, the costuming. It’s almost a how to guide on making your own Egypt game.
There’s an additional plot point about a kidnapper in the neighborhood except that’s directly tied to the oracle reveal so it doesn’t pick up until the last quarter either. There’s also no way for the kids to figure out who the kidnapper is nor do they care to investigate either so it plays out realistically. That is, the police don’t have any leads so it simmers in the background until the guy tries again only to luckily be caught.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a lack of racism. I re-read The Westing Game which came out over ten years after The Egypt Game early last year and I was shocked to find how much problematic stuff was in it I never noticed as a kid. There is a reference to the Romani as the G slur, but it is in the very last line of the book so it doesn’t have an impact on anything long term. Still, it is stated so I’m pointing it out.
I spent most of the book a little bored. I love a good classic, but I wasn’t in the mood when I picked this up which affected my enjoyment immensely. Also, I think this just is a little boring in general. Many classics I read transcend the time period they were published. I, unfortunately, don’t think this is one of them.