on the heels of the last one

[slammerkinbabe]

But oo oo oo, I have a more interesting poll! That is to say, it's more interesting to me. That is to say... oh, hell with it.

It's the battle of the children's books! And Lord of the Rings. Um, so most of these are fantasy novels, but some are not; most are series, but some are not; most are at least somewhat specific (i.e., a specific novel or series) but sometimes it's a question about an author's general body of work. I don't know, do the best you can. It's not a perfect survey, as if one were to get nitpicky one could argue that it's hard to evaluate an author's body of work as if it were all of a piece, as it is often not. But none of you are going to get nitpicky, right? Because you love me. And because this is a stupid poll.

I never claimed to be... anything, really. In the last five minutes, anyway, and that's about the expiration date on any of my sentences, as I am flighty and whimsical and - damn! I just claimed to be flighty and whimsical.

Um, never mind? Vote in the poll? I'ma go hide now.

ETA: OMG how did I forget Madeleine L'Engle? I must go die of shame now. You can tell me which you prefer in the comments if you want.

[Poll #533240]

Comments

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Well, I picked Castle in the Attic over HP because I'm thinking it is this one book I really loved, but I'm not sure. Is it the book where the boy has this toy soldier, and it comes to life and then he finds himself in this castle that was a toy they played with during the day?

Because that was an awesome book.

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

Sort of... he has a toy knight and it comes to life in the castle, and he has a nanny who is leaving and he wants her to stay with him, so he does some kind of magic to make her small and put her in the castle. And then he figures out that was mean and he has to save her, so he has to get small and go into the castle too and do some magic stuff, I forget exactly what. I liked it a lot when I was a kid.

[weill.livejournal.com]

Prefer Madeleine L'Engle. By far.

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

It's certainly more tightly plotted and much much much more philosophically interesting.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Madeleine L'Engle is better than Harry Potter, though "better" only as defined by plotting and depth of, er, thoughts provoked. Harry Potter has better characters, I think, and that's the real gift; the stories, while delightful, don't have layers and layers of contemplative depth like L'Engle.

[ruedifference.livejournal.com]

This was difficult, because while I certainly enjoy HP, I'm not entirely sure how much of that enjoyment is fandom-related, as opposed to just liking the books.

Harry Potter or The Indian in the Cupboard?
*laughs*
I totally scoffed out loud at this. I adore Indian in the Cupboard. It wins my vote hands down. Or Narnia, for that matter. There is NOTHING that I would choose over Narnia. Except maybe L.M. Montgomery's works, and even then? It would be difficult.

Hee. I may have focused on Kids Lit in College. Maybe. ;)

[archaica.livejournal.com]

I just want to thank ludickid for being the only one besides me (so far) who thinks Earthsea is better than Harry Potter.

[shashalnikya.livejournal.com]

Madeline L'Engle, no contest.

I love love LOVE Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander's books. So good! And Robin McKinley is one my most favorite fantasy authors.

Best series (even after the crushing disappointment I felt when I found out it was a Christian allegory) is the Chronicles of Narnia. No contest.

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

I don't know, I have some issues with the characterizations in HP. Mostly that JKR seems to grab one character trait and run with it. So Harry's our brave hero; Hermione's the smart one; Ron's... actually, it doesn't entirely hold true for Ron, except that he's basically the trusty-rusty sidekick. McGonagall's the severe good-hearted one and Dumbledore, at least until Book 5, was the all-seeing all-knowing wise one (5 did complicate his character in rather interesting ways...) Draco's evil, his sidekicks are stupid and evil. So on and so forth. There are a lot of stock characters running around, when you think about it. The most interesting one is Snape, and that's only because we keep being told that he's good even though he consistently acts freakin' evil. Black was very interesting, actually, but then Rowling killed him.

I'm not sure what the point of this comment was.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Oh. Not the same book.

*Looks it up*

My book was called Knight's Castle and it is about Four cousins, Roger, Ann, Eliza, and Jack, have an extraordinary summer when, after an old toy soldier comes to life, they find themselves transported back to the days of Robin and Ivanhoe.

It's by Edward Eager who should totally be on your poll, because he wrote some wonderful fantasy stories.

And Elizabeth Enright was awesome too

And Ruth Chew.

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

How come you were crushingly disappointed? (This may or may not be a sly way of getting a better sense of your religious views.)

(Which I could just ask. But it's more fun to do it through kids' lit.)

[archaica.livejournal.com]

See even though Lewis is using the Hammer of Doom I don't mind. I mean, I don't know that I want to argue *for* heavy-handed Christian allegory. But in this case, I'll let it slide.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

True. And yet, it's the quirks of speech and reaction that make them *more* than stock characters, if that makes sense. They're all very vividly drawn, for all that they really are each variations on a single theme.

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

My gawd, I feel so illiterate. If you had said, The Wednesday Witch by Ruth Chew, then I could have said I had read something besides HP.

I need to go to the library.

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

This is true... I was trying to figure out a way to express that, but then I gave up because it wasn't central to my main point and the phone was ringing. You got it. :)

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

I think there's a generation gap in this poll that betrays that I only know kids' lit that was big when I was a kid. charliesmum said the same thing, you'll note.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

OK, just so you know, now you've caused us to get divorced. :)

(HP over Indian?!!)

