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'Enriching Our Literary Heritage': Judy Blume or Madeleine L'Engle?
BreakPoint with Chuck Colson ^ | December 29, 2004 | Chuck Colson

Posted on 12/29/2004 12:36:31 PM PST by Mr. Silverback

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I've never read either author, but somehow I don't remember ever thinking of Judy Blume as a purveyor of tweener-targeted erotica. Oh well.

The NEH seems to have made a good pick in L'Engle, but the NEH and the NEA shouldn't exist. Art is not a legitimate government function.

1 posted on 12/29/2004 12:36:31 PM PST by Mr. Silverback
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To: Mr. Silverback

She wrote many other books that had no sexual connotations whatsoever. The first book I ever remembering picking out on my own and reading completely on my own in first grade was Freckle Juice which was one of hers.


2 posted on 12/29/2004 12:39:15 PM PST by ShadowDancer
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To: Mr. Silverback

I remember reading some of Judy Blume's books. "Blubber" is the one I remember the most clearly. I fail to see what the sexual stuff was in her books. I guess I would have to read them again to be certain.


3 posted on 12/29/2004 12:39:17 PM PST by exnavychick (Just my two cents, as usual.)
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To: Mr. Silverback
A Wrinkle In Time was one of my all-time childhood faves!
4 posted on 12/29/2004 12:40:31 PM PST by GodBlessRonaldReagan (Count Petofi will not be denied!)
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To: exnavychick

Forever was a bit sexual. I remember reading it and being fascinated and embarrassed at the same time. It was my first venture into anything of that sort and it was kind of shocking. Hahahaha


5 posted on 12/29/2004 12:41:42 PM PST by ShadowDancer
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To: Mr. Silverback
According to my wife, Blume's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. is a classic "coming of age" book for girls which teaches about menarche in a gentle and understanding way. I have never read that or any other of her books, but I do remember a couple of L'Engle's from a very long time ago.
6 posted on 12/29/2004 12:44:32 PM PST by RebelBanker (To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!)
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To: Mr. Silverback

I adore L'Engle's books to this day. They are well written and incredibly interesting. I re-read Wrinkle in Time and the rest of the books in that particular series every few years.


I read exactly one Judy Blume book, as a teenager, I believe. I don't remember there being anything sexual in it, but it was embarrassing - needlessly so. Bodily functions, yep. For example, I remember a boy urinating into a potted plant because a parent or sibling was taking too much time in the bathroom. Entertaining? Not in my book. Stupid? Yes. Yuck.


7 posted on 12/29/2004 12:44:56 PM PST by RosieCotton (He is a very shallow critic who cannot see an eternal rebel in the heart of a conservative. - GKC)
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To: Mr. Silverback

I never liked Blume's choppy teen titillators even when I WAS a teen. The above posting describes her books just as I remember them, even then. However, I devoured every L'Engle book I could get my hands on. This is not to say that I was any kind of literary snob at that (or any other) age, but quality is quality, and one doesn't need an English Lit degree in order to see the difference between the two authors.


8 posted on 12/29/2004 12:45:55 PM PST by MissNomer
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To: ShadowDancer

If they made freckle juice into a movie it would be XXX! and don't even get me started on that piece of filth "tales of a fourth grade nothing!"

-just kidding, I used to read Judy Bloom when I was a kid I don't rememebr anything dirty in them. I am sure she might have written some books with sex in them, but I never read any of them.


9 posted on 12/29/2004 12:46:08 PM PST by escapefromboston (manny ortez: mvp)
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To: agenda_express; applemac_g4; BA63; banjo joe; Believer 1; billbears; Blood of Tyrants; Boxsford; ...

BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping!

If anyone wants on or off my BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.

10 posted on 12/29/2004 12:46:24 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (A mike ruler, an old schooler...drivin' in my car, livin' like a star...)
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To: ShadowDancer

Hmm. I didn't remember that one at all. Thanks for mentioning it, I may have to take a look-see. Of course, all my children are boys-we may have a girl yet, lol-so it probably doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot to me. :)


11 posted on 12/29/2004 12:47:19 PM PST by exnavychick (Just my two cents, as usual.)
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To: Mr. Silverback

"A Wrinkle in Time" was one of my favorite childhood books. I read it over and over.

