Imaginations Need Food

Have you ever been to Powell's Books in Portland? If so, then I don't need to say anymore about it. You. Just. Know.

But if not...well, I can't explain it. You'll have to trust me...and then make a pilgrimage of your own someday.

In the meantime, I just stumbled onto their online newsletter/blog and a wonderful post from children's fiction author N.D. Wilson. It is not a long post, and it is definitely worth your time - especially if you are any kind of lover of stories; especially if you have kids and they beg you to read them just one more story...

Here is a great quote from Wilson about why he writes:

"I am regularly asked why I write stories for children. The easy answer? I'm childish. But to be honest, I have no intention of limiting myself to children's stories. At this phase of my life, however, they are the most important stories I can tell. I have children, I love children, and imaginations need food. The world is big. The world is wonderful. But it is also terrifying. It is an ocean full of paper boats. For many children, the only nobility, the only joy, the only strength and sacrifice that they see firsthand comes in fiction. Even when children have plenty of joy in their lives, good stories reinforce it. As long as I'm dealing in honesty, I may as well admit that I have been more influenced (as a person) by my childhood readings of Tolkien and Lewis than I have been by any philosophers I read in college and grad school. The events and characters in Narnia and Middle Earth shaped my ideals, my dreams, my goals. Kant just annoyed me."

And as long as I'm dealing in honesty, well - then me, too. My childhood readings of Tolkien and Lewis - especially Tolkien - have continued into my childish adulthood and they have influenced me more than anything else I have read. In fact, I'm currently reading The Hobbit to my youngest, finishing up The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the 14th time (Aragorn has just emerged from the paths of the dead, btw), and taking a leisurely stroll through The Tolkien Reader, particularly the essay "On Fairy Stories." In that sense, I never want to grow up. More, I want my children to know and love these worlds (that of Middle-Earth and Narnia) as they were described in words by Tolkien and Lewis, not just as they were filmed by Jackson and Adamson.

What worlds do you live in? To what fictional authors do you return again and again?

Comments

[kristyn]

This post has gotten me pumped to read stories to our son! Thanks for the enthusiasm and the reminder to daydream and imagine.

[beth]

i'm taking fellowship of the ring with me to ireland. i think this will be my 7th or so time starting the trilogy. i'm also taking voyage of the dawn treader. :)

[Nathan]

14 times! Amazing. I have only made it through 3 times. While I do return often to Tolkien and Lewis, I find myself continually re-reading any and everything by Hermann Hesse. I first read his short novel "Siddhartha" senior year of high school and have done so at least once a year since. It is a book about the search for self, so I guess I am still looking...

[Clay Masters]

I have not read many books that grabbed my imagination and my heart much more than "Out of the Silent Planet" by CS Lewis. It was part of his space trilogy and my first encounter was profound. I would just like to read the rest of the series.

[Eric Disney]

At the risk of embarrassing myself I feel I have to comment. From my first cognitive memory as a child, I think I have dealt in and dreamed about alternate realities--ie, I had a rich fantasy life. As a kid in the 50's, I was all about all things comic book-Superman, Batman, Archie, etc.etc. As I grew I shifted into the worlds of series books--Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew [yes, sigh]I loved the courage, braveness and pluck of these characters-to have a mystery dropped in your lap and the resolve to solve it and wrap it all up nicely in 124 pages--what's not to engage an introspective 11 yr. old? As an adult, I have actually spent many an hour and many a dollar searching for and collecting these volumes of my past imaginations-first editions with dust jackets, of course. I can't tell you the pleasure of seeing those wonderful cover and front-piece illustrations and turning those yellowed, brittle pages re-living the thrill and adventure I would place myself into. Rediscovering the vocabulary-"chum", "roadster" "plucky" [see above!]-priceless! I am so in love with the idea of you parents out there encouraging this sense of wonder and imagination in your children through some of these timeless stories and worlds through these books you have mentioned--Bravo!!!

[Heather]

Although not from my mid-adolescence rather than childhood, for me it is Guy Gavriel Kay's works (particularly the Fionavar Trilogy) that come off the shelf at least every two or three years for a re-read. There is the food for the imagination, but what I have always appreciated is his sense of the role of faith in the lives of people.