Ex ante

I'm pleased to advise that I continue to sleep well, without needing sleeping aids. Thankfully the bedroom is air conditioned, as it continues to be hot, humid and sticky overnight. This Ottawa summer weather reminds me of growing up in the tropics, minus the mosquito netting that hung over the bed. My tummy is settling better, and except for the pain in my back, we're on a positive trajectory. My physiotherapist discharged me today, sadly not because I'm healed, but because she can not do any more until my back heals; probably another 2- 3 months, so I will be re-enrolled when that happens.  I give you a starving and neglected puppy who was unable to mooch part of my sandwich which had hot chili peppers in it, so I didn’t want him to have any.  I’m being shunned as a bad parent for eating something that the little dog can’t share! 😂

I dug out and am re-reading some of my old Enid Blyton books. I know, they're intended for tweens at the oldest. But the stories remain endearing. I am going through the "Mystery" books now-with the five Find-Outers (and Dog) in sequence. To me, the stories essentially hold up more than 75 years later. The mysteries are solvable with logic that is accessible to 10-and 12-year olds and the plots are - mostly - plausible Although, frankly the disguises are a bit OTT as is the shocking lack of adult supervision.

I know that her books have been identified as controversial. for racism, sexism, stereotyping and banality. There have been several attempts to change them, ban them or otherwise sanitize them. Personally, I disagree with these on the grounds that I don't approve of censorship. It's one thing to update language in a book so that the story flows-for example, replacing old English currency (Pounds, shillings and pence) with decimal currency. It's another thing to decide to ban a book because it portrays a girl as liking homemaking. It's far preferable to have a conversation with the real girl who's reading the story to learn her interests. She may want to be the next Martha Stewart-minus jail time-in which case the domestic focus is all to the good. Myself, I find the "I don't want to be a girl" mindset considerably more troublesome, especially as it shows the girl thinking that boys were superior because they are boys.

I didn't develop racist or sexist thinking from reading those books; nor can anyone demonstrate a single case where someone learned that behaviour from a children’s book!  I do understand what her critics mean by their objections. In much the same way I didn’t t think that science was off limits even though the books and stories featured only men in named roles. If a woman ever appeared, she was very much supporting cast who would show up with cigarettes, whiskey and then vanish quickly. I can name only 1 female character in my science fiction books; Dr. Susan Calvin, who was a psychologist for robots, very unattractive and intimidating to men. I was reading these since I was about 9 or 10, so my tastes were shaped early.. I think that I made several mental distinctions to explain the lack of female characters in my reading. I didn't enjoy the movies or TV shows that adapted the books. I still don't like them. My more recent reads have a more even distribution of men and women, and the story didn't lose anything from the increase in female characters.

I'm not sure if my tastes have matured, they have changed a bit over time. Most of the books I enjoyed as a teen or in my 20's I still enjoy now on re-reads. Some are challenging in their language, but the stories still work. I have noticed the distressing lack of female characters, and it now seems glaring. But I won't call for the cancellation of the books! Incidentally, if I hear of a book being banned, then I definitely want to read it ASAP!

What books do you still read from your teens or early 20's? Do they still hold up? Have you reread any "classic" tales (like Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels or Pinocchio?) I've read most of them a long time ago, and I may do a reread next year. Good night, all!