Jul 292010
Ujala Sehgal at The Millions writes a fricken brilliant essay on The Search for Iago and references lots of books I love, including Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. Fan-damn-tastic.
Vanda Symon has a nice review of North Pole South Pole by Gillian Turner – sounds like a great non-fiction read.
The Well Read Kitty has another review up for The Nile – and this sounds like an amazing read.
The Vicbooks blog has a great post about the news that Hodder want to update Enid Blyton. And why did I not know about the Vicbooks website – it’s fantastic, people!
7 Responses to “Lots of links for you to love”
Comments (7)
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Extra BookieMonster Blathery Goodness!
The Vicbooks blog has a great post about the news that Hodder want to update Enid Blyton.
Grrr… I’m doing my Public Address Radio piece this week on the subject. I don’t much like children, but I have a healthy respect for their intelligence. Bloody shame Hodders doesn’t feel the same.
And we’re not exactly talking James Joyce or Chaucer in the original here. It’s not that hard to figure out unfamiliar 50′s idioms from the context, which children have to do a lot as part of acquiring language skills anyway.
Awesome, I’ll be sure to listen in – feel free to post link here when up!
I agree – also why could we not write whole new books along the same lines, rather than rewriting Blyton? Surely her books stand as a historical artefact now, as much as stories and what would be so wrong with giving kids a chance to experience the language, the attitudes, the life of the time period of Blyton’s writing?
Blyton was already totally anachronistic when I was a kid but plenty of other kids I knew loved the books.
From the Whorish Self-Promotion Desk.
FUN WITH DICK AND FANNY
This week, Craig investigates the Mystery of the Dumbed Down Childrens Books. Call the Famous Five!
http://publicaddress.net/system/topic,2638,180-seconds-with-craig-ranapia-1-august.sm
Cool! I’ve just discovered where Craig’s broadcasts are stashed on PSA!
And I tautoko every word, Craig.
The 11yr old family twerp said, “Doesnt he know there
isnt any Fanny in Enid Blyton’s books?”
Side note: I loved Kiki (the sulpur-crested cockatoo going by the illustrations) – especially the name – it looked and sounded so Maori! (at least the way I said it….)
Blyton was already totally anachronistic when I was a kid but plenty of other kids I knew loved the books.
Well, sure. And I love Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers without buying into the really cringe-making reflexive class consciousness (and deeply offensive “swarthy Johnny foreigner up to no good” balls) that hasn’t aged at all well. Hell, even at the time nobody would have mistaken The Famous Five and Secret Seven books for social realism — who would have read them if they were? Could you imagine how divinely decadent all that gorging would have been as a child in a world of post-war austerity.
Yes! Another reason why they should just leave them.
Even the offensive bits.
Even the offensive bits.
Sure, Deborah over at In A Strange Land did a fascinating post a few years back about reading the Narnia books with her daughters — let’s just say C.S. Lewis is a not entirely unproblematic author for a feminist atheist. But you don’t actually do anyone any favours by pretending that the past isn’t a different country, and often a rather distasteful one.