I’m living the bachelor life for the next three days. My wife and son will be relaxing at the cabin while I stay in the city and go to work. Being thrust back into the bachelor life, its got me thinking about being a grown-up. For instance, being a grown-up means one shouldn’t eat a whole box of President’s Choice Louisiana-style Hot-wings dipped in blue cheese dressing all by one’s self. That’s just not right. A grown-up should not be doing that.
Anyway, these thoughts of grown-up-ness (or lack thereof — maybe it’s just maleness) reminded me of a list I wanted to generate, Books I Never Read When I Was a Kid and Wish I Had. “Kid” being defined for this list’s purposes as below the age of eighteen. “Grown-Up”, well, let’s decide that some other time, I don’t have the stomach for it.
Books I Never Read When I Was a Kid and Wish I Had
- A Wrinkle In Time
- Lloyd Alexander’s The Chronicles of Prydain
- Peter Pan
- Don Quixote
- The Lord of The Rings (shocking, I know, I only liked The Hobbit)
- Robinson Crusoe
- The Jungle Book
- Watership Down
- Pretty much everything by G.K. Chesterton
- Ditto for Dostoevsky (I was boycotting pre-twentieth century fiction)
- More Ray Bradbury (that’s a good reading list item for any age)
And some of your suggestions
- Pride and Prejudice
- Great Expectations
- Anna Karenina
- The Wind in the Willows
- Something by Eleanor Farjeon
- The Princess Bride
Feel free to jog my memory with your own “wished I coulda read it” items in the comments section. If any of our missed ‘ems match up I’ll add them to the list.
I hope my wife left me Tums in the house.
I wish I’d had the patience to stick with Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, and Anna Karenina when I was in high school, instead of skimming them or not finishing them. I only just truly read them in the last few years, and I really missed out.
Hello Ian. I really enjoyed A Wrinkle In Time as a kid.
I also enjoyed this article and the box of wings!
Oh, oh, oh!!!! May I kindly add and introduce Eleanor Farjeon http://bindingink.blogspot.com/2006/09/come-read-with-me.html !!!
Yeah, I’m reading Watership now and really wishing I’d read it as a kid.
But then again I would’ve missed some of the nuance.
I’m working on The Wind in The Willows right now. Can’t believe I didn’t read it as a kid – excellent story.
Thanks for your suggestions (and comments), everyone. I’ve added them to the list.
Wow, is Don Quixote really a kids book? I tried picking it up recently and still couldn’t get into it!
I was a weird kid.
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Books I wish I had read as a child–The Princess Bride (far better than the movie). More Madeleine L’Engle.
Byron can’t add anything- he read everything ever published as a kid Ask him- he remembers them all. Word for word. With his exact thoughts upon reading them. As well as the foreward and dedication. Ask him. It is not weird now, but I praise God that I met him when he was older and got a bit of a tan from venturing outside.
Congrats on your $50 and free book. I think the bragging rights must be priceless.
Love to the munchkin and your gorgeous bride.
Kristal
I am so going to give him a monster literary quiz now, Kristal. And I’m adding The Princess Bride to my list. Thanks for stopping by!