Reading Charlotte's Web as an Adult

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Date: 1952

Format: B&N collectible edition (omnibus)
How did I get this book? purchased

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

GoodReads

Charlotte's Web is one of the (many) classics I can't believe I never read as a kid. In fact, there are A LOT of classic children's books (chapter books, novels, and picture books) I "missed" growing up. Even some I may have read, I unfortunately don't recall very well. But instead of looking at them as missed chances, I'm taking the opportunity now to enjoy them as an adult -- and hopefully someday share them with my son. With that in mind, some months back, I revised my Classics Club list to focus on children's classics. Finally reading Charlotte's Web confirms this was a wise decision for me at this stage in my life.

Sure, there are plenty of more "difficult" classics I aspire to tackling someday, but that really isn't where my head is at right now. It's not just that children's classics are "easier" or shorter, though they often are -- and my tired mommy-brain is grateful! Wanting to focus on children's books is more about my frame of mind and priorities right now. Diving head first into picture books with my son as an infant, baby, and now toddler has reminded me how rich and engaging good children's literature can be. So many of these stories (and their artwork!) can be enjoyed by people of all ages, even if they aren't the first thing we might gravitate to as a "grown-ups."

My son may still be too young to appreciate a lot of the books I've been picking up lately, but that's not really the point. The point is that the more I learn about children's books, the more I want to experience them for myself and fill in some of the gaps in my own childhood reading. I know my parents took me to the library and read me picture books, but mostly I just remember reading Nancy Drew, The Babysitters Club, spooky books by Mary Downing Hahn, and the occasional school assignment I actually enjoyed, but that was later in my childhood. I remember my highschool reading vividly, but my younger years are understandably a bit foggy. So why not read those children's classics now? There is no good reason not to read them now, so that is exactly what I am doing and I'm really loving it.

The only (sort-of) downside to reading these childhood classics now is that there isn't any of the nostalgia factor. Charlotte's Web likely would have gotten 5 stars if I had read it as a child, but it was still a very well-written, engaging, and enjoyable story about friendship, determination, and loss. I never was much a fan of spiders, but this fictional tale has helped this scaredy-cat look at them a bit differently and reminded me of their purpose in the natural world. I appreciated that this story didn't sugarcoat some of the harsher realities of life and death on a farm, but it is ultimately a hopeful and uplifting book. It didn't turn me into a vegetarian, though at times I was wondering if the author was trying to! More E.B. White books are on my TBR for sure, namely Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan -- both of which are also in the omnibus edition I read Charlotte's Web from.

In addition to the story, the illustrations for Charlotte's Web are just wonderful and I am fast becoming a fan of Garth Williams' work. Our bookshelves and library basket are filling up with his many picture books and we've found a few new favorites. My son and I have both enjoyed My First Counting Book and Home for a Bunny in particular and look forward to exploring more of this prolific illustrator's books.

Classics Club #19

Reading Paddington as an Adult

As a kid, I had a Paddington Bear stuffed animal -- in fact, I do believe it's still at my parents' house! We have pictures of me carrying him around (at the park, no less!), but I don't have any memory of reading the Paddington books as a child. If we did read any of them, they likely were the picture book adaptations and not the full-length novels. The picture books are lovely -- and I have a treasury of them on my son's shelves -- but I really wanted to read Paddington's full story and experience it for myself. 

Picture Book Collection

Once I saw that the audiobook of A Bear Called Paddington was narrated by Stephen Fry, I decided to go with that format. He is such a fantastic narrator (and boy do I wish I could listen to the UK audiobooks of Harry Potter he narrates!) and delivers this classic story flawlessly. The only thing missing is the illustrations of the print edition, so I ended up getting a lovely hardcover anniversary edition for our shelves as well. I'd love to get the full series in print someday, but have held off so far since I already have the next few books queued up in my Audible library. 

First full-length novel

The second novel, More About Paddington, is the only other one narrated by Stephen Fry and that is as far as I've gotten in the series thus far. In fact, I've now read them twice and they were just as good the second time through. While the first novel is surely the most well known and widely read, the follow-up was an equally wonderful reading experience for me. Although the books are divided into chapters to be read in sequence, most feel like they can be read as their own stories as well. Particularly once you are past the initial few chapters that introduce Paddington and the Brown family, they start to read more and more like individual adventures within the established framework. I feel much the same about the Winnie-the-Pooh books, as a matter of fact.

