Bits’n’Pieces

It is Easter Holidays for us at the moment, so I have been enjoying some quality reading time.

I have read:

• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Re-reading this was interesting – it is certainly a fairly classic tale of a child being saved from awful circumstances and then blossoming into a stronger, better person through making good friends and having a healthy lifestyle. In some ways the writing is very dated and almost parochial – the constant references to the perfection of the Yorkshire countryside and pure air blowing health into the child provoked a smile or two from me. I have lived in some lovely places, none of them Yorkshire – but I have to say that Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, is not high on my personal list of places to raise healthy, outdoorsy children. However as a mother and as a teacher I can’t help thinking that much of the main tale has a ring of ‘truthiness’ about it – fresh air, exericise and wholesome food are very important for growing children’s bodies, and having something meaningful to do (eg reclaim a neglected garden) does provide a child with goals, a sense of self-worth and also an unselfishness that cannot be taught in any other way.
• Troll Bridge by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple. I enjoyed this quick little modern riff on some traditional fairy and folk-tales. This is a Fractured Fairy Tale for an older audience, fast-paced, just detailed enough with taking spelling-it-out-to-you tone, some of the enjoyment relies on your understanding of traditional fairy-tales. Princesses, heroic rescuers, trolls, trickery, rhymes, the power of music to hypnotise the savage beast… I will looking out for other books in this vein by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple.
• The Coming of the Whirlpool by Andrew McGahan. I loved this one! A great fantasy read, with elements of Vikings and hints of the naval exploits of England, France and Spain drawn together. The main character is following a fairly classic path of destiny-through-heritage, but in this tale he is destined to be a mighty sailor rather than soldier or slayer of dragons. He is of course part of a subjugated people, but various events bring him first to a harbour village where he learns to sail, then he becomes the first person every to sail into and out of a stupendous whirlpool which of course brings him to the attention of those in power – and not in a good way. The book ends with him sailing off to face those even higher up the chain of power, under the protection of an honourable captain but in company with a number of people who would happily see him dead and done with. Some passages of this book actually made me homesick for the scent and feel of ocean winds on my face and the scratch of sand between my toes.
• A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby. I picked this up almost idly, and read it pretty much in one day. The tale of four people who meet by accident on a rooftop, each of them planning to kill themselves by jumping off the building. Other than despair or desperation these four have nothing in common – and yet the weird circumstances of their meeting keep pulling them together again as they each seek to evade or exorcise their personal problems. Definitely an adult book in its examination of the bleakest emotions, but no sex or violence. Whilst one character is profane to the point of being almost unintelligible at times, even that becomes a piont of humour when she and the others follow each swear word with an apology. What I particularly enjoyed about this book is the lack of a neat, tidy, happy ending – no-one is magically cured of depression by Twoo Wuv, they all prove that there is no going back in time to fix the past no matter what their situation. What they do show however is that a bit of time, maybe trying something new or taking a new perspective, making tiny differences that can be sustained in their daily lives, can lead them away from the point of utter despair.

So that was some of my reading this holidays – an eclectic mix, but satisfying!