Childhood Times, Childish Things... 

Stephen over at Reading Freely has recently been focusing on his reading during childhood. He then asked me about my own experiences. So, here we are.... 

I’ve surprised many people over the years when I tell them that I hardly read a thing (or nothing notable) in my formative years – at least not until my early teens. I mean I COULD read and was reading happily before I started school. In fact, when my reading age was tested some years later during a school visit by an OFSTED examiner it was years ahead of my physical age. Yet, I still hadn’t caught the reading bug. The first book that struck me as something special – probably around the age of 11-12 I think – was an odd one, a German children's classic Emil and the Detectives (1929) by Erich Kästner. How this particular book (translated naturally!) came into my possession I have no idea. As I don’t have a copy, I can only guess it either came from my school or my local library. I’d bet on my school. I really liked it and I can still remember some of the urban scenes 50 years later. But that spark, well received as it was, failed to ignite my reading flame. Next up was another classic 1984 (1949) by George Orwell. This was leant to me by my English teacher at the time. Why such a book was considered appropriate reading for a 13-year-old, I’m not sure but I’m glad she thought it was a good idea. That book completely entranced me and became one of the foundational texts of my political beliefs. But still, no passion for books. The final book which DID manage to get my motor running (and never quite stopping since) literally dropped into my lap. I was around 13-14, probably looking bored sitting on the couch, when my older brother's friend arrived to pick him up. He was carrying a paperback and tossed it at me saying something like “This is pretty good. You might like it”. It was Triplanetary (1934) by E E ‘Doc’ Smith, a classic space opera novel from the Golden Age of SF. That book, that incident, made me the reader I became. It was as if my mind expanded to the edges of the Universe. Nothing has been the same since.... 

The rest, as they say, is History. Fortunately, at least some of it was recorded as soon after I started my mammoth life-long reading spree I began recording (with pen and paper back then) my reads. Below (very slightly anachronistic as the first 5-10, I think, represented a mix of memory and a VERY small stack I’d already read) is a list of my first 20 books I read in the early 1970’s. My reading did become a little more diverse in the subsequent years, but that’s for another post I think! 

1984 by George Orwell
Space Prison by Tom Godwin
Triplanetary by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
First Lensman by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
Gray Lensman by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
Second Stage Lensman by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
Galactic Patrol by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
Children of the Lens by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
Masters of the Vortex by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
Spacehounds of I.P.C. by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
The Best of E E ‘Doc’ Smith by E E ‘Doc’ Smith
Dune by Frank Herbert
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
The Heaven Makers by Frank Herbert
Seeker from the Stars by James N Coleman
I, Robot by Issac Asimov
Inverted World by Christopher Priest
City by Clifford D Simak
The Best of Clifford D Simak by Clifford D Simak
Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein

So, you can see that I was effectively mainlining ‘Doc’ Smith and when I couldn’t get any more of him moved onto other authors. It's also interesting how I got into the heavy stuff and some very decent classic text so early. All of the above was read when I was around 13-14 years old. As you can imagine at this point my poor brain was expanding in ALL directions at the speed of light (or beyond!).