Comfort books

[_medley_]

Neil Gaiman said, here, At different times of my life, my 'Comfort Book' has been Narnia, LOTR, Glory Road, Cold Comfort Farm, Psmith Journalist, Father Brown.Which got me thinking about my comfort books, of course. At different times in my life, mine have been Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, Watership Down, Steven Brust's Jhereg books (there

Comments

[travels_in_time]

My books are all packed up and I can't get to them! *cries* But the ones I remember are Shepherd of the Hills, Narnia, Little Women (in fact anything by Louisa May Alcott), the Deryni Chronicles by Kathryn Kurtz, anything by Dick Francis, and Terry Pratchett's Night Watch.

[_medley_]

I have heard good things about the Deryni books! In the comfort-book sense. Haven't read them, though. Pratchett does good comfort reading, too. *pets you about the books being packed up*

[mad_jaks]

Ohhh, Little Women... the first version I ever knew was the copy on my parents' bookshelf. It must have been a children's/incredibly abridged version - it was slightly larger than A4 in size, red, and inside had 1950's (lots of muted pinks and yellowds and blues) type artwork. I *loved* it. It was the book that made me dream of having a window seat where I could curl up and read it. (I was probably about 8).

[awanderingbard]

I don't have comfort books, really. I usually only read a book once. I keep it if I really love it, but there's only a handful of books I've read more than once.

Moviewise, comfort movies are: Singing in the Rain, Newsies, Pride & Prejudice (2005), and LOTR:FOTR. I also tend to watch a lot of Doctor Who when I'm sick.

Comfort music: The Scarlet Pimpernel OBC, Les Miserables (it always leaves me with a happy feeling for some reason, even though it's a downer) and the Josie & The Pussycats ST.

[_medley_]

I feel the same way about Les Miserables! Somehow it always makes me feel better.

[rustydog]

I'm sort of in a non-pleasure reading phase right now, but in the past (childhood through my 20s I guess) it was Narnia, Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time series, Where the Red Fern Grows, and to some extent Walter Farley's Black Stallion series. And the Big Red series and some of Marguerite Henry's books figured pretty heavily in my re-reading, too. Not that I read a lot of animal books ::shifty eyes:: Since I reached adulthood, I haven't felt like I had the time to re-read anything, even for comfort. There are so many new books not getting read. Oh, but I can say that I've gone back to Ursula LeGuin's Four Ways to Forgiveness more than once.

Movies? Oh boy. Things I will turn on for the comforting noise include the Star Wars trilogy, Superman I or II or "Returns," the most recent Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hot Fuzz, Serenity, Elf, The Princess Bride, Joe vs the Volcano, Bob & Rose... I'm sure there's more!

That picture you linked to is VERY cool! I wouldn't have been able to find one cooler. :)

[_medley_]

I read, or excuse me, didn't read the Black Stallion books and some of Margueurite Henry's, too. And Where the Red Fern Grows, but that one was a killer in the heartbreaking sense, as I recall.

Oh! I should have listed the Star Wars movies, too!

[phoenix64]

Hmm, are all books that I reread comfort books? Probably not. Besides, when the rest of you were reading Madeline L'Engle and the like, I was reading Stephen King. Carrie or Clive Barker's Books of Blood anthologies are not comfort reads. When I was a bit younger I checked out Mr. Popper's Penguins from the library more than anyone else - I now own that library copy as well as a fresher version. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but more than the book itself was a tape I had of the book being read by Roald Dahl. I can't watch any of the movies because Roald Dahl reading that to me is etched pretty strongly on my brain. Let's see ... there's a book called Prince Ombra by Roderick MacLeish that should be better known, definitely a comfort read there. An odd little collection of essays and stuff called Murder Ink and Murderess Ink, edited by Dilys Winn. I used to reread The World According to Garp at least once a year but I'm not sure that counts. The Princess Bride yes. Strange Wine by Harlan Ellison. Several books by

[_medley_]

I read a lot of Stephen King at an impressionable age, too. Definitely not comfort reading!

Eee, Prince Ombra! I read that! I don't remember much about it now, but it's a favorable memory.

I own Swordspoint but haven't read it yet. *moves it higher in the pile*

[phoenix64]

YES YOU NEED TO READ SWORDSPOINT NOW. It is the BEST BOOK EVER and then you too will know what it's like to wish that Ellen Kushner was a more prolific writer.

Though I didn't really understand as such when I first read it, Prince Ombra was probably my introduction to the idea of archetypes reoccurring throughout folklore, which is a subject I'm kind of fond of. Also I really quite adore the idea that Excalibur is a metaphor for the discovery of iron, and Prince Ombra was where I first read that.

[_medley_]

Hee! OK, I WILL.

I'm fond of the idea of archetypes reoccurring throughout folklore, too, and now that you mention it, that book was probably my introduction to that, too. I kind of want to read it again now. But I'll read Swordspoint first!

[mad_jaks]

Watership Down as a comfort book? Mind you, I can talk - I read Black Beauty (including Ginger's death) so often as a child that its covers fell off.

That is an incredibly cool picture!

[_medley_]

Um. None of the rabbits I liked died (except Hazel, at the end, after a long life), they rescued Blackavar from Efrafa (why do I still remember this?) and um. I don't know, I just found it comforting to re-read.