Green Knowe

[altariel]

I just reread The Children of Green Knowe for the first time in, it must be, twenty years... Christ's sake, no wonder I didn't read any more of them as a kid, it must scared the living daylights out of me! I mean, it's brilliant, but goddamn it's frightening.

The Dr Who/Tolkien crossover poll had a clear winner:

The Fourth Doctor goes to Barad-dûr and discovers that the Dark Lord is a massive computer that he himself programmed.

Some strong support for seeing McCoy turn Saruman evil, and a few voices raised for a Hartnell-Silmaril romp. No votes for the Pertwee story. I'm glad to see insanity isn't totally rampant amongst readers of my journal. The win must surely be gratifying for Chris Boucher, since that's basically the plot of The Face of Evil.

Talking of Mr Boucher, I'm pleased to see that Star Cops is coming out on DVD at the end of August (that link will take you to a preorder page at Play.com).

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I ever read them at all. I like the sound of it from the amazon page (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0571202020), though the reviews don't make it come across as scary.

The Face of Evil - Oh yes, of course! Only this version would have less Leela in it.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

None of the blurbs I've read mention the Plague deaths, the constant, looming presence of the Green Man figure, and the Curse.

Leela could appear, if you prefer...

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

the Plague deaths, the constant, looming presence of the Green Man figure, and the Curse

Gosh. So much for 'gentle'!


Leela could appear, if you prefer...

*Scrabbles for his keyboard in a panic* Er, no, no, that's quite alright. I'm sure it'll be just fine without her.

;-)

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

An Enemy At Green Knowe is one of a handful of books I've read that gave me a nightmare.

She wrote other books (mostly centring around the same house) and they nearly all of them have the hardest edge of children's fiction: not sweetness and light at all.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I've had three of the Green Knowe books since childhood, but never got past this first one - it must have scared me too much. I don't have Enemy *shivers*

BTW, the house is in this part of the world: see here.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

Star Cops is coming out on DVD at the end of August

Wheeee!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

You said it, sir!

[genarti]

I actually read Treasure of Green Knowe first, which is much less creepy. It has a hard edge, yes, with the occasional racism towards Jacob and the family shame/misunderstanding about Susan's blindness and all that, but still; no Green Noah, which goes a long way. And Susan and Jacob may be ghost/memories, but the awareness of their deaths isn't quite so present. So I fell in love with Tolly and his grandmother that way.

Then I went back to The Children of Green Knowe, and was thoroughly creeped out. *grin* But not so much that I didn't read it and reread it, and love it; I loved the three ghost-children, with their joy in life past and present and their lingering sadness for their deaths, and the intermingling of time periods. And tried to ignore Green Noah as much as possible; really, he's one of the more terrifying figures in a children's book, though actually there were other books that scared me more.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a wonderful book but, blimey, I'm not surprised I didn't read more of them when I was a kid! I'm going to read the other ones that I own (Stranger and Stones), and then try to find the rest second-hand.

I don't recognize the title of Treasure (US name, perhaps?): I wonder which of these it is.

[genarti]

Huh. Didn't realize they had different names in the UK. Chimneys, looks like.

(Apologies for the extraordinary belatedness of this reply; LJ just sent me the comment notification. *smites*)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I think it must be Chimneys, which I just picked up and started reading, and which mentions a treasure. I wonder if the chimneys will turn out to be significant.

No worries about delay! LJ has been sending out late notifications to everyone, I think.

[genarti]

Also: Moomintrolls icon! *squee*

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And this...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And this!

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

goddamn it's frightening

Isn't it?! And it's not even the scariest - that honour goes to An Enemy at Green Knowe, which gave me nightmares as a child, and I still find it shiver-inducing.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It presses a lot of my particular 'fear' buttons, such as stories about the Plague, and Green Man myths. I don't have a copy of Enemy, but you're the second person to say it gave them nightmares, so I must track a copy down *shivering in anticipation*

[trixieleitz]

... Star Cops is coming out on DVD at the end of August...

Wahey! Not that I've managed to watch the tapes I bought last year, mind, but it's nice to see recognition of Mr Boucher's work.

I did a search on Amazon for price comparison and wishlisting purposes, and they don't have it yet. But they did suggest I might like the Blake's 7 DVDs. :P

[altariel.livejournal.com]

But they did suggest I might like the Blake's 7 DVDs.

LOL! Yes, we would, very much, please!

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

Star Cops is coming out on DVD at the end of August

And about bloody time too. We need something to fill the Boucher Gap, having got to the end of B7 last night.

I'm hoping that, instead of a normal commentary track, they just record Boucher bitching about the BBC, and life in general, for seven and a half hours.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

We need something to fill the Boucher Gap, having got to the end of B7 last night.

Ooh, how was that?

I hope we get a seven-hour Boucher bitching fest as well.

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

Ooh, how was that?

Bloody great. "The only episode as good as the first one" was the considered verdict.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

A fair assessment, I think.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

I have read Green Knowe but I remember nothing about it. You know, it may be that it scared me so much I suppressed it, if it had that effect on everyone else.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Plague stories always scare the bejesus out of me. I think there was a TV version too, some time in the 1980s.

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if that happened to me too. The title is very familiar, some of what is said earlier rings faint bells, so I wonder if it's something that was just too scary to recall.

Or it may have been one of those books that I constantly picked up, dipped into and never took out from the library. 'I Am The Cheese' was another one. Great title, but the blurb always sounded tedious and it was yet another book about bloody (lit - I think there's a motorbike accident in it) boys.

And 'Green Knowe' sounds like it's another candidate for my thoughts on Susan-ness in children's novels essay. Something else I will never get round to writing.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Susan-ness in children's novels

Even if you can't write an essay, can you say more?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

One of the Green Knowe stories has a gorilla in it, if that makes the bells ring any louder! I read several things about the Plague when I was kid, and I think there was a TV programme about Eyam - I suspect a lot of this gets jumbled up in my head.

I had a book which was all about a motorbike accident too, Collision Course. A lad pinches a bike for a joy-ride and knocks an old woman over, then spends the book trying to cover it up.

Oh, have you read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time? I wasn't going to bother because of all the hype, but a couple of people said to ignore the hype, and it turned out to be really very good.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

I bought it for Anna for Christmas, but I think it is too old for her. I should borrow it, but it's disappeared into the massive chaos of books in her room. Happytune says it's very good. I know what you mean about hype; I get all truculent.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

If you can find it in her room, it's definitely worth reading. It's a very quick read - not meant as a bad thing, you get very engrossed in the character and the events.