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[lolabobs]

I was so bored at work today I came home at 2.30. I was trying to persuade myself to stay, but then my boss came and asked to use my office, so I had no choice (!)

I came home, still pmt-y and sorry for myself - so I went to bed and slept for two hours. Doesn't bode well for tonight's sleep, but meh!

I have Friday off - this is a good thing and means I have only two more days to get through. I want to get things done (tons of housework and washing needs sone, I wanna sort things, chuck things. I have two boxes of stuff for the charity shoppe - that if I had any energy I could eBay, but phew, too much hassle!)and cupboards and chests that need a big sort out.

I did hammer in two nails today - which is a start yes?

Oh - I put 'shoppe' - perhaps I'm feeling olde worlde?

I was talking with ironicdutchess and remembering books that were in the home when I was a child. Not the well beloved books, but the others that were about the house. Ie a Child's encyclopedia about island natives eating explorers, with gory illustrations to match, and a medical book, which as well as graphic photographs of skin disease and cancer, had a section on how to survive an atomic explosion.

Cee commented that these weren't very politically correct and it made me realise that PC didn't really exist when I was little! A friend's pet dog was called n*gger for example - and, whilst we as children knew this was wrong, the expected and respectful terminology was 'coloured' and 'half-caste' (which, to be fair would have been an odd name for a dog!) - jesting aside though - It makes me feel old!

I also remember a child's version of Pilgrim's Progress which gave me nightmares for a fortnight after I read it and I would never even dare touch the book again.

Mum had a thousand Mills & Boon books, Dad read Dennis Wheatley and Reader's Digest and my brothers had Commando Cartoon books with wartime heroics (and a lot of h/c in hindsight, all that soldierly love ... hmm, maybe I should hunt down a few!?)

I also remember the day I found my dad/brother's porn -but that's a different story! :P

Comments

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

We had some fantastic non-kiddie type books in our house. My two favourites were both giant illustrated tomes belonging to Dad. One was called Australia's Yesterdays and was a collection of journalistic pieces dating back to the first examples of print in Australia and going up to the early 70s. It was it had loads of wonderful old editorial pieces and cartoons and well-written, evocative prose, back before newpaper photos were common and they had to rely on words, and not wait for News Ltd to give it to them.

My other favourite was a book of Dreamtime legends, and I can't remember the title, but each story was accompanied by THE most disturbing illustrations, most of them full oil paintings. I think it gave me nightmares more than once, but I loved it.

What else? Oh! A lovely big Reader's Digest edition of David Attenborough's Life on Earth. I worshipped nature programs as a child and Dave was a GOD.

There was also a book of Henry Lawson poetry illustrated by Pro Hart, those wonderully gaunt figures and haunted landscapes he did. As I think about these more keep coming to me!

[lolabobs.livejournal.com]

It proves how much kids snoop around in books not *designed* for them. AND the truth in the idea that kids are bloodthirsty little buggers! Even when I was a girly girl (I was, the shame!) my favourite of my fairy tales were:

Rapunzel, because in my book the witch cut the plait and the prince plummetted to the ground and was blinded by thorns. He wandered around the dessert blind and with little teardrops of blood on his face.

The Little Mermaid - in my version the witch gave the mermaid her human form, but said that every step on her new legs would be as if she were walking on knives, and she cut out her tongue.

And the seven swans, where the seven brothers were bewitched into swans and the sister had to weave jackets out of stinging nettles to save them. She wove almost all of them, with stinging burning fingers, but didn't complete the last jacket and was a sleeve short, so the seventh and prettiest brother was only partially transformed. Half human half swan and all the sister's work was in vain.

Hmm.

I definitely was hurt/comfort even then!

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

Jesus, I had that book! The Little Mermaid's sisters sold their hair to the witch to get a potion that would turn her back. And the brother ended up with one arm and one wing...

What was that book called? I remember it very clearly now that you mention it.

It proves how much kids snoop around in books not *designed* for them.

I hate that "protect the kiddies from anything that might scare them even a tiny bit" guff that people go on with these days. Kids learn to handle fear by exposing themselves to it like this, and they'll sop when they've had enough. Similarly, kids are curious - I was seeing red when I learned that the Harry Potter books are vetted for Britishisms when they're released in the USA because "the children won't understand". Fuck, that's how they LEARN!

[lolabobs.livejournal.com]

What was that book called? I remember it very clearly now that you mention it

I'm sure it was just a giant compendium of Hans christian Anderson? Did the mermaid die in yours - mine did, but just before she could go to suffer in the sea forever a cloud swept her away - or something.

that's how they LEARN!

God yes. I never was the encyclopedia type ( apart from the gory one mentioned above!), but I used to read read read and across most genres and most age groups - often a book a day. And I looked up, asked (or sometimes just worked out*) when I wasn't sure what things meant. I learnt, not just the meanings of words that way, but concepts and ideas.

I learnt loads from Sherlock Holmes, and adventure books, and war books, and my god, everything I read taught me something!

I'd rather a child read an adult book than watched a horror movie or played grand theft auto.