Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A is for A. A. Milne

I spent a good part of my young childhood (we'll call that birth to age 13) watching the Disney adaptions of Winnie-the-Pooh.  They enthralled me as few things have managed to do in my life.  And they still do.  Obviously they would never have been made were it not for A. A. Milne.

It wasn't until about a year ago that I actually read the Winnie-the-Pooh volume.  It's truly amazing.  The writing isn't complex, yet it has style, rhythm, cleverness, and sincerity that few stories can match.  In just a few paragraphs characters you hadn't met before became clear in your mind.  The plot in each story is pure and driven almost entirely by the characters, especially their imaginations.

A. A. Milne's other works for children, such as Now We Are Six and The House at Pooh Corner, are splendid.  (Note: I have not read the entirety of them, only parts.)

I am not familiar with the screenplays or novels of Milne, but I suspect they have a certain spark to them that anyone who has read Winnie-the-Pooh and the like will enjoy.

It's almost sad that Mr. Milne died forty-one and a half years before I was born.  It would have been cool to have shaken has hand and thanked him for his work.

12 comments:

  1. He truly inspired many. I am the same as you and didn't read anything until older, but I have always loved his characters.

    Brandon Ax: Writer's Storm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, they are pretty great. Thanks for dropping in.

      Delete
  2. His writing was one of my daughter's favorites when she was younger. The themes will always be classics.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It always struck me as writing for children that didn't assume that they were entirely illiterate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds about right. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  4. I love the story behind Pooh, and the bear. Also, Winnie has been so Disney-fied, I never knew until a couple of years ago that it's a Canadian creation!

    Alex Hurst, fantasy author in Japan. "B is for Books" is my current post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Still one of my favorite books. I have a beautifully illustrated, hard bound copy of the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh that I treasure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sounds lovely.

      It's nice to see a new "face" here. Hello.

      Delete
  6. Oh, my childhood! :) I haven't had a chance to read many of the books, I will have to make an effort at some point!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. At some point: I'm learning to hate that phrase more and more as my Reading List gets larger and larger...

      Delete