Home life
Suitable for children
Alice Thomas Ellis
Iwent round the shelves today to remind myself of precisely what we have to offer in this line and decide whether they are all too hopelessly dated, and utterly irrelevant to the modern child. I still read William books myself when too tired to watch telly or if there's nothing on but chat shows or horrible old Mickey Spillane, but I suppose today's child might find the presence of maids and cooks a touch bewildering. I don't know. Angela Brazil was already out of style when I was a child so I don't expect my daughter to find any enjoyment in the Heroine of the Lower Fourth, nor in the unfortunately entitled The Queer New Girl. I have lost Castle Blair, and my book of Red Indian myths, but we still have The Gentle Heritage, the works of Mrs Moles- worth and Kenneth Grahame; Grimm, Edmund Dulac's Picture Book, and an edition of Perrault. Then we also have Aunt Louisa's Book of Fairy Tales, Told in the Gloaming, My Nursery Story Book, Blackie's Little One's Annual, Boys of the Bible, B.B.'s Fairy Book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Robinson Crusoe, Robin Hood, Gulliver's Travels etc, etc, etc. No need at all, one would think, to go out and buy new books but, just as they like the terrible noises they play on their ghetto-blasters, so today's young seem to need contemporary Children's books. Many of these are per- fectly splendid, I'm sure, but there are exceptions.
Janet and I were enchanted to discover, when we first visited the daughter's new convent school, that the library contained many of our own favourites. We could happily have sat down and whiled away the next few days re-reading half-forgotten volumes of poetry and adventure, and the headmistress let me borrow an Emily book by L.M. Montgomery which I had never read before. I wish we had had a look at the library in the comprehensive school from which I whisked the daughter away, before I had entrusted her to its care. The other day doing a desultory tidy I picked up a book called Forever by an American lady, with the daughter's name and form number (1R) written in a childish hand on the fly-leaf. The first line reads: 'Sybil Davison has a genius IQ and has been laid by at least six different guys.' She what?' I exclaimed aloud, my eyes starting from my head. I sat down and read further with what I think is described as mounting outrage. Cleland it isn't, but it's certainly trying. 8 'Janet,' I demanded, 'what is this?' `Oh,' said Janet, 'the English teacher at the comp. told her to read Judy Blume.' So I showed Janet a few of the choicer passages and she had to sit down too. She was very cross because she had plodded round Harrods innocently asking her little charge how many of the lady's works she would like; aware that it probably wasn't litera- ture, but blissfully oblivious of the fact that it was filthy. We are told that the author has 'now written books for young people of all ages, as well as one novel specifically for grown-ups', and I shudder to think what that must be like. Forever is described as a novel for young adults, which I suppose must be meant to imply that it's dirty but not very. I find the idea that 'young adults' need stuff like this specifically designed for them peculiarly offensive and mad. If they must learn about sex through books — and I sometimes wonder how the human race has managed to survive, much of it having been illiterate for centuries — then there are DIY books on the subject and there's always Fanny Hill which has some preten- sions to literature. The characters in For- ever are about as likable as the ones in Lace or Hollywood Wives and their minds simi- larly seem never to rise above their under- pants The language barrier poses some problems too. One passage reads: 'Would I make noises like my mother? I can always tell when my parents are making love because they shut their bedroom door after they think Jamie and I are asleep.' It goes on and ends: 'Sometimes I'll hear them laughing softly and other times my mother will let out these little moans or call Roger . . . Roger . . . Is she invoking the given name of her spouse, we speculate, or is she making suggestions? At this point outrage gives way to hysteria, especially when we note that the book is dedicated 'For Randy as promised . . . with love'.
Judy Blume is published in hardback by Gollancz and in paperback by Pan.
Previous page
