Janet Taylor Lisle

The Lampfish of Twill

Hi there!! I've been a big fan of "Lampfish of Twill" since I first read it years and years ago. Now my sister and I are studying animation... I always thought the book would make a beautiful animated film. My sister and I are working on character concepts, storyboards & a piece of animation for Senior Project. Someday I'd like to see a full length feature done from the book. If I can, I'm going to attempt to get ahold of the writer and ask her permission to animate it. Such a beautiful story... and it's just begging to be brought to life on the big screen. I don't think I'm the first and/or the only one to say so. What do you all think?If anyone is interested & wants to see the work we've done so far... don't hesitate to email me (cameo@groundcontrol.us). I'd love to hear what other fans fo Twill think on the matter.
Cameo A
Chicago, IL USA - 8/22/2005 4:28pm

i love all your books but iam sorry to say i did not like this one.
bianca w
rockford, Illions usa - 4/24/2005 8:20pm

I found this book in a second-hand store in 1995. I bought it for 25 cents. When I finished reading it, I went back to the second-hand store and donated the full cover price to their business. I figured since I'd received the full value of a great story well told I owed them the difference.Now that my eldest daughter is ready to read the story by herself (and has consequently commandeered my copy), I'll be paying full cover price again to replace the book. My permanent library would be incomplete without it.
Dane H
Houston, TX USA - 9/26/2004 9:18pm

Janet, I am halfway through your book, I have to read it for Book Bowl (a project that we are doing in school) and The Lampfish of Twill has some boring parts and interesting parts. I am on chapter 8 and so far it is okay. Otherwise I love your work. Keep it up!
Jessica ?
I cant tell, I cant tell USA - 5/19/2004 7:31pm

Author Lisle,Iv'e been on a blind date of six weeks' duration with this, one of your "children" -once they are out of your penhouse who can tell- Felicity it was that I received my own copy on the morning of my arrival in Underwhirl, that cloying and dangerous place that none of us is safe from. This is a beguiling and disturbing tale wherein nothing is predictable overhead nor sure underfoot. It is a personification of many universal things. From the start your prose sways like a boat on the swell, in a quaint and colorful yet direct and succinct tongue in a story of several separate themes all woven together in a tapestry of fecund imagination. It is both the nainsook of the fatalistic Twickhamians and brocade of wild nature. Your aphoristic trademark is to be found throughout, like the whitecaps appearing on a swell running before a stiff breeze. Your setting is a feast for all the senses and brought together for me all of my favorite, both real and imagined, places, my haunts. Here are a few: "A brisk southwest wind took charge of the day...The wild briny stink of the open sea...The gulls' windy rustle of wings...The yard was littered with droppings and jimmied mussel shells...night still clung to the hollows in the land...It was no good trying to keep things nailed down-the wind got them eventually, or the sea did". This is a window on parts of my life, and landscape painting of economical clarity, both ancient and modern which blooms in my head. Twill is that peculiar swell pattern which weaves toward points of land. The Twickhamians are a traditional culture bound by work and poverty, by place ,and poverty of spirit. I read in their Twill their invariable acceptance of what they believe inevitable- It Will. Their habits and traditions are mostly like those on an old oyster shell,some old, some new but all indistinguishable, unremoveable and stuck to the outside. They have their nemesis, Old Blaster, whom I know as ol' baister. They fear travel and are not lured by the storyed trading cities whose night glow rests on their horizons.. But with them, one can "grow up strong with fish chowder." The people are rhythmically busy with survival but do not rush. Home is the place we know, but as the protagonist, Eric learns, home is to become that place realized within. This begins with his aunt Opal, the rock in his life and the concentration of its peculiar fire. He recognizes that he has not been happy in Twill; who else in Twill gives a thought to happiness? His aunt monitors his inner struggles and guides him as far as she can. But his pet seagull is his constant companion and alterego. "Oh Gully" and "Sir Gullstone" demonstrate his respect and reverence, compassion , and passion for survival. Tethering his gull elicits a comment from old Cantrip " Don't think you can keep a thing safe by tying a string around it." Eric's moment of clarity for the past and vision for the future comes at the killing of the wond'rous lampfish. He has matriculated from keeper of pet gull into nascent environmental awareness, in Twill, a voice in a wilderness. Later , when his mortally injured gull is cast up on the shingle,his recapture of joy is seared by the moment of truth. His grief and distress for the gull during its departure he transforms into a simple yet urgent ritual for burial, with a crowd of gulls for mourners. This most difficult but ably handled passage brought up my own moment of griefs and I as he, was cleansed by " The surf crash on the beach at night, the wind in his face, the spray from a wave, the roar of water over a rock...the upper world's habbit of change." Then in that surf, again felicity, we again recapture joy in the foundling little gull, the surviver tossed up on the shore by the sea. And thanks for your muscular description of masterful rowing to be found on page 96--
j n
lc, ri us - 7/5/2003 12:27pm

THIS MYTH KEPT ME READING SO MUCH I GOT A DETENTION FROM MY TEACHER FOR READING THAT BOOK WHILE SHE WAS TALKING!
DAVID WHITE W
NEW ALBANY , OHIO USA - 2/12/2002 9:44am

Best book I ever read.
Alex K
Columbus, Ohio USA - 2/12/2002 9:42am

I think this book was good.
mike k
new albany, ohio america - 2/8/2002 9:42am

I thought The Lampfish Of Twill was a great book. I thought it was adventuresome. I liked the part when they were going down the spout. I wish I was there. The funniest part was when Gullstone was squawking to get in the cabin.

Chris L

Cincinnati, Ohio U.S.A - 3/1/2000 2:28pm

I like The Lampfish of Twill because it was a mix of adventure and fantasy. I also like the creativity in the Lampfish. My favorite part was when they were in the whirlpool going down. I thought it was sad when Gully died.

William F

Cincinnati, Ohio United States of America - 3/1/2000 2:28pm

The Lampfish of Twill is one of the most enchanting books I have ever read. When I started reading it a strange feeling came to me and I knew I had to keep reading. I only get this feeling when I like the book. Not only is the Lampfish of Twill mysterious, but it goes deep into the past and unwinding secrets that were forgotten by time. I also like the story's setting. The coast of Twill seems the only place that is right. The action, too, is very good. The storms and whirlpool are very dramatic and frightning. I liked it when Eric learns the secret of the Lampfish. If you are going to read this book you are not making a mistake because I rarely make mistakes when I like a book such as the Lampfish of Twill!

Asif R

Cinncinati, Ohio U.S.A. - 2/23/2000 12:50pm



	<< Back to Reviews The Lampfish of Twill Hi there!! I've been a big fan of "Lampfish of Twill" since I first read it years and years ago. Now my sister and I are studying animation... I always thought the book would make a beautiful animated film. My sister and I are working on character concepts, storyboards & a piece of animation for Senior Project. Someday I'd like to see a full length feature done from the book. If I can, I'm going to attempt to get ahold of the writer and ask her permission to animate it. Such a beautiful story... and it's just begging to be brought to life on the big screen. I don't think I'm the first and/or the only one to say so. What do you all think?If anyone is interested & wants to see the work we've done so far... don't hesitate to email me (cameo@groundcontrol.us). I'd love to hear what other fans fo Twill think on the matter. Cameo A Chicago, IL USA - 8/22/2005 4:28pm i love all your books but iam sorry to say i did not like this one. bianca w rockford, Illions usa - 4/24/2005 8:20pm I found this book in a second-hand store in 1995. I bought it for 25 cents. When I finished reading it, I went back to the second-hand store and donated the full cover price to their business. I figured since I'd received the full value of a great story well told I owed them the difference.Now that my eldest daughter is ready to read the story by herself (and has consequently commandeered my copy), I'll be paying full cover price again to replace the book. My permanent library would be incomplete without it. Dane H Houston, TX USA - 9/26/2004 9:18pm Janet, I am halfway through your book, I have to read it for Book Bowl (a project that we are doing in school) and The Lampfish of Twill has some boring parts and interesting parts. I am on chapter 8 and so far it is okay. Otherwise I love your work. Keep it up! Jessica ? I cant tell, I cant tell USA - 5/19/2004 7:31pm Author Lisle,Iv'e been on a blind date of six weeks' duration with this, one of your "children" -once they are out of your penhouse who can tell- Felicity it was that I received my own copy on the morning of my arrival in Underwhirl, that cloying and dangerous place that none of us is safe from. This is a beguiling and disturbing tale wherein nothing is predictable overhead nor sure underfoot. It is a personification of many universal things. From the start your prose sways like a boat on the swell, in a quaint and colorful yet direct and succinct tongue in a story of several separate themes all woven together in a tapestry of fecund imagination. It is both the nainsook of the fatalistic Twickhamians and brocade of wild nature. Your aphoristic trademark is to be found throughout, like the whitecaps appearing on a swell running before a stiff breeze. Your setting is a feast for all the senses and brought together for me all of my favorite, both real and imagined, places, my haunts. Here are a few: "A brisk southwest wind took charge of the day...The wild briny stink of the open sea...The gulls' windy rustle of wings...The yard was littered with droppings and jimmied mussel shells...night still clung to the hollows in the land...It was no good trying to keep things nailed down-the wind got them eventually, or the sea did". This is a window on parts of my life, and landscape painting of economical clarity, both ancient and modern which blooms in my head. Twill is that peculiar swell pattern which weaves toward points of land. The Twickhamians are a traditional culture bound by work and poverty, by place ,and poverty of spirit. I read in their Twill their invariable acceptance of what they believe inevitable- It Will. Their habits and traditions are mostly like those on an old oyster shell,some old, some new but all indistinguishable, unremoveable and stuck to the outside. They have their nemesis, Old Blaster, whom I know as ol' baister. They fear travel and are not lured by the storyed trading cities whose night glow rests on their horizons.. But with them, one can "grow up strong with fish chowder." The people are rhythmically busy with survival but do not rush. Home is the place we know, but as the protagonist, Eric learns, home is to become that place realized within. This begins with his aunt Opal, the rock in his life and the concentration of its peculiar fire. He recognizes that he has not been happy in Twill; who else in Twill gives a thought to happiness? His aunt monitors his inner struggles and guides him as far as she can. But his pet seagull is his constant companion and alterego. "Oh Gully" and "Sir Gullstone" demonstrate his respect and reverence, compassion , and passion for survival. Tethering his gull elicits a comment from old Cantrip " Don't think you can keep a thing safe by tying a string around it." Eric's moment of clarity for the past and vision for the future comes at the killing of the wond'rous lampfish. He has matriculated from keeper of pet gull into nascent environmental awareness, in Twill, a voice in a wilderness. Later , when his mortally injured gull is cast up on the shingle,his recapture of joy is seared by the moment of truth. His grief and distress for the gull during its departure he transforms into a simple yet urgent ritual for burial, with a crowd of gulls for mourners. This most difficult but ably handled passage brought up my own moment of griefs and I as he, was cleansed by " The surf crash on the beach at night, the wind in his face, the spray from a wave, the roar of water over a rock...the upper world's habbit of change." Then in that surf, again felicity, we again recapture joy in the foundling little gull, the surviver tossed up on the shore by the sea. And thanks for your muscular description of masterful rowing to be found on page 96-- j n lc, ri us - 7/5/2003 12:27pm THIS MYTH KEPT ME READING SO MUCH I GOT A DETENTION FROM MY TEACHER FOR READING THAT BOOK WHILE SHE WAS TALKING! DAVID WHITE W NEW ALBANY , OHIO USA - 2/12/2002 9:44am Best book I ever read. Alex K Columbus, Ohio USA - 2/12/2002 9:42am I think this book was good. mike k new albany, ohio america - 2/8/2002 9:42am I thought The Lampfish Of Twill was a great book. I thought it was adventuresome. I liked the part when they were going down the spout. I wish I was there. The funniest part was when Gullstone was squawking to get in the cabin. Chris L Cincinnati, Ohio U.S.A - 3/1/2000 2:28pm I like The Lampfish of Twill because it was a mix of adventure and fantasy. I also like the creativity in the Lampfish. My favorite part was when they were in the whirlpool going down. I thought it was sad when Gully died. William F Cincinnati, Ohio United States of America - 3/1/2000 2:28pm The Lampfish of Twill is one of the most enchanting books I have ever read. When I started reading it a strange feeling came to me and I knew I had to keep reading. I only get this feeling when I like the book. Not only is the Lampfish of Twill mysterious, but it goes deep into the past and unwinding secrets that were forgotten by time. I also like the story's setting. The coast of Twill seems the only place that is right. The action, too, is very good. The storms and whirlpool are very dramatic and frightning. I liked it when Eric learns the secret of the Lampfish. If you are going to read this book you are not making a mistake because I rarely make mistakes when I like a book such as the Lampfish of Twill! Asif R Cinncinati, Ohio U.S.A. - 2/23/2000 12:50pm
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