tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post608261471103011556..comments2023-10-06T08:10:05.853-04:00Comments on Necromancy Never Pays: Daddy-Long-LegsJeannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01374498643286099244noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-80727406321623909952010-11-01T13:27:44.973-04:002010-11-01T13:27:44.973-04:00Jenny, I did think of your puppy when I looked at ...Jenny, I did think of your puppy when I looked at the picture of the gawky calf!Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374498643286099244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-57117275290512091952010-10-29T22:44:24.303-04:002010-10-29T22:44:24.303-04:00I do like all the bloggy love for Daddy-Long-Legs....I do like all the bloggy love for Daddy-Long-Legs. It was one of my favorites when I was a kid, and the picture Judy draws of the calf on the farm looks exactly like my puppy. :pJennyhttp://jennysbooks.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-79160804780712841732010-10-22T10:49:42.964-04:002010-10-22T10:49:42.964-04:00Amanda, She did sound younger than college student...Amanda, She did sound younger than college students do today. I thought partly it was how sheltered she was at the orphanage, and partly that kids grow up faster, at least in some ways, now.<br /><br />It was introduced to me as a children's book. Don't your kids prefer stories in which the protagonist is a little older than they are?Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374498643286099244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-75914962806663114902010-10-22T10:32:45.877-04:002010-10-22T10:32:45.877-04:00Funny thing is - I WASN'T looking for it. I ac...Funny thing is - I WASN'T looking for it. I actually expected to really love this book. This book was the reason my friend Karen (from Books & Chocolate) began blogging in the first place, and I've looked forward to it for over a year. But that's what I ended up seeing. It probably didn't help that I had a difficult time with her age. She was meant to be in her late teens/early 20s, but sounded about 11 or 12 years old the entire book. I couldn't tell if it was meant to be children's lit or adult lit.Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07026099426503180472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-39302983771524980012010-10-22T10:30:00.014-04:002010-10-22T10:30:00.014-04:00Amanda, the part that I didn't attribute to he...Amanda, the part that I didn't attribute to her ignorance of the world outside the orphanage, I dismissed as an attitude of her time, but now that you're getting me to think about it more, it is awfully dismissive. <br /><br />I know of some wonderful marriages formed on an unequal basis, when the woman was a student of the man, but sometimes that kind of meeting predicts an inequality in the entire relationship.<br /><br />There is a kind of "pat the little woman on the head" attitude in this book if you're looking for it.Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374498643286099244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-64575583108533583782010-10-22T10:07:07.476-04:002010-10-22T10:07:07.476-04:00It wasn't that she herself was frivilous about...It wasn't that she herself was frivilous about clothes. I dont' care if she was interested in fashion - she has every right to be. It's the fact that she's decided every woman must necessarily be interested in clothes, that it's an inborn trait in women, that if you're a woman you MUST take an interest, that bothers me.Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07026099426503180472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-66756139585638995072010-10-20T11:33:34.588-04:002010-10-20T11:33:34.588-04:00Amanda, I liked the way Judy was honest about how ...Amanda, I liked the way Judy was honest about how she had the freedom to be a little frivolous about clothes for the first time. Perhaps it's because I was raised by an Imelda Marcos wanna-be.Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374498643286099244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-36368764933743233042010-10-20T10:37:52.227-04:002010-10-20T10:37:52.227-04:00I just read this yesterday (it was the only thing ...I just read this yesterday (it was the only thing my sick-brain could handle) and was very underwhelmed by it. I couldn't stand Judy (she seemed shallow and frivolous to me) and the story didn't really pick up for me until about 2/3rds through. It's one I read quickly and will probably forget just as quick.Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07026099426503180472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-82000472980299538882010-10-20T09:10:29.744-04:002010-10-20T09:10:29.744-04:00Kathy, you would definitely admire this character....Kathy, you would definitely admire this character.<br /><br />Memory, I'm glad we can read other peoples' childhood favorites now!<br /><br />Jodie, yes, the letters where she got angry were some of the best; I just didn't want to have to explain too much of the context for them.<br />I think I liked the line about spirit because Judy is quite American, and we don't often think of ourselves as having a national equivalent to the "chipper British spirit" that the rest of the world admires so much.<br /><br />Harriet, a musical?!! I think it could make a great musical!Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374498643286099244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-87606722245395645612010-10-20T08:53:27.000-04:002010-10-20T08:53:27.000-04:00I'm pretty sure I read Daddy Long Legs around ...I'm pretty sure I read Daddy Long Legs around age 8 or 9. It was around the time I was reading the "What Katy Did" books. It's funny you mentioned this book this week because I just (within the last week or so) read something about a musical based on it and wondered if it was too old-fashioned for that. I was too young back them for the epistolary novels you mentioned, but I've read (and enjoyed) all but World War Z. I own all three of the Griffin and Sabine series. I've been thinking I should show them to AJ, who loves the "Jolly Postman" series, epistolary novels for the preschool set.Harriet M. Welschhttp://spynotes.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-8872897800937082352010-10-20T06:40:16.013-04:002010-10-20T06:40:16.013-04:00It's a really good book. I think I liked the l...It's a really good book. I think I liked the letters where she'd get angry the best, she was a spitfire. Thanks for quoting that line about 'the poor', it made me giggle. Oh and I followed the link to Jon Scalzi's post from Facebook yesterday and it was a good reminder of everything I have to and don't have to negotiate .<br /><br />Petty hazards make me growl rather than laugh generally (stepping in puddles, keys lost when I have just put them down), should work on that, but put me in an unmoving queue or an airport situation and my chipper British spirit comes to the front. And if it's a customer service situation I'm very much a 'Thank you sooooo much' *much larger smile than usual* woman. I probably look deranged, but I am trying to be nice.Jodiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11462660276240016464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-45638957546615431062010-10-20T00:01:42.846-04:002010-10-20T00:01:42.846-04:00Oh, how I enjoyed this book! I read it earlier thi...Oh, how I enjoyed this book! I read it earlier this year, and just loved Judy's outlook on life.Memoryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03922151273874989122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-40376455662258808862010-10-19T17:19:07.976-04:002010-10-19T17:19:07.976-04:00That is so true and I really do admire people who ...That is so true and I really do admire people who can laugh at the little things. I've known several people like that, and, unfortunately, I'm not one of them. Great review!bermudaonionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10726401178972099557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-65147551731225466512010-10-19T14:46:33.060-04:002010-10-19T14:46:33.060-04:00Harriet, An 18th-C lover will tell ya you can'...Harriet, An 18th-C lover will tell ya you can't beat Richardson's Pamela followed closely by Fielding's Shamela. There's also The Color Purple, World War Z (which I liked and did a mini-review of when I started this blog), and the art-book series Griffin and Sabine--I liked the first couple of those.<br /><br />Elizabeth, the other bloggers who reread it said it held up well.<br /><br />FreshHell, glad you found it! Dusty will be old enough for it soon, too.<br /><br />Karen, I'd say the intended age range, at least these days, is 12-21. Jerusha is in college when she writes the letters.<br /><br />M. Denice C., I don't know how I missed this one, except that it's a very slim book and since children were only allowed to take out ten books at a time from my public library, I checked out the biggest, fattest books I could find each week.Jeannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01374498643286099244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-9989163376529268092010-10-19T14:21:13.041-04:002010-10-19T14:21:13.041-04:00This was definitely one of my favorites to read an...This was definitely one of my favorites to read and reread when I was young. <br /><br />However, I need to reread but glad you found it.M. Denise C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10326139040976625458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-3610909996145352332010-10-19T10:33:43.805-04:002010-10-19T10:33:43.805-04:00How young a small child are we talking about here?...How young a small child are we talking about here? Five years old? Eight years old? Three years old? When should I be hunting for a copy of this book for my boy-o?Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231614892716223391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-45195631803360239192010-10-19T09:59:34.223-04:002010-10-19T09:59:34.223-04:00P.S. I just ordered this thru paperbackswap.P.S. I just ordered this thru paperbackswap.FreshHellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13051170717740487431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-28332471145201683902010-10-19T09:16:32.917-04:002010-10-19T09:16:32.917-04:00I've never heard of this before. I'll have...I've never heard of this before. I'll have to find it.FreshHellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13051170717740487431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-15587721713206642252010-10-19T08:49:27.169-04:002010-10-19T08:49:27.169-04:00I loved this book as a child; I need to reread it ...I loved this book as a child; I need to reread it as an adult. <br /><br />And Harriet, I love The Screwtape Letters.edj3https://www.blogger.com/profile/11137939126171451654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6000858382516594426.post-9348922800682902952010-10-19T08:35:17.117-04:002010-10-19T08:35:17.117-04:00Daddy Long Legs was a childhood favorite. I read ...Daddy Long Legs was a childhood favorite. I read my mother's copy (which I think was actually *her* mother's copy) over and over again. But even as a small child, I didn't have to look up Maeterlinck because I'd already encountered him in another favorite book: Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes, where the main characters are in a production of The Blue Bird. It's funny, but I have absolutely zero memory of the pictures. But I do remember being fascinated by the whole idea of an epistolary novel. I liked writing letters (as anyone who knew me in college will confirm). I went on to seek out other books like that. The only other one I remember reading off the top of my head was C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters.Harriet M. Welschhttp://spynotes.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com