The dark is (re)reading

[dolorosa_12]

Thirty Day Book Meme Day 21: Summer Winter read

I've made the decision to change this to winter, because I can't think of any specifically summery, holiday-type books that I would make a point of reading at that time. Generally in the summer holidays I read a lot, but it tends to be new or new-to-me books, rather than going back to old favourites.

In winter, however, it's a different story. The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper is one book that seems made for rereading in the depths of midwinter — especially given how rooted in a time it is, those few days in the lead-up to Christmas and the new year, the snow and bare trees and Christmas decorations of a rural English Christmas so lovingly described. I reread it often at that time of year, and I frequently find myself writing Yuletide fic for the The Dark Is Rising fandom, so it's very much a feature of late December to me. A couple of years ago, RobGMacfarlane instigated a Twitter bookclub to reread the book, and share thoughts under the #thedarkisreading hashtag, which was lots of fun.


22. Out of print.
23. Made to read at school.
24. Hooked me into reading.
25. Never finished it.
26. Should have sold more copies.
27. Want to be one of the characters.
28. Bought at my fave independent bookshop.
29. The one I have reread most often.
30. Would save if my house burned down.

Do any of you have seasonal favourites, whether summer or winter?

Comments

[auroracloud]

Oh, I used to reread The Dark Is Rising every winter around Christmas, too - often I'd even try to match up the chapters with the calendar, so I'd read the Winter Solstice chapters on Winter Solstice etc. (it's possible to do this until the Boxing Day or so, after that the book stops keeping such a clear track of the passage of time). I stopped doing that regularly at some point, but sometimes I still enjoy picking it up near Christmas. Should perhaps give it a reread around the coming Christmas! It's such a lovely book.

[dolorosa_12]

It is just a wonderful book, and it's cosy enough to want to read during a holiday period, but eerie enough to suit the cold, stark weather. I don't regularly reread it every Christmas, but if I have the time to spare and nothing else to read, I always pick it up again.

[cahn]

I would read this every year at Christmas too! I usually snarfed the whole thing the night before Christmas (when as a kid I found it hard to sleep!) I haven't done this in a while, though -- maybe I should start it up again.

That series was probably the root of why I ended up doing that year of ASNaC... there were lots of other influences, of course! but that was the first root one.

[dolorosa_12]

I'm starting to think rereading The Dark Is Rising at Christmas is pretty common! I didn't do that initially because I grew up in Australia, and the weather was of course entirely wrong (indeed, although I've lived in the northern hemisphere for ten years now it still feels wrong that Christmas isn't in summer), but I've been doing so fairly regularly since I immigrated to the UK.

So many people got into ASNaC through books — for a lot of my friends, LoTR was the gateway drug, and I hear from lecturers in the department now that Game of Thrones or the Vikings TV series seem to be pushing people in a medieval direction...

[scripsi]

I was given The Dark Is Rising at Christmas when I was eleven. I still remember the experience of reading this particular book during the winter holidays that year, and I returned to it over Christmas many times.

I should re-read it. my copy is the Swedish translation- I should read it in English.

[dolorosa_12]

Oh wow, so you got it at Christmas, and you were the same age as Will! How perfectly serendipitous!

I've only ever read it in English, but the language is gorgeous. Simple, in that it's a children's book, but resonant and beautiful enough to evoke the undercurrent of eerie, uncanny melancholy that runs throughout the entire series.

[scripsi]

Nowadays I always read books written in English in English, but not when I was a kid. I'm sure the translation is good because the translator was well known as one of the best, but I feel you always lose something in translation. So it would be nice to read it as it was written. :)

[dolorosa_12]

Oh, that's completely understandable. I think my husband read a lot of children's fantasy novels in German originally (he is German), and he feels the same way about missing something by not reading them in the original language.