Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
The conversation about revisiting childhood favorites ties in with me with books I wanted to mention in this thread anyway, the Little House books. Anne and the fictional Laura are exact contemporaries who are author surrogates, although the fictional Laura is closer to her creator. While in addition to the stories they tell both series reflect their times, I’d say it’s undeniable that the Little House books* achieve a level of greatness that Anne does not.
I loved the Little House books, especially the later ones, when Laura was an adolescent and teenager and roughly the same age as Anne in the first book. However, on the last read, I realized I was done with them. The politics were too irritating and it was absolutely a case where knowing more about the author and her intentions and where she altered the story to achieve them ruined it for me.
But, I don’t regret it. Greater appreciation, even when it’s to the detriment of my enjoyment and love and memories, is always a good thing for me when it comes to books. I wouldn’t trade the richness of a new understanding to go back.
I wasn’t interested in rereading Anne; as I said more than once I’ve got such a clear memory of the text anyway that it didn’t appeal. However, I see it as a gain that I picked up on such undercurrents as the attitude toward the Acadians and such flaws as character inconsistencies. Love altered in this cases, but interest didn’t.
*Anne has been much better served by her television interpretations, however. Michael Landon, ugh!
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Unfortunately I didn’t read the
Little House books as a child. But in terms of television interpretations, Colleen Dewhurst was the ultimate Marilla for me. I thought she was wonderful. It was her voice I heard when rereading the book.