Books, the early years

Nicole asked if I would write about my current thoughts on books that influenced me when I was a kid. I would love to write that post. 

My earliest memory of a book comes from reading A Wrinkle in Time at a ridiculously early age. A lot of it went over my head but I loved it anyway, and I went back to it again and again along with the other books from the Murry-Austin universe. (Team Austin all the way, baby. I wanted to slip inside that family and stay there -- a family where grownups re-read Anna Karenina for fun (Vicky's mom, a fellow homebirther) and didn't mind living in unorthodox quarters as long as they had room for their books (Vicky's grandfather).) As an adult I read an article critical of Madeleine L'Engle -- New Yorker, maybe? -- and it did dampen my enthusiasm for her books. But the idea that the geeky girl can find understanding despite her glasses grabbed my attention early on, and the image of Earth struggling under a palpable shadow dispelled by the likes of Jesus and Copernicus is one that continues to resonate.

When I was a little bit bigger I started reading the Little House books, and I spent the next five years or so reading and re-reading them. Oh my, did those books capture my imagination. I had my own sunbonnet. I yearned to be named Mary. I even read the parts about the workings of homemade hinges and latches over and over, because I wanted to understand them. Things I still love about LIW: fictional-Laura's absolute trust in her parents, the persistent idea of happiness that transcends circumstances, the theme of small-but-mighty girl doing her duty even when she doesn't super-want to. Things I don't love about LIW: racism, un-subtle political messages, and 19th-century parenting. Like, come on, Pa, why does Mary get off scot-free when she insults Laura? The sting of Laura's slap was sure to fade quickly; the smart of Mary's words lingered for years. Even years later, after Mary was dead, Laura was able to write compellingly about how they hurt her. I shake my head at Pa for a number of reasons (don't borrow money to build that house on Plum Creek, Pa! don't do it!), but that one looms large.

And then came junior high! Junior high was dismal in many ways, but I had the run of the library. My locker, which I shared with occasional commenter Angela, was right across from the library entrance and I think I must have been in there all the time. In my mind's eye the Hogwarts library is in just the same spot: at the top of a staircase, watched over by someone who looks a lot like Mrs. Swecker. That's where I discovered Watership Down and To Kill A Mockingbird. Junior high is when my dad got me started reading Mark Twain; he also gave me the Chronicles of Narnia when I was in sixth or seventh grade. And! Oh! In sixth grade a friend of mine told me about Anne Shirley. If I start talking about those books I'll be writing for a long time. I'll have to write another installment.

I am off to bed but tell me about you-- what are THE books of your childhood? How have they held up across the years?

Comments

[Kellie]

A lot of the same ones, plus Little Women and the sequels, the Sherlock Holmes stories, and--while not L'Engle, not as shallow as they appeared--the Baby-sitters Club series. (I remember also looking at the latter, as an elementary-schooler trying to write stories, to discern how to punctuate dialogue.) And Calvin and Hobbes.

Sherlock Holmes doesn't feel quite as brilliant to me now, but I still like it. Louisa May Alcott I still love, though now there are times when I find many of the male characters treated a bit too worshipfully. (Still, I wish I'd gotten to see my now-husband when he was in a community production of part of the first book, back in his early twenties - I bet he made a sweet John Brooke.)

[L - Mama(e) in Translation]

YAY for another installment on Anne Shirley whom I met only when I was 25, but still loved (having bought the box set and reading all books -- still haven't read any others GASP (hello, graduate school! 10 years and 2 sons to finish a phd). Any recommendations as to which other Montgomery books to DEFINITELY read in the limited time that I have?

OK, anyway... I never read Narnia in Brazil (not readily available, or Anne), but I just wanted to say my son devoured Narnia at age 6 in 1st grade. My precious precocious voracious reader. ;-) (I think he re-read Narnia once or twice and 100% moved on). He's super selective now and hardly reads. But he devours ANYTHING written by Rick Riordan. Have your kids read Riordan?

About me. I discovered the Little House books when I was 11, I think. And because the small country boarding high school where my parents worked only had one book - Little Town on the Prairie (they later bought the collection, the year before we moved out of there, 1984) I "forced" my grandmother in the larger capital city of Curitiba, state of Paraná, to get a library card and we walked back and forth to the library over 10 days to get me every single book. I think they only let you take one book at a time.

