11
"At around 11 or 12, I became completely obsessed with reading, probably because I was in a hormonal shit storm and couldn’t deal with human beings. My recollection of my 6th grade year is spending each day with my head on my desk. After school, I went to the fantasy section of the Cambridge Public Library and sat on the floor, piling through each title; Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series, which I read several times, Lloyd Alexander’s various books like Taran Wanderer, some series about dragons which I am blanking on, Ursula Le Guin, Madeleine L’Engle, Narnia, etc."
—The Magnetic Fields' Claudia Gonson discusses the books that have shaped her life. Worth a look.
The dragon series was Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon trilogy, Claudia! The first book is Dragon's Blood.
I could be her – if I were smart, better read, and nursing a 2-month old baby. But at least we shared an obsession with Joseph Conrad.
oh man. LOVED the TARAN WANDERER series. (Chronicles of Prydain)
I'd totally forgotten about reading these books. Assistant Pig-Keeper!
I'd totally forgotten them too until seeing this post. Crazy how the brain works.
I never forgot about these books, and I'm very much looking forward to re-reading them when I have a 10-year-old.
I mentioned to someone yesterday that Harry Potter happened to come out while I was deep in my wizard phase (meaning Le Guin and Tolkien and l'Engle) and he looked at me as if no one else had ever had a wizard phase.
In other words, I am comforted by this piece. And reminded I need to read more Terry Pratchett.
why the apologetic tone for Judy Blume?
I miss my Nancy Drew obsession and wondering when she and Ned Nickerson were going to get it on in her convertible.
I reread a Nancy Drew recently and it was so unintentionally hilarious that it made me a bit sad.
The real question is *which* L'Engle – Murrays or Austins?