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

The Wednesday Witch was my fave as a child. I think I had 3 copies of it.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

OMG!!!eleventyone! I LOVED Ruth Chew. You're the first person I've heard speak of her, besides me. Did you read The Upside Witch? And, um...well I forget the title but there was a wizard involved and the two kid's inflatable pool turned into an ocean everytime they got into it and there was another one that had a drawer full of magical objects and...I'll shut up now.

Yay! Ruth Chew.

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

LOL! Oh, please do reconcile, I will feel guilty...

[lietya.livejournal.com]

oh, good. :) I didn't think we really disagreed by much!

...I should reread Wrinkle In Time, etc. It's been too long.

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

I love hearing about these different authors but I feel so old.

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

I had them all at one time. Child of the Seventies, yo.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I didn't read it.... but I didn't read it because I tried and hated it. so, de facto, any book I could actually get through is better, IMO!

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I was totally kidding; I just amused him mightily when I yelped "You picked Harry Potter?!!"

(Although the strain of sharing a computer may yet be the doom of us. :) Gotta go so he can respond to people!)

(uh, yeah, I got out of work early today and we're both home.)

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Love your icon.

I am also a child of the 70's. (teenager of the 80's) Did you watch Land of the Lost, too?

[idonotlikepeas]

http://www.weeklylowdown.com/pottertaran.shtml

(Also, L'Engle. :) And you forgot 'His Dark Materials".)

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

My favorite is A Swiftly Tilting Planet, in truth.

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

I think it's more that my LJ is full of babies. :)

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

"Marshall, Will and Holly, on a routine expidition..." I think Holly made me gay, or at least "ADULT" Holly did.

I watched them all. Sigmund and the Sea Monster, Lidsville, HR Puffenstuff.

I graduated in 1984. My icon is my first grade pic.

Mind if I friend you?

[halfacricket.livejournal.com]

For good reason. That was my absolute favorite book for a long time. I still re-read it whenever I can.

[shashalnikya.livejournal.com]

Well, I just wanted it to be itself, you know. At the end, I felt like some annoying adult had been trying to Teach me Something throughout the book. But then I was able to put it behind me.

I've had moments of spirituality, some Christian and some not. At this point I'm not a particularly religious person.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Yay! New friend! Shall friend back forthwith!

I graduated in 1985. Just had my 20th reunion.

I loved Holly in LOTL. Wanted to BE Holly. Remember the episode where she met her older self?

Do you remember the Kroft Superstar Power Hour? With Elecro Woman and Dyno Girl?

Ahem.

[rackletang.livejournal.com]

You forgot one option, just for me. I have never read any Harry Potter.

Seen the first two movies. Never read a single book.

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

I remember them all. Bionic Woman, Six-Million Dollar Man, Apples Way, The Waltons....good times :)

Re: Ahem.

[slammerkinbabe.livejournal.com]

You know, I started to put that option on each question, and then I was like, but, wait. If someone's not read Harry Potter then they can't answer any of the questions and so should not take the poll.

See, I ain't so dumb. ;)

Re: Ahem.

[rackletang.livejournal.com]

I still say Susan Cooper blows 'em all out of the water.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

well, that was included in the "etc." :) As I recall, that one was my favorite, too.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Hey! YOU'RE a baby! :) to me, anyway....

[october31st.livejournal.com]

1. I like the HP books overall better than Narnia, but the atmosphere is so amazing in Narnia it was really hard to choose (the nigh-fundie message is a putoff in some of the later books), and 2. haven't read Diana Wynne Jone, but if HMC is half as amazing as the movie it may be another tough decision.

[idonotlikepeas]

I voted for Earthsea, too. I mean, damn.

Re: Ahem.

[idonotlikepeas]

Testify! :)

[idonotlikepeas]

I had a similar reaction. Particularly in the later books, where he became so much more blatant about it; once you get down to virtually quoting passages from the Bible and sticking them in the mouths of talking animals, you've lost your touch.

[beeeeeep.livejournal.com]

Edward Eager! Oh, wow, I loved his books. Half Magic was, I think, my favorite. I also remember really liking the one when the same kids from Half Magic (who are the parents of Roger Ann Eliza Jack? maybe.) go to the lake for the summer and find the magical turtle. I can't remember the title, but it might be Magic by the Lake.

I'm going to have to raid my sister's bookshelves and reread all these now.

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

See, I agree with this (and that there are a LOT of stereotypes in the books). Fat people in Rowling are never good--they're always bumbling and/or evil. And once characters are defined, they're defined (except for the Dumbledore exception you mentioned).

Whereas, Madeleine L'Engle's characters are REAL--they make mistakes, they do stupid things, are awkward, wonderful, quixotic...complex. Diana Wynne Jones's magical world (at least in the Chrestomanci books) is just as interesting as HP, but again doesn't get the press.

A friend of mine suggests that the mania for HP is based around modern society's need for culturally significant major events...ie that we need connection and community and don't find it in our everyday compartmentalized lives, so must seek it out in Big Moments like the release of a book, or outpourings of grief over a person we've never met.

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

See, I knew it was Christian allegory most of the time and wasn't too bothered. I don't think he was trying to foist his views on other people, but perhaps tell a rather universal sounding story in a different way.

It still doesn't bother me and I'm a lot more wary of Christianity now than I was as a kid (and the child of missionaries)--I still love the basic stories.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

I remember the one with the magic turtle! The girls wish they could be grown up, and turn into teenagers and, since it was the twenties, said things like 23-skidoo, or something.

E Nesbit is another good one.

I could talk about this for days, can you tell?