Book Meme, Day 1

[selenak]

From maidenjedi:

1. Favorite book from childhood.

I didn't have a single one of those, and also it depends from which part of my childhood, even if you discount all the years from 13 onwards as being teenage or adolescent or what not. Yours truly was an avid reader from the time she could read, and I did have books I loved before that - one called Geschichten aus dem Alten Haus, for example, which was for pre-school kids and which my mother read to me. (Loosely connected fairy tales with a framing narration.) When I was nine or thereabouts, I discovered historical romance novels (not historical novels per se, I had read some before) and shocked my grandmother by starting to read the Angelique series by Anne Golon which granddad had on his shelves. More about Angelique (the title character and the series and why I remain fond to this day) here; the first and the fifth of those novels were my favourites.

And then there's Watership Down, which I read when I was twelve and adored and never stopped loving, either. By that time, I had read (and watched) a lot of stories featuring animals, of course. But not like this one. Those rabbits had their own mythology, they were all different from each other, relationships did not develop like I thought they would and this was good (I'm thinking of Bigwig and Hazel here, whom kid me thought were set up as rivals early on, but no), and at twelve I was aware enough of the past to recognize that Efrafra was a totalitarian state, without feeling condescended to or lectured at. Also, the thing about the wires in the earlier warren, and the silent agreement among the rabbits there - the horror of it really got to me. I kept rereading the book, and discovered something new every time.



1. Favorite book from childhood.
2. Best bargain.
3. One with a blue cover.
4. Least favorite book by favorite author.
5. Doesn't belong to me.
6. The one I always give as a gift.
7. Forgot I owned it.
8. Have more than one copy.
9. Film or TV tie-in.
10. Reminds me of someone I love.
11. Secondhand bookshop gem.
12. I pretend to have read it.
13. Makes me laugh.
14. An old favorite.
15. Favorite fictional father.
16. Can't believe more people haven't read.
17. Future classic.
18. Bought on a recommendation.
19. Still can't stop talking about it.
20. Favorite cover.
21. Summer read.
22. Out of print.
23. Made to read at school.
24. Hooked me into reading.
25. Never finished it.
26. Should have sold more copies.
27. Want to be one of the characters.
28. Bought at my fave independent bookshop.
29. The one I have reread most often.
30. Would save if my house burned down.

Comments

[chelseagirl]

I have a friend, not on Dreamwidth, who also speaks quite eloquently about the Angelique books.

[wendelah1]

Watership Down was a complex, disturbing book. It is wonderful but I didn't read it until I was an adult and I'd hesitate to recommend it to a kid unless I was positive they could handle it.

[moon_custafer]

I loved Watership Down; my spouse finds it horrifying, so I understand how people’s mileage may vary.

I love the description of landscape from ground, and sometimes underground level; and the moment when Woundwort discovers Bigwig is *not* the Chief Rabbit of his warren and begins to panic at the idea that somewhere there must be an even more frightening rabbit than Bigwig, because combat is the only kind of strength Woundwort understands.

[monanotlisa]

Watership Down was a great read for me too -- angst wrapped into what people generally think of as fluff. I think I read this version: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51G9rkoh%2BrL._SX330_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

[selenak]

They are by no means historical novel perfection, and a product of their times as everything is. But they gave me a lot, and last year when I did a reread up to novel 6 I found I still enjoyed them.

[selenak]

It depends on the kid, yes, though in general I'd say teenagers can handle it. Certainly today's teenagers.

[selenak]

That was such a great moment. (Trivia aside: Though I have to say, it took me until adulthood to admire the smuggling-past-censor-cleverness just before when Adams had Bigwig tell Woundwort to eat shit without using these words because the rabbit language expressions he does use are at this point familiar enough to the reader to automatically translate.)

I understand finding it horrifying, too; the last sentence of the very first chapter is such a punch in the gut, when you realise the full implication, and later, when Holly tells the others what happened, it is as bad as any war story.

[selenak]

That's the one I read, too!

[moon_custafer]

Not to mention when Holly, telling them what happened, says “I can only imagine what it was like in the burrows,” and his normally cheerful sidekick Bluebell says “No. You can’t,” and takes up the narrative.