Banned Books Week

[malcolmina]

I can pretty much guarantee that I will not get around to reading any of these books during banned books week. I'm currently reading The Small Rain by Madelaine L'Engle (and loving it), and I've got a stack of books and plays to get through afterwards. However, I will keep this list handy because most of them are books that I've wanted to read

Comments

[bixxy]

Ooh, I don't think I've ever read The Small Rain. It's one of her earlier ones, right? I remember reading And Both Were Young, which I think was based on her experiences at boarding school. What's Small Rain about?

[malcolmina]

Yes, she actually started writing "The Small Rain" in college. It was first published in 1945. It is not autobiographical, but does draw on a lot of her own experiences as a young writer and and actres living in NY with other artists. Her introduction tells about this - and makes me insanely jealous of how EVERYTHING just seemed to work out for her. She apparently the polar opposite of me.

I don't know how well my car will be working tomorrow, but if I do make it up to your place, I'll bring the book. I'll probably finish it tonight.

[bixxy]

She had a pretty amazing life. Somewhere I have Two-Part Invention, her memoir about her marriage, and there's a lot of stuff in there about her time as an actress -- she seemed to just kind of "fall into" acting. Things definitely seemed to just work out for her! What also strikes me about the memoir is that the way she writes about herself is the same way she writes her characters -- very erudite & book-learned, but very naive, almost "Pollyanna."

I hope you make it tomorrow! There will be cake! And beer!