Children's books

[mamadeb]

Last week, jonbaker pointed me to ManyBooks.net, a site that provides public domain books formatted for the PDA in all the popular readers, including iSilo. All they ask is a small donation if you feel like it.

I downloaded two books - Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Both are childhood favorites of mine and I haven't read either in years. It turns out I have an evil mind, but you pretty much knew that.

In the not-evil department - Sara Crewe receives a package towards the end of the book addressed to "The Little Girl in the Right-Hand Attic." Jane Eyre is the unwanted dependent upon her mother's sister-in-law, bullied by her greedy, obese and extremely spoiled cousin, and she longs to go to school to escape things. And Aunt Reed talks about her Eyre relatives in much the same way the Dursleys spoke about the Potters.

Harry Potter has a long list of literary peers, doesn't he? And, you know - Jane might have made an excellent witch - and somehow, I think, Slytherin, too. Hmmm.

In the evil department - the major turning point in A Little Princess is that her father was seemingly conned into buying into a diamond scam and losing anything - and conned by a close friend from school. This turns out to be not true, and they were actually quite successful. The friend *loves* Captain Crewe (this is the term used) and is called his "intimate friend" and when Crewe dies, the friend, also ill, does not recover out of grief. He spends his money searching for his dear friend's daughter, whom, when he finds her, he has call him "Uncle Tom."

And my mind, in reading this innocent children's book, is now seeing Carrisford and Crewe together, renewing a relationship that began in Eton, ended when they left and then Crewe (but not Carrisford) married, losing his wife in childbirth. And then they meet again and it is so sad and romantic and I'm evil. :)

Comments

[raggedrose.livejournal.com]

Doesn't seem evil to me. That works pretty well, actually. And explains Carrisford a lot better, I think.

I loved both those books too. Thanks for the extra PDA site.

And it's that kind of 19th century-ish voice that really draws me into the Harry Potter books.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Doesn't it, though? Guilt could have him provide for Crewe's daughter, but this extreme grief is something else.

[raggedrose.livejournal.com]

It seems a whole lot more like that romantic friendship thing to me. Guilt and friendship would have made him find Sarah and provide for her, but this take to yer bed thing? That's what bereaved maidens do.

Damn. If you ever do decide to write this I'd love to read it.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

*Adds to list of things to write.*

[gittygiggles.livejournal.com]

you always make me look at things so differently! thank you for exercising weird parts of my brain!

and good shabbos!

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Shabbat Shalom.

And my job here is done. Weird parts of brains need exercising.

[elance.livejournal.com]

That is totally what I have always pretty much assumed about the Crewe/Carrisford relationship. *grin*

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Ah, but I didn't have my slash brain turned on the last time I read this.

It does work so very well, doesn't it?

[ataniell93.livejournal.com]

You're not evil, I think you're right :D

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Thank you - although one does not disprove the other. :)

[biichan.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeeeeeee.

Combined with the Colin/Dickon subtext from The Secret Garden and we have slash all over the place from this woman!

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

It's not slash, precisely, but dkwilliams did a nice version of The Secret Garden (http://diana.slashcity.com/Potter/secret.htm) via Harry Potter, and it *so* slashy.

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

I haven't read that book in years, but now you've made me want to read it again *g*.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Have fun. The slash is very background, but it's there.

[hakainokami.livejournal.com]

It's been so long I don't think I remember a thing aboutthe book [A Little Princess], but do have remember a bit of the movie. I need to go read the book again now. You always come up with things in books and movies I never thought about but make perfect sense.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

The movie was good, but they made a lot of changes. Read the book. :)

[vass]

And, you know - Jane might have made an excellent witch - and somehow, I think, Slytherin, too. Hmmm.

Yes. She's very focused on providing for her own needs - not in a selfish way, but in a rescue yourself before rescuing others way.

Thanks for the site, too.

[jdemorae.livejournal.com]

Whoo-hoo!

Yes, you're evil, in a slashy kind of way, which pretty much suits us all just fine. ;) And we of course, are enablers, who encourage you to put thought to pixel and give us more good stuff to read.

(The Bronte sisters really had a thing with sub-text, didn't they? If you want to consider possible HP-universe witch material, take a look at the books written by Anne (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) and the women of Villete (also written by Charlotte). They're hard to get hold of in local bookstores (around here, anyway...I got mine used, some lit. student dumping course texts, I suppose), which is almost a surety they'll be available as e-texts somewhere. ;)

[batyatoon]

It's an interesting interpretation, but not a necessary one.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Nod. But it's fun, too.