Remembering tales from long ago
I’m a prolific reader. Have been ever since Grade One, when the fun with phonics workbook tipped the balance in my favour. Just think, a whole lifetime shared between the covers. The thing is, I tend to forget that the majority of people don’t share my passion. In some cases, the only books that are “digested” are the ones that the school system offers up as required reading by a captive audience. Hopefully, the pickers are able to choose quality in the absence of quantity.
My high school curriculum offered up one or two titles per level, and I can remember some of them.
King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard must have been offered when I was distracted by other things, because I have no idea about the story. Did it involve a mine? A king?
The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer was a better choice; Twain was an alias for “talented individual”. Reading this book led to others, and I still confuse poor Tom with poor Huck…
Cue For Treason by Geoffrey Trease, ranks as one of the gems from high school English class, but since I then read the rest of the author’s efforts (we had a good public library), there’s a certain bias in favour. Historical fiction, where you can learn about a period without getting too hung up on the names and the timeline.
And then, my personal favourite: Moonfleet, by J. Meade Falkner. Here was a novel that we actually enjoyed having read to us, read by us, read at home in the evening. I’ve even read this book again, and if I ever come across a hard cover copy (perhaps a signed original??) I’ll be adding it to my library.
Turns out that Chris de Burgh has a new album coming out, based on the Moonfleet tale. Did he take inspiration from a long ago classroom acquaintance?
