Alan Garner

SevenStars

SevenStars

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I hope this is suitable to post here, my apologies if it is not.

Did anyone read Alan Garner as a child or even later in life?

I remember being given a copy of his debut novel The Weirdstone of Brisingamen when I was 7 and being completely entranced by the story - I still have the much worn copy on my bookshelf read also by all of my children. I read much of his other work including The Owl Service, Elidor and the 3rd in the weirdstone trilogy Boneland when it was published in 2003. I think Garner is a fine fantasy writer who could perhaps be reintroduced to today's young (and older) readers more.


Any other Garner fans out there with memories / thoughts to share?
 
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Attracted by the Tolkien reference on the cover, I bought the Ace paperback of The Weirdstone at a Coos Bay, Oregon, convenience store when I was 13 -- I think. Bought The Moon of Gomrath soon afterwards, I suppose, unless I bought Moon first. I discovered Garner around 1969. Many years later, I got an Ordnance Survey map for Macclesfield, with which one can follow much of the action of Weirdstone, which therefore is a good example of a topographic romance.

Topographic Romance - Fancyclopedia 3

I suppose I snapped up paperback editions of Elidor and The Owl Service as soon as I saw them on sale. The Owl Service was a Puffin book, i.e. a British edition, although bought, like the others, in Oregon. It has a remarkably uninviting cover aside from the author's name and title, taken from a British miniseries based on the book, during the making of which Garner writes somewhere that he found himself suddenly enraged, thinking some hidden trauma was touched.
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I read The Owl Service in primary school, when a teacher handed it to me, saying I might like that. Having recently covered some Scottish myths and legends, she thought I might be interested in a story based on parts of the Welsh Mabinogion.

Teachers who inspire as she did are worth their weight in gold. I have my own copy of The Owl Service, now, slightly battered, on my bookshelf. It might be time for a reread, in the name of nostalgia, and to read a darn good story.

I read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen shortly after, and then a few others. I'd recommend Garner's work for kids or adults (we hopefully all still have a bit of our childhood in us). As far as I know, he's still read, but it would be nice to think he was read widely.
 
Garner always did stress the impact that being brought up around Alderley Edge had on his writing. The local landscape and history along with the Arthurian legends have shaped and informed his work significantly.

''As I turned toward writing, which is partially intellectual in its function, but is primarily intuitive and emotional in its execution, I turned towards that which was numinous and emotional in me, and that was the legend of King Arthur Asleep Under the Hill. It stood for all that I'd had to give up in order to understand what I'd had to give up. And so my first two books, which are very poor on characterization because I was somehow numbed in that area, are very strong on imagery and landscape, because the landscape I had inherited along with the legend.'' Alan Garner


Interesting too that Garner professed never to have written specifically for children; yet he also stated that people under the age of 18 were more perceptive readers of his work than adults.
 
SevenStars said:
Interesting too that Garner professed never to have written specifically for children; yet he also stated that people under the age of 18 were more perceptive readers of his work than adults.
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Hope I'm not derailing the thread, especially this early on, but that's the same for Philip Pullman. I read a piece where he said he didn't write for children, but for people. It's just how his stories came out.

I don't think there's much problem with an adult reading Garner's work. The language is simple enough for younger readers to work with, and the characters tend to be younger, but these are not issues in my opinion, especially not when you consider the rich symbolism and the strength of the stories.
 
Abernovo said:
Hope I'm not derailing the thread, especially this early on, but that's the same for Philip Pullman. I read a piece where he said he didn't write for children, but for people. It's just how his stories came out.

I don't think there's much problem with an adult reading Garner's work. The language is simple enough for younger readers to work with, and the characters tend to be younger, but these are not issues in my opinion, especially not when you consider the rich symbolism and the strength of the stories.
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Garner has said that he didn't write for any particular audience, rather he wrote for himself. I totally agree that his work holds appeal on differing levels for different ages of reader.
 
I loved Owl Service and Red Shift - I don't think I've read any others. His work is deliciously creepy.

I'm with him on the location I know growing up there was something special about reading the Macbeth Play in English then walking home past the castle where King Duncan really died. (Well OK the hill with a few stones on it lol) I've been very lucky between Liverpool which encouraged creativity of all kinds and the North East of Scotland which is full of hidden stories.
 
