(no subject)

[steepholm]

Comment with the words "Top Ten" or "Top Five", and I will reply with a subject for which you will generate a top ten (or top five) list. Post the list and instructions in your own journal.

I've never done a meme before, so let's find out if it suits me. At first I was tempted to read this (from lillabularo) as an invitation to list the top five books I'd written, but that would be putting the 'Me! Me!' into meme perhaps a little too stridently. Nor do I have the chutzpah to list the Top Five children's books ever, since there are so many classics I haven't even read. So this is just a list of the books that do it for me personally.


The Owl Service, by Alan Garner. The book that reinvented children's fantasy. No quest, no dark lord, no prophecies, no kings in need of restoration, no spells, no portals, no wishes granted - and a Chosen One only in the sense that character is fate. It's also a modernist classic, forty years too late. 

The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper. A wonderful and deceptively simple conception, and a profound feeling for place and myth, which magickified the Thames Valley for me (something that had never seemed likely before).

Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones. Not a typical DWJ book, but my favourite all the same. I love it for its subtle interleaving of the magical and the quotidian, the mythic and the mundane, which strikes me as absolutely true to life (in all the important ways...) It's also a great take on the 'Tam Lin' ballad, for those who are fans of that story, of whom I am one.

The Changeover, by Margaret Mahy. This book keeps going in and out of print, but I see it's just come back in, so I'm celebrating! Like Fire and Hemlock it's a supernatural romance and magical coming-of-age story, but is different in almost every other way. But DWJ and Mahy both produced some wonderful books in the early-mid '80s, as witnessed by the fact that they've shared the ChLA's Phoenix award for the last few years. This is Mahy's finest, IMHO: it uses witchcraft in a way that's since become perhaps a little cliched, post-Buffy - but this is the original and best.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis. My favourite of the Narnia books. No apocalypse or battles, but an Odyssean journey to the world's utter east, in the company of the more companionable Pevenseys - and Reepicheep!

Comments

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Go on then - Top Five.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Okay! At the risk of sowing domestic discord - the Top Five dishes you have ever been cooked by mraltariel.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

1. Birthday baklava

2. Chicken soup when I was sick

3. Salad of rocket and pine kernels with balsamic vinegar that made gair and Gerald whimper when it was put in front of them

4. My first proper curries (sausage) when we hardly had two 10p pieces to rub together, one of which was so hot I had to go and have a lie down for a bit

5. The first Christmas dinner we had when we decided to have our own at home and not go to family

[altariel.livejournal.com]

(That was the curries that were hot, not the 10p pieces.)

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Just realized I didn't include any Tove Jansson - aaagh!! But it's too late now...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

You could always do a Top Ten...

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Oh that way madness lies...

[emmaco.livejournal.com]

I'm not looking for a list topic, but just wanted to say you have excellent taste in books. Meaning, of course, that my list would be quite similar :) I'll go and think about what I'd have instead of the Garner (although The owl service is my favourite of his books).

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested to know what you come up with!

[scholars-blog.livejournal.com]

Nice list... I'd go with all of those choices... Although I'd at least another 5 ! ;-D

Michele

Top Ten

[scholars-blog.livejournal.com]

(Darn my brain ! I forgot the subject... *Kicks self*)

Re: Top Ten

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

This one's easy: top ten Doctor Who adventures.

Re: Top Ten

[scholars-blog.livejournal.com]

Ooh easy peasy !! ;-D They're all New Who episodes and because three are 2-parters, I've only listed 8 (yes, I know that makes 11 - so sue me !)

1 - Army of Ghosts/Doomsday
2 - The Girl in the Fireplace
3 - School Reunion
4 - The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
5 - The Unquiet Dead
6 - The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
7 - The Idiot's Lantern
8 - Tooth and Claw

I'm very proud of the fact that there are THREE Chris Eccleston/Ninth Doctor episodes in that list (5 and 6 on the list) !

Michele

Re: Top Ten

[scholars-blog.livejournal.com]

Had a horrible realisation at 5 am - I forgot to list "Father's Day" ! I'm so ashamed of myself. Revised list looks like this:

1 - Army of Ghosts/Doomsday
2 - The Girl in the Fireplace
3 - School Reunion
4 - The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
5 - Father's Day
6 - The Unquiet Dead
7 - The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
8 - Tooth and Claw

Re: Top Ten

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the clarification - and I note that you are now up to FOUR Ecclestone episodes (are you sure of your loyalty to David Tennant?). Sorry to have given you even a moment's meme-related insomnia, though.

Re: Top Ten

[scholars-blog.livejournal.com]

Oh I was already awake (I wake at 4.30 am after all!) so no insomnia was involved in the making of this list ! *grins*

Yes I'm up to four Eccleston episodes (five if you count the double episode as two) - but don't forget there are three Tennant double episodes there too ! And if I'd actually listed 10, there'd have been more of Ten, so yes, I'm sure of my devotion ! *winks*

Michele