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[CCBC-Net] Lifechanging Books
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From: Amy Timberlake <amy_timber13>
Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 10:29:57 -0500
Hi everyone! Yay for this thread!
From my childhood: I remember pouring over Ruth Krauss' THE CARROT SEED at a very, very young age. I was fascinated by the idea that sometimes what you believed could be right when everyone else said you were wrong. When I was about 5 I loved Thurber's MANY MOONS. And later, my favorites were PIPPI LONGSTOCKING stories. (I'm starting to see some connections here -- strong, independent characters. Ha! That's what so fun about getting asked this kind of question!)
In high school, I became fascinated with Faulkner and loved AS I LAY DYING. I think this was the first time I read an unreliable narrator. It was one of those eye-opening, really- can- they-do- that, sort of moments for me. So I read quite a bit of Faulkner at this time, but didn't like anything as much as I loved AS I LAY DYING. (I think I read Robert Cormier's I AM THE CHEESE at about this time too, and was ready for it -- prepared by Faulkner.)
In college, the books that opened the world of language to me were Gloria Naylor and Toni Morrison. Who knew words could be that rich? I mean, they wrote (and especially Morrison, to me) words that you could feel and literally taste in your mouth. (I had been reading a lot of Hemingway and Fitzgerald after high school and by comparison, these sentences and paragraphs were so thick, rich and rolling -- you can see how it might have really struck me at this time.) Seriously, read Morrison out loud and you'll feel her language on your tongue! Even now, thinking about their language makes my heart thump a little harder. Wow!
And then, after college, I read Salman Rushdie's MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN. And though I've never read that book again, I felt that somehow I couldn't see anything quite the same way after reading that book. It feels like some sort of turning point for me. Can't be much more specific about it . . . but wow, what a book!
Thanks for letting me remember all that!
Amy Timberlake amy at amytimberlake.com www.amytimberlake.com That Girl Lucy Moon (Hyperion) The Dirty Cowboy (FSG)
Received on Thu 25 May 2006 10:29:57 AM CDT
Date: Thu, 25 May 2006 10:29:57 -0500
Hi everyone! Yay for this thread!
From my childhood: I remember pouring over Ruth Krauss' THE CARROT SEED at a very, very young age. I was fascinated by the idea that sometimes what you believed could be right when everyone else said you were wrong. When I was about 5 I loved Thurber's MANY MOONS. And later, my favorites were PIPPI LONGSTOCKING stories. (I'm starting to see some connections here -- strong, independent characters. Ha! That's what so fun about getting asked this kind of question!)
In high school, I became fascinated with Faulkner and loved AS I LAY DYING. I think this was the first time I read an unreliable narrator. It was one of those eye-opening, really- can- they-do- that, sort of moments for me. So I read quite a bit of Faulkner at this time, but didn't like anything as much as I loved AS I LAY DYING. (I think I read Robert Cormier's I AM THE CHEESE at about this time too, and was ready for it -- prepared by Faulkner.)
In college, the books that opened the world of language to me were Gloria Naylor and Toni Morrison. Who knew words could be that rich? I mean, they wrote (and especially Morrison, to me) words that you could feel and literally taste in your mouth. (I had been reading a lot of Hemingway and Fitzgerald after high school and by comparison, these sentences and paragraphs were so thick, rich and rolling -- you can see how it might have really struck me at this time.) Seriously, read Morrison out loud and you'll feel her language on your tongue! Even now, thinking about their language makes my heart thump a little harder. Wow!
And then, after college, I read Salman Rushdie's MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN. And though I've never read that book again, I felt that somehow I couldn't see anything quite the same way after reading that book. It feels like some sort of turning point for me. Can't be much more specific about it . . . but wow, what a book!
Thanks for letting me remember all that!
Amy Timberlake amy at amytimberlake.com www.amytimberlake.com That Girl Lucy Moon (Hyperion) The Dirty Cowboy (FSG)
Received on Thu 25 May 2006 10:29:57 AM CDT
