Posted by Andy Clayton on April 02, 2006 at 11:37:58 from 83.104.41.160 user cousin_jack.
In Reply to: Re: Children's writers posted by Mike Dennis on April 02, 2006 at 10:09:27:
Good points Mike.
Linda Smith was a COMEDIENNE (and a very astute and amusing lady in my opinion,)and as such a lot of what she said was for effect, to provoke a reaction. I also think she was having a go at the whole Harry Potter phenomenon as much as adults reading books aimed at children. I've not tried reading any HP but my wife, who's literary knowlege I respect, tried one and was not over-impressed by its quality. AR on the other hand seems to have been a very skillful writer and his work has lasted and stood up to the passage of time remarkably well. Many people, not only die-hard tar-boarders still appreciate the quality of his writing as witnessed by his inclusion in the BBC's top 100 greatest books of all time.
Mike has already made the point about re-reading childrens literature from ones youth as against reading recent books specificaly aimed at children, but I wonder how far down the age limit one can go before all credibility is lost. Famous Five, Rupert, Noddy, The Tiger who came to Tea? Some of this stuff has intrinsic quality but the average adult is not the taget audiance.