I read them as a boy.
First the Weirdstone, then Elidor and the moon of Gomrath which were really adventure stories, and then the Owl service which I found very disturbing at that time with its ideas of possesion from the past.
I don't still have them some squigglety years later, but they weren't as above.
The Weirdstone had a dwarf on it I think, with a black beard.
Elidor a unicorn next to a church andt the Moon of Gomrath a big full moon and a soldier in an iron hat.
A,d the Owl Service a blond girl and a big plate, which I didn't understand til the end. :)
They made a big impression on me, and I tried, unsuccessfully, to get my daughters to read them in their turn.
 
Also worth reading: The Voice That Thunders, a collection of articles with many interesting thoughts and autobiographical info (one of them being his perception of the importance of having lived through WWII, as a child, to his career as a fantasy author, something he shares with Susan Cooper).

I love The Owl Service -- some of its prose is outstandingly effective -- and have been meaning to reread Red Shift for quite a while.
 
SevenStars said:
Can't seem to be able to open this - can you post title? :)
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It is Filming The Owl Service: A Children's Diary, by Ellen, Adam, and Katharine Garner, with contributions by Alan Garner and Peter Plummer. "An Armada Special." An abebooks.com seller describes it thus:

----Collins Armada, London, 1970. Original Paperback. Book Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Rare Armada Special featuring the diaries of Alan Garner's children, Ellen, Adam and Katharine, during the making of the cult children's drama 'The Owl Service'. Introduction by Alan Garner and essay, "Making the Film" by director Peter Plummer. Page edges slightly yellowed and original paper covers have been protected with laminate.---

The seller asks $92.64 US for the book (plus shipping).

A commenter at Good Reads said:

----A completely brilliant book on the making of a completely brilliant TV series based on a completely brilliant fantasy novel.

One of the best, if not THE best, making-of book I have read in my entire life. The diaries of the children (aged 11,10,and 8) give a realistic view of day to day life on a film set and the photos and other illustrations are perfectly matched to the writing.

Alan Garner himself does a 15 page intro which covers the background to the book and the Welsh mythology that is at the root of the story. He talks about being talked into the series, casting, coping with the chaos, strange coincidences...

Peter Plummer was the director. His chunk of book is the technical bit. Finding locations, casting, editing and so on.

It is only a short book but entirely fascinating.---

An Aamazon (UK) reviewer said:

---When the Owl Service was filmed, Alan Garner's children Ellen (11), Adam (10) and Katharine (8) were allowed to watch the filming and kept diaries. Allowed to miss school for nine weeks, the children were incredibly excited and enthusiastic in their descriptions, particularly scenes were characters need soaking with hoses. There are plenty of photos, and the children's own drawings. Anyone knowing the book knows it starts with the immortal line "How's the bellyache then" and Alan Garner explains that he wanted to avoid what he calls Cheneying (from a play called The Last of Mrs Cheney) where characters have to elaborately explain the background of the plot.
Published in 1970, I treasure this book as much as I treasure The Owl Service itself.---

Here's something about the TV serial:

http://www.the-mausoleum-club.org.uk/timescreen/Trial 10/owlart.htm
 
I read The Weirdstone and Gomrath just before I discovered LotR and in fact, it was partly the cover blurb that started me on Tolkien. Great books, both of them, and thanks to SevenStars for putting me onto Boneland - I'd no idea there was another Colin/Susan book in the series...


Edit (30 seconds later) And herewith one of the great things about Kindles - I've just bought and downloaded it, at 20.54 on Boxing Day evening...:D
 
Apologies, I stated earlier that Boneland was published in 2003! It was actually last year in 2012, momentary lapse in concentration I fear :)

Ursula Le Guin did a nice review:
Boneland by Alan Garner


''I read The Weirdstone and Gomrath just before I discovered LotR and in fact, it was partly the cover blurb that started me on Tolkien. Great books, both of them, and thanks to SevenStars for putting me onto Boneland - I'd no idea there was another Colin/Susan book in the series...


Edit (30 seconds later) And herewith one of the great things about Kindles - I've just bought and downloaded it, at 20.54 on Boxing Day evening...'' pyan

So glad you got it.....enjoy :)
 
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My first introduction to ALan Garner was at school (many moons ago!). I think I was in the third year of secondary school. Every Friday afternoon the whole class would sit silent, completely entranced as our form tutor read from The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.

Weirdstone is my favourite work of his, and I also loved Moon of Gomrath. His writing has a magical quality. I have yet to read Boneland - it's on my list of books to read. Soon, I hope!
 
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