Do you remember your favorite childhood story? Was there one book, one character, one storyline that captivated you more than others? I like to think so.
Now, I'm not so much talking about stories you liked as a toddler or preschooler; I'm talking about stories that you just seemed to gravitate to as an eight or ten year old, when you were old enough to have (a tiny bit) of discernment, but young enough that your imagination still ran rampantly wild.
For some of us, it may be a fairytale, one of the familiar classics like Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella or the Prince and the Pauper or Jack and the Beanstalk. For some, it may be a broader story, a cultural legend mashed with history like Paul Bunyan or Davy Crockett or Annie Oakley or King Arthur. Maybe it's a staple of classic literature, like Huck Finn or Oliver Twist or...you get the idea. I hope. I hope you're resonating with this. Either that, or you're thinking I've gone 'round the bend (again).
Whatever your story, it affected you more strongly than any other--it seized your imagination somehow. You dreamed it, played it, asked for dress-up outfits...
And if your attachment was particularly strong, you still find a corner of your adult brain reserved for that story. It is part of the hundred things that shaped you into the person you are today.
What is my story? I bet you're wondering, by now. Fine. I'll tell you. It's Robin Hood. (Is anyone surprised?) I don't even know the first time I heard the tale.
You know what gripped me? Not Lady Marian, not the Norman/Saxon dispute, not even the robbing the rich to feed the poor. No, when I was about ten, it was all about two things: the forest and the archery.
And now...now I find it still holds me. All of it--all the hundred different retellings and variations and anomalies. If it's a movie, I see it. A book, I read it. It is a rich tapestry of legend, still growing and changing after however many hundred years. Action, romance, beautiful scenery, more action, smart alecks...what is possibly missing? (maybe personal hygiene, but whatcha gonna do?)
I'm still wondering what this all means, why it matters to me that I have a story, or why it matters to all of us to have one. I could throw out fancy words like archetype or collective cultural experience, but I'm just not in the mood. I might come back to this later. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
What's your story?
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2 comments:
Andy says his is Star Wars....or Indiana Jones...he saw them first at 7 or 8. I know they aren't classic books...but I think they count
Mine...hmmm I'm still thinking...
Rachel's for sure is Little House on the Praire...she loved the character of Laura and would dress up like her often. I know its not a fairytale, but she loved it.
I'll have to get back to you with mine...hmmmm
A classic writing here from a perspective mind. Now, you got me thinking too. :) I am including your link in my today's blogpost about life. And mentioning your blog. Liked the simple thought.
As for my story... I read a damn too lot... and still think that the books that influenced me, that bonded me to reading and writing in English forever is the most basic one. The Lady Bird books we were given to read from Kindergarten. In which Peter and Jane has someplace to go every day.
There aren't any stories in the books, but they were for language development and improving reading skills. But I still liked the nice real pictures and I liked to observe what they did. They might be visiting a farm, feeding the horses with apples, making a wooden boat or helping mom to make a cake.
But even as I read them, though I had no idea I was going to be a writer one day, I obvserved them as people and now that same thing I do, with the characters in my novel.
My affinity to western books, characters and settings began back then.
I don't clearly remember what I used to read at 7 and 8 that shaped me as a person, but there's a book that really changed my attitude and made me a better person, better daughter and lover. Summer Island by Kristin Hannah. It might be the only book that changed me even a little bit and I read it last year, not very long ago. :)
Sana
http://sanarosewrites.blogspot.com/
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