I started an article about Terry Pratchett’s witch Tiffany Aching by saying what a great relief it was for me to turn to his books after reading a lot of depressing biographical material.
This introduced one of the problems that reading certain books can cause together with a good solution.
While other articles cover the sometimes devastating effects of putting ideas and experiences into the context of other people’s lives and looking at the total picture, this one is about being badly affected emotionally or even psychically rather than mentally.
Reading about the lives of writers such as August Strindberg, Stella Benson, Mary Webb, Ouida, Jean Rhys and Antonia White, who have all been featured or at least mentioned on here, can have a very bad effect on impressionable people.
Some people are very good at getting inside books, sharing the writers’ viewpoints and living the lives and stories. This can be a two-edged sword: when reading certain books, such people are in danger of getting sucked in, overwhelmed, trapped and poisoned by psychic contagion.
Some of the harmful effects come from picking up the writers’ inner states from the material: general negativity and feelings of misery, agony, abandonment, depression, desolation, disconnection, doom and despair can be infectious.
Counterweights and antidotes
By far the best solution is to read very different books, ones that have on the whole a very positive effect. They can be inspiring, educational and informational or just entertaining.
Children’s and young adults’ books are often ideal; old friends, comfort reading and new books by a favourite author are all good too.
Monday, 13 April 2020
Thursday, 2 April 2020
96 years of John Buchan’s Three Hostages
The Three Hostages is the fourth in the series of John Buchan’s Richard Hannay adventures.
It was first published in two instalments in the (London) Graphic Magazine in April and May 1924 then as a book in June 1924, so this month is the 96th anniversary of its first appearance.
The Three Hostages has already been the subject of one article, and there are references to the evil Dominick Medina and his powers of hypnotism in a few others.
So what more is there to say about this story?
There are two minor scenes that inspire commentary; one is rather painful to read and one is amusing. The first is where Richard Hannay is very reluctantly recalled to action and the other is where he reveals to the enemy that he has been playing a part all along.
A point of particular interest is that Dominick Medina behaves like a cult leader.
Back to the battlefield
People who have had similar experiences will understand how Richard Hannay feels when he is asked to leave his beloved home, family and farm to take part in an investigation.
He receives a letter that destroys his peace of mind. It is as if his Eden has been invaded by a snake:
“I…felt very angry. Why couldn't the fools let me alone? As I went upstairs I vowed that not all the cajolery in the world would make me budge an inch from the path I had set myself. I had done enough for the public service and other people's interests, and it was jolly well time that I should be allowed to attend to my own.”
It was first published in two instalments in the (London) Graphic Magazine in April and May 1924 then as a book in June 1924, so this month is the 96th anniversary of its first appearance.
The Three Hostages has already been the subject of one article, and there are references to the evil Dominick Medina and his powers of hypnotism in a few others.
So what more is there to say about this story?
There are two minor scenes that inspire commentary; one is rather painful to read and one is amusing. The first is where Richard Hannay is very reluctantly recalled to action and the other is where he reveals to the enemy that he has been playing a part all along.
A point of particular interest is that Dominick Medina behaves like a cult leader.
Back to the battlefield
People who have had similar experiences will understand how Richard Hannay feels when he is asked to leave his beloved home, family and farm to take part in an investigation.
He receives a letter that destroys his peace of mind. It is as if his Eden has been invaded by a snake:
“I…felt very angry. Why couldn't the fools let me alone? As I went upstairs I vowed that not all the cajolery in the world would make me budge an inch from the path I had set myself. I had done enough for the public service and other people's interests, and it was jolly well time that I should be allowed to attend to my own.”
Saturday, 21 March 2020
Passing it on: Enid Blyton and Antonia White
This is another article about people who suffered at the hands of their parents then went on to make their own children suffer in much the same way.
Writers Enid Blyton and Antonia White are two more people who passed on their bad experiences to their children.
Apart from writing fiction, having two daughters and causing a lot of suffering for many of the people around them, Enid Blyton and Antonia White have little in common.
There are a few references on here to Antonia White’s life and her autobiographical fiction with more to come, but there is little in Enid Blyton’s life and books that is relevant to this blog so this is almost certainly her first and last appearance.
Enid Blyton’s books
Enid Blyton was one of the most popular and successful children’s writers ever. I never cared much for her books myself, but millions of other children did: she was one of the most borrowed authors in the public libraries. I remember being informed when I first joined that her books were too popular to be reserved - as if I cared!