Having said that, I also read many Judy Blume books and this article is really overstating the "sexual" angle, which was really only in some later books geared toward teenagers, like "Forever". The books I read as a kid included the aforementioned "Freckle Juice", plus "Iggie's House" (about a black family moving into a white neighborhood), "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and its sequels, "Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret" (the all-time classic about a girl growing up), "Blubber" (about an overweight girl), etc..


12 posted on 12/29/2004 12:48:06 PM PST by saquin
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To: Mr. Silverback
There are those who argue that Blume’s kind of realism is better for kids than L’Engle’s fantasy.

I seem to recall in "4th Grade Nothing", a 2-year-old swallows a full grown turtle. Whole and alive. I have never been able to reconcile that point in the book.

The "peeing in a potted plant" incident actually didn't happen. This event was chronicled in "Superfudge", where Peter's little brother, Fudge, took too long in the bathroom. He got out before Peter relieved himself on the plant. However, the reader got familiarized with the medieval practice of urinating in chamber pots. Fascinating stuff.

"Blubber" troubles me even to this very day. I can't place my finger on it, but reading it reminded me of watching an auto accident.

Judy Blume is Judy Blume. Just a preteen author who has made a name for herself. Call it junk lit if you want (and I won't strongly disagree) but I have read some teen novels that focused on larceny and violence. A book for a 14 year old boy written about his wee wee isn't a big deal.

APf

13 posted on 12/29/2004 1:00:27 PM PST by APFel (Humanity has a poor track record of predicting its own future.)
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To: Mr. Silverback

I liked both as a kid, but I think L'Engle is the much better author. Some of Blume's books (Fudge, etc) are harmless but some for older kids were a bit risque. I do remember seeking out a copy of Forever at a library that hadn't thought to ban it..and reading it out of my parents' sight.


14 posted on 12/29/2004 1:01:38 PM PST by conservative cat
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To: Mr. Silverback
I just asked my grown kids who they liked better ... Blume or L'Engle? L'Engle won hands down. My grandkids yelled, "Freckle Juice! Freckle Juice! Freckle Juice!"
The HOPE is, in the end, real literature wins out when it's done and over!!
15 posted on 12/29/2004 1:09:09 PM PST by exhaustedmomma (Tancredo said Bush's guest-worker proposal is "a pig with lipstick")
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To: qam1

Should this be an Xer ping? Blume was very popular in our school days, and so was L'Engle to a lesser extent.


16 posted on 12/29/2004 1:30:06 PM PST by Mr. Silverback (A mike ruler, an old schooler...drivin' in my car, livin' like a star...)
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To: Mr. Silverback; qam1; ItsOurTimeNow; PresbyRev; tortoise; Fraulein; StoneColdGOP; Clemenza; ...
Xer Ping

Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social aspects that directly effects Gen-Reagan/Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations (i.e. The Baby Boomers) are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.

Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.

17 posted on 12/29/2004 1:39:15 PM PST by qam1 (Anyone who was born in New Jersey should not be allowed to drive at night or on hills.)
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To: ShadowDancer

I remember the Christmas that many parents bought it for their children thinking it was like the others. I was one of the lucky recipients.

All the neighborhood kids would camp in my best friend's backyard and we'd read excerpts aloud in between games of "Truth or Dare."

Ah, memories....

I enjoyed both authors. L'Engle is a marvel. Blume actually instructed this Texas gal about New York culture.


18 posted on 12/29/2004 1:46:22 PM PST by stands2reason
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To: RebelBanker

Yeah, it was a good book.


19 posted on 12/29/2004 1:46:57 PM PST by stands2reason
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To: escapefromboston

She wrote exactly two books with sexuality in them. And many ,many without. The author is being disengenuous by only mentioning those two titles.


20 posted on 12/29/2004 1:49:05 PM PST by stands2reason
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