Esther's Formative Texts: Seven Stories That Make Me Who I Am

[newredshoes]

lindensphinx was rambling a bit about formative texts she'd never read (I too have to read Arcadia sometime), and one thing led to another, and... and I have this list. It is an imperfect list, especially because I don't have any of my shelves in front of me, and even if I did, most of my books are still somewhere in Ohio. But it is a fairly good list for

Comments

[skew_whiff]

This is a fantastic idea for a post! (I may well be stealing this as a meme-type thing, if you don't mind.)

Also, you have marvellous taste! I have nothing but agreement for your takes on the Rats of NIMH and The Sandman. And I love the way you describe the good points of the Redwall series - certain things about it irked me as a kid, and since I've been re-reading a few of the books, irk me even more now, but your point about the fact a good author can make anything work is absolutely true. One thing the Redwall series does have going for it is that they're all proper adventure stories, and they don't stint on the dark side of things. Kids can do a lot worse than growing up on that.

Also, I've had one of my other LJ friends gush about The Killer Angels, and your description is making me even more eager to track it down! I'm sure I've seen a copy of Invisible Cities in a charity bookshop and was fascinated by the description, too... there's definitely a lot here worth looking into.

[newredshoes]

Oh gosh, you might really love The Killer Angels! There's a lot of what makes BoB great that's also in there, although it doesn't focus on non-officers quite as much as I would like. Still, utterly fascinating, especially when you realize that all the generals on both sides were, no joke, old schoolmates from West Point. And Invisible Cities is a quick read! You don't even have to read it in order -- you can just bounce around if you'd like. Such gorgeous prose, ugh!

Yeah, the Redwall species determinism is, well, something that's bothered me a long time, even after... who was it? Was it that searat in Mariel who became good? And there was another one in The Pearls of Lutra, maybe. But the heart of them was so good! To use such a cliched term.

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR LIST. Ahem. Sorry, dignity on. Seeing your list would be so awesome!

[skew_whiff]

I am glad to have confirmation on both these recs! I really would like to know more about the Civil War in particular - my current understanding of it is incredibly patchy (which I like to think I have a little bit of an excuse for), but it was a fascinating time, so I want to dig deeper, and that sounds like a fantastic starting point. Ooh, and Amazon has it dirt cheap - there's people selling old copies for nothing more than the price of postage. BUYING IT NOW

[shadesofbrixton]

*chinhands* I love listening to you talk about ~*~YOUR CRAFT~*~ and all the bits that come with it. I wanted this to be a top ten list, not seven. And I am so glad I'm not the only person who learned to read on the funnies. The Far Side, Calvin & Hobbes, and Outland/Bloom County were my triumvirate upon which my flawed brain is based.

Also: oh god, the Odyssey. It's interesting to see your take on it, and the angle you go at it with, because for me it was the book that made me learn how to read. I mean, I'd always been pretty good at book reports, but that was the first time someone sat me down and explained things like grey-eyed Athena is important so that you can remember who the fuck she is when someone spends three consecutive nights telling this story around a fire. Or whatever. Wine-dark sea, the metaphor the rules my life.

[newredshoes]

WE ARE THE SAME PERSON. Calvin & Hobbes and Bloom County were the other two I learned to read on and SHAPED ME SO MUCH OMG.

And ha, it might have been a top 10, but I thought I might wind up going on forever! I can do an extra three at a later date. ;)

Oh, that's so fascinating. I first heard the Odyssey on a book-on-tape that I listened to on loop for at least two years. We so need to talk about this! And I just bought a book that possibly no one else will be interested in but you -- The Unity of the Odyssey. Cannot wait to read and discuss!

[shadesofbrixton]

DUDE SERIOUSLY. Some friend of my parents loaned me the complete C&H this weekend and my eyes were seriously like... O.O

Oooh, I would love to hear it on tape. In a way, that's probably closer to how it was meant to be absorbed, you know? Also that book looks AWESOME. I anticipate your reception and review. :DDDD

Guess who's halfway through peeeeachessssss. I want to marry your braaaiiiiiin.

[newredshoes]

:-D!!! I am so glad you're liking it!

P.S. Absolutely listen to it. The version I grew up on is this one, and I... am seriously considering getting an mp3 copy. Hearing it makes all the difference in the world.

[tricksterquinn]

...I have read almost none of these. Huh.

[newredshoes]

You should fix that! Good books: THESE ARE IT. \o/

[batyatoon]

I have read the Redwall books, a lot of The Far Side, and as of this past year, Everything Is Illuminated. (And oh god I loved it. It shattered me.)

I think I might try a post like this.

[newredshoes]

Please please please do! I would love to read it.

[tassosss]

Mossflower and Mattimeo! and I would add Redwall for me, too. Those three are the core that were revolutionary. I was ten when I read them and they were the first series I really read on my own. I loved them, for all the reasons you say.

[newredshoes]

Oh gosh, so much yes! And I just fell so hard for so many characters and so many everythings. His imagination was so vivid! There's so much out there, "real" published works, that owe so much to Redwall. That would be amazing to trace in and of itself.

[tassosss]

I fell so hard in love with these stories too. I remember getting Mattimeo for Christmas and IGNORING everyone and everything else right then and there until I finished it. I was so there with them in the story, and I actually cried when it ended, not for any plot reasons but because I had finished the book!

I loved the world he made I loved the stories he told because they were big stories with high stakes and it didn't always turn out with an easy ending, but it what they fought for was important.

I am having serious nostalgia right now. :) I was the perfect age for them when they came out.