The reader's dilemma: so many books, so little time

The article about L. M. Montgomery's compulsion to read and write contains this quotation from one of her journals:

“I doubt if I shall ever have time to read the book again -- there are too many new ones coming out all the time which I want to read. Yet an old book has something for me which no new book can ever have -- for at every reading the memories and atmosphere of other readings come back and I am reading old years as well as an old book.”

For an avid reader, a 'book drunkard' as  L. M. Montgomery called herself, the dilemma of there not being enough hours in the day to do all the reading they would like to is a very real and major one. 

The 'so many books, so little time' dilemma does indeed often involve making a decision to select a familiar old friend rather than a fresh new book to read or vice versa; in other words, all reading is at the expense of other reading. 

I commented on L. M. Montgomery's thoughts about reading and the feelings of nostalgia that old books can invoke at the time. I have since come across another quotation about the advantages of old over new books, and this has inspired a few more words on the subject.

Comfort food for the mind
Elizabeth Goudge states that our favourite books can provide great comfort when we are going through difficult times in our lives.

John Christopher’s Guardians: Part II

Just like Elizabeth Goudge’s Linnets and Valerians, John Christopher’s Guardians is a slender little children’s paperback that at first sight might just possibly have enough material to inspire a paragraph or two of commentary. I found however that the more times I went through these books, the more material of interest I noticed and the more articles I needed to produce in order to cover it.

I investigated the Linnets book because I learned that it had a witch in it; working on the Borribles article reminded me of the Guardians book, which I first read ages ago just for the story. This time around, it is the issues and connections that are the main objects of interest.

In addition to the connections mentioned in Part I, The Guardians has some scenes and elements that remind me very much of Robert A. Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy.  Before going into this and some further connections, there is more of Rob Randall’s story to be told.

Rob arrives in the County
Rob Randall, the young orphaned Conurban hero of The Guardians, runs away from his hated boarding school to a place that he sees as his only option i.e. the County. 

He may have planned his escape and journey to the County carefully, but he has not thought much about what he will do when he gets there. 

Conurbans are like Borribles in that they prefer crowded streets to empty fields! Rob has not thought about the effect that the wide open spaces will have on him:

“Rob found himself shivering, not just with cold but at the sight of darkness, the thought of the emptiness beyond. All his life, like everyone else in the Conurbs, he had been surrounded by the comforting presence of others - all the millions of them. Being glad to have a little privacy occasionally was not the same as wanting to go out there, alone.”

However, Rob is tough and adaptable and he is interested in new experiences:

“Two rabbits appeared from the wood and he watched them, fascinated. It was hard to believe he was really here, in the County, with plants budding, wild things living all around him. And yet already this was the reality, the Conurb  - with its packed streets, high-rise buildings, crawling electrocars - the fantasy.”

The Maharishi Yogi and some fictional characters

This article will highlight a few special connections I noticed while reading Joyce Collin-Smith’s account of the time she spent with the Maharishi Yogi in the 1960s.

Some of the information she gives us about the Maharishi in Call No Man Master reminds me of what I have written about various fictional characters, including St. John Rivers from Jane Eyre.

Some of it may be small stuff, but the devil is in the details.

The red, white and black connection

These colours of interest have been mentioned in various articles about witches, including one about Emma Cobley from Linnets and Valerians, who was wearing these colours and knitting a red scarf when the children first saw her.

By coincidence, when Joyce Collin-Smith first saw the Maharishi, he was wearing white silk robes and carrying a sheaf of red gladioli. He had long black curling hair.

He had exchanged the gladioli for a red rose when she went to meet him personally.

Elizabeth Goudge’s Linnets and Valerians: Part IV

This final article in the series contains some miscellaneous thoughts about Elizabeth Goudge’s Linnets and Valerians (aka The Runaways) and her witch Emma Cobley.

We begin with the J. K. Rowling connection and some accusations of paganism.

Elizabeth Goudge and J. K. Rowling

In 2001, J. K. Rowling gave an interview in which she said that Elizabeth Goudge’s The Little White Horse was one of her favourite childhood books and it was an inspiration for the Harry Potter series.

I am guessing that J. K. Rowling at some point investigated other books by Elizabeth Goudge. Her account of the witch Merope Gaunt, who came from a humble background and who probably bewitched the handsome and wealthy Tom Riddle Senior with a love potion, reminds me very much of the story of Emma Cobley and Hugo Valerian.

Christianity and paganism

J. K. Rowling’s recommendation of Elizabeth Goudge probably revived interest in an author who was no longer well known.

Some new readers may not have been too pleased with what they found.

Elizabeth Goudge’s books have been criticised for being sickly sweet and sentimental. I can see that they, or at least parts of some of them, may not be much to the taste of the modern reader.

Another drawback may be the religion: Elizabeth Goudge’s books are Christian in outlook, containing such themes as sacrifice, conversion, discipline, healing, and growth through suffering. This too might put some people off.

