Those Classic Books

Hi there

If we attempted to read a Charles Dickens book nowadays, in the way that it was originally printed, we would surely have trouble wading through it. The pages would be full of stuff like, " ...and what do you think happened next, dear reader?"  There has since been a lot of selective editing.

Victorians may have liked to get into an author's thoughts but we, in our era, don't want to be dragged out of a storyline when in our minds we are intensely fighting with the baddie, or dangling by our fingernails from a cliff, or falling just a tad in love with Mr Grey (hehehe).

My fave book when I was about eleven was the classic "What Katy Did" by Susan Coolidge, and published in 1872.  How I laughed over the Carr family's adorable antics, and cried when Katy fell off the swing.  I loved the beautiful verses that she came up with for her siblings on Valentine's Day, and who wouldn't want to have the  lovely and selfless Cousin Helen as their very own relative? 

I read the book again a couple of weeks ago.  Boy-oh-boy, was the author hovering over my shoulder as I progressed through the story.  There were many sentences such as this one:  " ... and the Katy who laid in bed, was a very different-looking Katy from the forlorn girl of the last chapter."    No, it's got nothing to do with sex. Our Katy was an invalid, but - bang! - there I was, immediately thrown out of the book.  Sadly, I can't see modern children touching the book with a ten foot pole.

Still, my recent reading of "What Katy Did" was a great nostalgic outing for me.

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PS:  The Hataitai Beach sea in June is starting to leave me with a bit of a shiver and shake after a swim.  Brrrr....