Paddington is an endearing character and I can certainly see why his popularity has endured through the decades. He has a knack for getting himself into trouble and it's always interesting to see how he gets himself out of that trouble -- one way or another. Like many well-loved children's book characters, he means well, but mishaps, misadventures, and misunderstandings happen -- and make for great storytelling along the way. The novels are definitely still far above my son's level, but I do look forward to sharing them with him someday. In the meantime, I will continue reading/listening to the rest of the series myself and I'll have to remember to pull down our picture book versions at storytime!

Classics Club #13-14

Reading Winnie-the-Pooh as an Adult

As popular as Winnie the Pooh was when I was a kid, I never actually read any of the original stories until very recently. I remember Pooh cartoons and Pooh stickers (stickers were SUCH a thing with the girls when I was in grade school -- does anyone else remember this???) And if my parents ever read me any Pooh books, they were likely picture book adaptations.

So of all the books we received at our son's baby shower last year, I was most looking forward to reading the original Winnie-the-Pooh friends of ours gave us. And with such a beautiful edition to start our collection, I just couldn't resist adding The House at Pooh Corner as well as the two volumes of poetry When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six. I was a little amused to see two of the used copies I bought were actually inscribed because they looked like they were barely even opened, let alone read. I look forward to the day my son asks me who Rosie or Jack & Whitney are -- I don't know kid, but they were missing out on these books, I can tell you that much.

The Stories

Now, I knew Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner were not particularly short, but I was still surprised to realize they were each close to 200 pages. Both volumes are divided into 10 chapters, each of which is its own story. They are connected, but I think they could be read on their own as well. The writing style is sort of meandering which definitely took some getting used to, but I thoroughly enjoyed these stories once I got the hang of the dialogue. I struggled a bit reading them aloud, so it's good my son is a bit too young to notice! These are true classics that I know I will reread more than once. In fact, I've already listened to the first volume on audiobook. The professional narrator did a much better job than I did for sure! The Piglet noises were a little jarring, but the audio does bring the characters and stories to life. Between reading and listening, it is so clear to me now how the cartoon versions of these characters evolved from the source material.

The Poems

As for Milne's poetry, I didn't know much at all beforehand except that When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six are part of the Pooh collection. Now having read them, I think that's actually a bit of a stretch. Pooh and Christopher Robin make a few appearances, but that's about it. The majority of the poems have nothing to do with Pooh and cover a variety of other topics. They were still enjoyable, but not quite what I was expecting. I think they will only improve with rereading because I'll know better what I'm getting myself into. Also, I know I have a tendency to rush through poetry, so I'm certain there is more to appreciate in these volumes than I absorbed the first time around.

Now that I have read these four, I'm on the fence about trying The Return to the Hundred Acre Wood. It is a companion volume written 80 years after The House at Pooh Corner by another author, but supposedly captures the style of the originals in a series of new adventures. If any Pooh aficionados have an opinion one way or the other, please let me know what you think! And of course, I'm intrigued by the Winnie the Pooh cookbook, but maybe I'll just see if the library has that one.

Classics Club #9-12

Required Re-Reading #2 - #4: Beowulf, Oedipus the King, & The Crucible

Required Re-Reading is a feature here at Buckling Bookshelves where I revisit books I read for school -- grammar school, high school, and college are all fair game. Most of the books I choose will be ones I didn't enjoy the first time around, but think deserve a second chance now that I am older, more interested in the classics, and can choose to read them of my own free will. I will also re-read books I did enjoy because not all of my assigned reading needs an attempt at redemption! I don't always make enough time for re-reads, so I see this as an opportunity to also revisit some of those favorites, hoping I will enjoy them just as much now as I did the first time. Thanks for following along with me on this reading journey :)

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I'm grouping my next three re-reads together because they have two things in common: 1. They are classics that were originally meant to be performed -- whether read aloud or on the stage. 2. Because they were meant to be performed, I re-read all three as audiobooks.

Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney

Date: 800
How did I get this book? borrowed from the library
Original Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Required Re-Reading Rating: 3 of 5 stars
GoodReads | Publisher

I remember severely disliking this book when I first read it and probably only gave it two stars instead of one because I knew intellectually it was a significant piece of literature despite my own personal feelings. My World Lit professor (whose class I really enjoyed) assigned the Seamus Heaney translation because he felt it was the best one available, so I sought it out again when doing my re-read. Unfortunately, the only audio version of this particular translation is abridged, but it is narrated by Heaney himself, so I decided it was definitely still my best option. There is an exact listing on the CD's jacket of which lines are included and while there were certainly sections left out, I didn't feel like I was missing a whole lot. I vaguely remember there being a lot of repetition anyway, so I got the impression most of what was left out were those repetitive sections to streamline the narration a bit. I don't find abridgement ideal, but I don't think it hindered my understanding or appreciation in this particular case.

This was definitely a much better experience on audio and listening to it felt very true to the original spirit of the story. I was able to follow along more easily and could really understand how this epic poem was passed down orally through the generations before it was ever set in print. I still didn't love it the second time around, but I had a greater appreciation for its history and significance and how it influenced later writings.

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Oedipus the King, by Sophocles

Date: 442 BC
How did I get this book? free download from the summer Audiobook Sync program
Original Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Required Re-Reading Rating: 4 of 5 stars
GoodReads | Publisher

I don't really remember why I didn't care for this one in high school to be honest -- maybe the whole "kill your father and marry your mother" thing was just a little too much for me at the time? The audio was a really excellent way to experience this play though, especially since it was performed by a full cast. I imagine watching it on stage would be even better, but listening on audio was far better than reading it in print. There was a lot of nuance and feeling that was better conveyed in this medium than reading what is essentially a script, complete with stage directions and notations for the actors. There is also a huge difference between hearing a Greek chorus perform their lines and reading them on the page. For me, plays are not like novels where the writing can really paint a picture -- printed plays seem more utilitarian and are really brought to life by the performers. Oedipus is of course a tragedy -- and a pretty twisted one at that -- but it is a fascinating story that I appreciated much more as an adult than as a teenager (and as a performance rather than in print!)

P.S. I remember reading this in an anthology where it was titled Oedipus Rex, but find it listed almost everywhere else as Oedipus the King, especially when published on its own. Not sure what accounts for that difference!

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The Crucible, by Arthur Miller
Date: 1953
How did I get this book? borrowed from the library
Original Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Required Re-Reading Rating: 4 of 5 stars
GoodReads | Publisher

I've always found the Salem Witch Trials fascinating, so this was one I did like when I first read it for high school. Just like Oedipus, this play was much enhanced when performed by a full cast. When I decided to re-read it, it was short enough that I actually listened to it twice! There were a few parts that got a little confusing, but I realized on my second re-read that those parts were meant to be confusing to convey the hysteria the witch trials created.

I also watched the 1996 film starring Winona Ryder and Daniel Day-Lewis which has to be the most faithful adaptation I have ever seen. There is obviously a big difference between turning a play vs. a novel into a movie, but it was really incredible to see an almost exact representation of what I had just read show up on the screen.

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In case you missed it:
Required Re-Reading #1: The Joy Luck Club

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Reading Challenges:
Classics Club #4-6
Back to the Classics
Re-Reading
Book to Movie
Translated
Lucky No. 14: Once Upon a Time + Freebies Time

Required Re-Reading: The Joy Luck Club (a new feature + a giveaway!)

I've been wanting to re-read books I read for school for quite some time now. In particular, I'm interested in revisiting those books I had to read but didn't like (or in some cases, hated!). This all started when I was looking over some of my old GoodReads ratings and was struck by how low I rated most of my required reading. There were a handful of school assignments I loved, but the number is appallingly low. Looking at the titles now, I know most of them are highly respected and loved by many. I'm convinced that despite my teachers' best efforts, their significance was lost on my teenage self. I think many of them deserve a second chance now that I am older and can choose to read them of my own free will. So when Penguin contacted me about sponsoring a giveaway to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the publication of The Joy Luck Club, I figured why not start with this one? So I give you the inaugural edition of my new Required Re-Reading project, hopefully it is the first of many!

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The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Series? No
Publisher: Penguin
Date: 1989
How did I get this book? giveaway is sponsored by Penguin Books, but I purchased my own copy to read & review
My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
GoodReads | Author | Publisher

When I originally read this book for my sophomore Global Literature class, it was a 2-star read for me. It is so unfair to blame the teacher, but the teacher I had that year really did not inspire any kind of love for the books she was teaching. It seemed as if they were homework for her as much as they were homework for her students. Maybe that's unfair, but when I look back on my high school years, all three of my other English teachers seemed a lot more passionate about their subject and really wanted us to love the books as much as they did. Even when I didn't love the books, those other teachers' love of literature was a noticeable thing I respected and admired.