It is much the same with Madeleine L’Engle’s books: some people enjoy reading them despite the sweetness and religious references.

Elizabeth Goudge’s Linnets and Valerians: Part III

Some of the material in Elizabeth Goudge’s book Linnets and Valerian is related to topics featured in other articles. These articles were written long before I read this book, so it provides yet more independent confirmation of some of my ideas.

This article includes more connections to existing articles, with references to attack dogs, getting what we want, lions’ mouths and rowan trees.

The attack-dog syndrome

I noticed one very subtle and one very obvious example of the attack-dog syndrome, which has been covered elsewhere.

This is the subtle and mild example:

We are told that the vicar who preceded Uncle Ambrose was fond of the witch Emma Cobley and would never believe the stories told about her in the village.

We are not told anything more, but I would bet that he became annoyed and said something like, “How can you say these things about such a fine person?” Maybe he even sternly told them not to bear false witness!

Someone in his position should have taken the accusations very seriously; not doing so is a dead giveaway that something is very wrong. His reaction is a sign that the stories are probably true.

This is the obvious and potentially very serious example:

When the children first go into the village, they see an inn called The Bulldog. They learn from an old postcard that the inn formerly had a wonderful bird on its sign. They also learn that the inn is owned by some of Emma Cobley’s unpleasant associates.

The inn has a fierce bulldog on its swinging sign. A huge and ugly bulldog sits in the doorway and growls at the children.

Just like Emma Cobley’s cat, the bulldog grows to an enormous size and attacks the children. Emma and her associates are also involved in this attack, which the children brought on themselves by not obeying Emma’s orders to stay away from a particular area.

One of the gang later greets the children in a friendly way. Inflicting or attempting to inflict serious blows and injuries and expecting the victims to carry on as if nothing had happened is another game that people who are under evil influences play.

Everything changes for the better once Emma’s figurines have been burned. There are no more attacks, and Emma replaces the inn sign with a picture of a beautiful peregrine falcon.  

Elizabeth Goudge’s Linnets and Valerians: Part II

The first part of this article introduced the witch Emma Cobley and her black magic. There is a lot more to say about her, her magic and her adversary Uncle Ambrose.

Magic making

Emma Cobley performs her black magic literally by the book - a spell-book that she wrote herself. She also makes potions, draws diagrams and sticks pins in figurines made from mandrake roots. She uses ingredients such as animal blood, boiled frogs and wolf’s bane.

This is all very traditional.

One of her potions makes a man dote upon a woman. It is possible that she used this one on Hugo Valerian. If so, his promise to marry her was obtained illegitimately. This is similar to what happened in the case of Helen Penclosa and Austin Gilroy.

The retired doctor whose housekeeper Emma became was very fond of her: he educated her; he left her some money when he died. She was able to live quite like a lady.

We are not told whether or not Emma used any of her potions and spells on the doctor to get his money and his knowledge. We are told that she was beautiful, clever and quick to learn, which together with the fact that he left his house and most of his money to his sister suggests that she did not. She just used her natural attributes to charm him.

It is a pity that she didn’t do this to find someone else after Hugo Valerian rejected her instead of taking revenge on him.

Another of her spells causes a man and woman who love each other to become estranged; it is very likely that she later used this one on Hugo and Lady Alicia.

The spells that she used may have affected her for the worse.

By using spells that cut people in a relationship off from each other, Emma may have activated forces that isolated her from the good, decent people in her village and prevented her from finding someone else. She never married and associated mainly with unpleasant people.

Elizabeth Goudge’s Linnets and Valerians: Part I

Best-selling novelist Elizabeth Goudge is not one of my favourite authors, although I do like some aspects of some of her books.

I heard of Linnets and Valerians only recently. When I learned that one of the characters is an evil witch, I got a copy in the hope that there would be enough suitable material for an article or two.

I found that much of the book is not about the witch and is not very relevant to this blog. However, some elements are worth a mention and there are a few connections to be made.

Linnets and Valerians

This amusing little book, which was first published in 1964 and later retitled The Runaways, is set in 1912.

In summary, the four high-spirited and resourceful young Linnet children run away from their autocratic grandmother to stay with their eccentric Uncle Ambrose. They enter a wonderful new world filled with magic and superstition and help to lift some long-standing curses.

The main character of interest is Emma Cobley, who is the local witch. There is nothing original about her and her story, but the book provides yet another example of a typical fictional witch.

Emma Cobley

Emma Cobley owns the village general store, which has a low green door. This where the children first meet her: they go in to buy some sweets. They have trouble getting the door open. The light inside is so dim that it is a while before they notice the proprietor, who is knitting.  

She is a little old dame with beady black eyes that notice everything. She wears a white mob cap, a black dress and a red shawl - familiar colours that are connected to the three phases of the moon.

Her sweets of many colours look magical in their glass bottles.

This is all very symbolic.