In this issue:
Re: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty
RE: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Duplicate mailings
CHAT: Forever Amber <WAS: Re: books read in childhood>
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: CHAT: Forever Amber <WAS: Re: books read in childhood>
Re: CHAT: Forever Amber <WAS: Re: books read in childhood>
RE: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: Re: books read in childhood
RE: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty (fwd)
Re: Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Book read in childhood
Re: books read in childhood
Re: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty
-----------------------------THE POSTS-----------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 14:14:50 -0500
From: James Rogers <jetan(at)ionet.net>
Subject: Re: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty
At 02:03 PM 9/20/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>>From the 'Reviews' section of the webpage:
>>
>>> Other late 19th-century and early 20th-century children's books --
>>featuring Tom Swift, the Little Colonel, Horatio Alger and
>>> the Hardy Boys -- are also hot. Michael Farris, president of the Home
>>School Legal Defense Association, calls the return to
>>> such classics the "No. 1 trend" in home schooling.
>
>>> Mr. Holland, who owns 350 Hentys, had read Tom Swift books as a boy
before
>>he latched onto other boys' books of the
>>> period. The mid-to-late 1800s saw a flowering of children's books series,
>>featuring Civil War-era heroines such as Elsie
>>> Dinsmore and Lloyd Sherman, the Little Colonel, followed by
>>turn-of-the-century heroines such as Patty Fairfield, Beverly
>>> Gray and, later, Nancy Drew.
>>>
>>> "I'm 58 years old, and I adore them," says Connie Dunham, a Harriman,
>>Tenn., accountant who retails Henty books and
>>> edits Quit You Like Men, a magazine for boys. "So does my 17-year-old
son.
>>Home-schoolers are snapping them up like
>>> crazy because the history is not revisionist history, it's accurate.
>>They're such good books to read."
>>>
>>> "It's the books kids read, not the ones they are supposed to read, that
>>influences their thoughts and motivations," he says. "I
>>> always thought Tom Swift, the Little Colonel and the Bobbsey Twins books
>>have shaped the American ethic more than
>>> anyone knows."
I am an addict of the old Tom Swift books and, in a small way, a
collector. I read my first one when I was about 7 (_Tom Swift and His Air
Scout_). Nontheless, even my tiny intellect could see that the books were,
truth to tell, quite poorly written.....very comparable to the dime novels
in quality. It is alittle discouraging to find these books being lionized
while *really* good kids writers like Haggard, Dumas, Blackmore, Stevenson,
ERB etc. recede into oblivion. One wonders how the "home school" crowd
handle the charachter of Eradicate, Tom's black handyman who gets to say
lines like "Massa Swif', I jes' done discombobulate mah posterior". So much
for revisionism. The Swift books were not the worst offendor in this
regard. For really unbridled racism a perusal of the novels of "Roy
Rockwood" is worthwhile. Rockwood is best remembered today as the
pseudononymous author of the Bomba series. His more interesting books are
imitation Tom Swifts
Perhaps it indicated the unhealthy state of my ego, but I always
identified with Tom's friend Ned, who was stupider and less athletic than
the hero, went out with a less attractive girlfriend, and was given to
saying things like "whew!" when Tom condescended to explaining the
principle behind the bicycle pump
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:06:13 -0400 From: "Marcella, Michelle E" <MMARCELLA(at)PARTNERS.ORG> Subject: RE: books read in childhood There is a series of books (published in the 50s) that I just rediscovered after trying to recall them for many years. The "All of a Kind Family" series took place in the upper east side of New York in the 1900s. The family of poor Jewish immigrants had five daughters -- Ella, Henny, Sarah, Charlotte and Gertie -- and they lived upstairs from -- I think -- a sewing shop. Wonderful, wonderful books! I don't think they are hard to find. I never really liked the Bobbsey Twins (though I read all of them); I was more a Nancy Drew girl. Michelle Marcella mmarcella(at)partners.org > -----Original Message----- > From: athan chilton [SMTP:ayc(at)UIUC.EDU] > Sent: Monday, September 20, 1999 2:47 PM > To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA > Subject: books read in childhood > > > >>> always thought Tom Swift, the Little Colonel and the Bobbsey Twins > books > >>have shaped the American ethic more than > >>> anyone knows." > > I recall my older brother being given the Tom Swift novels when we were > children. Whether he read them I don't remember--but I do recall swiping > them out of his room just as soon as he wasn't looking so that I could > read > them and read them and read them! I also had a considerable collection of > the Bobbsey Twins, a copy of a novel entitled 'The Adventures of > Mehitabel: > A Doll' which was as good as a travelogue, and of course, besides the > Louisa May Alcott books I had 'A Secret Garden' and 'Anne of Green > Gables'. > I loved these books and passionately wished to be 'in' them instead of > where I was! Perhaps that was the beginning of my fascination with many > aspects of the Victorian/post-Victorian eras? They may have died of > 'consumption' and other things which, to some degree, we can arrest > now--but they had a reverence for and a quality of life which we have > lost, > except in dreams. > > Haven't ever read a Henty, but I am looking forward to it! > > Athan (who was WAAAY too much like 'Anne' when younger!) > ayc(at)uiuc.edu
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 13:09:20 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: Re: books read in childhood
Athan,
my daughter is captivated by the _Emily of New Moon_ series now showing on
CBC and she immensely enjoyed the _Road to Avonlea_ when it fell into
syndication. She didn't see the _Anne of Green Gables_ brace of mini-series,
tho. We thought we'd let her grow up and read the books first, but now I see a
third Anne miniseries is on its way picking up a decade or so later. For those
who don't realize, these are all L.M. Montgomery creations.
I saw Chris Willis was hooting over _Wild wild West_ (1990) on Victoria-L,
saying it was "full of deliberate anachronisms, and I found it absolutely
hilarious". I haven't seen it, but I too think it was close to what others on
Victoria-L call Steampunk. (great word, what does it mean?) Looking at the
dime novels of Frank Reade, Jr., I cans say that whatever improbability shows up
in the Will Smith movie was already thought of in Victorian times.
Stephen
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:40:38 -0400 (EDT) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Re: Re: books read in childhood I'm with Marcella. Thumbs down on the Bobbsey Twins, thumbs up for Nancy Drew. I read all the Albert Payson Terhune books, and the Burroughs Mother West Wind stories, and most of what my brother had read ten years before -- Treasure Island, Robin Hood and the like. When I was sick, my grandmother would let me read a book that belonged to her. A great heavy outsized, slick-paper thing with photographs: The Sinking of the Luisitania. Why she felt that was proper reading for a sick girl I'll never know, but I loved it. (But then, she also gave me a copy of Forever Amber, a pot-boiler if ever there was one, because she thought it was a story about a horse. I never told her differently.) smiling, phoebe
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:50:32 -0400 From: Connie Hirsch <Connie_Hirsch(at)HMCO.COM> Subject: Re: books read in childhood "Steampunk" is a coinage after the manner of the SF genre called "Cyberpunk" which concerns computers, virtual reality, low-life outsider protagonists, and near-future technology -- two leading cyberpunk authors are Bruce Sterling and William Gibson. It was noticed that a number of SF novels were placed in Victorian or earlier times and dealt in retro or anachronistic technology -- how do you describe "The Wild Wild West" or "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.", anyway? "Western" just doesn't do it -- hence the Steampunk label, which while the protagonists may no longer qualify as punks, gives the fan a handle on what he or she is likely to encounter.... - -connie. connie_hirsch(at)hmco.com
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:01:09 -0500 From: athan chilton <ayc(at)UIUC.EDU> Subject: Re: books read in childhood Stephen, Not being a TV watcher (and having no cable, in any case) I did not know that the 'Avonlea' stories had ever been televised. I am thinking I should collect all the books--I never even had them all as a kid, and hadn't thought of them in ages--until I found 'Anne of the Island' at a garage sale a week or so ago. I re-read it, and realized I was missing lots of the story, so I'll have to look around for the others... I can only imagine what 'Steampunk' means--but it IS a great-sounding word. Makes me want to use it as a nickname for a fictional character... Maybe it refers to somebody in the era of steam, who was to that technology what our hot-rodders were/are to the invention and culture of the automobile? A railroad hot-rodder? Did they have steam demolition derbies, or train-pulls as they now have tractor pulls? (grin) Athan
