I am so proud of my little sister! Grace - 12 years old - recently finished reading Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South. She had never read anything this heavy or challenging before, but she made it, with no problems! (The fact that I had said she could watch N&S for the first time after - and only after - she'd read the book, probably egged her on a bit, too. ;-).
Inspired by her achievement, she is now reading Jane Eyre! And yes, I said that she had to read the book before she could watch the series. ;-) I stopped short of making Naomi read Bleak House before she watched it - I still haven't read Bleak House myself, so it would perhaps have slightly hypocritical of me. . .
Congratulations, Grace! (Read her review of N&S here.)
Other news: my 15-year-old brother is *finally* reading The Lord of the Rings! (And loving it, needless to say!) I've been trying to get him to read LOTR for years! I can't wait to watch the movies again - with my brother, for the first time! - when he finishes.
And. . . I'm making a Janeite of my two-year-old sister. No harm starting early, eh? "Mr. Darcy" - her name for P&P 1995 (you gotta admit, "Pride and Prejudice" is bit of a mouthful, especially for a two-year-old) is already one of her favourite movies. She squeals out "Oooh, look, it's Missar Darcy!" whenever he comes onscreen, and whenever there's dancing, she gets up and jumps and dances around the room!
And I shouldn't close without mentioning what was perhaps the single greatest triumph of my literary life - getting my teenage brother to read Pride and Prejudice. (He liked it, too!) I'm telling you, it warmed the cockles of my book-loving heart.
PS - of course the title for this post was tongue-in-cheek. The love of books - as with all kinds of love - cannot be forced, though it can be nurtured and encouraged.
7 comments:
+JMJ+
Oh, I know all about "forcing" younger siblings to love books. =P My brothers and I did quite a bit of reading last summer, and I was feeling optimistic about being able to continue even during the school year . . . but everyone is just so tired after work and school that it isn't possible. =( At least, not without some real forcing on my part--which, of course, I don't want to do.
You and your siblings are quite lucky to be homeschooled! All that time to read must be great. =)
Ah, that gives me hope that I can get my brother to read it!!
Enbrethiliel - true, we are very blessed to be homeschooled!
Lady Helen - don't give up hope! :-)
Obi-Wan has taught you well! :D
Oh, while I remember, if you're into blog awards at all, there's one for you here! :)
Thanks, Traxy! :-)
I happy for you, and I know what a triumph it feels like to get your teenage brother reading books. Recently I've got my 14 year old brother to read Tom Sawyer and Huk Fin. He loved then though he would hardly admit it and now he is reading more and even came in my room the other day to get a book to read from my two big book shelves. :D
hi!
my sisters and I enjoy reading those kind of books too and I've been searching about period dramas (my new found adiction) and found out your blog, would you mind if I put a link to it in mine?
Im not a native speaker of the english and I could use the practice while i enjoy the reading :)
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