The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp Karen Coats Yancey, Rick The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp. Bloomsbury, 2005339p ISBN 1-58234-693-3$16.95 R* Gr. 5-8 When Alfred Kropp's uncle approaches Alfred with a scheme to get rich simply by stealing a sword from a building where Uncle Farrell is the night watchman, Alfred knows it will turn out badly but goes along nonetheless. The sword is in fact Excalibur, the weapon that can heal as well as kill and that renders its wielder invincible. Mogart, who commissioned the theft, kills Alfred's uncle and then proceeds to kill all but one of the remaining knights (descendants of the original knights of Arthur's Round Table) who have sworn to protect the sword. Bennacio, the last knight, finds Alfred, who begs to be allowed to go with Bennacio to try to recover the sword and thus atone for his theft. Alfred is, of course, an unlikely hero, surprising no one so much as himself as he finds the fortitude to continue his quest despite the horrific violence he meets at every turn. Yancey's genius here lies in the felicitous juxtaposition of the magnificent, almost sacred, nature of the quest and the mundanity of Alfred's approach to it. Alfred is as aware of his moral and intellectual failings as was T. H. White's Lancelot (from whose line, it turns out, he descends), but whereas Lancelot's self-deprecation is tragic, Alfred's is by turns touching and funny. Set against Bennacio's dignity and single-mindedness, Alfred's very contemporary teenage sensibility keeps reality squarely at the center of this otherworldly adventure: "Maybe my destiny was to be the sword-wielding savior of the world, and wouldn't that just make Amy Pouchard regret not giving me her cell phone number!" The grim, ragged humor of Alfred's narration actually serves to strengthen the gravity of emotion and tragedy that haunts the narrative—with the death of Bennacio, one is left with the sense that a great idea has left the world, along with the power to realize it. Copyright © 2006 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois