Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best in which our lovely host chooses a book and participants take it from there: creating a chain of books, each connected to the one before. Seeing where we end up is half the fun!
I have not read this month's title, Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame by Mara Wilson, but I can think of several different ways to go from here. How to choose?!
I would be surprised if I am the only one who makes a connection between Mara Wilson's memoir and Roald Dahl's Matilda. Just seeing the photo on the cover brings back memories. I recently bought a copy of Matilda to read with my daughter. She's become quite enamored by the songs from the musical version of the book. Who doesn't love the precocious book loving five year old with psychic abilities going up against the evil headmistress with the help of a loving teacher?
Which leads me to Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Did you know Matilda read Oliver Twist before she was five? I wasn't nearly so young when I read the Dickens' novel. It was my first by the author, however. Both children had a rough first few years of their lives and would eventually have the happy endings they deserved. I was quite taken with Oliver, and, in another tie-in to Matilda, I am a big fan of the musical. Oliver is an orphan boy who is taken in by a band of thieves. His naivety and kind heart make him an easy character to like and cheer for.
Like Oliver, the character of Cosette in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (which I am just half way through) is a mistreated child early in her life. And thinking of Oliver, the Artful Dodger, Fagin and the rest of the gang from Oliver Twist, brings to mind another thread these two books have in common. The criminal element. Our leading man, Jean Valjean is an ex-convict, having stolen out of desperation and a hungry family and who spends his life trying to atone for his past. Then you have the Thénardiers, or whatever name they use at any given moment--they are always up to something not particularly legal. Even so, I have a soft spot for Gavroche and Eponine, regardless of the petty crimes they have committed. Although I am Team Marius and Cosette, I have always felt sorry for Eponine, whose love goes unrequited.
From one of my favorite series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling features another character with a questionable past whose love goes unrequited. Harry Potter gets a glimpse into Severus Snape's memories, revealing Snape's love for Harry's mother. It explains so much! Harry and his friends always viewed Snape as a villain of sorts, never quite trusting him. And while I always suspected Snape wasn't the bad guy everyone thought him to be, I know some readers were not so sure about him for a long while.
Thinking of Snape reminds me of the antihero. Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Morgan character from Darkly Dreaming Dexter and the subsequent books in the series, is a perfect example of one. A serial killer in his own right who only targets bad people. As a forensic blood splatter expert for the police department, he is never without a list of victims. The author does a good job of creating a sympathetic character who does some pretty terrible things. While I haven't read all the books in this series, I have read the first several.
And that leads me to Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye, a somewhat twisted retelling of Jane Eyre, only Jane Steele happens to have left a body count behind her. I have yet to read this one, but it is on my TBR pile and I hope to get to it before the year is out.
This was fun! I could see so many different directions to go with each book in the chain, and settling on one was a bit of a challenge at times. There are just so many! I realized as I was going along that my first three were all made into musicals and five have been made for the screen, all of which I have seen. I imagine Mara Wilson would not have thought her book could be connected to a novel about a murderer. You never know where six degrees of separation might take you!
Have you read any of these books? What direction do you think your choices would be if you were playing along?
Which leads me to Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Did you know Matilda read Oliver Twist before she was five? I wasn't nearly so young when I read the Dickens' novel. It was my first by the author, however. Both children had a rough first few years of their lives and would eventually have the happy endings they deserved. I was quite taken with Oliver, and, in another tie-in to Matilda, I am a big fan of the musical. Oliver is an orphan boy who is taken in by a band of thieves. His naivety and kind heart make him an easy character to like and cheer for.
Like Oliver, the character of Cosette in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables (which I am just half way through) is a mistreated child early in her life. And thinking of Oliver, the Artful Dodger, Fagin and the rest of the gang from Oliver Twist, brings to mind another thread these two books have in common. The criminal element. Our leading man, Jean Valjean is an ex-convict, having stolen out of desperation and a hungry family and who spends his life trying to atone for his past. Then you have the Thénardiers, or whatever name they use at any given moment--they are always up to something not particularly legal. Even so, I have a soft spot for Gavroche and Eponine, regardless of the petty crimes they have committed. Although I am Team Marius and Cosette, I have always felt sorry for Eponine, whose love goes unrequited.
