Friday Five

Aug. 25

1. What book or books were special to you in your childhood?

Probably shorter to list the books I could manage to get into: horse books (i.e. My Friend Flicka, National Velvet, etc.), Treasure Island, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Ursula LeGuin's books, C.S. Lewis' Perelandra books... that's all I can think of. Otherwise I read everything in sight: Tom Sawyer, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little Pilgrim's Progress, Caddie Woodlawn, Lewis Carroll, Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew/The Bobbsey Twins/et al., Treasure in the Covered Wagon, Ogden Nash, encyclopedias (not the science stuff), The Narnia books, poetry, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle...

2. What was particularly special or memorable about those books?

They took me away from my life, but to anyplace terminally frightening.

3. Have you re-read any of them as an adult?

Hell, yeah!

4. If so, were the books as good as you remembered them?

Some were. Some aren't. I reread Alice in Wonderland and the Laura books regularly. They change every time I read them. I reread Treasure in the Covered Wagon a few years ago and was appalled at the lighthanded racism and didactic tone. I stopped reading encyclopedias a long time ago!

5. What do you think about movies being made out of children's classics (like the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of The Rings, etc.)?

I can only speak to Narnia, having not read the LotR books. So far, they've done all right by Narnia. It will be interesting to see how they handle some of the other books.

In another vein, I loved "Little House on the Prairie" when I was a kid, until they ran out of storyline and started making shit up. That was about a year after Michael Landon became insufferable in his "I'm always right" interpretation of Pa. I hasten to add that I always liked Michael Landon as a person, but I did get tired of him saving Walnut-bloody-Grove EVERY week!