Posted by Jeremy Kriewaldt on March 16, 2001 at 01:24:26 from 203.27.30.240:
In Reply to: FAVOURITE BOOKS posted by GORDON MCGILTON on March 13, 2001 at 20:06:51:
I agree with the comments of those who have observed that their reactions to various works have altered over time.
I was given the first four books in a Puffin boxed set for my 9th birthday in 1970 and had read them within a week.
Then I waited for Puffin to release the next in the series ( I never considered buying a hardback, as I was paying for these out of my own pocket money or asking for Christmas or birthday presents).
So, my recollections of childhood favourites were that S&A, SD, PD and WH were really special. I loved CC and PP, but somehow WD and SW didn't work for me. Then BS was great while MS was a disappointment. I enjoyed PM and found GN was tired.
My other childhood feeling that I recollect was that I was aware that there was already a bit of a gap betwen the time and place that the books were set and the Australia of the early 1970's in which I was reading them.
As an adult, I think that the introduction of the D's makes WH,CC,PP,BS and PM and saves GN from being a total flop. That probably says more about my interests - Dick in particular was a character who "spoke" to me. And even Dorothea seemed more real to me than John, Susan and Nancy. For some reason, the older characters still don't appeal to me as much as Titty, Dick and Dorothea (and even Roger - his unexpected role as scholar in ML is still the highlight of that book for me).
As someone who camped, but never really sailed, I suppose the role of crew seemd more real to me!!
When I read the books now there are things that surprise me that I haven't considered before. The discussions between Mrs Walker and Mrs Blackett on how to raise children in SD, for example, consider a very real and live issue for me now and a very important theme in the work (which is then picked up and re-evaluated in PM), whereas thirty years ago it seemed to be a strange interruption to what I then took to be the "story".