Published on 12, July, 2020
What books have subtley influence you, ones that you read as a child? For me it was Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, as well as being a good adventure story, it introduced me to a whole world of folklore and what I call mystic Britain. You have the history of Britain and then you have the mystic history, the Britain of the things seen from the corner of the eye, the things that you know are there, that you can sense and feel, but can rarely see and other people think you're being daft for caring about. As well as all the strange rituals and folk customs around the country, the fertility dances of Morris Men, to the Hobby Horses and corn dollies. The pull of ancient sacred places, stone circles, holy wells, some very ancient churches, a whole sacred landscape that we're only just rediscovering through the use of such technology as LIDAR. Some customs that cross continenets and generations, throwing coins in a wishing well, these places have often been in use for thousands of years.
That one book set me on a journey thats still ongoing.
Pippy Long-stockings (first hero)
Seuss'es
"The Star Bellied Sneeches"
"What Was I Scared of"
anything with pictures of animals
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age 7 onward
Alice Through the Looking glass (the John Tenniel illustrations)
Daniel Defoe's books especially "The Plague Years In London", A history of the Pyrates"
The Smithsonian magazine's stories of slavery and first nations people.
The New York Times "Neediest Cases" feature.
a bit later-
Treasure Island (the NC Wyeth illustrations)
tweens and onward-
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Asimov's Foundation books
Wells'es Animal Farm
Ray Bradbury's work
among so many others on and on ...
90% sci fi, 10% sociology -these genres in and of themselves deeply sculpted my world view and sense of self.
Wow you must had had an advanced reading age! I didn't learn to read until I was 6 and it took me ages to get past having to pronouce the individual letters and sounds, of course there was that wonderful moment when suddenly it all made sense. I think most of my childhood was spend reading Enid Blyton, Famous Five, Secret Seven and The Twins at St Clairs, my parents were never very helpful when I was reading for myself, I was never encouraged to go to the library or anything, so I'd just read the same books over and over again.
I never got on so well with Sci-Fi, fantasy I loved but this was when I was in my 20's, I went through a phase in my teens when I didn't really read, it was deeply uncool. Reading the Mabinogion got me really started on the search for mythical Britain, I read so many books of folk tales and lore, The Red Book of Hergest, The Black Book of Carmarthen. Now I find Phil Rickman's Merrilly Watkins series fills some of that gap on the fiction side and Ronald Hutton on the non fiction side. I also read a lot of Scot's and Irish folklore and tales too.
I still seek out the numinous and the liminal, I don't think that will ever stop, Alan Garner really set something off in me.
For you you I would recommend William Gibson's "Count Zero", "Mona Lisa OverDrive" and "Neuromancer". His work is unique.
You may also enjoy PK D i c k's work. "A Scanner Darkly" is a good start, also "flow My tears, The policeman Said" .
Both writers are masters of the liminal and numinous.
I can't remember those bits, but I do think of the "uncreates" in Uncle Hamish's home made relgion in The Crow Road.
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Uhane have you ever read any Charles De Lint? He's a Canadian author who writes what can best be described as fairly tsles for grown up's, I'd start with Moonheart.
Has anyone ever read any Storm Constantine, especially the Wraethuthu books?
I still think about the "missing teeth" scene in The Business. I also think about "back-bussing" in Whit a lot (whenever I'm on a bus or train lol).
Complicity was such good book the main character was so nasty. Whit was good too, you know he didn't even know himself what the gender of the character was? The Business was good too.
Oh I loved Espedair st. I've read all his IB books, even though I didn't understand The Bridge, Complicity and Walking on Glass I still think about them from time to time. I loved the Crow Road, but my favourite is Whit. Hilarious and entertaining from start to finish. I couldn't get into his IMB books, I might try again.