Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Juvenile Lit!

Brainiac readers may have already figured out that I am a big fan of children's fiction, AKA juvenile lit. I started reading this stuff as a juvenile -- "Ben and Me," "Gone-Away Lake," "The Princess and Curdie," "Knight's Castle," "My Side of the Mountain," "Moominsummer Madness," "The Ghost in the Noonday Sun," "Swallows and Amazons" -- and I forgot to stop. Now that I have children of my own, my intake has only increased.

Here's a snapshot detailing one small part of our household's juvenile lit shelves:

I've recently pointed out new or forthcoming editions of "The Land of Green Ginger" and "Tintin in the Congo." Now I'm pleased to announce the republication of two more classic works of juvenile lit.

How to describe the "Uncle" series of books? Written by J.P. Martin, an elderly English clergyman, and not published until shortly before and immediately after his death in 1966, these fun stories concern the adventures of Uncle, a distracted millionaire elephant who puts up eccentric friends in his enormous skyscraper-castle (I've seen it described as "half Gormenghast and half Disneyland"), and who must ceaselessly defend against Flabskin, Oily Joe, Isidore Hitmouse, Hootman, Jellytussle, and other lowbrow, Blue Meanie-like enemies. It's J.P. Donleavy (the expat-American juggernaut of "dirty" midcentury fiction) for kiddies!

In fact, J.P. Martin and J.P. Donleavy must be the same person, now that I think about it. Donleavy's excellent novel "A Singular Man," about a wealthy businessman defending his skyscraper against lowbrow enemies appeared in 1963; the first "Uncle" book appeared in 1964. (Hmmm. "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." first aired in 1964.) Donleavy's "The Onion Eaters," in which an American inherits a crumbling Irish castle and populates it with eccentrics, was published in 1971, and "A Fairy Tale of New York," Donleavy's last great novel, which also takes place in a skyscraper, in 1973; meanwhile, "Uncle and the Battle for Badgertown," the sixth and final book in Martin's series, was published in 1973. Martin is obviously a pseudonym for Donleavy, who must have realized (after "The Ginger Man" was a succès de scandale) that he wouldn't be able to publish novels for children. And who also must have burned out after the effort of writing so many books, for adults and children, in that brief period. Hmm. Someone should look into this matter.

But I digress: This past summer, "Uncle" was published in a handsome new edition by New York Review Books. Hooray!

Next month, Viking will publish a new edition of John Steinbeck's "The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights" (introduced by "Eragon" author Christopher Paolini). Steinbeck, who fell under the spell of Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" when he was 9, made a close study of Arthurian mythology -- also of medieval and premedieval England, including multiple visits to locations associated with Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Guinevere, Excalibur, the Knights of the Round Table, and the Holy Grail -- but never actually finished writing the book. (In 1959, having reached the part of the tale where Lancelot betrays Arthur, Steinbeck stopped working on the manuscript. He turned his attention instead to "Travels with Charley" and "The Winter of Our Discontent," his last novel. In 1976, eight years after Steinbeck's death, an edition of "The Acts of King Arthur" was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.) Still, like everything Steinbeck wrote, the book teaches us about regional economic development, gender roles, class structure, and man's inhumanity to man... while remaining a gripping read.

If I had to choose, I'd have to say that I prefer T.H. White's "The Sword in the Stone," "The Witch in the Wood," and "The Ill-made Knight," which were published as an omnibus volume ("The Once and Future King") in 1958. But Steinbeck is a close second, and sticks more closely to the 15th-century version of the myth. Great stuff!

Have I sparked your interest in juvenile lit? It's worth keeping track of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children's Literature. This year, the prize for fiction went to M. T. Anderson, for "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" (Candlewick). According to the Globe's David Mehegan (and some of my friends), Anderson's book is terrific -- for mature juveniles. The 2007 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards ceremony will be held on Friday, October 12, at the Boston Athenaeum (event not open to the general public). I am informed by the Athenaeum's Kirsten Alexander that Anderson, the amazing Sid Fleischman, and other authors and illustrators will be in attendance. I might have to sneak in just to shake the hand of Fleischman, author of "Jingo Django," "Chancy and the Grand Rascal," "Mr. Mysterious & Company," "By the Great Horn Spoon," and several of my other favorite children's books.

Posted by Joshua Glenn at 01:03 PM

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