a trip through time
Jan. 26th, 2009 07:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardY'all are so lucky that my friends dragged me off when they did; you almost got subjected to a long rambling post wherein I tried to timeline out when exactly I read Narnia for the first time.
I just got back from the meeting I was at (Intensive Newcomb, a.k.a. the gender and sexuality studies club, wherein we watched Beyonce music videos and I tried really hard not to talk about genderfuck) and called my mother and together we reasoned it out.
I had the books read to me when I was in kindergarten -- 1995, a year that I was five. I don't know when I read them myself. It was probably around the same time that I had The Hobbit read to me, but after I had the entirety of Edgar Rice Burroughs' work read to me -- the reason we know it was 1995 is because Burroughs' last, unfinished book came out in 1995, and that was the last book my dad read to me.
I read LotR in 1999, the same year I read HP; I know I was reading Tamora Pierce in 2000 but not if that was the first time I was reading it (there was an earthquake this year; I remember I threw the book over my head before I got under the desk. It was one of the Circle of Magic books; I think it might have been Tris's Book or Sandry's Book but I'm not sure). I read Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles before I read Pierce, but I'm not sure when. I know I was reading Mercedes Lackey in 2000-2001 but not if I was beforehand. I know I was reading Diana Gabaldon in 2000-2001 as well (for, you know, the screwed up factor). I am almost positive I read Robin McKinley for the first time in 2000-2001 as well. (The reason I remember the 2000-2001 books is because that's the first time I had friends who were really into the same types of books as me.) I know I was reading Diana Wynne Jones in middle school, but not if I was reading it in elementary school as well. (My elementary school years: 1995-2001. My middle school years: 2001-2004. My high school years: 2004-2008. For age reference, I was born in January of 1990.)
Wait. I had to be reading Jones in elementary school; I have a new hardback edition (well, it was new at the time) of Year of the Griffin, and that came out in 2000.
I also read pretty much the entirety of Nancy Drew at some point in time; we bought them in the Costco sixpacks and I'd read them on the way from Ellensburg to my grandmother's house in West Seattle and I'd have four or five out of the six read. Which means that that was sometime after we moved to Ellensburg but before my grandmother moved to Bremerton; I don't remember the year. 2001, maybe? Or 2003?)
I know I read Marion Zimmer Bradley in middle school; I may or may not have read her in elementary school; I know for sure that I read The Mists of Avalon in middle school.
Obviously there were other authors, but I'm relatively sure they didn't make as much of an impression. (I did read Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons at some point, too.)
I was pretty much raised on the Greek myths and Edgar Rice Burroughs, as well as the children's editions of all these classic novels (Treasure Island, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.). I can't seem to find the editions online.
I did not have any real concept of Christianity probably until the later part of my middle school years; I remember because LotR was in theatres and there were a lot of newspaper articles about the religious motifs in that, and Narnia was brought up there, probably because it was coming out fairly soon afterwards. I can tell you that the day I learned that LWW was being made into a movie I was friggin' ecstatic, and I bounced up to one of my best friends, a fellow writer, and happily burbled the news to her. Her reaction: "I've never read Narnia."
So there went that.
I don't think I really understood Narnia as Christian metaphor until after LWW came out and I went looking for fic, and post-LWW fic did tend to be much more religious than post-PC fic. (Or at least it was in the circles I was reading, which was Peter/Susan.)
The first time I had Christianity shoved at me was, I think, in first or second grade? There was one of those horse books -- yes, I went through that stage too -- where there was a very recalcitrant stallion named Satan, and I liked the way the name sounded. And I told one of my friends, and she told me I was going to hell.
And then in, I think, second or third grade, another friend tried to teach me how to pray. It clearly did not stick. The hardcore paganism kicked in around middle school, but I don't think I had a good idea of what Christianity was about, probably not until early high school.
I think I read S.M. Stirling in 2002 or 2003. (I'm trying to date books from when I remember reading them for the first time as new editions and when they came out.) George R.R. Martin's much harder to date, since there's so long between his books, but I know that AFfC came out in 2005 and I bought it as soon as it did, so I'm going to guess I started reading Martin in 2004. It's harder for me to guess when I started reading Dennis Lehane, but I'm going to say probably around 2004, if not later. I know I read Lehane after the move Mystic River had already came out, but I don't remember if Shutter Island had just come out in paperback or hardcover.
I entered fandom in 2001 following the release of the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; I don't think the first fanfic I read is online anymore. I was hardcore HP up through, I think, 2003, which is when OotP came out. Then I wasn't for a while; I never got back into HP to the extent that I was. I did NaNo for the first time in 2004. I got into CSI:NY and onto LJ in 2005, and the rest is documented history.
So, to recap, the short, all-Narnia version: first had the books read to me when I was five, don't know when I read them myself but I know I did several times because damn, my copies are worn (VotDT especially), but not as worn as my LotR books, did not have a functional understanding of Christianity until late middle school/early high school.
So if you want to know where I'm coming from? That's it.
ETA: I definitely read Diana Wynne Jones in elementary school; my dog died in fourth grade and I was in 4-H; I remember asking my 4-H leader about dogs with white fur and red ears. She was taken aback.
Other books I read, and I'm remembering this now, include the Little House on the Prairie books, the Prydain Chronicles, the Dark Is Rising books, most of Michael Crichton, and Tom Clancy. I'm trying to remember if I got into fandom in 2001 or 2002; I know it was one of those two years but I don't remember which one. My references give me 2002 and --
FanLore gives me a date. I remember that I started reading the DT on Schnoogle, but I also chased it back to the Pit of Voles, and it was taken down in 2001, so I started in fandom in 2001. Except the dates don't quite add up. *frowns* I'm pretty sure it was 2001, though.
