Formative Matter
So I've been having an interesting conversation on robinmckinley's LJ about books that shape us in our early reading years--not just books you enjoyed when you were a pre-teen, but books that genuinely changed or helped form how you write (if you're a writer) or how you think or view the world at large. Her own talking about the books that shaped her writing--and the lack of a large body of YA fantasy when she was at that age--prompted me to think about what authors and what books I was reading as a pre-teen and what that meant to me further down the line. I don't remember reading a lot of sci-fi or fantasy before age 14 or so... But I did read Lloyd Alexander when I was 9, Tolkien when I was 10, Watership Down when I was 11, and Robert C. O'Brien at 12. Ellen Raskin's puzzle-novels (Westing Game, The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon) also had a huge impact on my psyche, I think. I wouldn't say they influence my writing style--frankly, my informal writing style derives pretty strongly from TV influences like Monty Python, and humor essayists such as Dave Barry. But those authors did influence how I tend to think about everything I've read since to some extent, and everything I'm likely to read and enjoy in the future.
What are your formative books from those years? What did you read before you were 13 that affected you so deeply that you still find yourself thinking about it now and then?
What are your formative books from those years? What did you read before you were 13 that affected you so deeply that you still find yourself thinking about it now and then?