All Time Greats!

For some reason I keep thinking about the books I read in junior high (It's called middle school, now.) I think it's because I still read on that level. When I was in 7th and 8th grade, I read some books over and over. I was going through a fantasy phase and read most any of that genre that I could get my hands on. Yes! I was that kind of geek! I read all of Susan Cooper's, including her most famous The Dark Is Rising, series. (That title is the second book in that group of five, by the way.) I also read Lloyd Alexander's, The High King, another story that took five books to tell. Also, I read The Phantom Tollbooth, many times, and ,Madeline L'Engle's, Wrinkle In Time trilogy, although now I think there are two more books associated with that collection.

I liked historical fiction, too. I read Russell Baker's, Growing Up. I can still picture where it was in the stacks of our Junior high library. I had just out grown a biography phase, where I was reading these old, abridged versions of historical figures. I always picked the women to read about. Looking back, I am not even sure if they were that accurate, but it was so fun to read a heroine story. One day, I was going to be like Maria Mitchell, First Women Astronomer - the next day, I was Annie Oakley, Frontier Sharpshooter.

My favorite authors at the time were J.R.R. Tolkien, Louisa May Alcott, and C.S. Lewis. I realize I am not alone. Most of the directors, writers who have made movies Of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings are probable around my age, which means they were also reading and re-reading those authors as pimply-faced pre-teens, just like me. Now that I am thinking of these authors, I don't suppose they need any introduction but, just for kicks, I'll share their background.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) was an Engilsh writer, poet, professor and philologist. A philologist is a lover of words -I think my dad is one - but in an academic sense, a philologist studies languages, ancient texts. Tolkien lost his father at age 3 and his mother at age 12. Since his mother had converted to Catholicism against her family's wishes, a priest was assigned to be his guardian. Catholicism was an important part of Tolkien's life. He married Edith, then served in WWI where he was invalided with trench fever and lost many of his childhood friends. He and Edith had four children and a happy life together. He wrote the Father Christmas Letters for them - I love this collection. He and C.S. Lewis were friend and in fact, Tolkien was part of Lewis' conversion back to Christianity, though Lewis ultimately chose the Anglican church over the Catholic church - and that bothered Tolkien.

I am blown away by the depth of imagination it took for Tolkien to create middle earth. He was steeped in Medieval literature, Old English, Gaelic, Welsh mythology and ancient texts, and that is where I feel I am, when I read The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers, or The Return of the King - completely transported to a strange, alien, mystical place and time, with some hauntingly familiar pull - as if his words and that time are part of all of our past.

Louisa May Alcott, on the other hand, stretches my imagination in a completely different way and to a different time. Maybe it is slightly more familiar to me, since I am a female, with sisters, and daughters, and the 1800's are ever so more recent than the dark ages. Plus,. Massachusetts is within driving distance (I would have to take an Elvin ship and been bearer of the ring to go to Frodo and Bilbo' world)


When I read Little Women, I always wanted to be Jo, but I suppose I am more like Meg. Hopefully, I have a bit of the good of each character she writes about. All of Louisa's books are wonderful. I think An Old-Fashioned Girl is my favorite.

Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), was an American novelist and the daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott and Abigail May Alcott. Her father, Bronson, was and educator and transcendentalist. This is a philosophy that believes we are innately spiritual and our senses and ego can hinder our path towards enlightenment, and that we must lessen our "self" in order to become part of knowing and becoming part of God. I am not sure I understand it completely.
This philosophy and way of life meant that Louisa and her three sisters were rich in ideas and poor in sustenance. They were always scraping by. Louisa was raised listening, absorbing and discussing ideals with her own parents and other great thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller - Nathanial Hawthorne. No wonder her books stretch and challenge. I think her ideas and her depiction of characters and relationships make her books timeless and relevant, even to today's time.

Once, at a library sale, I found most of her major works in an old set of 8 or 9 books, with a copyright date of 1911! I snatched these books up - They may be worth very little money, but the are worth a lot, sentimentally, to me.

Now on to C.S.Lewis (1898 - 1963), who was a novelist, academic, medievalist, and Christian apologist, among other things. He died 2 years before I was born, yet still I want to talk to him. But what would I say? "I really, really like your books , Mr. Lewis, sir. Really Really - " Probably, it would not go well - I think he was a complicated man. He may have been grumpy or very brusque with me. It is better this way - him living three generations ago and me just benefit ting from his work. My great- grandmother was of his era. If I had lived during his time, I am not sure a woman would have gotten much notice. It would have been great fun, though, to be an invisible presence at one or two of those Inklings meeting, watching the interactions and taking in the discussions of Tolkien, Lewis, Warnie, his brother, Hugo Dyson, Owen Barfield, and more.

Lewis lost his mom at an early age and his dad was emotionally distant. I suppose after his mom's death, his older brother was the brightest spot in his youth. He spent much time in boarding schools. These awful places might have been like, Roald Dahl describes in his memoir Boy. The boarding school experience was so bad, he was brought home and given a tutor. His tutor was Kirkpatrick, his best teacher, who became his friend and taught a love of Greek mythology, how to debate, and how to reason.

Though raised in a Christian home, Lewis, decided to become an atheist for a time, then converted back to Christianity in his early 30's. He served in WWI and was wounded, he also lost a friend Paddy, whom he made a promise to. His promise was, that if Paddy died in the war, he would look after his mom, and that he did. Later in life, in his 60's he met and married an American, Joy Gresham. Their marriage was happy but brief, only 2 years. Joy died of bone cancer, then Lewis died 2 years later of renal failure.

I continue to love all of Lewis books. to this day. They are not fond memories, I still read them, All of seven the Narnia books, The Space Trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet, Perlandrea, That Hideous Strength, his books on Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Pilgrim's Regress, Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain - (simply too many to list!) -They are dear friends to me. My favorite of his Narnia books, are The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle. And I absolutely love, Till We Have Faces. That is one of those book I will read at different maturity points of my life and get different lesson from. The Great Divorce, is also very thought provoking. Hey, maybe I'll take a bus to Heaven, just like he describes in this book, and find him, the great C.S Lewis, speaking with the great George MacDonald, some imaginary day, and join their conversation. It Might Happen!