aero280 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 06, 2023 7:29 pm
I was amused by Richard Osman's comment this week about "The Grapes of Wrath". "If you didn't have to read it for GCSE, you're never going to, are you?".
there was a production of 'the grapes of wrath' at the minack, a few years ago, that we went to with the upcountry young, a couple of their friends and a friend of ours.
the set and props were really, really good and i think they actually got the production of the year prize that year but jeeez it was so long - and tedious. i actually nodded off at one point and our friend caused my partner to have to stifle a guffaw when she said 'why don't they all hurry up and die!'.
i have no intention of ever reading it, life's too short - unlike the play...
i have bought a book at the national trust place we went to today.
i don't know what it is or who by and only have a vague notion of what it's about...
i don't think it's one of 'those' plain brown cover offerings - not from the national trust...
Not quite true to topic, but I was happy to pick up two notebooks (one unlined, one lined) marked down to 1 Euro today. One is a Moleskin-type with a map of the world cover and an elastic band keeping it shut and the other one is a lovely Japanese coloured print type with a magnetic flap. They usually cost an arm and a leg, so I am a happy bunny. I am not sure what to fill them with ... I have a pinkish one on the go that I fill with poems (not my own). I am trying to get into the habit of learning some by heart, something I used to find difficult, but I am getting better at it.
Well I don't know how much you paid but if you have a good pen (fountain or gel ink) they are lovely to write on. Much cheaper in Japan, of course (But a lot easier to get here than they used to be.)
the good thing about moleskines is you can get them unlined so they are great for watercolour and sketching - and the type of journaling that includes those. (i must admit i usually use the ones that seem to be identical but are far cheaper).
my 'blind date' book is called 'clerical errors' by alan isler. i've read the first few pages but not enough to get into the story yet.
herbidacious wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2023 7:56 am
Well I don't know how much you paid but if you have a good pen (fountain or gel ink) they are lovely to write on. Much cheaper in Japan, of course (But a lot easier to get here than they used to be.)
I don't get through them as quickly as I used to, now I rarely do lunch time (office) writing sessions so I have quite a stash.
re reading, I am reading Capital by John Lanchester.
I paid 1 Euro each. But they are smooth enough for my pens to glide on.
I found lots of poems about Advent, winter and Christmas ... it made me think. I might make an Advent calender with a poem for each day - handwritten and rolled up like a little scroll. Axel's older granddaughter is 9, the younger 5. I am not sure if their parents would read them these poems and the older one might see it as a punishment if she had to read them out. Then again, she reads fact-based books, probably, because the paragraphs are shorter.
The parents always go on about our endangered culture ... I doubt either of them has ever read poetry outside of school ... nor much fiction, neither.
I might still do it, who knows, she may like it.
when my young were young - or rather old enough, i bought a copy of jostein gaarder's 'the christmas mystery' - a sort of literary advent calendar - and read it a section at a time leading up to christmas ( they asked for it each year for quite a few after).
our daughter, when older, took the copy and read it to her partner (now husband) in the same way and i imagine it'll get read to our grandchild when the appropriate time comes.
nothing wrong with a 'reading' advent calendar. slightly different but to encourage reading, when ours were little, i used to write clues to finding the hidden, calendar present - with increasing difficulty each year ending up with cryptic then clues in french or spanish.
Thanks Scullion, I'll try and find that one. Trouble is, we don't live nearby and so don't get to read them much. Their grandmother does read to them, bless her, but I have little faith in their parents.
I've just finished a book I've been meaning to read for ages, but have, for some reason, only just got around to - it's ' At The Loch Of The Green Corrie" by Andrew Greig. I've loved every moment of it - it's about the people and the places I gravitate to, and has left me with quite a lot to think about.
Axel's elder granddaughter Sophia has just turned nine and has started reading "Harry Potter". Reading wasn't quite her thing, but she seems to enjoy the books. It made me wonder, whether "Howl's Moving Castle" by Diana Wynne Jones might be a good Christmas gift. I read it a few years ago - great story!!!
I just wondered whether it would be suitable for a girl her age or whether I should wait a bit. It was all a bit convoluted, if I remember correctly, but then again, it was so much fun.
I shall have to re-read it anyway, before I order, but I wonder what experts with more experience in the field (9 year-old-girls) would advise?
swallows and amazons? there are a lot of those 'older' books like 'black beauty', ballet shoes, the secret garden etc.
then there are 'the worst witch' books.
- or maybe she would like something like the amazing 'maurice and his educated rodents' (terry pratchett).
there is also a range of the disc world books, again by pratchett, aimed at younger readers where the main character is a young girl/witch, tiffany aching.
scullion wrote: ↑Fri Nov 24, 2023 12:36 am
swallows and amazons? there are a lot of those 'older' books like 'black beauty', ballet shoes, the secret garden etc.
then there are 'the worst witch' books.
I loved the Swallows and Amazons books when I was a kid, but wouldn't they seem rather dated now? A girl called 'Titty' would be good for a giggle!! (Auto-correct preferred Kitty!)
But the adventures might still be enjoyed and the Lake District setting is great.
We read a YA fantasy novel called House in the Cerulean Sea at book club and loved it. It’s about an ‘orphanage’ for magical kids on a remote island and the Ministry inspector who is sent to check up on it. If she likes HP she may enjoy it
I don’t even know if this book is still in print - my aunt gave it to me one Christmas when I was probably 8 or 9 and it’s still my most favourite book.
I remember my Mum also reading it, which made my mind boggle- a grown up reading a kids book, whatever next!
Swallows and Amazons seemed quite dated to me in the 1960s but I still loved the whole series. Some of it (Missee Lee for example) is not considered correct these days though the books set in England are fine.
There was and exchange on the Telegraph correspondence page years ago when someone said it was impossible for there to be apparently identical twins, one left-handed and one right-handed like Port and Starboard in the books set on the Norfolk Broads. Someone then wrote in to point out that was based on him and his twin brother who intigued Ransome by behaving as mirror images (girls in the book).
I think Black Beauty in its original form is not one for young children these days, the language is dated (1877) and you have to remember it was written as a polemic to reveal cruelty to animals and young working people, and it’s quite brutal in places. There are good dramatisations I think.
I think we all face the problems with our old favourites possibly seeming dated. "Howl's Moving Castle" was actually first published in 1986 when most of us were not children anymore (I was born in 1963).
I like the fact that it has a female heroine, her name is Sophie (my own maternal gran was a red haired Sophie - and Axel's granddaughter is a Sophia) and how she quietly sorts it all out. She's cursed by a witch to be an ugly 90 year-old crone. Howl, the wizard, is forever chasing skirts and vain, to boot, and yet they all find their own strengths and see each other for what they are - and like each other anyway. It's a good message for a girl being fed Disney on a drip.
I just wondered whether the plot might not be too convoluted for someone who just turned nine. Harry Potter is not poor on plot twists and character development, but the first installment is easing the kids into it rather nicely.
(But a lot easier to get here than they used to be.)
But they are smooth enough for my pens to glide on. 
