Quotes from book
The Iron Man

The Iron Man

The Iron Man: A Children's Story in Five Nights is a 1968 science fiction novel by British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, first published by Faber and Faber in the UK with illustrations by George Adamson. Described by some as a modern fairy tale, it describes the unexpected arrival in England of a giant "metal man" of unknown origin who rains destruction on the countryside by eating industrial farm equipment, before befriending a small boy and defending the world from a dragon from outer space. Expanding the narrative beyond a criticism of warfare and inter-human conflict, Hughes later wrote a sequel, The Iron Woman , describing retribution based on environmental themes related to pollution.


Ted Hughes photo

“You are who you choose to be.”

Source: The Iron Man

Ted Hughes photo

“Nobody knew the Iron Man had fallen.
Night passed.”

Source: The Iron Man (1968), Ch. 1 : The Coming of the Iron Man

Ted Hughes photo
Ted Hughes photo

“The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where did he come from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody knows.”

Source: The Iron Man (1968), Ch. 1 : The Coming of the Iron Man
Context: The Iron Man came to the top of the cliff. How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where did he come from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody knows. Taller than a house the Iron Man stood at the top of the cliff, at the very brink, in the darkness.

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