Enid Blyton and her family
I read some biographical material that revealed the dark side of Enid Blyton a while back and have summarised from memory an example of her passing it on.
Enid Blyton’s parents frequently had violent quarrels. She had first-hand experience of the devastating effect this can have on sensitive and impressionable young children. Her idolised father left the family when she was 12 years old. She had only occasional contact with him after that, and he died when she was 23.
She seems to have been permanently affected by his desertion and death.
As often happens, rather than take extra special care to ensure that her children never had to go through what she had been through she just passed it all on.
Writers Enid Blyton and Antonia White are two more people who passed on their bad experiences to their children.
Apart from writing fiction, having two daughters and causing a lot of suffering for many of the people around them, Enid Blyton and Antonia White have little in common.
There are a few references on here to Antonia White’s life and her autobiographical fiction with more to come, but there is little in Enid Blyton’s life and books that is relevant to this blog so this is almost certainly her first and last appearance.
Enid Blyton’s books
Enid Blyton was one of the most popular and successful children’s writers ever. I never cared much for her books myself, but millions of other children did: she was one of the most borrowed authors in the public libraries. I remember being informed when I first joined that her books were too popular to be reserved - as if I cared!
Enid Blyton and her family
I read some biographical material that revealed the dark side of Enid Blyton a while back and have summarised from memory an example of her passing it on.
Enid Blyton’s parents frequently had violent quarrels. She had first-hand experience of the devastating effect this can have on sensitive and impressionable young children. Her idolised father left the family when she was 12 years old. She had only occasional contact with him after that, and he died when she was 23.
She seems to have been permanently affected by his desertion and death.
As often happens, rather than take extra special care to ensure that her children never had to go through what she had been through she just passed it all on.
Wednesday, 11 March 2020
Stella Benson, Douglas Adams and the total picture disaster
The novelist and travel writer Stella Benson, who has inspired many articles, had some good insights about herself and her life.
She may never have realised though how much she had in common with other writers. What effect would it have had on her if she had put her life into the context of the lives of certain other people?
What further effect would it have had if she had seen exactly where she stood in relation to the entire human race?
Having one’s ideas and viewpoint expanded is not always beneficial; it can be devastating.
Stella Benson herself mentioned the danger of realising that we are nothing special, not individuals but just one of many.
She said this in her travel book Worlds Within Worlds:
“The world would come to an end if each one of us suddenly began to see himself as one of a crowd—and that a funny crowd...We all intend to be seen as Ones, not as crowds; all our details of personality are evolved to clothe us as Ones, not as crowds.“
It may seem that Stella Benson was exaggerating when she said that the world would come to an end if people realised their personal insignificance, but she is not alone. Douglas Adams, author of the comedy science fiction series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy so in a sense a fellow travel writer, dealt with this Issue in a way that is both amusing and alarming.
She may never have realised though how much she had in common with other writers. What effect would it have had on her if she had put her life into the context of the lives of certain other people?
What further effect would it have had if she had seen exactly where she stood in relation to the entire human race?
Having one’s ideas and viewpoint expanded is not always beneficial; it can be devastating.
She said this in her travel book Worlds Within Worlds:
“The world would come to an end if each one of us suddenly began to see himself as one of a crowd—and that a funny crowd...We all intend to be seen as Ones, not as crowds; all our details of personality are evolved to clothe us as Ones, not as crowds.“
It may seem that Stella Benson was exaggerating when she said that the world would come to an end if people realised their personal insignificance, but she is not alone. Douglas Adams, author of the comedy science fiction series The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy so in a sense a fellow travel writer, dealt with this Issue in a way that is both amusing and alarming.
Monday, 2 March 2020
Context and the total picture: Part I
Sometimes a painful experience doesn’t feel quite so bad when we learn that other people, some very well known, have had a similar experience.
One example comes from the life of the artist Pauline Baynes, best known for her illustrations of the Narnia books.
Her family broke up when she was five years old. She returned to the UK from India with her mother. She was sent to a convent school where she was given a hard time by strict, unsympathetic nuns because of her fantastical imagination, her unusual handmade clothes and her ability to speak Hindi.
She later learned that Rudyard Kipling, whose work she greatly admired, had as a boy been sent back from India to a place where he was treated badly. Learning that she was not alone, that she was in very good company, made her feel a little better.
Then there was Napoleon, reduced to living on crumbs of hope in exile. Anyone who knows what subsisting on remote possibilities is like might well feel a little better or even gratified when they learn that they have something in common with the great emperor.
However, putting painful experiences into the context of other people’s lives in this way can be a two-edged sword.
