Imaginary Landscape

The ten-day challenge (which turned into 20 days) to list/comment on books from my childhood was so much fun that I’m going to try another challenge. I could probably dredge up 10 more books, but maybe that was getting boring. Then I was thinking, you know how you hear an old song and all the memories from the times you first enjoyed that song come rushing back? Sometimes even scenes, smells, other memories come rushing back. At least that’s true for me. So, I’m going to give you ten songs from my past that are those kinds of songs. Some of you may be too young to really enjoy this, but it might start a trip down memory lane for all you old farts out there. Anyone who wants to start their own musings or comment on mine is welcome! So here they are, in random order. #1 Hey Little Cobra – The Rip Chords This single was released in 1963 on Columbia records, produced by Terry Melcher (best known for producing the Byrds’ “Hey Mr. Tambourine” Man and “Turn! Turn! Turn!”) and ...

Day 19/20 – Stranger in a Strange Land , Robert Heinlein -- 1961 Lately, I have been struggling to work my way through a Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. It essentially documents the establishment and evolution of a new civilization, perhaps even a branch of humans, as the first Mars settlers seek to live on the planet and ultimately become independent of Earth. Not quite the opposite, Mars-born Mike Smith is the son of two Earth-born Mars settlers, the only survivor of that expedition. When he returns to Earth, while still essentially a “human,” he recognizes nothing about Earth society and culture. The third world war has occurred, and a new religion has been established. He develops a relationship with a nurse he meets while adjusting to Earth’s environment and gravity; she fears for his life and they both escape Bethesda Medical Center. He develops psychic abilities and super intelligence while investigating Earth culture, especially its religions. He is relatively emoti...

Day 17/20 -- Dune Frank Herbert 1965 Well, for day 17, let’s delve into the opus Dune by Frank Herbert. This has been on my list since I accepted the first 10 challenge, but I keep avoiding it, not sure how to go about discussing its influence. I won’t spend a lot of time on the plot because if you haven’t read it by now, you either don’t care or have been living under a rock. I’m not sure seeing the movies or miniseries counts, as they were all, at least in part, disasters. The David Lynch film (1984) is a feast for the eyes and follows the novel fairly well, but Dune seems to be one of those books that just doesn’t translate to the screen well. As far as when I read this tome, I imagine it was probably senior year in high school or maybe even my first year at university, which is pushing the “childhood” filter for this challenge. But the challenge was for only 10 books, too, so why stick to the rules? I estimate the period in which I read Herbert’s first book in this series co...

Day 15/20 -- Silent Spring Rachel Carson 1962 When Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was first published, I was just 11 years old, so I doubt if I read it then. It might have even been an assigned reading, which I’m trying to avoid in these posts, but whenever I read it, the impact was sudden and meaningful. Being something of a loner as a kid, I loved to ride my bike to a nearby creek and waterfall where the city kept the grass well mowed and willow trees and birches dotted the 4-5 block length of the creek where I climbed trees, walked barefoot across the little waterfall, read books under the willows, and watched birds. My other favorite place was along that same creek, which happened to run past the library. This area behind the library was more heavily wooded, but it was a wonderful place to take a just-checked-out book and read. So, when I read Carson’s book about the overuse of pesticides, especially DDT, and their threat to the natural world, even linking its use to...

Day 14/20 - The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John le Carre 1963 It’s doubtful we ever had duck and cover drills when I was a kid, although the idea of instant obliteration by an atomic bomb was pretty much a given. Gary Powers was shot down in his U-2 spy plane in May 1960 (I was 9); the Bay of Pigs Invasion was April 1961; the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in October 1962. From 1960 to 1962, troop numbers in Vietnam had gone from 900 to 11,000. I imagine I read the paperback of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold in 1965.  Something bothered me about the nightly news death count from Vietnam, but I didn’t have enough knowledge to be able to understand what it was that bothered me. I knew extraordinarily little about espionage, but it seemed contradictory to think one’s own spies were heroes and one’s enemies were criminals. Again, I was astoundingly naïve. When I chose to read The Spy Who Came in From the Cold , it was probably because it had been made into a movie (starr...