Anyway, back to the book! From the moment I started reading The Joy Luck Club for the second time, I knew my 2-star rating was going to disappear. The writing is just beautiful and the intertwining stories are a fascinating exploration of the dynamics between mothers and daughters. Add to that the differences and misunderstandings between one generation born in China and the next generation born in the United States, and you have quite a compelling read. With alternating chapters telling the individual stories of eight different main characters, I sometimes had a little bit of trouble keeping everyone's story straight, but this didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the book as a whole -- I just flipped back to check on a name or a detail and continued on.

I found the Chinese culture portrayed in this book very interesting, but the search for understanding, meaning, identity, and a better life for one's children feels very universal as well. This book has become a modern classic and I can now see why. If, like me, you read this one for school and didn't like it, I highly recommend giving it a second chance!

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Thanks to the publisher, I am running a giveaway! One winner will receive a copy of the Penguin Classic Edition + a copy of the (gorgeous!) new Drop Cap Edition. Since the books will be shipped by the publisher, this giveaway is restricted to US and Canadian addresses only. (Sorry international readers!) To ship to Canada, the publisher will need the winner to provide a phone number. Personal information will only be used for the purposes of this giveaway and will be kept private. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Reading Challenges:
Classics Club #4
Diversity on the Shelf
Re-Reading
Book to Movie
Banned or Challenged

Christmas Reading Part 2: A Christmas Carol

I read this book along with fellow bloggers Riv & Sam. And my friend Christy recently read & reviewed it as well!

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
Series? No
Publisher: Dreamscape Media 
Date: 1843; audiobook published in 2012
How did I get this book? Borrowed from library
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
GoodReads | Publisher

I touched on my nostalgia for this classic Christmas tale in my previous Christmas reading post. The first time I read it I was 16 years old and in Ms. Sweeney's honors English class. Ms. Sweeney is definitely one of the best English teachers I ever had. That woman knew her stuff and she had extremely high expectations of us girls. She was the kind of teacher who pushed her students beyond anything we thought ourselves capable of and we were better for it in the end. Her class was seriously challenging and her exams struck fear in the heart of anyone who dared to skim, skip, or let their mind wander during class. When she gave us her "just checking to make sure you did your homework" quizzes, it was like she knew you started glazing over on page 162 of the reading assignment, so she made sure to ask for the details of that exact portion. Just getting the gist of what was going on was not enough, Ms. Sweeney taught us the importance of thinking critically about what we read. While I am a big fan of quality over quantity, Ms. Sweeney didn't have much choice in the matter since this particular "honors" class was required to cover both American lit and British lit in one year. We got two year's worth of English classes crammed into one and you know what? I remember more of what I learned in that one year than all of my other English classes combined. Seriously.

Anyway, my little trip down memory lane does have a point. You see, the year I took Ms. Sweeney's class and she assigned us A Christmas Carol it was like her little Christmas present to us. Having struggled through the first semester reading much more difficult texts, this little novella was a real treat. It was an easy read and helped get us in the Christmas spirit instead of being just one more thing to get done before we could enjoy our holiday break. Being a Catholic school, I'm sure the moral lesson it teaches was also a consideration, but there is something about this story that really resonates, especially at Christmastime.

I was so happy to realize all these years later that the magic of this story is still there. I'm always afraid that any book I remember with such fondness might fade a bit upon re-reading, but that couldn't be further from the truth in this case. I opted for the audio version this time around, so I could "read" while shoveling snow and doing other Christmas-ey activities around the house. The British narrator was just delightful and I couldn't have been happier with my second experience of this story. I probably wouldn't recommend audio for a first-time read, but for a re-read it worked out perfectly. I will definitely not let another 12 Christmases pass before I re-read this one again!

As a final note, this was truly the perfect book to (finally!) ease my way into tackling my Classics Club list. Yes, it's a novella. Yes, it's short. But it was the perfect reminder of what I already know, but sometimes forget: classics don't need to be intimidating, dull, or feel like a chore. Classics are not all alike and for all the ones I may not care for, there are plenty of others sure to be just as delightful as this one. I'll have to channel my inner Ms. Sweeney when I choose my next selection!

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This books counts toward my reading goals for:
2013 Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge
The Classics Club
Back to the Classics 2013: a 19th Century classic

Classics Club #1