Talk:The Phantom Tollbooth

Code

there is a number code in the phantom tollbooth which was sent to azaz the unabridged by the mathimigician which i could not desipher . can anyone help?

I don't think it is a coded message - just a joke about the relative "understandability" of numbers vs. words. - DavidWBrooks 12:30, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

thanks, finally, another fan! im pretty sure its a real code because the second word was "1919" which i think says azaz.

ive been trying to desipher the code and i think you are right . well, that and the fact that its so frustrating trying to crack it!

i belive you and i tried myself and i think the first line is "Dear Azaz," though im not sure thats right

If it's an actual code, it's very complex, as the last string of numbers in the message is presumably the Mathemagician's name, and it has fewer numbers (11) than his name has letters (13). As already noted, most likely it's just semi-random gibberish, starting with something that -looks- like "Dear Azaz" and ending with something that -looks- like "Yours Truly, Mathemagician" - Geoduck

The only parts I found related to real words and numbers is the "Dear Azaz" part since it had something to do with 1 being the first letter of the alphabet and 9 being the last 1 digit number and the last letter in the alphabet.

Leave us not forget that we never actually find out what the Mathemagician's name is. Mathemagician is surely a title; just as Azaz is the King of Dictionopolis, so too is his brother the Mathemagician of Digitopolis. No doubt when they were children, Azaz didn't call his brother "Mathemagician". He must have a name. Why shouldn't it be eleven characters long? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.38.145.150 (talk) 18:56, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

How do you know his name ISN'T Mathemagician? Azaz is just he first and last letters of the alphabet, A and Z. Maybe they were named like that to inspire a love of their respective Kingdoms? 194.125.86.3 (talk) 08:24, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

In class my teacher also had the same question, and that its an extremely compicated mathematical equation, The begining , Dear AzAz is correct, and the nd yours truly is also correct (according to her) I also figured, that the numbers relate to the word, lets say I'm saying hello, I would put e first so e would = lets say 3 then the next letter in the alphabet would be h so lets say h = 5 because it's later than e, and then the 2 ls, I would make them the same so they would be = 66 and then the last letter , o , I would represent as 9 so the total thing would be 35669, and it would follow up to the code, correct me if im wrong, i found a few scattered words that follower this one, numbers, and another, words and they each follower this code —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.16.65.99 (talk) 03:06, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps the reference to 1919 bears similarity to AzAz? The code, as it appears to me, is simply a semi-gibberish code with a few references and similarities to Azaz. Perhaps mathagicians name is actually a number. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.79.186.105 (talk) 07:05, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Maybe the last word is Digitopolis? It has 11 letters. 98.180.50.81 (talk) 01:26, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

If im not mistaken the last numbers on the letter is 62179875073 it can't be Digitopolis because in the number 1919 is azaz and there is a 9 in azaz which is z and in Digitopolis there is no z yet there is a 9 in 62179875073 so its not Digitopolis.

I belive it is just jibberish even if letters was divided into 9 groups there would still be a remainder of one letter out of all 26 so maybe it's in a different language. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.236.135.122 (talk) 05:12, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Lethargians

I removed the "time wasting" addition to the description of these folks not because it was wrong, but because it seemed unnecessary. But that's a judgement call, of course. - DavidWBrooks 22:14, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Plagiarism?

The plot summary seems to have been lifted from the SparkNotes guide to the book (here: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/tollbooth/ ) and only very slightly changed.

It's way too long, too. And poorly written. Needs major editing. - DavidWBrooks 01:12, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

If it's plagiarized from them its also a copyright violation and should be removed. 68.39.174.238 15:57, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

I have slashed it, but it needs to be better written. I also cut some of the way-to0-much character descriptions; more cutting is needed there, too. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 14:24, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Literary commentary

Just a note for a hypothetical future section on literary analysis/commentary on this book, there are striking parallels between this and The Pilgrim's Progress. Hopefully, reliable sources can back it up. I don't feel like slogging through 1330 g-hits on the subject at the moment though. Axem Titanium (talk) 06:16, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree. Also that Milo's trip, like Alice's, feels like weeks to him but takes up a short amount of real time.

The article also needs a statement that the book works on two levels: children can enjoy the quest and the wordplay, and adults can also appreciate the extended metaphor of the obstacles to achieving wisdom. I'm sure this can be found in a longer review somewhere that can be referenced.

In several places in the book, Juster obliquely criticizes people for ignoring their surroundings, particularly in cities - Milo's initial ennui, the invisible city in Reality, Milo landing in the Doldrums - which makes sense as Juster is an architect. But as this is 'original research' I have not included it.Sofia Roberts (talk) 05:59, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Main Characters ?!?

The list of "Main Characters" seems to also include many minor characters. --15lsoucy (talk) 19:00, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Yes, this is quite the fanboy site, in many ways. Feel free to remove some. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 23:49, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Milo's age?

The Characters section currently has: "Milo, a boy aged about 15, the main character." Now, I don't have my copy of the book to hand (it's on loan to a niece), but in my head Milo has always been younger than that. Possibly that's because when I first read the book I was seven or eight; who can say? But is there any evidence in the book or anything published elsewhere (I checked the linked interviews and found nothing) that justifies the assertion that Milo is "about 15"? --Kay Dekker (talk) 22:19, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Have no idea which is correct, but it was relatively recently changed from "10" to "15"... http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Phantom_Tollbooth&diff=326617986&oldid=313079397 -- AnonMoos (talk) 23:17, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

I removed any reference to age. (although 15 does seem old) - DavidWBrooks (talk) 23:44, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks - I've put a note on the talk page of the user who changed the age to 15 asking for a reference, though as it's from a one-edit IP, I'm not optimistic. --Kay Dekker (talk) 23:50, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Illustrations

Seems to me the article should contain something about the illustrations, which carry a good deal of the book's appeal. I can't think what to say, though, except unsourcible gushing of enthusiasm. SingingZombie (talk) 10:05, 19 December 2009 (UTC)

Digitopolis?

No mention of the Elfen Lied writer here, although one of his works redirects here. 75.23.113.150 (talk) 01:44, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Sounds like a mistake. Which work - DavidWBrooks (talk) 11:27, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Princess Rhyme and Reason

The two princesses got banned in the Castle in the Air. The princesses are beautiful young ladies but their lives are not so pretty. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Quynh.nhu1026 (talk • contribs) 05:37, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

Loose ends?

Should there be a section for blunders or mishaps? For instance:

• Although Milo (on p. 70) mentions he wants to help Faintly Macabre get out of prison, and manages to rescue the princesses which would get her out of prison (p. 77), nothing is mentioned about her coming out of prison at the end of the book.

• The drawing of the "orchestral score" on page 126 looks more like a piano score than an orchestral score.

• Norton himself says that there is no drawing of Milo himself going through the tollbooth (in the New Yorker article).