There’s a recent bestseller called What We Talk About When We Talk About Books. I tried to read it, and gave up because it was too pedantic for me. I much preferred a little book by Katherine Rundell, Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise.
I’m going to ask you a question. Think about it, and you can answer at the end of the blog, when I give you my own answer. If you loved to read as a child, do you remember diving into a book that became your whole world? Those are the books I read, and never heard my mother talk to me. That book was my world while I read it. Here’s the actual question. What’s the last book that sucked you in that way? Can you still escape into a book?
Rundell quotes W.H. Auden. “There are good books which are only for adults, because their comprehension presupposes adult experiences, but there are no good books which are only for children.” Rundell says there are times in life when reading children’s books might be the only thing that will do. She mentions our current times of Brexit and Trump, politics, racism, immigration issues, and says now is such a time for her. I had a time like that years ago. When I was twenty-two I was waiting to hear about a job I desperately wanted. The only books that I could read were Nancy Drew mysteries. They were escapism, but also about a strong, independent young woman.
She asks what it’s like to read as a child. I shared what she calls “the headlong, hungry, immersive quality of it.” She said her need for books was “sharp and urgent, and furious if thwarted”. Rundell, an award-winning British author, then looks at fairy tales, stories recognized in various forms since 1900 B.C. I immersed myself in those, The Blue Fairy Tale Book, The Red Fairy Tale Book. She says fairy tales are violent and bloody and unjust, and don’t shield children or adults from that world, but a fairy godmother or a magic tree or a magician appears, and offers hope. She quotes Angela Carter as saying the fairy godmother means “heroic optimism”.
I could go on, but Rundell’s message is that “Children’s books say: the world is huge. They say: hope counts for something. They say: bravery will matter, wit will matter, empathy will matter, love will matter.” She admits she doesn’t know if that’s true, but it’s the message people have been passing on for centuries.
This is a meaty little book. I bought my copy, and it’s a book to come back to once in a while. That brings me back to my original question. If you were one of those readers who dove into a book, what’s the last time you found such a book? Some of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books took me into that world, and I never looked up until I finished. I read each of them straight through in one day. Today, my answer would be one of Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache books. They’re the only books that take me to Three Pines, into Gamache’s world. And, like fairy tales, those are stories of good and evil, darkness versus light. What is the last book that took you into a world where you actually lived?
Why You Should Read Children’s Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019. 9781526610072 (hardcover), 75p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.
Definitely the Harry Potter books but I also feel that way about Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s books even though I’ve read most of them a number of times.
Philip Pullman's series His Dark Materials and the latest one set in that world, The Book of Dust! Wonderful!
Thank you, Sandy. I've never heard of Nina Kiriki Hoffman. I'll have to look her up.
Thank you, Ruth. I was curious about what books people "fall" into.
I ordered this right after our chat last night. Thank you for the heads up!
And what a terrific piece you've written today. Ah, Harry Potter and Three Pines – YES!
As to your question, "What's the last book that sucked you in that way? Can you still escape into a book?"
That book, for me, was Susan Rebecca White's "We Are All Good People Here." Because I lived in Atlanta during the time in which this book is set, it resonated. Loudly.
Because Kirkus and Bitter Southerner say it better than I can, here's their reviews.
"The upheaval of the 60's was not only political: especially for women, ethical choices were complicated by love, sex, and, not least, money. White handles that complexity with gentleness and empathy….a well-paced narrative palpably evokes America's stormy past." (Kirkus Reviews)
"We Are All Good People Here asks questions like some of us may ask ourselves in these crazy times: Is it possible to separate our political choices and our values? As we grow older and as we evolve, do we ever truly escape our history?" (Bitter Southerner)
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames.
I'm easily sucked in when it comes to books. Doesn't matter if they are fiction or non-fiction. I can think of several this past year all with their own appeal. The above mentioned has strong female characters, locales of my ancestors, Italy and Hartford, CT, vivid storytelling, lives filled with hopes and dreams along with family, tragedy, love and humor. It was just the right book for me at the time.
Last night I picked up Before And After:The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society by Judy Christie & Lisa Wingate. I really got involved in Wingate's fiction based on fact book, Before We Were Yours. How could I not be drawn in by the true stories of these orphans?
So much in this blog post!
Laughed out loud when you started mentioning The Red Fairy Tale Book, The Blue Fairy Tale Book, etc. I got all those out of the library two at a time. So many, many books I've lost myself in.
Now I STILL lose myself! Just back from the library with the newest Three Pines book and I cannot wait to dive in. Time really gets away from me when I'm reading. I can immerse myself so deep that any troubles in my life disappear. Truly reading is my absolute favorite pastime. Never have understood how someone can say they do not like to read.
Like others have said I can also lose myself in both fiction (mostly mysteries) and nonfiction when I am really interested in the subject and want to find out more.
Because I am retired I can read when I read, I can read when I walk (audio), and I often read when I eat. I even read when I should be cleaning!! Occasionally I do something else (gym, dancing, watercolors) but I Always describe myself first as a READER.
Thank you, Kaye. The fact that you said it was a terrific piece means a lot to me. I can understand why We Are All Good People Here sucked you in. It sounds as if the author knows your history. (smile) Thank you.
Carol, I envy you. As much as I love to read, I'm not as easily sucked in as I used to be. I do need to look for Grames' book after you mentioned Hartford, CT. I do envy you the ability to fall into those worlds.
Weren't those fairy tale books wonderful, Diane? And, like you, I can immerse myself in the Three Pines world. Or, maybe I should say Armand Gamache's world because they're not always set in Three Pines. That's exactly what I say to people who ask if I'm going to write a book. No, the world needs more readers. I'm happy we're both readers.
I too read fairy tales and still have a copy of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon..it was a book I never forgot and haunted yard sales etc. until I found a copy.
Oh, Gram. I remember that book. Good for you that you cared enough to hunt it down!
In the last few years I've lost time reading series books by both Cassandra Clare and Jodi Taylor.
These are my favorite children's book for 2019:
King and the Dragonflies
by Kacen Callender
Her Own Two Feet: A Rwandan Girl's Brave Fight to Walk
by Meredith Davis
Girl Under a Red Moon: Growing Up During China's Cultural Revolution (Scholastic Focus)
by Da Chen
Home Girl
by Alex Wheatle
Nowhere Boy
by Katherine Marsh
I agree with you, the Louise Penny books really draw the reader into a different world, the supposedly safe place of Three Pines (though I am presently reading Glass Houses and wondering if that village is really all that safe). The other books that create a sense of space, that draws me away from the present world, is Elly Griffiths's Ruth Galloway novels. When I was a child it was a Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle and, when I discovered it in college, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry