It is curious what travels and what does not. Pinocchio is, of course, THE Italian children's book - curiously, because it the most harshly moralistic piece of writing I ever read, in which every transgression is very thoroughly paid, and has a streak of tragedy more uncompromising than most adult writings. Verne is pretty universal, and so is Hector Malot's Sans Famille, which never seems to have made it in the English-speaking world. Sherlock Holmes is universally beloved, and so are many other detectives - I grew up with Nero Wolfe, Commissaire Maigret, Hercule Poirot, and Perry Mason; above all, with the great Father Brown - even though the basic story ideas were, from time to time, pretty strong meat for a ten-year-old. The Alice books I just never understood, and to this day I can summon up very little enthusiasm for them. Little Lord Fauntleroy impressed itself on me, not for the protagonist, but for the villain Bevis and the occasional but, to me, scarring descriptions of rural poverty and backwardness. A major enthusiasm was
( ... )
Well, now, it is curious.mshawpyleJanuary 22 2012, 19:51:11 UTC
Fr Brown was a part of my youth, also. And Dumas, I re-emphasize - both Les 3 M and the Count. Unexpurgated. Stevenson, the same. I was lucky: I read Pinocchio; most US kids got the Disney version. My Defoe was unexpurgated also - including the Prot tract elements. Same for Bunyan. (We may have been High Church, but lit's lit.) And Sir Walter, and Dickens. I suggest you get a-holt of Post's Uncle Abner, by the way: great sleuth.
Comments 4
Reply
Reply
Reply
Alcott never did it for me, but tastes vary.
Reply
Leave a comment