Book review: The Phoenix

"The Phoenix" was written by Sylvia Townsend Warner, a British poet and novelist, in 1940. It is a fantasy story set after a world war.

The story is about a phoenix who is taken to a private aviary in Europe. When the owner dies the bird is bought by Mr. Poldero, the owner of a theme park, which is now the bird's new home. At first, Mr. Poldero is happy with it since many people pays to see it. But after some time the business falls because people are bored of it. Now, Mr. Poldero has t think of a way to make the phoenix popular again.

The plot is simple during the whole story until the end, when all the action happens, but the story is easy to follow. The main characters are an obvious representation of the fight between nature and human race. The phoenix, who represents nature, is a calm and quiet bird that all along the story is trapped into human's actions. Mr. Poldero, who represents human race, is an ambitious man who would do anything in orde to make money with the Phoenix.

To sum up, the story is about a great revenge and how human race abuses of nature. If you like this type of stories I would strongly recommend reading it.