On the Wall

[watervole]

 I'm currently reading 'Puck of Pook's Hill' (Kipling)  and having just got to the chapter relating to Hadrian's Wall, the parallels with 'A Song of Fire and Ice' are very strong.  It's not just the Wall itself, it's some of the subtler details of characterisation and overall impression as well.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Martin drew some inspiration from Kipling.

I'm having a sudden urge to read children's classics. Work can be stressful at times and it's nice to retreat into something written in the past that is relatively straightforward and where honour is as much a concern as victory.

I've just bought a copy of 'The Dark is Rising' so I'll dip into that soon.  It has a good reputation, but I've never actually read it.

Comments

[espresso_addict]

I love the Dark is Rising sequence; the best one is The Grey King, if you can get hold of it.

[vilakins]

Let us know what you think of 'The Dark is Rising' series once you've finished it. I posted about it a few years ago and would be interested to know what you think.

[were-gopher.livejournal.com]

I always felt that was the book where the series found it's feet. Over Sea Under Stone was good but The Dark Is Rising is better.

[xenaclone.livejournal.com]

It's worth dedicating the time to the whole of Susan Cooper's book cycle.

Also the Wizard of Earthsea books and Alan Garner's various young adult novels.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Sometimes there's nothing like a good "child's" book. (I love Madeleine L'Engle's take on writing for children; she always said she just told the story as it came to her. "If it's too difficult for adults, I know it's for children." --paraphrase)

And The Dark is Rising is still one of my absolute favorite. My husband and I often quote it to each other or use examples from it when talking about religion, philosophy and social ethics. (Yes, we are that sort of nerd.)

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

I always return to children´s books. Of course they are different...but I liked Kipling´s The Jungle Book even though we used to have only a Mawgli´s story available from the whole book ( for "ideological reasons")...