Books of delights

    I won't even begin to outline the plots of The Midnight Folk (first published 1927) and The Box of Delights (1935) - suffice to say that both books are packed full of adventure and excitement - but as an adult reading them for the first time what stood out for me was John Masefield's wonderful use of language. He was a poet*, first and foremost, so the latter might be assumed, but his gift for using words in inventive ways, for coming at them, as it were, from the side and showing a different facet of them, for particularly descriptive names, for the sheer exuberance of his characters' speech, all this makes the books shine.

    There's nothing stiff or predictable about these stories, rather there's a fresh and free association with a young person's view of life and a fantasy world which takes a classic tale of good vs bad, of treasure and magic, of hunting and seeking, and via folklore and time-travel gives it a zesty seasoning of imagination which enchants the reader - young or old.

 

*A touching detail from Constance Babington Smith's biography of Masefield which I read recently was this illustration of his modesty: as Poet Laureate he would send his new work for official occasions to The Times for publication, accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope for its return in the event it was felt not to be up to scratch!

Comments

[Nan]

Wonderful! I had no idea he wrote other than poetry. These sound wonderful. And I love that you read a biography of him.

[Teresa]

The Box of Delights is an absolute favourite of mine and my son, Toby, which is read every Christmas and the wonderful BBC television production is still one we love to sit and watch together - he's nearly forty now! "Scrobbled" is one of our most loved words.

[Cornflower]

‘Scrobbled’ is a great word!!

[Cornflower]

Reading The Box of Delights made me want to find out more about the man himself as I felt he 'shone’ from between the pages! The biography was a good enough overview, but it didn’t have what I’d hoped to find, e.g. anything on Masefield's creative process, how he came to write those books, etc. TBofD wasn’t mentioned at all, and TMF was simply termed “a classic” and not discussed at all!

[diana]

Thanks for writing about these books! Was also not aware of Masefield except as a poet. Look forward to reading them and passing them on to my grandson!

[Cornflower]

I hope you’ll both enjoy them thoroughly, Diana!