I found that library card and I have it somewhere. It's one of my most precious mementos. I'll take a photo, if I already haven't and write a blog post about it.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED the books. and could never ever bear to watch ANY episodes of the TV show, it was so different and unfaithful! Not that it aired a lot in Brazil, but it was available once I moved to São Paulo. It was called "The Pioneers". BLAH

[L - Mama(e) in Translation]

I read Little Women in 7th grade!! HOWEVER, the book (a translation) was missing a whole section of the story!! In college I went to the British Council library and was able to check out the English version and read about Beth's death... I may have read Jo's boys before Little Women, though...

Those, along with the Little House boxed set, and Anne of Green Gables, were among my first book purchases in 1996 when I moved to the U.S. I actually read Anne on books from the library, then I bought the set maybe in 1997 to finish reading all of them.

[Tom]

The first book I loved was The Monster at the End of This Book as a toddler. That alone may have informed my sense of humor. In grade school Lord of the Rings was a biggie. In 7th grade every boy read No One Here Gets Out Alive the Jim Morrison biography. I was an enormous Doors fan, but by high school, I lost interest in them, but the idea of a mystical poet still appealed.

In high school, the Led Zeppelin biography was big with me. I joined the track team and did high hurdles based upon the fact that Jimmy Page did. I used to listen to Milt Rosenberg on WGN and he had a panel discussing the greatest books of all time. Someone mentioned The Brothers Karamazov. This remains the greatest book I've ever read. The only book that has ever made me cry. Even in college when I took a literature class that spent two weeks on it, it made me cry again. I think of it to this day as a guide to how to live.

[el-e-e]

This might get long!

The first series I loved was the Bobbsey Twins! I read 4 or 5 of them. Next it was Little House. (2nd-3rd grade, ages 7-8) I loved each and every one, and unlike Mama(e), I also adored the TV series. Judy Blume was another huge influence - Otherwise Known as Shelia the Great, all the Fudge/Superfudge books, Frecklejuice, and of course Are You There, God -- as well as Beverly Cleary's Ramona, Beezus and Henry.

I know that A Wrinkle in Time was the first book that ever made me cry and I remember that moment vividly to this day. I was 11 or 12. Swoon.

I was always proud that I didn't like the Sweet Valley High series (I was clearly better than that)... but The Girls of Canby Hall felt SO grown up when I read them in 5th grade and I ate them up.

I could go on and on. Choose Your Own Adventure?
Check. I also loved Cynthia Voigt as a pre-teen (Homecoming, Dicey's Song).

My Mom was a librarian.

[Penelope]

The Hobbit when I was 5 :-D then The Lord of the Rings when I was 8 ... Narnia too by then .... The Little House books by 6 .... A Little Princess and The Secret Garden by 8 ... ok, I was an early, deeply passionate reader. So many hours of joy every week of my life! L'Engle I discovered when I was 9, oh the joy!! Little Women et al by 10 or so ... Edgar Eager -- Half Magic and so on ... Jean Little! Love her books -- Look Through My Window, wonderful! ... Elizabeth Goudge! Oh the glory of her books! A Little White Horse, Linnets and Valerians, The Child From the Sea, Gentian Hill, and more ... **happy sigh** These are among the books I read and read over and over every year when I was growing up, and most I still pull out from time to time and have of course shared them with my kids as they have grown. (Some they've loved too, others haven't grabbed them. It's been interesting).

[Kristin]

I didn't discover L'Engle until later than many of my classmates did, but once I had, it was a "Where have you BEEN all my life?" thing. As a grad student, I read her Crosswicks Journals series, and used to have to remind myself that she and I were not actually acquainted personally: reading her would feel like speaking to a friend over a cup of tea.

I was also a big Little House fan as a kid. I wanted to cook everything she wrote about.

One other little book that stuck with me: Understood Betsy. =)

[Angela]

I didn't realize that was when you'd discovered Watership Down and To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm pretty sure you introduced them to me at that time too and I've loved them ever since. I was very into the Alfred Hitchcock Presents books in that library too. They both fascinated and horrified me. You guys can blame them for my convincing (tricking?) you to watch Crawlspace...

I'd read The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia around 4th grade. I also enjoyed Lewis' Space Trilogy. If you can believe it, I'd never read the Little House books until recently. I hate to admit it but a lot of my Jr. High and High School reading was teen romance novels and VC Andrews.