- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber; First Edition edition (8 April 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571191320
- ISBN-13: 978-0571191321
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.4 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 550,576 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Child that Books Built
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More About the Author
Product Description
Times Educational Supplement, 8 March 2002
Francis Spufford looks back in this absorbing memoir to the origins and progress of his love affair with books.
Observer, 3 March 2002
A daring autobiographical book that, having initially confessed an addiction to reading, teases and then hooks the reader.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There are few more solitary occupations than being a child bookworm, so it is absolutely wonderful to find something on the shelves which remembers us.
Here's a simple test to see if you'll like this book- does this: "It was as if Puffin were part of the administration of the world. They were the department of the welfare state responsible for the distribution of narrative." give you a shiver of recognition? If so, you'll find much to enjoy here.
It's full of little things that strike chords: the feel of old libraries, the terror of horror stories that imaginative children have; the phrase 'stepping lightly from C.S. Lewis to Jane Eyre'.
My complaint would be that it is a little academic in parts- if we wanted the philosophy and analysis of our childhood reading, we've probably done it already. What I wanted more of were the small joys; the little nostalgias. Where children hide to read books; what pleases and what annoys, and I'd have liked more of Spufford's home life. There are also disappointingly few books covered- more than just a skimming of Leon Garfield, Ian Serrallier or Peter Dickinson would have been nice, and perhaps a little less of the visiting the 'Little House on the Prairie' jaunt. Also, I suppose as a girl I missed the feminine side- Anne of Green Gables, Katy, the Chalet school et al.
But these are small grumbles set against what a lovely thing this is- it was suggested to me after I read 'Stet', which I would also recommend wholeheartedly- for all of us who, as an erstwhile friend of mine said, 'don't so much like books as suffer from an obsessive-compulsive illness'.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this after reading enthusiastic reviews of it in 'The Economist' and 'Times'. That was in 2002. I'm currently having a sort out of my library so have only now got round to reading it. I have to say it wasn't worth the wait. The subject matter may be full of potential but the result was disappointing.
Of the same generation as Spufford, I was always a voracious reader as a child - but hadn't even heard of (let alone read) half the books discussed here; as corollary too much of the material was meaningless to me. I also agree with a previous reviewer that the book is too academic at the expense of the joy of childhood reading and literature. Nor did the memoir element resonate with me.
Throw in Spufford's rather self-pleased tone and the result is - I'm sorry to say - a dull and ultimately irritating book.
Of the same generation as Spufford, I was always a voracious reader as a child - but hadn't even heard of (let alone read) half the books discussed here; as corollary too much of the material was meaningless to me. I also agree with a previous reviewer that the book is too academic at the expense of the joy of childhood reading and literature. Nor did the memoir element resonate with me.
Throw in Spufford's rather self-pleased tone and the result is - I'm sorry to say - a dull and ultimately irritating book.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Though I like the idea of an adult bookworm going back over the books he enjoyed as a child, the reality of this book is that it reads more like some kind of idiosyncratic analysis of children's literature than the memoir it's advertised as. When it's about the author's life it's interesting; when he describes his reactions to the various books it can be engrossing. But much of the book is cerebral philosophising, sometimes on the nature of literature, sometimes on the nature of language itself. This wouldn't be so bad if it were in a more accessible style, but unfortunately the prose is often as dry and imprenetrable as the early 'Forest' chapter, which was a real struggle to get through.
If you have a fascination for language and the psychology of children's literature you might enjoy all this, but if you're looking for a memoir of a boy who retreated into books, I would look elsewhere, for this isn't it!
If you have a fascination for language and the psychology of children's literature you might enjoy all this, but if you're looking for a memoir of a boy who retreated into books, I would look elsewhere, for this isn't it!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not at all what I expected
well... What I had expected was a memoir that would draw upon books that had influenced him, and what I got was a basic review of childrens books as a whole. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Natasha Borton
Trip down memory lane
This is an amazing book - for me a trip down memory lane as the author recalls the influence of books through his childhood, many of which I too read as a child but had forgotten. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2010 by J. P. Steinberg
Fascinating, compelling and insightful
Some of the other reviewers appear to have expected something rather different from what Spufford's book aims to be. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2009 by A. Luke
Don't buy it expecting bookish charm and whimsy
This certainly wasn't what I expected - just proving the old adage that `You can't judge a book by its cover. Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2009 by Miss E. Potten
superb study, highly recommended
I am surprised to learn that anyone who enjoys reading has failed to enjoy this book. Both as a memoir and as a study of how children's literature affects us it is strikingly... Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2003 by "sundew2"
Huge disappointment
I had read glowing reviews of this book, and noted that the author had read many of the same books as me. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2003 by Chief Examiner
Fascinating, nostalgic and thought-provoking
Ignore all the mediocre reviews of this book which other people have posted. If you love books and recall with fondness your childhood reading, then you will enjoy Spufford's... Read more
Published on 20 April 2003
!!IGNORE THE 3 STARS!!
This book is worthy of infinite stars - I have never read a book that is so cerebral yet so passionate. And what a topic - a writer re-assessing his own reading as a child. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2003 by james carter
too acedemic in places but the memoir side was intresting.
I bought this book as part of my reaearch for my dissertation, and whilst i enjoyed the memoir side of the book and his reminiscing, some of the book was extremly hard going. Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2002 by Louisa Blank
A book to make you think
This is one of the most interesting books I've read in ages. It made me think about reading, and about books, in ways I hadn't previously considered. Read more
Published on 23 May 2002 by Matthew Cobb
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