Category: From the Catbird Seat

Sophocles

by Debra Conley

The Greek writer of tragedy, Sophocles, is considered one of the greatest of the ancient writers. His personal history supports claims that he was a respected citizen and military patriot as well as an accomplished writer and director of meaningful tragedy. Sophocles later served his community in local government, practicing his moral and philosophical standards like Homer’s heroes.

Greek tragedy was much more than just a play. In the ancient days, theater was church, education, and entertainment rolled into one. Days were commonly spent at festivals viewing one play after another, with discussions in between. These plays presented the mandates of the gods, the morals of the the present society (which were much more strict than our current society’s), the serious and humorous interpretations of their place in the individual’s world, and most of all, the serious consequences to anyone who disregarded the importance of these mandates.

The favorite plays of Sophocles are Oedipus Rex and its two sequels, Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus. Readers may find it difficult to understand Oedipus’ willingness to accept his punishment for his ignorance of the gods’ commands. He does so because he knows that his sin affects the whole of the people he governs. The emphasis is on the destruction of all those affected by the sin of one. In Greek literature, the true man must be a selfless man.

Lucy Maud Montgomery

by Debra Conley

If your young reader has not read Lucy Maud Montgomery’s series of the adventures of Anne Shirley and her daughter Rilla, get thee to a bookstore!  The Anne of Green Gables series follows Anne Shirley through her adult marriage and family years.  The adventures then pick up with her daughter Rilla and the challenges of war time.  Montgomery’s books (the basic set is eight volumes) are filled with intriguing plots and characters who rise above common ground–a good influence for young readers.  Her characters have lofty yet honest and ethical goals but are still human, making mistakes they must realize consequences for.  Montgomery’s works contain good plots which are resolved through a fair amount of single and continuing conflicts, much like real life.  In the first novel, for example, Anne is faced with a dilemma concerning her honor–she gave her word!  Honesty and fairness tempered with grace are the trademarks of these characters.

I recently read a three book series by Elizabeth Massie:  The Daughters of Liberty Series.  This is a new work which takes young girls Patsy and Barb to historic Philadelphia where they experience normal 12 year old escapades but with a small dose of real history thrown in.  The two girls help to deliver a message to the Continental Congress when a wounded soldier is not able to complete the mission.  The author promises that more books of the same kind are in the works.

Elisabeth Massie

by Debra Conley

I recently read a three book series by Elizabeth Massie:  The Daughters of Liberty Series.  This is a new work which takes young girls Patsy and Barb to historic Philadelphia where they experience normal 12 year old escapades but with a small dose of real history thrown in.  The two girls help to deliver a message to the Continental Congress when a wounded soldier is not able to complete the mission.  The author promises that more books of the same kind are in the works.

Beverly Cleary

by Debra Conley

Younger children often label themselves as “dumb” or think they are incapable because of common mistakes made by everyone.  A series of books designed especially to show young readers they are not weird in any way is Ramona, by Beverly Cleary.  In each of these stories, Ramona, who is a second and then third grader, complicates her life in humorous but realistic ways.  In one, she gets to make one of her first trips to the store alone.  Thinking she is lost, she learns from the grocer to retrace her steps and turns to get home.  Once when she is late to school, it is the result of a miscommunication about the time.  Her mother tells her to set her new alarm clock for a quarter after eight.  Ramona thinks “a quarter is 25 cents, so I’ll set my clock for 25 after eight.”  She learns her mistake after several uneasy moments, including arriving at school after the crossing guards have gone in.  And there there are the stories of misunderstood words.  The Dawn’s Early Light becomes Donzer Lee Light, a person Ramona does not understand.

These are typical foibles to which most kids relate.  The books tend to emphasize how normal and common these mistakes are.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

by Debra Conley

I encourage parents of young readers to introduce the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as early as possible.  Not only do the tales of the incomparable detective Sherlock Holmes make interesting reading, but the literary craft is a valuable tool to any reader.

Doyle’s ability to weave a complicated yet plausible plot is evident in each story and every novel.  The Hound of the Baskervilles is a novel with plenty of foreshadowing (hints dropped to keep the reader interested) which gives the reader an opportunity to solve the crime along with Holmes.  The novel, just like his short stories, makes no subtlety that crime is wrong, whether stealing or murder.  The good guys win and the bad guys not only lose, but they are punished for their crimes!

The literary tool of characterization is stronger in Doyle’s stories than in most modern works.  This is a necessary tool for young readers to be exposed to.  In Sherlock Holmes’ stories, Watson is the reader’s character, reflecting what the reader would be thinking and trying to figure out about Holmes.  Watson gets to follow Homes in the crime solving as does the reader.  It’s fun.

I recommend starting with A Study in Scarlet in order to be properly introduced to Holmes the man and Holmes the Detective as told by his complex friend and literary partner, Dr. Watson.

Pearl S. Buck

by Debra Conley

With the approach of Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, I recommend some reading which will emphasize what we have to be thankful for outside of that which many church services and family gatherings will address.  An almost forgotten author, Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), drew from her rich experiences as part of a missionary family in China.  What’s so unusual about another missionary story?  Pearl Buck and her family (the Sydenstrickers) were living and working inside China before it was officially opened to the West.  Her most famous work, The Good Earth (for which Buck won a Pulitzer Prize) is a true life narrative of a Chinese family struggling to hold onto the small farm from which they exist.  The story is so rich with the culture of the country that it would be a treasure to read for that alone.  Buck is more than a narrator, though, and weaves human motive into a gripping plot filled with conflicts and resolutions to rival Dickens.  Her works are well above average level reading in vocabulary and structure (later in her life, Buck was a professor of English literature in Chinese universities).  This novel is the first in a trilogy; the second is titled Sons; the third is A House Divided. The lack of human comforts, the void of social entertainment, and the rudimentary lifestyle found in these novels will make any reader see his position in this day with gratitude and humbleness.  A gripping saga set in the Sino-Japanese war is Dragon Seed, often considered her very best novel because of its weaving of Chinese culture and intense plot.