Two (Much Better!) Books.

Several years ago, I happened upon an illustrated copy of "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes" by Robert Louis Stevenson; I raved and resolved to read more of this classic author.

Lately, I found a copy of "The Black Arrow", a late medieval romp through the English War of the Roses. Written in Victorian times, it must have been a sensation, since it featured a young noble woman dressing as a young boy to escape a fiendish guardian (about to marry her off to another villain for money, while he also steals her rightful legacy). Similar outrages are done to the hero, young Dick Shelton; he was orphaned by this evil guardian (adapt at manipulating laws, in a lawless time.) Of course, Dick and Lady Joanna are destined for one another.

Once your eye adapts to the "Shakespeare-lite" dialogue, in contrast with the more modern Victorian style test, it's a breeze.

It doesn't matter about the plot, "good" eventually prevails. Stevenson's writing crams so much action, drama, image, natural scenery, emotion and intrigue into short little paragraphs; it is amazing what talent he possessed. He died young, that's sad. No wonder the entire world mourned his death.

I know how I missed "Christy" by Catherine Marshall (published 1967) all these years. The marketing for the book made it "feel" like a "Sound of Music"-plot; it seemed like it would be sappy.

But I found a copy and approached it with new eyes. Considering the book is already half a century old and relates the experiences of a young volunteer teacher in East Tennessee 50 years before that, the story is remarkably fresh and current-feeling. The author died in the 1980's.

Christy wants to be independent, not just hang around her wealthy family in Asheville, NC until she marries a local scion and settles down. So she takes on the teaching assignment in the back country and is greatly challenged by the difference between her expectations and the reality; the hardships.

If you ever were tempted to skip vaccinations for infectious diseases like typhoid, this book will remind you why these diseases were a scourge and best avoided!

Of course there is some romance; she has so much to learn. Most people my age have read this book if they are interested; younger readers who like romance, coming of age and history would enjoy the story.

Part 2 - Stories From the 1870's

Difficult to believe I got through all these years without reading Robert Louis Stevenson. Perhaps after my experience of reading his narrative of his walking journey in 1878, "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes", I'll try one of his novels.  I did not realize that Stevenson was considered, in his day, one of the very finest, most popular writers; his early demise in 1894 stunned the world, especially his fellow writers. He was a world famous, popular and likeable personality. I always thought of him as a sickly little boy who grew up in his sick room and wrote stories to amuse himself. In his "Travels", he is a hearty, callow young fellow who sets off on a solo expedition in a remote, rugged and wild corner of southern France, with money, food and an interesting, early version of a sleeping bag, (no tent, since he feared this would attract attention of thieves, marking the fact that he planned to camp out alone) and of course, Modestine. The book would be dry without the playful antics of his little donkey, about the size of a large dog. She totally exploits the young gentleman's ignorance of how to manage a beast of burden, until someone makes for him a goad to prod her with. As a skilled author for young people's stories, he understood how to enliven the action by relating the animal's endearing traits---like Disney. I also learned of the harrowing history of the religious wars in France and the rebellions of the Camisards, French Protestants who had to either leave France or fight for their religious freedeom in the 17th-18th Centuries. The book is as much a "time travel" as a travel, since the narrative is feels fresh and current after nearly a 140 years.