Comments on: Nicholas and William

By: harry b

harry b — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 03:04:22 +0000

molesworth is unifying CT theme. As, I now suspect, is stephen potter. If you do a serarch you will find that CB does a pitch perfect impressian of molesworth..

By: Tassled Loafered Leech

Tassled Loafered Leech — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 00:54:11 +0000

I favor Nigel Molesworth, Esq.

By: Doug K

Doug K — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 18:58:04 +0000

Ingrid, my son drew me a painstaking portrait of Tintin for Father’s Day.. actually the day after, as on FD we were on a canoeing trip in darkest Wyoming. He always wants to run the canoe through the wildest part of the rapids, but on FD he told me, “today you can run any part of the rapid you like”.

I have a my childhood copy of Just William loitering on the bookshelf, haven’t opened it in decades. I’ll try it again.

By: double-plus-ungood

double-plus-ungood — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 20:01:00 +0000

William’s failure to become popular in America (though successful everywhere else) has always bemused me —I have yet to meet an American who didn’t love the books once they’ve been introduced to them, and I’ve met enough 10-year-old Americans to know that William is not a uniquely English type.

I’ve recently been buying various Williams in paperback, although I retain several of the hardbacks from my youth (the oldest is an extremely battered 1951 reprint of William The Bad, inscribed to “Heather Roy, with love from Uncle Jimmy”, and then “Form III” inscribed beneath that, making me wonder if I swiped it from Form III).

I tried reading several stories aloud to both children and partner (all Canadian), and was pleased to find that they hold up well, both across time and culture.

By: Patrick S. O'Donnell

Patrick S. O'Donnell — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 14:17:26 +0000

By way of confession I might have said that any vague sense of disapproval I’ve also entertained for Father’s Day (in addition to the commercialism) is owing to the fact that, comparatively speaking, I deserve little recognition for having played the role of ‘father’ so poorly. In our household Mother’s Day is rightly seen as the more significant and celebratory of the two days. Alas, I suspect I’m not alone in this regard.

By: Patrick S. O'Donnell

Patrick S. O'Donnell — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 13:54:33 +0000

‘newfangled fake traditions:’ delightful expression that…of course the ‘invention’ of traditions is rather commonplace (hence the volume edited by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger: The Invention of Tradition, 1983). What is of particular interest is the sort of criteria one might employ to determine the ‘authenticity’ (i.e. the extent to which a tradition is ‘not fake’) of a given (invented) tradition. So, for instance, while Father’s day in the UK may be a product of US export and the consequence of commercial marketing, one wonders if the passage of time might serve to ameliorate the effects of such ‘newfangled fakery,’ thereby assimilating Father’s day to Mothering Sunday in the sense that the mere passage of time somehow serves to ‘sanctify’ that which, owing to its ‘newfangled fakery,’ was heretofore profane. This might be analogous to the manner in which the internal structure or content of a ritual may remain relatively constant, but its ‘meaning’ may dramatically change owing to changes in the nature of the surrounding context. Lord knows I cringe when thinking of how Labor Day (an exquisite example of a ‘newfangled fake tradition’) in the states is thought to have supplanted international May Day (1889). This is all-the-more intriguing in light of the fact that the Abrahamic religions often appropriated festival days of agricultural/seasonal/lunar provenance….

By: harry b

harry b — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 13:45:39 +0000

Yes, the Martin Jarvis tapes of William are terrific; and the adaptations he made have been published as shorter, easier-to-read, and still (despite the amazon reviews) excellent versions for younger children; eg here.

I think CB has articulated my disapproval for me.

NO, fatwhiteduke, you were right the first time; Darbyshire it is. I think Jennings might merit a follow-up post. Like you, I was obssessed with Jennings, but not only had no desire to go to borading school but thought they should be abolished (as, to his credit, did Buckeridge, a lifelong socialist).

Tintin is the other comic to receive the spousal seal of approval!

By: Cian

Cian — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 09:30:32 +0000

The BBC tapes of Just William are quite excellent (Martin Jarvis reading).

By: Chris Bertram

Chris Bertram — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 08:56:12 +0000

Father’s Day (an institution of which I faintly disapprove for no reason that I can articulate)

I think I can guess at what it might be. When I was a child (shortly before, but not long before Harry) there wasn’t really a Father’s Day in the UK. There was either Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day (depending on which class fraction you belonged too). I think Father’s day in the UK is both a US import and the result of commercial promotion and it certainly doesn’t have the long history that Mothering Sunday has. So anyone with a dislike of newfangled fake traditions is going to feel a sense of disapproval.

By: ingrid

ingrid — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 08:35:47 +0000

I agree with Yabonn (at 1). When I was about 13, and failed an exam in French, my parents bought me a pile of Asterix & TinTin books—a rather effective way to make a child (more) interested in French !

Would you still disapprove of father’s day if it didn’t come with this commercial circus ? We celebrate these days wihtout buying stuff – except perhaps buying pencils and paper with which children draw their most beautiful portrait of their father, or something else.

By: fatwhiteduke

fatwhiteduke — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 03:58:34 +0000

… should be Derbyshire, of course…

By: fatwhiteduke

fatwhiteduke — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 03:57:25 +0000

Just William? God help me, I helplessly loved Jennings and Darbyshire as a child. Event though I was horrified by the idea of ever being sent to a boarding school. Even now, I can’t quite admit they weren’t as good as William… :)

By: Patrick S. O'Donnell

Patrick S. O'Donnell — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 01:45:30 +0000

The Puritans were, on occasion, quiet insightful with regard to the spiritual life, but what is quoted here, while true—ideally, in theory—fails to account for human frailty and features of (spiritual) moral psychology. For instance, while all Buddhists should at all times observe the ‘Five Precepts’ (refrain from harming living creatures, etc.) special days—holy days—are set aside for their ‘observance.’ In effect, this serves as a reminder, an opportunity to renew or enhance one’s resolve or commitment to the precepts. It does not mean that their observance is literally confined to this special day. One might understand holidays like Mothers’ or Fathers’ Day in a similar fashion: the really unfortunate aspect of such days is of course their thorough commercialization, the suffusion of Arnoldian sweetness and light with rather crass cultural commodification.

By: y81

y81 — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 01:09:41 +0000

We don’t celebrate Father’s Day. As the Puritans said, “Those for whom all days are holy have no holidays,” and, in our house, every day is father’s day.

Articulate enough?

By: Patrick S. O'Donnell

Patrick S. O'Donnell — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 01:02:11 +0000

Our son, now 24 and our daughter having just turned 18, I’m nonetheless tempted to go out and buy these books (perhaps for someone else’s childeren…or in slightly apprehensive anticipation of grandchildren—the former is engaged after all)! I have fond (nostalgic?) memories of reading stories to them that I may have enjoyed as much or more than they did. And maybe that’s one reason we’ve held onto a handful of their old books (not a few of which are worthy of the Arts & Crafts movement).

Thanks.