jade_sabre | (no subject)

Current Mood: crushed
Current Location: Prydain
Current Music: my sniffley nose

Entry tags:

(no subject)

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6443846.html?rssid=190

I feel like I should say something about the Summer Country, but Taran didn't get to go there, and so it's almost like I shouldn't.

...

I'm crying.

This is the first time I've cried because someone who was a complete stranger to me died. Except, I mean, it's one of those things where he's not a complete stranger. 'cause I've read so many of his books and read interviews with him and stuff and oh God I'm just so sad. He's one of those bastions of my childhood, y'know? With Prydain and those books about the war and that Iron Ring book and he's my example of good children's literature that's simple in writing maybe but not in ideas and Vesper Holly and aw man.

My mommy didn't pick up her phone.

...

I'm just really, really sad now. The literary world has lost a wonderful man today. Rest in peace, Mr. Alexander. Enjoy the sunshine.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Noooo! So passes a great man. He wrote with such simplicity, such poetry, such lightness, such depth.

May the beauty of his books never be forgotten.

Thank you for saying exactly what I've been trying to explain.

Amen.

I've been thinking about Taran's apprenticeship with the potter lately. That one bit spoke to me so deeply at a time when I really needed it. I still need it, I think.

There's more wisdom in Taran Wanderer than so many of the "literary" things I end up studying . . . with none of the pretension.

I think I need to reread that one--at the time I first read it I didn't fully appreciate it. But I know what you're saying.

Did you ever read The Iron Ring?

A long long time ago. It wasn't easily available in my home library. I don't really remember it.

It's Prydain and the Westmark trilogy I kept coming back to.

I want to reread all of them now. And I'm 5000 miles away from 3/4 of my books and my home library, and the libraries here are kinda useless.

I read that one when I was a little older--just when I was shifting in my view of him (in terms of a first-time readthrough, and in terms of...I dunno. I still love him, but I have an older person's perspective, you know?), and it really really hit me how deep the topics he touches on are. The issues of the caste system in that one nearly had me in tears.

I really need to reread Westmark. I remember it was dark, and I remember being shocked at how dark it was.

alas! :-(

Jade, did you read the Horn Book article? Apparently his wife died two weeks ago, and after finishing his last book, he said, "I have completed my life's work." Which is to say...I think he felt done. Doesn't make it easier for the world left without him, but a nice thought nonetheless.

Sorry, I was mixed up. That was on Fuse #8, not Read Roger.

I mean, I saw that, and I know that it really seems like he was done, and ready to go (especially after his wife died). But for me it was out of the blue, and it's still really sad. Oh, well. Time to go home and see if my youngest sister ever finished reading all the books.

is shocked. and i never got to write him a fan letter. ;_;

Eek! I haven't read any of his books. Which should I read, the Westmark series or the Prydain books?

I don't think I'm EVER going to finish Jonathon Strange & Mr. Norrell. I keep plugging along but still have so much more to go.

let it go. there are many books I have started and not finished. It isn't giving up, just being realistic with the time you have to read. You know how many great books there are out there! *hugs*

Maybe you're right. But I'm more than halfway through now, and am enjoying it to some degree, and have invested so much time in it...

But you ARE right that there's so much more to read! *hugs*

Fair enough. Half way is a lot...*offers cookies*

both? Westmark is just a trilogy, though, so you might have more time for it. It's...amazing. Especially when you consider the "target audience." ♥

I keep seeing that book mentioned different places, and I'm beginning to wonder if I should pick it up. Maybe next summer. *also offers cookies of encouragement*

I have been revising all day.

I saw the post on Sharyn's (he was her adoptive godfather) LJ and was so shocked. He inspired so many writers and people and... the simplicity of writing and tells such a damn good story. Damn good but deals with stuff well. gah *uncoherant or wot?*

This is why I am determined to throw MWT a party and meet up. Books are too good not to celebrate them! *offers hugs and cookies*

That's where I first saw it too. I loaded my friend's page and saw it and went, "...she can't mean...oh no" and just kept saying "oh no" over and over again until I finally found a link to the article about it, which is when I started crying. ;_;

Amen! *hugs back*

Oh goodness, even I'm tearing up, and I had always assumed he was already dead (and British).

The Book of Three series (whatever it's actually called) was what I was attached to of his.

Several months ago I found myself wondering if he was still alive, and so I checked, and found out that he was, and ended up reading lots of interviews and stuff with him. I also found out he was from Pennsylvania. *feels better knowing she's not the only one who thought he was British*
(he just writes so...Britishly!)

Yeah. :-\

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only