Why I Learned To Swim
The Friday Five:
1. What book or books were special to you in your childhood?
I don't know about special, but when I was in kindergaten the kids in my class would always clamor for our teacher to read to us from the classic story The Five Chinese Brothers, the version written by by Claire Huchet Bishop and illustrated by Kurt Wiese, which is still in print to this day, exactly how it looked back in 1974 when I was 5 years old. And that book scared the livin' cheese outta me. Children drowning. Smothered in ovens. Beheadings with antiquated medieval technology. As we'd all sit in a circle on the floor around our teacher's chair as she read along and flashed the illustrations to the class I was the little girl in the back row cowering under her floor mat with her pigtails stuck in her ears trying to snuff out my teacher's voice -- and it didn't help that she insisted on making graphic sound effects for each brother's gruesome execution, either.
2. What was particularly special or memorable about those books?
The twisted irony is that I actually quite liked the book. All the brothers looked so gosh darn happy to be tromping off to their deaths like they did, although to be fair they all knew that they weren't going to die anyway, what with their weirdo X-factor powers-thing passed along in the family. But I did feel sorry for the boy who drowned at the beginning of the book. The fact that it happened out of sight just off the edge of the frame made it almost worse to bear, because my inexperienced child-mind pictured all manner of disturbing ways that he may have suffered in his demise. But you know, it was still a happy story. The one brother whose smiling head was bobbing up over the surface of the ocean always rather pleased me.
3. Have you re-read any of them as an adult?
I have my own copy of the same book, so yes, I have read it since.
4. If so, were the books as good as you remembered them?
Less scary, I suppose, from an adult's perspective. Then again, maybe more so. Still can't understand why as a little girl this book unsettled me as much as it did, but on the other hand I thought Der Struwwelpeter was a real stitch. German children in lederhosen with Wolverine fingernails and freaky fro? Five-year-old comedy gold, that is.
5. What do you think about movies being made out of children's classics (like the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of The Rings, etc.)?
My philosophy on this subject has always been that as long as resulting product is good, then by all means have at it. I'm not so much a stickler for literary accuracy as I am in keeping with the spirit of the story. I wasn't a huge fan of the recent Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe despite how relatively faithful to the plot it followed, because it just lacked the warmth and life of novel (not to mention the distractingly dreadful CGI). However the 1939 film version of The Wizard Of Oz, as much as it strays from the book, is still one of my favorite movies of all time. But I admit I'm not always like that with other literary film adaptations, for some reason. I mean don't get me started on all the Bronte sisters books put to celluloid. But I suppose with children's books the memories one retains usually has more to do with the feeling the book gave you reading it rather than all the tiny details, so I'm a bit more lenient with that particular genre. I just don't think I'm ready yet for a film adaptation of The Five Chinese Brothers. Directed, no doubt, by John Woo. Mutherfuckin' bruthas come out with guns blazing. Both pistols turned sideways, of course.
1. What book or books were special to you in your childhood?
I don't know about special, but when I was in kindergaten the kids in my class would always clamor for our teacher to read to us from the classic story The Five Chinese Brothers, the version written by by Claire Huchet Bishop and illustrated by Kurt Wiese, which is still in print to this day, exactly how it looked back in 1974 when I was 5 years old. And that book scared the livin' cheese outta me. Children drowning. Smothered in ovens. Beheadings with antiquated medieval technology. As we'd all sit in a circle on the floor around our teacher's chair as she read along and flashed the illustrations to the class I was the little girl in the back row cowering under her floor mat with her pigtails stuck in her ears trying to snuff out my teacher's voice -- and it didn't help that she insisted on making graphic sound effects for each brother's gruesome execution, either.
2. What was particularly special or memorable about those books?
The twisted irony is that I actually quite liked the book. All the brothers looked so gosh darn happy to be tromping off to their deaths like they did, although to be fair they all knew that they weren't going to die anyway, what with their weirdo X-factor powers-thing passed along in the family. But I did feel sorry for the boy who drowned at the beginning of the book. The fact that it happened out of sight just off the edge of the frame made it almost worse to bear, because my inexperienced child-mind pictured all manner of disturbing ways that he may have suffered in his demise. But you know, it was still a happy story. The one brother whose smiling head was bobbing up over the surface of the ocean always rather pleased me.
3. Have you re-read any of them as an adult?
I have my own copy of the same book, so yes, I have read it since.
4. If so, were the books as good as you remembered them?
Less scary, I suppose, from an adult's perspective. Then again, maybe more so. Still can't understand why as a little girl this book unsettled me as much as it did, but on the other hand I thought Der Struwwelpeter was a real stitch. German children in lederhosen with Wolverine fingernails and freaky fro? Five-year-old comedy gold, that is.
5. What do you think about movies being made out of children's classics (like the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of The Rings, etc.)?
My philosophy on this subject has always been that as long as resulting product is good, then by all means have at it. I'm not so much a stickler for literary accuracy as I am in keeping with the spirit of the story. I wasn't a huge fan of the recent Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe despite how relatively faithful to the plot it followed, because it just lacked the warmth and life of novel (not to mention the distractingly dreadful CGI). However the 1939 film version of The Wizard Of Oz, as much as it strays from the book, is still one of my favorite movies of all time. But I admit I'm not always like that with other literary film adaptations, for some reason. I mean don't get me started on all the Bronte sisters books put to celluloid. But I suppose with children's books the memories one retains usually has more to do with the feeling the book gave you reading it rather than all the tiny details, so I'm a bit more lenient with that particular genre. I just don't think I'm ready yet for a film adaptation of The Five Chinese Brothers. Directed, no doubt, by John Woo. Mutherfuckin' bruthas come out with guns blazing. Both pistols turned sideways, of course.
posted by Melissa at 10:04 AM
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