Writers/books you grew into/out of

[Dinahann]

I absolutely loved Laura Ingalls Wilder and Walter Farley as a pre-teen, and I can bet you that if I sat down with any one of those books today (Little House on the Praries series and the Black Stallion series,) I'd love it just as much today.
I also loved Animal Farm once I was old enough to appreciate it...)

Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved those every one of those books, and I feel the same: I could sit down today and re-read them and fall in love with her all over again. I never liked the TV series so much although I thought Melissa Gilbert was a wonderful actress.

Animal Farm is still brilliant social commentary, and I recently re-read 1984 and found it as stark and compelling as I did in 1984.

(Wuthering Heights? GENIUS. It's gothic yet modern and powerful and romantic and presages Virginia Woolf's stuff in a way you wouldn't think possible, considering her life and her era - yeah, I know I'm on an awful tangent...I just love it to pieces. )

My little sister Cathy died at 23. I can't recall all the times I saw her as a teen-ager, sitting on a bench under our library window, clutching a kleenex in one hand and Wuthering Heights in the other, bawling her eyes out. She named her daughter Catherine after the romantic Ms. Earnshaw, and her namesake is now 16 and has read the book herself.

I first read it when I was about 12, and while I didn't understand the nuance I was profoundly moved. I've not changed my opinion; it is gothic and disturbing but a wonderful read. I sometimes wished I could be as headstrong and willfull as Catherine. Fortunately for me I'm the pragmatic type.

[AJane]

Dinahann, that story about your sister and your niece is worthy of Bronte...tragic yet beautifully told. What does your teenage Catherine think of the book?

[CCL]

Right now, Hamlet is the pinnacle of Shakespeare to me, but I predict this may change with time, as Hamlet is sort of young in spirit. My dad considers King Lear and Richard II Shakespeare's most profound plays, and the reasons are lost on me.

Anne of Green Gables -

Hamlet was the first Shakespeare play I really loved. I still love it, but as I grow older I do find Lear resonates more with me. (Though, as I'm in my 20s, I don't think I'm anywhere near your dad's age - )

[nausicaa]

My little sister Cathy died at 23. I can't recall all the times I saw her as a teen-ager, sitting on a bench under our library window, clutching a kleenex in one hand and Wuthering Heights in the other, bawling her eyes out. She named her daughter Catherine after the romantic Ms. Earnshaw, and her namesake is now 16 and has read the book herself.

Dinahann - This gave me a lump in my throat. What a legacy your sister left to her daughter (imagine, the namesake of one of the greatest literary heroines in the English canon! Humph. I was named after my hometown) - and how freighted with the desires and wishes and idiosyncracies of a mother.

Anne of Green Gables -

Hamlet was the first Shakespeare play I really loved. I still love it, but as I grow older I do find Lear resonates more with me. (Though, as I'm in my 20s, I don't think I'm anywhere near your dad's age - )

You know, I never thought Hamlet to be a young man's play. I believe the text does suggest his being in his 30s (dont' quote me on this though.) From Hamlet's indecisiveness and inward-looking vision to his struggles with his conscience and the false/real madness - I say he's totally going through a mid-life crisis. He's also responsible for single-handedly siccing the Prufrockian Syndrome on many of our modern literary heros, imo.

And I'm the proud owner of L.M. Montgomery's entire Anne and Emily series...in fact, I re-read Rilla of Ingleside just last year. I'm saving those books for my girls to read in a few more years.

I love love LOVE Anne. But I found it kind of sucky that in the later story arcs, she sort of became just another matriarch settle down to life and the roost. I wanted Anne to be wild and carefree forever. (And, you know, maybe move to Manhattan and become a libertine and cavort with Dorothy Parker. ) Also, knowing about L.M. Montgomery's less-than-happy personal life and the consequences that had on the declining quality of her work makes me somewhat ambivalent. In fact, Iremember one of her books having a strong racist undertone (forgot its name, but it had a blind/lame heroine and an Italian farmhand as its villain...anyone? Anyone?)

Oh, and for the Canadians out there, please don't shout "Blasphemer!" at me. *ducks the rotten tomatoes*

[AJane]

I love love LOVE Anne. But I found it kind of sucky that in the later story arcs, she sort of became just another matriarch settle down to life and the roost. I wanted Anne to be wild and carefree forever. (And, you know, maybe move to Manhattan and become a libertine and cavort with Dorothy Parker. ) Also, knowing about L.M. Montgomery's less-than-happy personal life and the consequences that had on the declining quality of her work makes me somewhat ambivalent.

Anne was Lucy Maud's most prolific heroine, but I think Anne was the person that the author wished to be, but wasn't. Also, I think Montgomery placed a high value on family life, given that she had poor Anne bear seven children (I still get tears in my eyes remembering the chapter when her first daughter was stillborn - one of Montgomery's sons was also stillborn).

But you know, of all the Anne books, I think Rainbow Valley is my favourite. It's the stories of Anne's children, and it's so full of the joy and pathos of childhood - I think even kids today could relate to it.

I definitely think Anne could have held her own with Dorothy Parker and her table, too.

In fact, Iremember one of her books having a strong racist undertone (forgot its name, but it had a blind/lame heroine and an Italian farmhand as its villain...anyone? Anyone?)