One example comes from the life of the artist Pauline Baynes, best known for her illustrations of the Narnia books.
Her family broke up when she was five years old. She returned to the UK from India with her mother. She was sent to a convent school where she was given a hard time by strict, unsympathetic nuns because of her fantastical imagination, her unusual handmade clothes and her ability to speak Hindi.
She later learned that Rudyard Kipling, whose work she greatly admired, had as a boy been sent back from India to a place where he was treated badly. Learning that she was not alone, that she was in very good company, made her feel a little better.
Then there was Napoleon, reduced to living on crumbs of hope in exile. Anyone who knows what subsisting on remote possibilities is like might well feel a little better or even gratified when they learn that they have something in common with the great emperor.
However, putting painful experiences into the context of other people’s lives in this way can be a two-edged sword.
Friday, 21 February 2020
What do Alan Garner and L. M. Montgomery have in common?
A previous article describes how neither Noel Streatfeild nor Isaac Asimov ever forgot being refused some information that they had eagerly asked for. They never forgave their teachers for impatiently brushing them off either.
I have since read about two more very different writers who also experienced painful incidents that they never forgot: as children they were unjustly and cruelly punished for speaking in ways that their teachers disapproved of.
The first incident was mentioned by L. M. Montgomery in a letter she wrote in 1907 about some discoveries she made while reading the Bible:
“When I was a child a school teacher gave me a whipping because I used the expression "by the skin of my teeth." He said it was slang. If I had but known then what I know now!!! It is in Job—those very words.”
From The Green Gables Letters from L. M. Montgomery to Ephraim Weber 1905-1909
What’s wrong with a gentle reminder of the importance of speaking good English? That teacher should have known his Bible too.
I wonder if that teacher ever learned about the literary achievements of his former pupil.
The second incident involves Alan Garner.
I have since read about two more very different writers who also experienced painful incidents that they never forgot: as children they were unjustly and cruelly punished for speaking in ways that their teachers disapproved of.
The first incident was mentioned by L. M. Montgomery in a letter she wrote in 1907 about some discoveries she made while reading the Bible:
“When I was a child a school teacher gave me a whipping because I used the expression "by the skin of my teeth." He said it was slang. If I had but known then what I know now!!! It is in Job—those very words.”
From The Green Gables Letters from L. M. Montgomery to Ephraim Weber 1905-1909
What’s wrong with a gentle reminder of the importance of speaking good English? That teacher should have known his Bible too.
I wonder if that teacher ever learned about the literary achievements of his former pupil.
The second incident involves Alan Garner.
Tuesday, 11 February 2020
Something about Alan Garner’s Owl Service
The Owl Service (1967) by Alan Garner OBE FRSL is an award-winning fantasy novel for young adults that affected me very strongly the first time I read it.
The Owl Service is a story of the supernatural. It involves something that has been called in other articles a scripted scenario.
The story is set in modern Wales. The plotline is based on a story from Welsh mythology, a story about betrayal and destruction involving a triangle of two men and a woman.
Three teenagers, Alison the English girl, Roger the English boy and Gwyn the Welsh boy, re-enact the story - or rather the story re-enacts itself through them as it has been doing down the years and through the generations.
The girl is once again the betrayer, and the two boys hit each other where it hurts most.
Some of the witty remarks that various characters make have a positive effect when read; there are also some very cruel and hurtful comments that are painful to read and have a very negative effect. This article highlights some of the best and worst of these comments.
Parents and step-parents
Alison’s mother is a terrible emotional blackmailer and Gwyn’s bitter mother seems sadistically determined to sabotage his life, not just for personal reasons but because of unfinished business from the past.
The Owl Service is a story of the supernatural. It involves something that has been called in other articles a scripted scenario.
The story is set in modern Wales. The plotline is based on a story from Welsh mythology, a story about betrayal and destruction involving a triangle of two men and a woman.
Three teenagers, Alison the English girl, Roger the English boy and Gwyn the Welsh boy, re-enact the story - or rather the story re-enacts itself through them as it has been doing down the years and through the generations.
The girl is once again the betrayer, and the two boys hit each other where it hurts most.
Some of the witty remarks that various characters make have a positive effect when read; there are also some very cruel and hurtful comments that are painful to read and have a very negative effect. This article highlights some of the best and worst of these comments.
Parents and step-parents
Alison’s mother is a terrible emotional blackmailer and Gwyn’s bitter mother seems sadistically determined to sabotage his life, not just for personal reasons but because of unfinished business from the past.
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