We have Roku now, and I saw a television series I'd never seen before, a Canadian series called 'Jake and the Kid'. It moves along sweetly. I tried to get William interested in it. He thought it was boring. Anyways, I looked up the series and saw that it was based (very loosely) on the book "Who Has Seen the Wind" by W.O. Mitchell, a Canadian author.
Reading reviews on it, I found that people either loved it or hated it. Intrigued, I ordered it for $4 from Better World Books. I must have gotten a copy from someone who hated it, because it appeared to have never been read.
I don't think there is anything lovlier than falling in love with a book. It's been a while since I had that experience. I often thought of Red and his blog and his stories about growing up.
It ended, as all books do, and reluctantly I returned to the real world.
I read an outline of the book and it sounds interesting enough. In 1977 it was made into a movie and generally movies made in that decade don't tend to hold up very well.
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall my mother reciting a poem called "Who has seen the wind" - I didn't like it! Maybe I should try the book.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is also a song that I've seen in many hymnbooks.
DeleteWho has seen the wind?
DeleteNeither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
It is good to love books, but sometimes I think books read in childhood have lasting power. 'Little Women' for one comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteI’ll add the What Katy Did books together with Veronica at the Wells and the follow on ones to the list
DeleteI loved Anne of Avonlea.
DeleteSome books stay in one's mind for ever. Those are rare for me these days.
ReplyDeleteThis book started out as just a simple recounting of a very young boy whose little brother is gravely ill. He's pretty much left to his own devices as the grownups are preoccupied with the baby. He resents it very much. But as he is swept along in the universal 'growing up' (the book ends when he is about twelve), he makes the discoveries that a child makes. I remember discovering those same things. That you sometimes find humanity lacking in places that it is supposed to be. You find humanity in places where people insist it is not. Bad things happen to good people. Good things happen too. But come what may, life doesn't stop for any of it. You are swept along as if blown by a wind across the prairie. Everything has a beginning. Everything has an end. Between those two points, our stories weave themselves into the stories of others. Just so beautifully done. It is the story of a boy...but at the same time, it is the story of us all.
DeleteI haven’t seen or read ether, but I have certainly heard of Wind.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I read William Landay's "All that is mine I carry with me" and I couldn't put it down. I think one of my favorites from childhood was "To Kill a Mockingbird" but I was also a big fan of Nancy Drew. To this day, I do prefer a mystery book.
ReplyDeleteRed has read the book when he was quite young. There was a radio series called Jake and the kid that I also listened to. Mitchell also wrote a few other books. Most of his time was spent writing for the radio series. He was well known for getting the script in a day before it was to go on air.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could do a post called "What's Your Favourite Book?"
ReplyDeleteOne of the best feelings in the world is ending a book and wishing it would continue on forever.
ReplyDeleteAwesome and congrats. I love it when that happens and now I am intrigued to learn more about this show.
ReplyDeleteOh....the book! The book! Read the book!
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