Oh, my! What I wouldn't give to time-travel back to when I could escape into different worlds while reading my regular though limited ration of Illustrated Classics. A bit more than half a century ago, I would do whatever it would take to earn enough (or weedle enough) money from my financially strapped parents so that I could make a trip to the comic section at the 5&10 where I would painstakingly select another escape. Now, so many years later, your site link has me wistfully remembering something from the years of wonder.
Your mention of Moby Dick reminds that I also devoured that one when a preteen. When I got to college, though, and had to read the "real thing," the professor said the oddest thing: "When reading Melville's novel, the best way for many readers is to simply skip all the chapters involving biology of whales and fishes." He was being facetious (talking way over the heads of undergraduates who did not appreciate the irony), but--on reflection--he may have had a point, which he could have improved by suggesting that we all read the Illustrated Classics version instead of Melville's long, long masterpiece.
Oh, my! What I wouldn't give to time-travel back to when I could escape into different worlds while reading my regular though limited ration of Illustrated Classics. A bit more than half a century ago, I would do whatever it would take to earn enough (or weedle enough) money from my financially strapped parents so that I could make a trip to the comic section at the 5&10 where I would painstakingly select another escape. Now, so many years later, your site link has me wistfully remembering something from the years of wonder.
ReplyDeleteMe too! We had them on this side of the pond too. I remember Moby Dick especially, and The Red Badge of Courage. Brilliant pictorial storytelling...
ReplyDeleteI remember Moby Dick, Nige! And, oddly enough, The House of the Seven Gables.
ReplyDeleteYour mention of Moby Dick reminds that I also devoured that one when a preteen. When I got to college, though, and had to read the "real thing," the professor said the oddest thing: "When reading Melville's novel, the best way for many readers is to simply skip all the chapters involving biology of whales and fishes." He was being facetious (talking way over the heads of undergraduates who did not appreciate the irony), but--on reflection--he may have had a point, which he could have improved by suggesting that we all read the Illustrated Classics version instead of Melville's long, long masterpiece.
ReplyDelete