The Child That Books Built: A Memoir Of Childhood And Reading
by Francis Spufford
Faber $195
THERE ARE READERS, there are avid consumers of books, and there is Francis Spufford. His intense love of children's literature mapped his own journey from child to adult in a unique way and this stunning interpretation of the power and influence of different types of stories has resonance far beyond his experience.
He points a clear, cogent path through the complexity of quality writing for young people, using metaphor to structure his thoughts. First he negotiates the paths of the great forests so ably deployed by storytellers through the ages. He exposes what he terms the 'necessary myth' of the 'wildwood', choosing to concentrate instead on its relevance as a great symbol of the unconscious. It is in these early stages of reading that the invariability of story gives it a secure existence. Yet, conversely, its power to influence young minds contains inherent dangers adults ignore at their peril. Language is a tool to be used carefully.
At the perimeter of the forest, for Spufford, lie reading islands. Books themselves can be autonomous and self-contained. Invented linguistic forms can make sense.
Readers can become immersed in a self-centred coherent world of their own making in an attempt to keep the ebb and flow of real life at bay. His analysis of how books can break out to other islands using CS Lewis' The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is a triumph of perceptive criticism - a feat repeated throughout the book.