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:04:47 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: books read in childhood That's great! A story about a horse! My mother had been in a book club in the 40's and 50's, and we had tons of those kinds of books around the house and I went through them all. She let me read Forever Amber, too, when I was 12 or so, but she only told me that it was a book that had been banned in a lot of places. Evidently telling me why it was banned was something she couldn't do. Even for a 12 year old it was pretty tame, but I wouldn't read it again. It wasn't very good. Marta Zozie(at)aol.com wrote: > > I'm with Marcella. Thumbs down on the Bobbsey Twins, thumbs up for Nancy > Drew. I read all the Albert Payson Terhune books, and the Burroughs Mother > West Wind stories, and most of what my brother had read ten years before -- > Treasure Island, Robin Hood and the like. > > When I was sick, my grandmother would let me read a book that belonged to > her. A great heavy outsized, slick-paper thing with photographs: The > Sinking of the Luisitania. Why she felt that was proper reading for a sick > girl I'll never know, but I loved it. (But then, she also gave me a copy of > Forever Amber, a pot-boiler if ever there was one, because she thought it was > a story about a horse. I never told her differently.) > > smiling, > phoebe
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 13:13:50 -0700 From: "Caroline L. Russom" <caroline.l.russom(at)csun.edu> Subject: Duplicate mailings Dear Gaslight Digest, I seem to be getting not only the digest but individual mailings as well. Is is possible for me only to receive the digest form of Gaslight? Thank you very much, Caroline Russom __________________ Caroline L. Russom caroline.russom(at)csun.edu University Library (818) 677-4887 California State University, Northridge Fax (818) 677-4136 Northridge, CA. 91330-8327 http://library.csun.edu/crussom/
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 14:15:23 -0600
From: sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA
Subject: CHAT: Forever Amber <WAS: Re: books read in childhood>
I must assume that _Forever Amber_ is the atypical childhood reading selection
tho Gaslight listmembers are probably not typical to begin with. :)
I bought a hardcopy one time just because Bob Hope used to make fun of it. In
one wartime broadcast, the claim was that pilots used pages of the book as
"incendiary spitballs".
Stephen D
mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:17:57 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: books read in childhood I never really got into Nancy Drew, but I liked the Trixie Belden books, and loved all of Phyllis Whitney's young adult books. I read those, then went on to her adult versions. It was interesting to compare the books, since she always did an adult and young adult novel on the same theme. Marta "Marcella, Michelle E" wrote: > > There is a series of books (published in the 50s) that I just rediscovered > after trying to recall them for many years. The "All of a Kind Family" > series took place in the upper east side of New York in the 1900s. The > family of poor Jewish immigrants had five daughters -- Ella, Henny, Sarah, > Charlotte and Gertie -- and they lived upstairs from -- I think -- a sewing > shop. Wonderful, wonderful books! I don't think they are hard to find. I > never really liked the Bobbsey Twins (though I read all of them); I was more > a Nancy Drew girl. > > Michelle Marcella > mmarcella(at)partners.org > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: athan chilton [SMTP:ayc(at)UIUC.EDU] > > Sent: Monday, September 20, 1999 2:47 PM > > To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA > > Subject: books read in childhood > > > > > > >>> always thought Tom Swift, the Little Colonel and the Bobbsey Twins > > books > > >>have shaped the American ethic more than > > >>> anyone knows." > > > > I recall my older brother being given the Tom Swift novels when we were > > children. Whether he read them I don't remember--but I do recall swiping > > them out of his room just as soon as he wasn't looking so that I could > > read > > them and read them and read them! I also had a considerable collection of > > the Bobbsey Twins, a copy of a novel entitled 'The Adventures of > > Mehitabel: > > A Doll' which was as good as a travelogue, and of course, besides the > > Louisa May Alcott books I had 'A Secret Garden' and 'Anne of Green > > Gables'. > > I loved these books and passionately wished to be 'in' them instead of > > where I was! Perhaps that was the beginning of my fascination with many > > aspects of the Victorian/post-Victorian eras? They may have died of > > 'consumption' and other things which, to some degree, we can arrest > > now--but they had a reverence for and a quality of life which we have > > lost, > > except in dreams. > > > > Haven't ever read a Henty, but I am looking forward to it! > > > > Athan (who was WAAAY too much like 'Anne' when younger!) > > ayc(at)uiuc.edu
