First there was that great traveller Noddy, who lucks on a car in the second volume. While not the smartest toy in the box, he was an entrepreneur and soon became a self-employed taxi driver. I think it was his little red and yellow vehicle that got me in – and his loyal companion Bumpy Dog. And haven't we all come across a Mr Plod once or twice in our lives?
Broader horizons soon beckoned and I was sailing away with the Swallows and Amazons. Even though personally landlocked, I was right there beside them on those dinghies and lakes. I lived and loved those details. My memory is that they packed marvellous provisions, but now can't imagine salivating over corned beef, ginger beer and lemonade.
Master of the Swallow John Walker, Susan the mate, (the unfortunate) Able Seaman Titty and ship's boy Roger were no match in my mind for those wonderful Amazon girls, Nancy Blackett and sister Peggy (Ruth really, but after all, the Amazons were ruth-less). And what made it even better was that it was a series and I could travel on and on, adventure after adventure, although I have to admit I didn't get as far as We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea, and maybe it's just as well.
And then after many years I took a leap into Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Not much made sense in the '70s so it's not surprising you can now download the study guide.
Of course my son is always questioning my credentials and asks me if I have read On the Road by Kerouac; The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Wolfe; and The Odyssey by Homer. They're
still on my 'to read' list but I'll get to them one day, along with Steinbeck's Travels with Charley: In Search of America.
If only life's journey had one signpost like the Open Road to Reading.
2 comments:
Don't forget about the much under-appreciated 'The Road to Mars' by Eric Idle.
Of course! Thank you
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