'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.....'

Every year, for the last few years, around this time of year (normally more like March or April... it's a very Spring like novel. Maybe because it begins in March) I tend to either come across something stating how wonderful 'I Capture the Castle is' or I just feel an urge to reread it. It is a novel I remember reading when I was young, and then a few years later I was given a copy by my godmother, so I reread and loved it. The film version however, I remember very clearly watching and for some reason, as thirteen year old girls, my friends and I found it very funny (we were on holiday and inclined to be silly), and it meant I failed to take the story seriously for quite a few years - we can still quote those lines from the film that we found funny. Sad I know. I came back to the novel quite a few years later, and thinking about it, I can't remember whether I watched the film version before I was given a copy by my godmother, this has become confused in my mind, although the copy I have is one of those with a picture from the film on, so I suppose it was after, considering it was her well loved copy (that makes it even more special). Still, it's confused in my mind. Hmm. Anyway, when I came back to it, I think towards the end of school, I rediscovered an amazing novel, which I realised I adored, and still adore. I find myself wanting to reread it about once a year. Oddly, although I still have the copy I had when I was a child, I prefer reading the version my godmother gave me, and that is the one I have with me at the minute. It is such a wonderful book, I urge anyone who hasn't read it to get their hands on a copy and read it. The narrator is great, and it has such a perfect opening line, referenced in the title of this blog post. This has turned into a rather rambling post about why I love this book, sorry! Also, one thing that people often don't realise, is that the author, Dodie Smith, also wrote 101 Dalmatians... cool, huh?

This year the novel is on my primary reading list for this week, for my classics of children's literature module I'm taking. Also on the list this week is Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild (another novel I loved when I was growing up, and having reread it, it is wonderful) and Autumn Term by Antonia Forest, a school story I had never heard of nor encountered, probably because I grew up on a diet of Enid Blyton and Malory Towers and St Clare's, and these novels have been mainly out of print; but having read it is wonderful and I would have adored it if I had read it as a child. I still thought it was brilliant. I still love school stories. So, this weeks reading is particularly good and exciting and I love it. Also, I am doing a presentation on these texts on Friday, so I have just spent the afternoon researching. As I love these books this thought of this presentation doesn't seem as bad as normal, and it will be good to get it over with. Luckily it is with someone else, and hopefully it should go okay.