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:24:04 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: books read in childhood I also read The Little Lame Prince, and to this day can't make heads or tails of its true meaning. Anyone know exactly what it was supposed to be about? It was a very depressing book, to me, but it still sits in my consciousness and I can't get it to leave. Marta athan chilton wrote: > > >>> always thought Tom Swift, the Little Colonel and the Bobbsey Twins books > >>have shaped the American ethic more than > >>> anyone knows." > > I recall my older brother being given the Tom Swift novels when we were > children. Whether he read them I don't remember--but I do recall swiping > them out of his room just as soon as he wasn't looking so that I could read > them and read them and read them! I also had a considerable collection of > the Bobbsey Twins, a copy of a novel entitled 'The Adventures of Mehitabel: > A Doll' which was as good as a travelogue, and of course, besides the > Louisa May Alcott books I had 'A Secret Garden' and 'Anne of Green Gables'. > I loved these books and passionately wished to be 'in' them instead of > where I was! Perhaps that was the beginning of my fascination with many > aspects of the Victorian/post-Victorian eras? They may have died of > 'consumption' and other things which, to some degree, we can arrest > now--but they had a reverence for and a quality of life which we have lost, > except in dreams. > > Haven't ever read a Henty, but I am looking forward to it! > > Athan (who was WAAAY too much like 'Anne' when younger!) > ayc(at)uiuc.edu
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:34:10 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: books read in childhood They should be available yet on video. Look on Amazon.com; my youngest daughter loved the first series, and when I bought her the books she went right through them. Marta athan chilton wrote: > > Stephen, > > Not being a TV watcher (and having no cable, in any case) I did not know > that the 'Avonlea' stories had ever been televised. I am thinking I should > collect all the books--I never even had them all as a kid, and hadn't > thought of them in ages--until I found 'Anne of the Island' at a garage > sale a week or so ago. I re-read it, and realized I was missing lots of > the story, so I'll have to look around for the others... > > I can only imagine what 'Steampunk' means--but it IS a great-sounding word. > Makes me want to use it as a nickname for a fictional character... Maybe it > refers to somebody in the era of steam, who was to that technology what our > hot-rodders were/are to the invention and culture of the automobile? A > railroad hot-rodder? Did they have steam demolition derbies, or > train-pulls as they now have tractor pulls? > > (grin) > > Athan
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:40:24 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: CHAT: Forever Amber <WAS: Re: books read in childhood> I'm surprised, now, that my mother actually let me read it. She did not do any kind of censoring on my reading matter, however, that I can remember, which I'm grateful for. There was no such thing as a book too old for me, in her opinion. I carried that forward to my own children, although my middle daughter did not read anything other than fashion magazines when she was growing up. My other two read voraciously, as I did. Marta sdavies(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA wrote: > > I must assume that _Forever Amber_ is the atypical childhood reading selection > tho Gaslight listmembers are probably not typical to begin with. :) > > I bought a hardcopy one time just because Bob Hope used to make fun of it. In > one wartime broadcast, the claim was that pilots used pages of the book as > "incendiary spitballs". > > Stephen D > mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 17:01:38 -0400 From: Linda Anderson <lpa1(at)ptdprolog.net> Subject: Re: CHAT: Forever Amber <WAS: Re: books read in childhood> Okay. I seem to be the only person over 20 <G> on this list who doesn't know who wrote "Forever Amber" or what it was about or why it was supposedly banned. Now, "Peyton Place" I know about! <G> And I liked Cherry Ames the nurse series alot better than Nancy Drew (although we had those, and Bobbsey Twins and Tom Swift Jr. and Hardy Boys and Trixi Belden and Five Little Peppers and How THey Grew and....) Linda Anderson who now *hates* Stephen Davies <G> and my sister who sent me the URL's for the local press (only 2 hours from my house) that publishes the Henty books- because I absolutely *had* to get all of the paperbacks! same price as Amazon, but the press had all of them, and Amazon only a couple. At 02:15 PM 09/20/1999 -0600, you wrote: >I must assume that _Forever Amber_ is the atypical childhood reading selection >tho Gaslight listmembers are probably not typical to begin with. :) > >I bought a hardcopy one time just because Bob Hope used to make fun of it. In >one wartime broadcast, the claim was that pilots used pages of the book as >"incendiary spitballs". > > Stephen D > mailto:SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca > >
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 16:56:31 -0400 From: "Marcella, Michelle E" <MMARCELLA(at)PARTNERS.ORG> Subject: RE: books read in childhood Trixie Belden~!! I had forgotten about her! I loved her stories!! I would gobble those up with gusto. Sigh. Oh well, I certainly can live vicariously through my daughter (who is only 3 and has no idea how many books are going to be thrust upon her!) michelle > -----Original Message----- > From: Marta Dawes [SMTP:smdawes(at)home.com] > Sent: Monday, September 20, 1999 6:18 PM > To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA > Subject: Re: books read in childhood > > I never really got into Nancy Drew, but I liked the Trixie Belden books, > and loved all of Phyllis Whitney's young adult books. I read those, > then went on to her adult versions. It was interesting to compare the > books, since she always did an adult and young adult novel on the same > theme. > > Marta > > "Marcella, Michelle E" wrote: > > > > There is a series of books (published in the 50s) that I just > rediscovered > > after trying to recall them for many years. The "All of a Kind Family" > > series took place in the upper east side of New York in the 1900s. The > > family of poor Jewish immigrants had five daughters -- Ella, Henny, > Sarah, > > Charlotte and Gertie -- and they lived upstairs from -- I think -- a > sewing > > shop. Wonderful, wonderful books! I don't think they are hard to find. I > > never really liked the Bobbsey Twins (though I read all of them); I was > more > > a Nancy Drew girl. > > > > Michelle Marcella > > mmarcella(at)partners.org > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: athan chilton [SMTP:ayc(at)UIUC.EDU] > > > Sent: Monday, September 20, 1999 2:47 PM > > > To: gaslight(at)MtRoyal.AB.CA > > > Subject: books read in childhood > > > > > > > > > >>> always thought Tom Swift, the Little Colonel and the Bobbsey Twins > > > books > > > >>have shaped the American ethic more than > > > >>> anyone knows." > > > > > > I recall my older brother being given the Tom Swift novels when we > were > > > children. Whether he read them I don't remember--but I do recall > swiping > > > them out of his room just as soon as he wasn't looking so that I could > > > read > > > them and read them and read them! I also had a considerable > collection of > > > the Bobbsey Twins, a copy of a novel entitled 'The Adventures of > > > Mehitabel: > > > A Doll' which was as good as a travelogue, and of course, besides the > > > Louisa May Alcott books I had 'A Secret Garden' and 'Anne of Green > > > Gables'. > > > I loved these books and passionately wished to be 'in' them instead of > > > where I was! Perhaps that was the beginning of my fascination with > many > > > aspects of the Victorian/post-Victorian eras? They may have died of > > > 'consumption' and other things which, to some degree, we can arrest > > > now--but they had a reverence for and a quality of life which we have > > > lost, > > > except in dreams. > > > > > > Haven't ever read a Henty, but I am looking forward to it! > > > > > > Athan (who was WAAAY too much like 'Anne' when younger!) > > > ayc(at)uiuc.edu
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 17:18:41 +0300 From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop) Subject: Re: books read in childhood >I also read The Little Lame Prince, and to this day can't make heads or >tails of its true meaning. Anyone know exactly what it was supposed to >be about? It was a very depressing book, to me, but it still sits in my >consciousness and I can't get it to leave. I loved it, and don't remember its being depressing at all. I'll have to reread it. It was by Mrs. Mulock or Craig (librarians were very fierce about finding out "real names" and cataloguing them thus when I was a child -- often wrong, I believe.) The only book I remember my mother snatching away from me was Zola's NANA. I had a library card which allowed me to get adult books but my Mama hid NANA. (I found it in her closet, on a high shelf, and tried it but found it boring, so she needn't have worried.) What I think is incredible is that my parents didn't seem to worry about SLOVENLY PETER (STRUWWELPETER), or 21 DELIGHTFUL WAYS OF COMMITTING SUICIDE (illustrated), or THE WILD PARTY (republished a year or two ago I think, illustrated with woodcuts). The last two were probably in the house because my father was among other things a book reviewer. I had one Frances Hodgson Burnett book -- still do -- that was a distinct creeper: IN THE CLOSED ROOM. Beautiful illustrations. My grandmother gave it to me. I still have it, creeps and all. But I would not call it a healthy book. Whereas THE SECRET GARDEN is still my favorite book of all time. Carroll
