As I write this on Thanksgiving weekend, I give thanks to the books that turn adolescent readers into adult readers. For me, it was one 19th-century novel by a woman, and one 20th-century novel by a man.
All of us who love books started with simpler fare. Perhaps it was Goodnight Moon, then The Cat in the Hat, and then kid-oriented novels such as Danny Dunn and the Homework Machine (about an early computer big enough to hold gazillions of smartphones!).
But by the time we reach our mid-teens, English teachers up the ante. Two books on their agenda when I was that age included Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath -- both of which made me groan before I cracked their covers. A novel about some oddball governess? A farm family leaving Oklahoma? Bor-r-ring.
Then I read those two books, and my literary landscape was transformed. There was no going back to kid fiction with few nuances and little complexity. Danny Dunn was done.
Though I was a 20th-century American male, I strongly related to the British female protagonist in Bronte's 1847 novel. Jane Eyre somehow transcended time, place, and gender -- like all great literary characters can do. I admired her ethics, intelligence, independence, and self-sufficiency. Plus I was sort of a loner like her, and was from modest economic circumstances like her.
Meanwhile, The Grapes of Wrath opened my eyes more widely to matters such as injustice, gross economic inequality, and the importance of family. I was so taken with Steinbeck's 1939 novel that when I learned the movie version would be on TV at 2 a.m. one day, I stayed up to watch it despite having school just a few hours later. (This was before VCRs, of course.)
For all the lessons and such in those two books, the Bronte and Steinbeck classics were also darn good reads filled with suspense, pathos, believable dialogue, and flat-out excellent writing. Plus Jane Eyre was and is incredibly romantic.
Yes, after experiencing novels that meaty, it was time to "put away childish (literary) things." Soon, I was gobbling up Moby-Dick, The Scarlet Letter, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Native Son, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, various Charles Dickens books, and other classics.
For many readers now in their 20s, I suspect the Harry Potter series might have been the books that helped spark that adolescent-to-adult reading transition.
Which novels catapulted your younger self into the world of more sophisticated literature?
I wish all people were like you! One of my biggest annoyances is when people won't read a book in which the main character is of the opposite gender to their own. When I used to work at a bookstore, my manager flat-out refused to read books authored by women because he just didn't think he'd be able to relate to them, regardless of the sex of the characters in the book. So it was so refreshing to hear how inspirational Jane Eyre was to you.
Regarding books that transition us - I read a lot of historical fiction when I was a kid and I think that really spurred me into reading histories that had all of the details and adult themes that I was missing in the watered down prose of that young adult genre (not that the books were bad, by any means, buy they were certainly primers). I was also into grown-up fare very early on, but only because I was an avid reader and an only child, so I had a lot of time on my hands! I remember getting Angela's Ashes as a gift when I was in 7th grade and being so psyched.
Also, you are absolutely right about the effect Harry Potter has/had on children.
I agree with you that historical fiction can be great transitional books; it sounds like that was the case with you!
"Angela's Ashes" was quite a memoir, though I was a little disappointed with Frank McCourt's follow-up memoirs -- "Tis" and "Teacher Man."
I tried reading McCourt's subsequent memoirs but couldn't get past the first few pages. I attempted twice and then decided that I would probably be okay if I just never read them again. Haha!
It would be nice if politicians and corporate execs read more history, but if they did, many of them would probably ignore the lessons. Still, the reading of history at least helps people know what current politicians and corporate execs are up to!
You are right. The problem is -- there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything we want to do...but keeping up on politicians and their shenanigans is a priority for our country. We seem to be at an important crossroads.
So, what's the best reading for NOW?
Anton Checkhov wrote a novella "The Steppe", it was my introduction to Russian Literature. The physical transition of the sheltered life of a boy to his new life away from his mother, left a lasting impression.
I mentioned elsewhere on HP in the last day or so that the most influential book from my childhood was Louis Untermeyer's Golden Treasury of Poetry. I've never put it away, except to pack it when I move. The transitional book for me was The Once and Future King. Everything changed for me after I read that book. It certainly shares a tradition with Wolf Hall.
In general, I prefer history, but I've always loved the Arthurian legends. Even Harris, Nero and Redgrave in Camelot - buckets of make-up and dancing knights, notwithstanding. I came across Mary Stewart's quintet while I was moving - safely tucked away among the books that had disappeared into my daughter's bookshelves. She was a great reader from the outset - my son was a little slower getting started. The book that he credits with changing his life is Chuck Yeager's autobiography, "Yeager". After reading it, he became an excellent student, stopped being what he called a PK (pale kid - on the computer too much) became a health and fitness convert and started making a plan for his future.
I highly recommend TH White to parents trying to find great books for their kids - I loved his humour and his idealism.
As a child, the book that has always stayed with me was Heidi for more reasons than I could give right now. I remember a few years ago riding a train across Switzerland and looking out at hills and valleys and chalet with window boxes filled with red geraniums and cows actually wearing cow bells and Heidi was all over the place with her precious grandfather.
When I think what my life would have been without books! Well, I can't even fathom the idea.
Thanks for a great, great article Dave.
I'm always in favor of reading, however it is translated to work or politics or pure enjoyment. I was listening to a podcast (This American Life) the other day that related to a scientific theory that middle school/adolescents are the most difficult yet best to teach because what they truly learn at that age stays with us forever. That "depth in individual education", some sense of making choices.
This helped me at the Gymnasium attending English classes. Reading Jane Eyre was part of it and simply mandatory; and so was Shakespeare's Hamlet. It was the time where Sir Laurence Oliver starred in the movie Hamlet, what helped to better understand the theme of the book, considering Shakespeare's "Old English", rather difficult the read for a greenhorn like me. But I had to bite through this experience. Subconsciously I must have felt early on that I would eventually end up in this country, and in the mandatory history classes, I experienced special attraction to the History of the United States of America. In contrast to old world history, this was much more attractive and to suit a certain laziness, covered a much shorter period. More importantly, it turned out to be the mind opener to read more books and allowed me to widen my horizons. Subsequently novels never became my preference, but staying informed to better understand the planets development, caused me to stay with tons of educational literature. Needless to say - as additional knowledge keeps accumulating - it helped me a lot in my professional occupations that covered several different cultures to work with.
Books offer everyone rare opportunities to understand things outside of their own reality and teach them to think critically when they hear things like "the good old days were better than....." when really every time has been the best of times and the worst of times.