Writing about a childhood bard
Feb. 7th, 2011 04:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trenchkamenBrian Jacques, author of the Redwall series, has passed away. Sudden heart attack, apparently.
I was obsessed with those books in about fourth, fifth grade. Obscenely obsessed. I had a crappy AOL website and tons of fanfiction and everything (none of which made it online; yes, all of which I still have; no, I am not showing it to you). I was a Long Patrol hare for Halloween one year. Yes, the costume sucked, but what mattered was that at the time I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
I grew out of his books--they are one of the few things I did grow out of. I retained a lot of childhood fandoms. But re-visiting them upon the onset of adolescence, I found them simplistic. Pulpy adventure stories, sure, and feminist (which was a huge plus), but, still, very straightforward good-vs-evil type stuff where good and evil tend to be species demarcations. I still have a huge soft spot, rooted in nostalgia, and remembering how completely that world engrossed me.
Mr. Jacques, thank you for all of the fond memories, and for being one of the (if not the most prominent) figure who inspired me to read and write prolifically. Those gifts never left me.
I was obsessed with those books in about fourth, fifth grade. Obscenely obsessed. I had a crappy AOL website and tons of fanfiction and everything (none of which made it online; yes, all of which I still have; no, I am not showing it to you). I was a Long Patrol hare for Halloween one year. Yes, the costume sucked, but what mattered was that at the time I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
I grew out of his books--they are one of the few things I did grow out of. I retained a lot of childhood fandoms. But re-visiting them upon the onset of adolescence, I found them simplistic. Pulpy adventure stories, sure, and feminist (which was a huge plus), but, still, very straightforward good-vs-evil type stuff where good and evil tend to be species demarcations. I still have a huge soft spot, rooted in nostalgia, and remembering how completely that world engrossed me.
Mr. Jacques, thank you for all of the fond memories, and for being one of the (if not the most prominent) figure who inspired me to read and write prolifically. Those gifts never left me.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-08 03:30 am (UTC)I just feel like a part of my childhood is gone, which is silly because I can always go back and read the books and there are still numerous more that I haven't touched yet, but it's still so sad. There won't be any more. Those books brought me so much joy and all but consumed my imagination when I was younger.
I've never met the man, but I'm going to miss him dearly.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-02-10 10:52 pm (UTC)And he seems like a thoroughly nice fellow. The world is poorer for his departing.