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 17:21:50 +0300 From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop) Subject: Re: books read in childhood The EMILY OF NEW MOON books (and TV programs) are far superior to Anne of GG. Montgomery said somewhere that Emily was much more like her. Emily's mystical streak I think. Carroll
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 17:21:08 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: books read in childhood I agree about "The Secret Garden". That and Norton Juster's "Phantom Tollbooth" I still read. What is "In the Closed Room" about? I've never read it. Does anyone have a bio on F H Burnett? Marta Carroll Bishop wrote: > > >I also read The Little Lame Prince, and to this day can't make heads or > >tails of its true meaning. Anyone know exactly what it was supposed to > >be about? It was a very depressing book, to me, but it still sits in my > >consciousness and I can't get it to leave. > > I loved it, and don't remember its being depressing at all. I'll have to > reread it. It was by Mrs. Mulock or Craig (librarians were very fierce > about finding out "real names" and cataloguing them thus when I was a > child -- often wrong, I believe.) > > The only book I remember my mother snatching away from me was Zola's > NANA. I had a library card which allowed me to get adult books but > my Mama hid NANA. (I found it in her closet, on a high shelf, and > tried it but found it boring, so she needn't have worried.) What > I think is incredible is that my parents didn't seem to worry about > SLOVENLY PETER (STRUWWELPETER), or 21 DELIGHTFUL WAYS OF COMMITTING > SUICIDE (illustrated), or THE WILD PARTY (republished a year or two > ago I think, illustrated with woodcuts). The last two were probably > in the house because my father was among other things a book reviewer. > > I had one Frances Hodgson Burnett book -- still do -- that was a > distinct creeper: IN THE CLOSED ROOM. Beautiful illustrations. > My grandmother gave it to me. I still have it, creeps and all. > But I would not call it a healthy book. Whereas THE SECRET GARDEN > is still my favorite book of all time. > > Carroll
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 18:25:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Zozie(at)aol.com Subject: Re: Re: books read in childhood Another book that has stuck with me is The Boxcar Family. Anyone remember that? About a fatherless family, mother and two kids I think, who were so poor they lived in an abandoned boxcar. Forever Amber is classic trash. There was an equally bad film made of it with, as I remember, Linda Darnell as Amber. It was in b/w, more's the pity. phoebe
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 18:38:58 +0300 From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop) Subject: RE: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty (fwd) >From: "Mattingly Conner" <muse(at)iland.net> >To: "Carroll Bishop" <cbishop(at)interlog.com> >Subject: RE: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty (fwd) >Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:30:00 -0500 >Kiwi might like to read Robert Lloyd Mitchell's Hymn to Eros. It will make >her stop afearing Plato. Diotima is a woman, and she gives Socrates the big >scoop. Truth and Beauty, Beauty and Truth: Fear not... > >You can tell her for me and give Gaslight my love. > >By my soul, >Deborah Mattingly Conner >muse(at)iland.net >http://www.iland.net/~muse >"....poetry springs from divine frenzy, frenzy from the Muses, and the Muses >from Jove. The followers of Plato repeatedly call the soul of the whole >universe Jove, who inwardly nourishes heaven and earth, the moving seas, the >moon's shining orb, the stars and sun. Permeating every limb, he moves the >whole mass and mingles with its vast substance." ~ Marsilio Ficino >
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 18:51:30 -0400 From: Linda Anderson <lpa1(at)ptdprolog.net> Subject: Re: Re: books read in childhood At 06:25 PM 09/20/1999 -0400, you wrote: >Another book that has stuck with me is The Boxcar Family. Anyone remember >that? About a fatherless family, mother and two kids I think, who were so >poor they lived in an abandoned boxcar. > >Forever Amber is classic trash. There was an equally bad film made of it >with, as I remember, Linda Darnell as Amber. It was in b/w, more's the pity. > >phoebe ============== I don't remember the Boxcar Family but I have all the books about the "Borrower's". Linda Anderson