From one of my favorite series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling features another character with a questionable past whose love goes unrequited. Harry Potter gets a glimpse into Severus Snape's memories, revealing Snape's love for Harry's mother. It explains so much! Harry and his friends always viewed Snape as a villain of sorts, never quite trusting him. And while I always suspected Snape wasn't the bad guy everyone thought him to be, I know some readers were not so sure about him for a long while.
Thinking of Snape reminds me of the antihero. Jeff Lindsay's Dexter Morgan character from Darkly Dreaming Dexter and the subsequent books in the series, is a perfect example of one. A serial killer in his own right who only targets bad people. As a forensic blood splatter expert for the police department, he is never without a list of victims. The author does a good job of creating a sympathetic character who does some pretty terrible things. While I haven't read all the books in this series, I have read the first several.
And that leads me to Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye, a somewhat twisted retelling of Jane Eyre, only Jane Steele happens to have left a body count behind her. I have yet to read this one, but it is on my TBR pile and I hope to get to it before the year is out.
This was fun! I could see so many different directions to go with each book in the chain, and settling on one was a bit of a challenge at times. There are just so many! I realized as I was going along that my first three were all made into musicals and five have been made for the screen, all of which I have seen. I imagine Mara Wilson would not have thought her book could be connected to a novel about a murderer. You never know where six degrees of separation might take you!
Have you read any of these books? What direction do you think your choices would be if you were playing along?
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I'm impressed with the way you did this!
ReplyDeleteKathy - Thank you! It was a lot of fun to put together.
DeleteI LOVED Jane Steele! It's such a beautifully written novel!
ReplyDeleteErica - It's one of the choices in my September TBR List poll that goes up tonight. :-)
DeleteVery clever to choose a book that Matilda reads as a link! I love the musicals theme. Like your daughter, I'm also enamoured with the songs from the musical version of Matilda (and Les Mis for that matter!).
ReplyDeleteKate - She is a well read little girl. :-) Les Miserables is my favorite musical. I hope one of these days we'll be able to see Matilda on stage. I think we'd all enjoy it.
DeleteWhat a fun post! I love how you linked the books to the previous title. I have a copy of Jane Steele on my bookshelf that I really need to get around to reading.
ReplyDeleteCarole - Thanks! I had fun putting it together. :-) Jane Steele has been on my TBR pile awhile now. I have hear such good things about it.
DeleteGood job connecting these together. I want to read Where Am I Now, I love memoirs.
ReplyDeleteEllen - Thank you! I don't read a lot of memoirs anymore, but at one time I was really into them.
DeleteLove how you have connected these together. I recently watched Matilda and forgot all about that movie & book.
ReplyDeleteJulie - Thank you! It's been awhile since I last saw the Matilda movie. My daughter hasn't yet seen it!
DeleteLes Miserables is one of the books that I could still read a 3rd time; loved it. Hope all has been well with you Wendy.
ReplyDeleteDiane - I am enjoying Les Misérables. It's been nice to read it with others. The read along leader posts history about the book as we go, which has been extremely enlightening. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteWow! That's an impressive connection! I'm not sure I could have gotten that all figured out. I do love Matilda though. I've never seen the movie but I listened to the book last year and absolutely loved it.
ReplyDeleteKatherine - It took some thinking, but it was fun to do. :-) Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteLove Dahl (including Mathilda). Read them to my kids when they were young (they are now 34-42!). The bfg is probably my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to reading Matilda to my daughter. Thanks for visiting!
DeleteI was with you, Wendy -- I was on the "Snape is good" team :)
ReplyDeleteDonna Marie - He was just misunderstood. :-) Thanks for stopping by!
Delete