Dude. According to Wikipedia, William Moseley auditioned to be Harry Potter in PS. I AM SO GLAD THAT DID NOT WORK OUT.
I just got back from the meeting I was at (Intensive Newcomb, a.k.a. the gender and sexuality studies club, wherein we watched Beyonce music videos and I tried really hard not to talk about genderfuck) and called my mother and together we reasoned it out.
I had the books read to me when I was in kindergarten -- 1995, a year that I was five. I don't know when I read them myself. It was probably around the same time that I had The Hobbit read to me, but after I had the entirety of Edgar Rice Burroughs' work read to me -- the reason we know it was 1995 is because Burroughs' last, unfinished book came out in 1995, and that was the last book my dad read to me.
I read LotR in 1999, the same year I read HP; I know I was reading Tamora Pierce in 2000 but not if that was the first time I was reading it (there was an earthquake this year; I remember I threw the book over my head before I got under the desk. It was one of the Circle of Magic books; I think it might have been Tris's Book or Sandry's Book but I'm not sure). I read Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles before I read Pierce, but I'm not sure when. I know I was reading Mercedes Lackey in 2000-2001 but not if I was beforehand. I know I was reading Diana Gabaldon in 2000-2001 as well (for, you know, the screwed up factor). I am almost positive I read Robin McKinley for the first time in 2000-2001 as well. (The reason I remember the 2000-2001 books is because that's the first time I had friends who were really into the same types of books as me.) I know I was reading Diana Wynne Jones in middle school, but not if I was reading it in elementary school as well. (My elementary school years: 1995-2001. My middle school years: 2001-2004. My high school years: 2004-2008. For age reference, I was born in January of 1990.)
Wait. I had to be reading Jones in elementary school; I have a new hardback edition (well, it was new at the time) of Year of the Griffin, and that came out in 2000.
I also read pretty much the entirety of Nancy Drew at some point in time; we bought them in the Costco sixpacks and I'd read them on the way from Ellensburg to my grandmother's house in West Seattle and I'd have four or five out of the six read. Which means that that was sometime after we moved to Ellensburg but before my grandmother moved to Bremerton; I don't remember the year. 2001, maybe? Or 2003?)
I know I read Marion Zimmer Bradley in middle school; I may or may not have read her in elementary school; I know for sure that I read The Mists of Avalon in middle school.
Obviously there were other authors, but I'm relatively sure they didn't make as much of an impression. (I did read Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons at some point, too.)
I was pretty much raised on the Greek myths and Edgar Rice Burroughs, as well as the children's editions of all these classic novels (Treasure Island, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.). I can't seem to find the editions online.
I did not have any real concept of Christianity probably until the later part of my middle school years; I remember because LotR was in theatres and there were a lot of newspaper articles about the religious motifs in that, and Narnia was brought up there, probably because it was coming out fairly soon afterwards. I can tell you that the day I learned that LWW was being made into a movie I was friggin' ecstatic, and I bounced up to one of my best friends, a fellow writer, and happily burbled the news to her. Her reaction: "I've never read Narnia."
So there went that.
I don't think I really understood Narnia as Christian metaphor until after LWW came out and I went looking for fic, and post-LWW fic did tend to be much more religious than post-PC fic. (Or at least it was in the circles I was reading, which was Peter/Susan.)
The first time I had Christianity shoved at me was, I think, in first or second grade? There was one of those horse books -- yes, I went through that stage too -- where there was a very recalcitrant stallion named Satan, and I liked the way the name sounded. And I told one of my friends, and she told me I was going to hell.
And then in, I think, second or third grade, another friend tried to teach me how to pray. It clearly did not stick. The hardcore paganism kicked in around middle school, but I don't think I had a good idea of what Christianity was about, probably not until early high school.
I think I read S.M. Stirling in 2002 or 2003. (I'm trying to date books from when I remember reading them for the first time as new editions and when they came out.) George R.R. Martin's much harder to date, since there's so long between his books, but I know that AFfC came out in 2005 and I bought it as soon as it did, so I'm going to guess I started reading Martin in 2004. It's harder for me to guess when I started reading Dennis Lehane, but I'm going to say probably around 2004, if not later. I know I read Lehane after the move Mystic River had already came out, but I don't remember if Shutter Island had just come out in paperback or hardcover.
I entered fandom in 2001 following the release of the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; I don't think the first fanfic I read is online anymore. I was hardcore HP up through, I think, 2003, which is when OotP came out. Then I wasn't for a while; I never got back into HP to the extent that I was. I did NaNo for the first time in 2004. I got into CSI:NY and onto LJ in 2005, and the rest is documented history.
So, to recap, the short, all-Narnia version: first had the books read to me when I was five, don't know when I read them myself but I know I did several times because damn, my copies are worn (VotDT especially), but not as worn as my LotR books, did not have a functional understanding of Christianity until late middle school/early high school.
So if you want to know where I'm coming from? That's it.
ETA: I definitely read Diana Wynne Jones in elementary school; my dog died in fourth grade and I was in 4-H; I remember asking my 4-H leader about dogs with white fur and red ears. She was taken aback.
Other books I read, and I'm remembering this now, include the Little House on the Prairie books, the Prydain Chronicles, the Dark Is Rising books, most of Michael Crichton, and Tom Clancy. I'm trying to remember if I got into fandom in 2001 or 2002; I know it was one of those two years but I don't remember which one. My references give me 2002 and --
FanLore gives me a date. I remember that I started reading the DT on Schnoogle, but I also chased it back to the Pit of Voles, and it was taken down in 2001, so I started in fandom in 2001. Except the dates don't quite add up. *frowns* I'm pretty sure it was 2001, though.
Dude. According to Wikipedia, William Moseley auditioned to be Harry Potter in PS. I AM SO GLAD THAT DID NOT WORK OUT.