"It was seven o'clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee hills when Father Wolf woke up from his day's rest, scratched himself, yawned, and spread out his paws one after the other to get rid of the sleepy feeling in their tips. Mother Wolf lay with her big gray nose dropped across her four tumbling, squealing cubs, and the moon shone into the mouth of the cave where they all lived."
But I do remember that it was just this edition I had (from the library, I’d imagine), a copy of which I managed to pick up at a boot sale last summer. The story entranced me, and I can still remember my disappointment on being taken to see the Disney version - this wasn't THE Jungle Book! This was a travesty!
Other film versions have come and gone (Korda's was a brave but ultimately unsuccessful try) and one can only imagine what today's CGI could achieve, but, inevitably, any such film would be subject to so much cutting of 'unsuitable' scenes (Mowgli's rescue from the Bandar-Log would be too bloody, the letting in of the Jungle scenes almost certainly too 'racist') that it would be ruined just as surely as the others.
I originally bought this version just for the nostalgia value, and for the wonderful illustrations by Stuart Tresilian, and because it was the book that I remembered reading (I have other editions lurking around, and thanks to e-readers, all out of copyright classic books are usually now available at the touch of a button).
I originally bought this version just for the nostalgia value, and for the wonderful illustrations by Stuart Tresilian, and because it was the book that I remembered reading (I have other editions lurking around, and thanks to e-readers, all out of copyright classic books are usually now available at the touch of a button).
But then a blogpost by Neal Asher, about the covers to classic books he’d read as a child, made me think about those books I had read that I do still occasionally pull out to read again.
So that’s the reason for this year’s series. To take a look back at some of the classic - and not so classic! - books I've read throughout the years.
So that’s the reason for this year’s series. To take a look back at some of the classic - and not so classic! - books I've read throughout the years.
Some are the original battered old paperbacks, some have been newly purchased via boot sales or eBay, but they are all books I treasure, for one reason or another.
There might be surprises ahead...
Oh, memories and thank you for finding this nugget, Julia. I must, to quote the Terminator, 're-acquire' it.
ReplyDeleteAny chance of locating The Big Book of Trains?
Great idea for a series of posts, Julia. I will follow this with interest. But if you think that the Disney Jungle Book was a travesty, imagine the heartache of seeing the next generation growing up with the Disney Pooh when you remember the subtle, gentle and kindly artwork of E H Shephard.
ReplyDelete"Mr Shephard helpt." Didn't he just.
I'll look forward to this, Julia!
ReplyDeleteA great man, Kipling - much traduced by the PC imbeciles, few of whom will have bothered to read him.
WV 'inciast' - it deserves to be a word, doesn't it?
I still have "Little Black Sambo" probably get the midnight knock from the thought police for having that one!
ReplyDeleteTTFN ;)
It's the cover art that's so evocative. It was of a style, and all the books I had as a young child (early 50s) were in that same style. They promised adventure, far off places, deep mysteries. To my febrile young mind, they were portals to another world.
ReplyDeleteYes, an interesting subject matter.
Here is an interesting exposition of why one picture is so good, so Tresilian, and the other is so awkward.
ReplyDeleteTurns out Mowgli's lack of clothes has been causing problems in illustration for a long time.
http://www.p-synd.com/wild/picture.htm
There is a clever little animation (scroll down) which shows how the artist had to fit a new pose in to exactly the same space at the request of the publisher.
"Any chance of locating The Big Book of Trains?"
ReplyDeleteWith boot sales, one never says never.. ;)
"But if you think that the Disney Jungle Book was a travesty, imagine the heartache of seeing the next generation growing up with the Disney Pooh when you remember the subtle, gentle and kindly artwork of E H Shephard."
Oh, I know! Luckily, there was a craze a while back for prints featuring the original artwork for nursery & children's books. I still see it at boot sales.
"A great man, Kipling - much traduced by the PC imbeciles.."
Indeed! Try as they might, they can't dent his popularity though.
"I still have "Little Black Sambo".."
ReplyDeleteI think that one's undergoing a bit of a revival, like golliwogs!
"It's the cover art that's so evocative. It was of a style, and all the books I had as a young child (early 50s) were in that same style. They promised adventure, far off places, deep mysteries. "
Yup! A far cry from the mundane cover art of today's books.
"There is a clever little animation (scroll down) which shows how the artist had to fit a new pose in to exactly the same space at the request of the publisher."
That's a fascinating site! I did love the various foreign version of the book covers; some were rather odd indeed!
Interesting that most depict Baloo as a European brown bear, when of course he would have been an Indian sloth bear.