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 17:52:41 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: books read in childhood My husband bought all those books for our kids to read. The youngest loved them, and is holding on to them for her children. Marta Zozie(at)aol.com wrote: > > Another book that has stuck with me is The Boxcar Family. Anyone remember > that? About a fatherless family, mother and two kids I think, who were so > poor they lived in an abandoned boxcar. > > Forever Amber is classic trash. There was an equally bad film made of it > with, as I remember, Linda Darnell as Amber. It was in b/w, more's the pity. > > phoebe
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 19:02:45 +0300 From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop) Subject: Re: books read in childhood >I agree about "The Secret Garden". That and Norton Juster's "Phantom >Tollbooth" I still read. > >What is "In the Closed Room" about? I've never read it. Does anyone >have a bio on F H Burnett? Hi Marta. It's about a black-haired girl who plays with a red-haired girl who wears a white dress (very Whistler/PreRafe) -- redhead is a ghost but not to the black-haired girl. At the end of the book dark haired girl is dead too. As I said, a creepy book. I had very red hair as a child, and I suppose I identified with both of them but chiefly with the dark haired one (Judith I think was her name). They played with a blue willow tea set and dolls. I think the two were related -- redhead is Judith's late aunt? -- though that's not evident till the end. A very strange book -- I don't think people write this kind of book anymore -- except, Athan, maybe a Japanese fairytale? I have read at least one bio of Frances Hodgson Burnett and she had an interesting life. Lived in both U.S. and England. Washington D.C. partly. Can't remember author or details. I'd like to see a history of THE SECRET GARDEN. Loved the musical play/CD written by Paul Simon's sister and others -- dollhouse set -- with Mandy Patinkin as Uncle Archibald. The English accents were pretty funny and of course they got Colin all wrong, they always do -- he's a sort of Yorkshire Pan-as-child (but not Peter Pan). One of the TV versions killed him off in World War I, which really pissed me off. Carroll
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 19:05:26 +0300 From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop) Subject: Re: Re: books read in childhood Kathleen Winsor's chief claim to fame, as I remember it, was that she was one of Artie Shaw's wives. She also wrote a novel called STAR MONEY. About on a par with Judith Krantz maybe? Carroll
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 18:12:49 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: books read in childhood The 1985 TV version killed off Dickon in WWI, and Mary was supposed to have married Colin. That version really bothered me, since it diverted too much from the book. I love the last film adaptation, though. The spirit of the film just matched the book. Is "In the Closed Room" available in etext anywhere? It does sound creepy, and I know that FHB could write very creepy when she wanted to. I don't know that I'd like the story, either, since it ends in that fashion. Marta Carroll Bishop wrote: > > >I agree about "The Secret Garden". That and Norton Juster's "Phantom > >Tollbooth" I still read. > > > >What is "In the Closed Room" about? I've never read it. Does anyone > >have a bio on F H Burnett? > > Hi Marta. It's about a black-haired girl who plays with a red-haired girl > who wears a white dress (very Whistler/PreRafe) -- redhead is a ghost > but not to the black-haired girl. At the end of the book dark haired girl > is dead too. As I said, a creepy book. I had very red hair as a child, > and I suppose I identified with both of them but chiefly with the dark > haired one (Judith I think was her name). They played with a blue willow > tea set and dolls. > > I think the two were related -- redhead is Judith's late aunt? -- though that's > not evident till the end. > > A very strange book -- I don't think people write this kind of book > anymore -- except, Athan, maybe a Japanese fairytale? > > I have read at least one bio of Frances Hodgson Burnett and she had > an interesting life. Lived in both U.S. and England. Washington D.C. > partly. Can't remember author or details. I'd like to see a history > of THE SECRET GARDEN. Loved the musical play/CD written by Paul > Simon's sister and others -- dollhouse set -- with Mandy Patinkin > as Uncle Archibald. The English accents were pretty funny and of > course they got Colin all wrong, they always do -- he's a sort of > Yorkshire Pan-as-child (but not Peter Pan). One of the TV versions > killed him off in World War I, which really pissed me off. > > Carroll