Day 12/20 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1965 (‘66) I chose this book, in part, because it is so out of character for me. I hate “true crime” books, movies, and television shows. They seem voyeuristic, readers like ambulance chasers. But, as I said yesterday, I was in a book club about this time, and I probably ordered this book in 1966 or 1967. This might have been an early attempt at the new genre of creative nonfiction, although critics cite many parts of Capote’s book, about the 1959 brutal murder of a well-loved Kansas farmer, his wife, and two of their four children by two recently paroled ex-cons from the Kansas State Penitentiary, are fictionalized or simply not true. The ex-cons believe Herbert Clutter has a safe that contains a lot of money for his farming operation. They plan to steal the money and escape to Mexico where law enforcement can’t touch them. As it turns out, the Clutters had no safe, no substantial amounts of money, so the two hogtied and executed them. Ca...

Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe -- 1965 This is day 10 of the challenge to list books that influenced me as a child. I’m a bit sad that it’s come to an end, as I’ve really enjoyed remembering, researching (to find images and refresh my memory), and sharing that with you.  Anyway, I decided to include Poe because I suspect a lot of people bridge that gap from YA reading to adult reading by reading Poe – just a guess based on what my students over the years have told me. About the same time I was wearing out this paperback version of Poe (hence, the 1965 publication date – which would have put me in high school), I also had a book of Rod Serling (of Twilight Zone fame) short stories that rivaled Poe’s. I thrilled in the weirdness, the scariness, the psychological suspense.  This new-found sense of the creepy was reinforced by Serling’s weekly series (1954-69) and the Roger Corman/Vincent Price movies shown at Saturday matinees – especially Peter Lorre and Vinc...

White Fang (1906)/Call of the Wild (1903) Jack London  On day 8 of the childhood book challenge, I’m going to cheat and name two books because they are inextricably entwined in my memory. At some point, I acquired several paperbacks that were mostly, if not all about animals. They included these two books, as well as Big Red (1945), A Nose for Trouble (1949), and Outlaw Red (1953) (all by Kjelgaard), The Black Stallion (Farley) – maybe more, but I’m not sure. Anyway, I read White Fang first, probably in late elementary or the equivalent of middle school. Our parochial school didn’t have a middle school; it was K-8 and 9-12. Period. I was caught up in the first person of the wolf-dog hybrid and his many challenges. I imagine it might seem a bit cheesy were I to go back and try to read it again.  But I enjoyed White Fang so much, I immediately read Call of the Wild after it, and was somewhat disappointed with Call of the Wild , perhaps because Buck returns to the wi...

Day 5 -- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- Jules Verne 1870 Book 5/10 is Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea . (N.B. A league is about 3.452 miles.) I'm not sure how I got this paperback, but I re-read it so many times, I eventually had to tape the binding, then cover the paper cover with grocery sack paper (reinforced with cardboard), and then the pages started falling out. When I first read it (in about 3rd grade), I thought the 20,000 leagues referred to depth, not distance traveled. Imagine my confusion. I also remember feeling as if I couldn't breathe when they were trapped below. I used to really lose myself in a book. This opened up the science fiction genre for me, and I've been a fan ever since. I'm also partial to a good sea-faring yarn - Melville's Moby Dick & Billy Budd , Dana's Two Years Before the Mast , Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea , Junger's The Perfect Storm , and Greenlaw's (the woman capt...

Since my early book posts were relatively short, I'm including three days' worth in this blog - days two through four. Enjoy! Day 2 - Old Yeller - Fred Gibson This is Day 2 of the challenge to share my favorite books from my childhood. Number 2/10 is a book I imagine my mother read to me first, as a Golden Book edition. Then, when I was a bit older, I read the children's book. Published in the mid-50s, there was a read-aloud edition by the original author (Fred Gibson), which I also may have had. It made me cry. We're just two books into this challenge, but we may be seeing a trend.  Day 3 - Brighty of the Grand Canyon - Marguerite Henry This is Day 3 of the challenge to share my favorite books from my childhood. Number 3/10 is a book I think I acquired in the fourth grade, Brighty of the Grand Canyon. We had some sort of book fair, and I begged my parents to buy me this book. Since then, I've had a soft spot for author Marguerite Henry (Misty of Chin...