You may be thinking of the Chronicles of Avonlea books, although I admit I can't recall that specific story. Those books were more like collections of short stories, though.

[nausicaa]

You may be thinking of the Chronicles of Avonlea books, although I admit I can't recall that specific story. Those books were more like collections of short stories, though.

Nope. Turns out I was thinking one of her more obscure novels, Kilmeny of the Orchard, which I remember being among the most worst tripe I've ever read. She and Aphra Behn ought to compare notes on how to seem racist and classist without perhaps meaning to (and I use "perhaps" generously).

I mean, LMM's a Canadian icon and all, but still...my memory rarely lies.

ETA: And is VC Andrews whack or what? I used to just love her. It's like her books all deal with incestuous or near-incestuous relationships, and the recycled plotlines commit one big incestuous orgy with one other.

[AJane]

Oh, Lord, that is obscure...and here I thought I was a fan. I'll stick to Anne - and to Emily, to a lesser extent...although I do recall a comment or two in the Anne books about the "Eye-talians"...but since I myself am a pretty thick-skinned Eye-talian, I wasn't too offended.

ETA: And is VC Andrews whack or what? I used to just love her. It's like her books all deal with incestuous or near-incestuous relationships, and the recycled plotlines commit one big incestuous orgy with one other.

Don't forget pedophilia...remember Cathy and her *foster* father getting it on? Ewwwww.

[Dinahann]

Dinahann, that story about your sister and your niece is worthy of Bronte...tragic yet beautifully told. What does your teenage Catherine think of the book?

I'm afraid she thinks of it as a self-fulfilling prophesy, judging by the young men she drags home. Truly, I've never asked her. I need to do that; it's a worthy legacy but needs to be handled delicately, if you know what I mean.

ETA: And is VC Andrews whack or what? I used to just love her. It's like her books all deal with incestuous or near-incestuous relationships, and the recycled plotlines commit one big incestuous orgy with one other.

Don't forget pedophilia...remember Cathy and her *foster* father getting it on? Ewwwww.

I've never liked VC Andrews. I read three quarters of the way through Flowers in the Attic and put it down, which is very rare for me. Incest and killing children just aren't subjects I want to read about. :phhht

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is another classic (well, to me) that I've reread several times over the years. Smith's portrayal of Frannie as the immigrant Irish daughter doomed to poverty is still worthwhile reading.

[CCL]

You know, I never thought Hamlet to be a young man's play. I believe the text does suggest his being in his 30s (dont' quote me on this though.) From Hamlet's indecisiveness and inward-looking vision to his struggles with his conscience and the false/real madness - I say he's totally going through a mid-life crisis. He's also responsible for single-handedly siccing the Prufrockian Syndrome on many of our modern literary heros, imo.

I don't recall the play suggesting his age. If anything, his being in university would imply he was in his 20s(because by his 30s he would be entering the more "adult" role of father, king-in-training etc). Although he could have been doing an advanced degree. For me, Hamlet has always been a young man (20s) wrestling with the traumas of approaching adulthood. Also, his whole struggle with action/inaction - one could argue that this is his juvenile side (rash, prone to violence) dueling with his adult side (logical, usage of words/arguments to eliminate his enemies). In the end, his juvenile side wins out. And so he remains a perpetual young 'un, never to experience the rites of adulthood (marriage, fatherhood, career). But that's just my opinion.
That said, I think the themes of Hamlet do not specifically appeal to any one age group. What I meant by my original post is that King Lear is a play that young people often do not find appealing. I remember in high school students who were reading Lear were disappointed that they were not the ones to read Hamlet (each class read different plays, chosen by the teacher).

I liked Anne in her younger years. Getting married, having children - meh. It just seemed more right to have Anne perpetually a teenager, being bosom buddies with Diana, being teased by Gilbert, having Marilla & Matthew around. Maybe now that I'm an adult (of sorts - ) I'd appreciate adult Anne more.

As for VC Andrew - I used to read her when I was younger. I just find it amusing that she keeps coming out with books even though she is dead (her estate licenced her name for other authors to use).

[nausicaa]

I don't recall the play suggesting his age. If anything, his being in university would imply he was in his 20s(because by his 30s he would be entering the more "adult" role of father, king-in-training etc). Although he could have been doing an advanced degree. For me, Hamlet has always been a young man (20s) wrestling with the traumas of approaching adulthood. Also, his whole struggle with action/inaction - one could argue that this is his juvenile side (rash, prone to violence) dueling with his adult side (logical, usage of words/arguments to eliminate his enemies). In the end, his juvenile side wins out. And so he remains a perpetual young 'un, never to experience the rites of adulthood (marriage, fatherhood, career). But that's just my opinion.

Well, I don't want to debate the age issue with you, since I don't have the textual reference to back it up and also since it has been beaten to death by Shakespeare specialists (Answer is still inconclusive, btw.)

ETA: Out of curiousity, though, do you really believe that the play, considering its reputation as the Greatest. Shakespearean. Play. Ever. [/comic book man], would have as its titular character a Hotspur with slightly-higher brain cell count...as you've so far implied of Hamlet? How 'bout some RESPEITO for the granddaddy of our modern-day "underground heroes", huh?