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The Child that Books Built [Paperback]

Francis Spufford (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 17 Mar 2003

Fairy tales and Where the Wild Things Are, The Lord of the Rings and the Narnia books, Little House on the Prairie and The Earthsea Trilogy. What would you find if you went back and re-read your favourite books from childhood? Francis Spufford discovers both delight and sadness, in this widely celebrated memoir of a boy who retreats into books, faced with a tragedy in his family.

'A beautifully composed and wholly original memoir, sounding the classics of children's literature.' David Sexton, Evening Standard

'Exuberant and serious, funny and sophisticated, this memoir of reading and childhood is a delight.' Andrea Ashworth

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Product details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; New edition edition (17 Mar 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0571214673
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571214679
  • Product Dimensions: 12.6 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 81,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Francis Spufford Page
Francis Spufford
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Product Description

Review

A genre-busting text. -- Michael Rosen

Short, dense, allusive and ferociously bright. -- Nick Hornby

About the Author

Francis Spufford, a former Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year (1997), has edited two acclaimed literary anthologies and a collection of essays about the history of technology. His first book, I May Be Some Time, won the Writers' Guild Award for Best Non-Fiction Book of 1996, the Banff Mountain Book Prize and a Somerset Maugham Award. His second, The Child That Books Built, gave Neil Gaiman 'the peculiar feeling that there was now a book I didn't need to write'. His third, Backroom Boys, was called 'as nearly perfect as makes no difference' by the Daily Telegraph and was shortlisted for the Aventis Prize. In 2007 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He teaches writing at Goldsmiths College and lives near Cambridge.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Great. 26 Mar 2002
By Jennifer Colgan
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'.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy it expecting bookish charm and whimsy 18 Jan 2009
By Miss E. Potten
Format:Paperback
This certainly wasn't what I expected - just proving the old adage that `You can't judge a book by its cover.' Where I expected charm and books and childhood pleasures, instead I found an intense, philosophical analysis of the way children respond to books, with a heavy emphasis on psychoanalytic ideas.

I had to skip over some of the first chapter (unheard of for me) because it was unintelligible, but it did improve after a while. Once the books became more familiar it was more enjoyable and easier to follow - for example, there was an interesting section on Laura Ingalls Wilder's `Little House' books, and the place of the prairie and the town in her novels. There was also a good section later on concerning the shift from children's books to adult reading, and the role of the classics in bridging the gap. Knowing more about these novels again made this part easier to understand and appreciate.

Despite the better areas, the overly abstract academic analysis made this a much heavier book than it needed to be. There was also a decidedly self-obsessed air about it, and the familiar self-consciousness that is noticeable in many memoirs. An average read - and certainly not an easy one.
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30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, nostalgic and thought-provoking 20 April 2003
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
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 elegant and wide-ranging exploration of the ways reading helps a child to create his or her sense of self.

Spufford was a voracious reader as a child, finding an escape from his family's heartrending and guilt-inducing medical problems behind the printed lines on a page. While writing this memoir of childhood reading, he reread all the books he had loved--from Where The Wild Things Are to Narnia and Little House on the Prairie, and attempted to find out just why he had read so catatonically, and how it had shaped him.

There's a great deal of pleasure to be found in reminiscing along with Spufford about your own first reading of The Hobbit, but he offers far more than a simple nostalgia-fest. He also discusses the theories of child psychologists on the importance of reading and the ways in which it can teach a child about language and the patterns in the world. Some people seem to have found this too dry and academic--and it isn't as interesting as the sections dealing with his own life--but stick with it! Spufford is discussing something very important: WHY is it better for your child to spend 3 hours reading than 3 hours on the Playstation?--and believe me, this proves that it is!

The rest of the book discusses Spufford's adolescence; the years when Narnia had lost its magic, but the world of adult books hadn't yet opened its doors. There are some great insights into sci-fi--The Left Hand of Darkness gets special mention and praise....

I've always loved books about books and reading, and I recommend this to anyone who feels the same. Not quite as enjoyable or loveable as Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris (highly recommended) but this is a great, entertaining and educating read. One of the most unusual and moving books of the year. Read more ›

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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars superb study, highly recommended 22 Oct 2003
By "sundew2"
Format:Paperback
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 original.The author's passion for reading began as an escape from a childhood skewed by his sister's illness, but once he read The Hobbit he embarked on the life of a bookworm. His descriptions of what it feels like to read are spot-on, and his studies of particular children's authors illuminating. Highly recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Not at all what I expected 7 Jan 2012
By Natasha Borton
Format:Paperback
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. I felt the memoir wasn't personal enough, and I simply didn't engage with the narrator on any level. I found myself reading this as a critical analysis text, something I'd disect and quote for uni rather than something I wanted to dive into and enjoy reading. This is probably my own fault for expecting too much of the text rather than being grateful for what I'm being given.
The dispatch was quick, good quality book and a lovely edition.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars This book is ideal for avid readers
I loved this book because it built, for mew, an instant connection with the author. I too was an avid reader, in fact, it was wonderful to read about someone else who is as... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Kathy Pemberton
2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I bought this after reading enthusiastic reviews of it in 'The Economist' and 'Times'. That was in 2002. Read more
Published on 11 May 2011 by Elke
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
5.0 out of 5 stars 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
2.0 out of 5 stars More a thesis than a memoir
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... Read more
Published on 14 Jun 2008 by Archy
1.0 out of 5 stars 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
5.0 out of 5 stars !!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
2.0 out of 5 stars 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
5.0 out of 5 stars 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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