As part of Stainless Steel Droppings R.I.P. today Carl is hosting another discussion topic which specifically looks at coming of age – inspired by Gaiman’s Graveyard book.  The link is here.

It’s a curious topic and given the number of books and films that share the theme it’s obviously a source of great interest and speculation.  Coming of age – the strange phenomenon of passing from childhood to adulthood.  How does it happen and how can you tell whether it did or not.  It’s not just an age thing.  You don’t go to sleep one night age 15, wake up the following day, on your sixteenth birthday, and change into a different person.  I suppose it’s a gradual process and more tricky for some than others.  I confess that I had a very easy transition – so much so that I hadn’t a clue it had even happened!  But in spite of growing up, having a family and responsibilities I still feel like a child inside.  I think that’s a good thing and I love the fact that I can enjoy a good book or film – even if I’m not the target audience.  It’s all about going down that wormhole (thanks Geekybooksnob for that phrase) and immersing yourself in the world contained in the pages.  You’re never too old to enjoy this and don’t let anyone tell you different.

Anyway, as with my other discussion topic I’ve decided to focus on books that explore the coming of age theme and have the following offers:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – I really love this story of Dickens.  It was one of my earliest reads and it has such a lot going on that it totally appealed to me.  Young Pip, living with his older sister and her husband Joe.  He has a tough life but one which changes dramatically when he is elevated from his expectations of becoming a blacksmith to become a gentleman with a secret patron.   There are so many emotions in this book as we look at Pip as a young boy moving to a young man.  He suffers constant conflicts, fear and guilt over his early crime (stealing food from his sister’s pantry) he wants to do better and has ambitions, he definitely feels shame over his early social status and then once his status has risen he feels ashamed of Joe and his way of life.  He aspires to love young Estelle – but is this because of her beauty and personality or her wealth and social status.  We do go through quite a bit with young Pip and it’s definitely an interesting journey.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – another young orphan being raised by her aunt (who is less than pleased at the intrusion).  She certainly isn’t treated like a member of the family and dislikes and resents her cousins – with little surprise given the bullying involved.  Eventually Jane is palmed off to a boarding school – a rather impoverished and bleak placed with harsh task masters – until she eventually comes of a reasonable age and decides to take care of her own destiny by applying for the position of governess to a child under the care of Mr Rochester.  Again, a  young child at the beginning, we watch as Jane progresses through the years before eventually falling in love.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.  A fantasy novel.  A tale told by an innkeeper called Kote who over three days is going to tell his story – the story of a young boy called Kvothe.  A gifted young boy who travels with his family and a troupe of entertainers – that is until disaster strikes and he’s left to fend for himself.  Kvothe, dreams of going to University.  He’s incredibly intelligent and a gifted musician but he also has a tendency to be reckless and seems to have a knack for making people dislike him – particularly his tutors and fellow students – a lot who also look down on his poor social status.  I love this book.  I love reading about Kvothe and the progress he’s making, the second book is also excellent and I literally can hardly contain myself waiting for No.3

Atonement by Ian McEwan – this is a really interesting book about a young girl, Briony, and her perception of the events going on in her family – and how this perception is skewed.  It shows how something can get terribly out of hand and how something that starts as a simple mistake can have such a big impact on the lives of other people.  It then shows us how these events will stay with Briony and shape her character, she will continually carry that guilt and spend a lot of her life trying to atone for her mistake.

And, finally, I’m going to say The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.  Which is, I suppose an unusual choice given that Susie is murdered at the start of the story – so how can she come of age.  But, you do see Susie change and develop, she goes through the inevitable feelings of anger and loss at having been so cruelly robbed of life and the experiences that she will never have but she does continue to change whilst watching her family cope with her death.  Eventually, Susie is able to move on from her own personal heaven to a different place.  this is an amazing book – that I didn’t expect to enjoy given the subject matter – and yes, I loved this.

Interesting fact for today:  did you know that a book with a coming of age them is called a Bildungsroman – try saying that three times very fast!  (And, no, I didn’t know that until about 5 minutes ago Wiki definition –

“a Bildungsroman is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood and in which character change is thus extremely important”

Happy reading one and all.