tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post8030909397170705335..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: A toad sings amorously, his throat full of pearls - Colette's animalsAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-61743878378824911842009-04-03T20:56:00.000-05:002009-04-03T20:56:00.000-05:00Thanks for the recommendation. I hadn't heard of t...Thanks for the recommendation. I hadn't heard of this book. I guess I've heard of the author - wrote <I>The Parent Trap</I>.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-10239518684398430752009-04-03T01:42:00.000-05:002009-04-03T01:42:00.000-05:00An amazing children's book that all should read, t...An amazing children's book that all should read, that has animals in it is Erich Kästner's "The Animal Conference", althouh he personified the animals, like many authors do. Yet it's still a beautifully written book.Shelly Duvilanskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07283725855004480488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-14998919856265902392009-03-06T16:59:00.000-06:002009-03-06T16:59:00.000-06:00Repetition is a valuable pedagogical tool. Repetit...Repetition is a valuable pedagogical tool. Repetition is a useful pedagogical tool.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-9125784926103934782009-03-06T15:34:00.000-06:002009-03-06T15:34:00.000-06:00I need to start reading all of the comments before...I need to start reading all of the comments before I comment on one post something that has already been suggested on another. Alas.Sparkling Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899640164757220074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-33193520401003675592009-03-05T21:18:00.000-06:002009-03-05T21:18:00.000-06:00I guess another possible reason for a novel to be ...I guess another possible reason for a novel to be retrofitted as a kids' book is that it's not actually too sphisticated. Maybe <I>Black Beauty</I> is not so complex. Been a long, long time since I read it. <BR/><BR/>Then I remember the <I>Alice</I> books, and immediately want to retract any generalized notions of simplicity or complexity in novels for children.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-84151512517860309722009-03-05T09:09:00.000-06:002009-03-05T09:09:00.000-06:00Indeed. Some of the animals are androids, though i...Indeed. Some of the animals are androids, though it would be a "spoiler" for uninitiated readers to say much more about that.<BR/>I think there is at least one reason animals feature so prominently in children's books rather than books written exclusively for adult readers. Children still have unspoiled imaginations, and they are (to adapt a phrase from Coleridge) completely willing to suspend disbelief. Children aren't yet cynical enough to do anything other than enjoy the sometimes speculative, magical quality that is the foundation for stories in which animals figure as prominent characters.<BR/>Books like Black Beauty and Call of the Wild (among many others) are, I think, a different category. I would prefer to immerse myself in the tales that are more fantastic and imaginative.R/Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07791522136032565027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-1705751260392184132009-03-04T22:52:00.000-06:002009-03-04T22:52:00.000-06:00No, I don't think this is off-topic at all. In goo...No, I don't think this is off-topic at all. In good animal fables, going back to Aesop, the animals are on the one hand supposed to be people, but on the other hand they have to retain their animal qualities for the story to work at all. <BR/><BR/>It's interesting, though, that animal characters are so central to children's books, while its assumed that adults are not interested. <I>Black Beauty</I> and <I>The Jungle Book</I> and <I>The Call of the Wild</I> become redefined as children's stories. <I>Animal Farm</I> is an exception, for now.<BR/><BR/>The Dick novel is a good example, too. The animals are really worked into the story. Some of the animals are themselves androids, right? I may be misremembering.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-17536466712181034572009-03-04T21:55:00.000-06:002009-03-04T21:55:00.000-06:00In a really off-beat approach to your subject, let...In a really off-beat approach to your subject, let me share with you a different kind of reading experience in which animals--for very special reasons--are featured. DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP by Philip K. Dick features a sheep (of course), a cat, a goat, a spider, and a toad. These animals' cameo appearances--not intended for children--underscore the disturbing outlook for human beings in this dystopian novel.R/Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07791522136032565027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-60403314638576069322009-03-04T12:41:00.000-06:002009-03-04T12:41:00.000-06:00I just finished Robyn McKinley's Spindle's End (YA...I just finished Robyn McKinley's Spindle's End (YA fantasy) and I think that the animals are very believable. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and all of the Redwall books have good rodent thoughts. E.B. White writes very well about animals, in Charlotte's Web and elsewhere. The goose book I recently reviewed on my blog had really fantastic descriptions of goose life without much romanticizing. I could be way off, but I recall that one of the redeeming qualities of Animal Farm was that the pigs really did seem pig like, the sheep sheep like and so forth.Sparkling Squirrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10899640164757220074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-71713790636427010942009-03-04T10:37:00.000-06:002009-03-04T10:37:00.000-06:00This may be off-topic, though only slightly I hope...This may be off-topic, though only slightly I hope, but I remember being particularly affected by Richard Adams' WATERSHIP DOWN when I read it long, long ago. I wonder if re-reading it would now spoil the recollection?R/Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07791522136032565027noreply@blogger.com