NH: Argh; a test! Is that the author of _My Friend Flicka?_ As a kid, I
liked almost everything, was amazingly omnivorous, much more than I am
capable of being now. I remember tackling Henry James's _The Turning of
the Screw_ at way too young an age, being unable to understand most of
the language or follow the narrative, and taking it to my dad and wailing
plaintively, "But what *happened?*"
-nalo
On Sun, 18 May 1997, F Mendlesohn wrote:
> So, did you like Elinor M. Brent-Dyer?
>
> Farah
>
> On Fri, 16 May 1997, Nalo Hopkinson wrote:
>
> > NH: Re British vs. North American children's lit: I'd never thought of
> > it that way before. I believe you're correct; one of the few places
> > where the canons overlap is in kid's fantasy. I also devoured any number
> > of English boarding school My-Friend-Flicka type novels about horsey
> > girls having secret midnight sardine sandwich picnics, but I find that
> > when I refer to that type of writing, North American people just stare at
> > me blankly. 'Course, it all read like fantasy to me. _My Friend Flicka_
> > had as much to do with my reality as _The Catcher in the Rye_ or the Tom
> > Swift stuff. They were all unreal worlds.
> >
> > -nalo
> >
> > On Fri, 16 May 1997, farah mendlesohn wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Thu, 15 May 1997 17:11:43 -0400 Nalo Hopkinson wrote:
> > >
> > > > NH: I'm in the lucky position of having come from a bookish family.
> > > Dad
> > > > was a writer, Mum's a library cataloguer. Don't remember holiday
> > > reading
> > > > separately from other reading, partly because I spent my childhood
> > > in the
> > > > Caribbean, where seasons aren't as clearly defined. Did my share
> > > of
> > > > reading under the covers with a flashlight as a child, but no-one
> > > batted
> > > > an eye at a kid who could get so lost in a book that she'd block out
> > > the
> > > > whole world. My dad did the same all the time. I managed to be a
> > > > tomboy, too; perfected the art of swinging up into the branches of
> > > > whatever tree was my current favourite with a book clenched
> > > between my
> > > > teeth. Kid's books I remember fondly are:
> > > >
> > > > _A Traveller in Time_ Alison Uttley
> > > > _Underground Alley_ (forget the author)
> > > > _Green Knowe Series_ (agh! author's name on my tonguetip, but I
> > > can't
> > > > spit it out)
> > > > -Gulliver's Travels_ (what did I know from social commentary?)
> > > > _The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_ C.S. Lewis (this one was
> > > a class
> > > > text that I read in a matter of days before school even began. Got
> > > to
> > > > read the part of Aslan the Lion when he created the world (what did I
> > > > know from Christian allegory?). Still remember whole chunks of
> > > that text.)
> > > > _Alice in Wonderland_ and _Through the Looking Glass_ my 1st
> > > form
> > > > English teacher (that would be Grade 7, I think, or maybe 8 or 9;
> > > never
> > > > can get it straight) taught us some tunes for some of the songs.
> > > Still
> > > > remember those to this day.
> > > >
> > > > Living in ex-colonies, much of the reading matter to which we had
> > > access
> > > > was published in England. As I look back at those titles, I realise
> > > how
> > > > many of them are English.
> > > >
> > > > Do remember one seasonal novel; by then we'd moved to Toronto
> > > and there
> > > > were definite seasons. Always got books for Xmas & birthday,
> > > which come
> > > > within days of each other. My dad gave me Frank Herbert's
> > > _Dune_ one
> > > > year. I don't think I surfaced until after new year's. Carried it with
> > > > me everywhere. The sheer scope of it enthralled me.
> > > >
> > > > -nalo
> > > >
> > >
> > > I too came from a bookish family, I just took the definition to new
> > > extremes. Re your ex-pat past... I have been fascinated to discover
> > > how different the US children's canon is to that of Britain and the
> > > British Empire (where children seem to have received British books
> > > as Sunday school prizes). One of the few meeting points seems to
> > > have been in fantasy.
> > >
> > > Farah
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > [So I tell my brother about being in the sf bookstores & everywhere
> > the covers show bronze, blue and gold-skinned aliens and white humans.
> > "What is that about," I ask him, "that the people of colour are all
> > aliens?" And he says wryly, "Maybe they're phasing us in."]
> >
>
[So I tell my brother about being in the sf bookstores & everywhere
the covers show bronze, blue and gold-skinned aliens and white humans.
"What is that about," I ask him, "that the people of colour are all
aliens?" And he says wryly, "Maybe they're phasing us in."]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:06:13 PDT