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 18:45:43 -0700 From: Marta Dawes <smdawes(at)home.com> Subject: Re: books read in childhood Star Money was another of the books in our house, and I could never get past the first few pages. When my mother died, it was one of the few books I threw away. Marta Carroll Bishop wrote: > > Kathleen Winsor's chief claim to fame, as I remember it, was that she was > one of Artie Shaw's wives. > > She also wrote a novel called STAR MONEY. > > About on a par with Judith Krantz maybe? > > Carroll
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 20:05:08 +0300 From: cbishop(at)interlog.com (Carroll Bishop) Subject: Re: books read in childhood >The 1985 TV version killed off Dickon in WWI, and Mary was supposed to >have married Colin. That version really bothered me, since it diverted >too much from the book. I love the last film adaptation, though. The >spirit of the film just matched the book. I meant Dickon, of course! Carroll
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 15:41:41 -0700 From: Deborah McMillion Nering <deborah(at)alice.gloaming.com> Subject: Book read in childhood A wonderful book called SATURDAYS was one of my favorites--great for thinking about creative things to do. But my best book that I bought from our library when they got rid of it (shocking) is STAR GIRL by Henry Winterfield. It sparked an interest in astronomy that has never left. Deborah Deborah McMillion deborah(at)gloaming.com http://www.gloaming.com/deborah.html
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 20:52:03 -0500 From: Ann Hilgeman <eahilg(at)seark.net> Subject: Re: books read in childhood Under no circumstances read MISSELTHWAITE, a horrific update of THE SECRET GARDEN by Sarah Mason. It's probably the worst book I ever started to read. Lucy Simon is Carly Simon's sister and no relation to Paul as far as I know. She and Carly are part of the publishing Simon family (Simon and Schuster). In addition to all of the wonderful books all of you have mentioned, I've always loved the books of E. Nesbitt--the Would-Be-Goods, the Railway children, a book of dragon short stories. And if anyone ever runs across a copy of ENEMY BROTHER by Constance Savery, please let me know. And I found Judy Bolton a lot more interesting than Nancy Drew. Ann Hilgeman, who's read all of L.M. Montgomery, Elsie Dinsmore, the Little Colonel, Tom Swift, and even the Rover Boys
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Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 22:40:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Champ <rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Fwd: more on Prestonspeed and Henty
On Mon, 20 Sep 1999, Chris Carlisle wrote:
> I wonder what they can find in Plato that's fit/interesting enough
> for children to read? I certainly hope that they don't feature
> the Republic verbatim, or parts of the Symposium, which could
> be enough to frighten a sensitive, thinking child, especially
> a girl-child out of her or his wits. I'm not talking about monsters
> here, I'm talking about inequalities and assumptions about
> gender/class superiority.
>
> Kiwi, who has alway been afraid of philosophers.
>
>
With all due respect to Kiwi, I think it is most unfortunate to reduce
Platonic philosophy to gender and equality issues. Plato's thought has
been the inspiration for much that is beautiful and good in Western
civilization, and reveals the ancient world--as no monument can--in all
its intellectual splendor. Platonism is about nothing less than the
transcendance of the soul, the way up and beyond the changing moment. It
provides no means of transcendance--that was left to Christianity--but it
tells us unforgettably that human beings are spiritual creatures, and it
knows that love and beauty are our proper sustenance. Any child exposed
to those lessons is going to walk away from them with a true sense of his
or her own worth in the scheme of things (how much better than to wallow
in the nihilism of the present!). To know that one is not a mere animal
but a being designed to touch the very ground of reality (God, if you
will) is knowledge that many modern children would be better off having.
Bob C.
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Robert L. Champ
rchamp(at)polaris.umuc.edu
Editor, teacher, anglophile, human curiosity
Whatever things are pure, whatever things are
lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there is any virtue and if there is anything
praiseworthy, meditate on these things
Philippians 4:8
rchamp7927(at)aol.com robertchamp(at)netscape.net
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End of Gaslight Digest V1 #98
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