How to Train Your Dragon (book)

i was idling my time away last Sunday (i was waiting for the traffic to clear so i could go home in relative peace), so i stopped at Booksale for a quick browse. after 15 minutes i grew bored and was about to leave when i glanced in a corner and saw this book (How to Train Your Dragon).

it was still in relatively good condition, which was probably why it caught my attention.

it wasn't the type of book i'd normally check out, but for some reason it called to me. i opened a few pages, and much to my surprise i was actually chuckling before i even finished a page. this rarely happens to me, so i jumped a few pages more and was promptly beguiled by several pages of illustrations inside — no they weren't particularly good or even eye-catching. but the clumsily drawn, stick-like figures (bad spelling and all) blended well with the humorous way the story was laid out.

How to Train Your Dragon is presented as a translation (originally in old Norse, according to its playfully imaginative author, Cressida Cowell) of the memoirs of a famous Viking chieftain, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (yes, that's his name) -– specifically on how he progressed from being an undersized but sensible warrior wanna-be to a still-undersized but moderately acceptable Viking hero by training his own undersized, unremarkable and ornery dragon (which he calls Toothless -– go figure).

This book is basically geared for male juveniles but grown-ups with an overdeveloped sense of humor will also appreciate its concept and humor (both slapstick and implied).

with characters endearingly named as Hiccup (son of the chieftain of the Hairy Hooligans), Thuggory (his counterpart in the Meathead tribe), Gobber the Belch, Snotface Snotlout, Dosgbreath the Duhbrain, how can you go wrong? anyway, if you're looking for mindless fun and are fond of Viking culture, How to Train Your Dragon (HTTYD) is right up your alley. enjoy.

NOTE: of course, everybody now knows that this amusing book has already been adapted into film (starring Gerard Butler, Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, etc.) by DreamWorks -- it is one of the top boxoffice earners for 2010 after all. however, there's a world of difference between the movie and book versions of HTTYD. and although i loved the film, i would have to say that the book version has a unique brand of attraction that will probably never translate well into film.