66. The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk

66. The Adventures of Jimmy Skunk. Thornton W. Burgess. 1918. 96 pages. [Source: Online] [5 stars, animal fantasy, children's fantasy, children's classic, j fantasy]

First sentence: The Imp of Mischief, woe is me, is always busy as a bee. That is why so many people are forever getting into trouble. He won't keep still. No, Sir, he won't keep still unless he is made to. Once let him get started there is no knowing where he will stop. Peter Rabbit had just seen Jimmy Skunk disappear inside an old barrel, lying on its side at the top of the hill, and at once the Imp of Mischief began2 to whisper to Peter. Of course Peter shouldn't have listened. Certainly not. But he did. You know Peter dearly loves a joke when it is on some one else. He sat right where he was and watched to see if Jimmy would come out of the barrel. Jimmy didn't come out, and after a little Peter stole over to the barrel and peeped inside. There was Jimmy Skunk curled up for a nap. Peter tiptoed away very softly. All the time the Imp of Mischief was whispering to him that this was a splendid chance to play a joke on Jimmy. You know it is very easy to play a joke on any one who is asleep. Peter doesn't often have a chance to play a joke on Jimmy Skunk. It isn't a very safe thing to do, not if Jimmy is awake. No one knows that better than Peter.

Premise/plot: Though Jimmy Skunk is perhaps the central character in this classic animal fantasy novel by Thornton Burgess, plenty of other characters get their moments to shine as well. (INCLUDING UNC' Billy Possum). Over half the novel features JIMMY SKUNK and UNC' BILLY POSSUM together getting into trouble--chiefly having to do with their love for EGGS. (The first half of the novel focuses on Peter Rabbit and Jimmy Skunk pranking each other.)

Burgess' animal world is DELIGHTFUL.  

My thoughts: I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this one. Did I love it more than The Adventures of Unc' Billy Possum???? Good question. Fair question. I think I loved them both equally. Because they share main characters--Jimmy Skunk and Unc' Billy Possum.

Quotes:

Jimmy Skunk ambled along down the Lone Little Path through the Green Forest. He didn't hurry. Jimmy never does hurry. Hurrying and worrying are two things he leaves for his neighbors. Now and then Jimmy stopped to turn over a bit of bark or a stick, hoping to find some fat beetles. But it was plain to see that he had something besides fat beetles on his mind.
Up the Lone Little Path through the Green Forest shuffled Unc' Billy Possum. He didn't hurry. It was too warm to hurry. Unlike Jimmy Skunk,62 he does hurry sometimes, does Unc' Billy, especially when he suspects that Bowser the Hound is about. And sometimes Unc' Billy does worry. You see, there are people who think that Unc' Billy would make a very good dinner. Unc' Billy doesn't think he would. Anyway, he has no desire to have the experiment tried. So occasionally, when he discovers one of these people who think he would make a good dinner, he worries a little.
But just now Unc' Billy was neither hurrying nor worrying. There was no need of doing either, and Unc' Billy never does anything that there is no need of doing. So Unc' Billy shuffled up the Lone Little Path, and Jimmy Skunk ambled down the Lone Little Path, and right at a bend in the Lone Little Path they met.

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

6. Chicago

 

 6. Chicago. Maurine Dallas Watkins. 1926 (December). 111 pages. [Source: Online] [play, classic] [3 stars]

First sentence from the prologue: You damned tightwad!

Premise/plot: Roxie Hart stands trial for murder in Maurine Dallas Watkins' play titled Chicago. Will Amos, her husband, stand by her side faithfully? Will Flynn, her lawyer, be able to talk his client out of trouble? Will the newspapers stay focused on the prettiest little murderer the city has ever seen? 

The fictional play was inspired by a handful of crime stories from the time--circa 1924--notably Beulah Annan. The play premiered on Broadway in December 1926 (at least according to Wikipedia).

My thoughts: I saw the musical in theaters when it released ages ago; I wasn't particularly impressed. I became interested in the story again during my deep-diving into silent films. I watched the 1927 silent film, Chicago, and found it intriguing/entertaining. The next day I watched Roxie Hart a 1942 film adaptation. Chicago (1927) and Roxie Hart (1942) are two very different adaptations. Same basic story, radically different interpretations. After watching these two I decided to seek out the play which I believe may be in the public domain? I found it on archive.org. 

I am glad I read this three-act play. It was interesting to see what lines (dialogue) the film(s) kept and how they interpreted the story. Of course, the silent film didn't really have dialogue. But it did capture ALL the melodrama. And it had quite the cat fight between women prisoners. There were scenes that were just GOLD in terms of their timelessness in being entertaining. The 1942 film, of course, had dialogue. Both movies were WORTH watching. I appreciated them for different reasons.

Notably the main difference between Chicago (1927) and Roxie Hart (1942) was WHO was likeable!

In terms of preference, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Roxie Hart (1942). I loved Chicago (1927). I liked the play.

 

© 2025 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews