Still tired, but I have another post-I-made-earlier. (I really should stop making posts and hiding them, but never mind.) Also, I am posting my
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For me it's things like Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, Siegfried Sassoon' s poetry and prose of WW1, Shakespeare, Dickens, and Jane Austen have all shaped how I look at the world, and the people in it.
I love DWJ and can never make my mind up which I love best of her books. F&H is amazing, though - all about how to grow up through books.
It is hard. But then I read F&H when I was growing up, and stuck home, and growing up through books myself as a result, so I suppose I can't help it being my favourite and the book that's probably influenced me the most.
Then there's Austen, Shakespeare, Dickens, SF in general. And Buffy.
So many things! ♥ Good things... I'm grateful for all of them. I did nearly put Henry V on the list, because I did it for A-Level, was disappointed it was some dry old history before we started, and then fell for it hard. It should be on this list. But then, so should Jane Eyre and Villette, and Sense and Sensibility, probably. :-)
It's Homeward Bounders for me, re: DWJ, though there are an awful lot of joint second choices. Surely one of the saddest endings in all literature, up there with The Great Gatsby. (Utterly not joking.)
I never managed to get along with Fire And Hemlock myself, although I know people adore it. I read it around 19/20, maybe the wrong age in either direction. I prefer her out and out children's books or the adult short stories to the YA-style things of hers. (The wolfy short with the silent Fool is awesome, you read it?) I may give F&H another try, see if I can pick up on what other people see in it now.
My main 'filter the world' book is Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado. Lemme give you a taste: 'I'm a real phony, one of those half-baked hot-house plants we're growing nowadays, instead of the honest-to-God two-fisted women we should be, and, neurotic that I am, I shrink like mad from the criminal type. If anyone comes at me with a club, I duck, brother, I duck. And then I run.' That's Sally Jay and she is similarly wonderful
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No, you're right, that ending of The Homeward Bounders really packs a punch. And lots of people don't like Fire & Hemlock so much - I can see why. I think it is better to read it as a teenager first, because the twisted up aspect is just so much more obvious as an adult. I think, as well, most people seem to find at least one book of hers that they really react against, so fair enough. (On the other hand, she's good enough and so is it, that a re-read just to make sure is always worth trying.)
I've never even heard of The Dud Avocado - I'll have to look it up and see if I can find it sometime. :-)
Perhaps people are braver than they appear, because they're just too embarrassed to push themselves forward and drag the person teetering at the edge of the cliff, back? It seems a little bit true.It's, I think, more about, how storybook-heroism might translate into the real world - Polly's holding onto Tom isn't like with Janet and Tam where it's a short time and he shape-changes, instead she has to hold on against social
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I'm with you on being affected by so many things. Yes, there's a lot of shallow media out there, but so much of it is full of hopes and dreams and messages that reach out and show people there's more than just life as they've experienced it so far.
I haven't read Fire and Hemlock but I like DWJ, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy that one too.
so much of it is full of hopes and dreams and messages that reach out and show people there's more than just life as they've experienced it so far.
Yes, and even the shallow things are still a glimpse into life from somebody else's point of view some times - as you say, it really does open up the world from our own little closed starting places.
I love Fire & Hemlock, but it is a divisive book, and I can understand why people who read it first as adults are often much more uncomfortable with it. But it is good! :-)
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Then there's Austen, Shakespeare, Dickens, SF in general. And Buffy.
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It is hard. But then I read F&H when I was growing up, and stuck home, and growing up through books myself as a result, so I suppose I can't help it being my favourite and the book that's probably influenced me the most.
Then there's Austen, Shakespeare, Dickens, SF in general. And Buffy.
So many things! ♥ Good things... I'm grateful for all of them. I did nearly put Henry V on the list, because I did it for A-Level, was disappointed it was some dry old history before we started, and then fell for it hard. It should be on this list. But then, so should Jane Eyre and Villette, and Sense and Sensibility, probably. :-)
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I never managed to get along with Fire And Hemlock myself, although I know people adore it. I read it around 19/20, maybe the wrong age in either direction. I prefer her out and out children's books or the adult short stories to the YA-style things of hers. (The wolfy short with the silent Fool is awesome, you read it?) I may give F&H another try, see if I can pick up on what other people see in it now.
My main 'filter the world' book is Elaine Dundy's The Dud Avocado. Lemme give you a taste: 'I'm a real phony, one of those half-baked hot-house plants we're growing nowadays, instead of the honest-to-God two-fisted women we should be, and, neurotic that I am, I shrink like mad from the criminal type. If anyone comes at me with a club, I duck, brother, I duck. And then I run.' That's Sally Jay and she is similarly wonderful ( ... )
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I've never even heard of The Dud Avocado - I'll have to look it up and see if I can find it sometime. :-)
Perhaps people are braver than they appear, because they're just too embarrassed to push themselves forward and drag the person teetering at the edge of the cliff, back? It seems a little bit true.It's, I think, more about, how storybook-heroism might translate into the real world - Polly's holding onto Tom isn't like with Janet and Tam where it's a short time and he shape-changes, instead she has to hold on against social ( ... )
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I haven't read Fire and Hemlock but I like DWJ, so I'm hoping I'll enjoy that one too.
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Yes, and even the shallow things are still a glimpse into life from somebody else's point of view some times - as you say, it really does open up the world from our own little closed starting places.
I love Fire & Hemlock, but it is a divisive book, and I can understand why people who read it first as adults are often much more uncomfortable with it. But it is good! :-)
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