LugaJetboyGirl Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 A few of us have talked in the past about doing a The Dark is Rising Book Club Thing in December, so I figured now would be the time to get that going. For those of you who haven't read it, The Dark is Rising is a YA novel/series by Susan Cooper from the 1970s. It's a coming-of-age story that is strongly shaped by British folk tales and mythology. The book takes place at Christmas and, in it's approach to holiday traditions, it is evocative, reassuring and chilling, all at the same time. Cooper does a wonderful job of illustrating the loneliness and the fellowship that come with the holidays. For me, The Dark is Rising and Christmas are inseperable - the book always represented to me what a real Christmas was supposed to be like, with the ideal family and the ideal traditions - basically, the Christmas I always wanted as I put up lights, played Christmas music and wished my family was like the one in the book. As a reviewer noted just a few days ago, The Dark is Rising is "the perfect Christmas read, in which the season's heat and dazzle is matched by the cold and dark that, in years gone by, it was designed to keep out."So, who's in for the re-read? How should we do this? UPDATE: Reading schedule is as follows.20th Dec - Midwinter's Eve21st Dec - Midwinter Day, The Sign-Seeker23rd Dec - The Walker on the Old Way24th Dec - Christmas Eve, The Book of Gramarye, Betrayal25th Dec - Christmas Day[sometime in between - The Coming of the Cold]5th Jan (Twelth Night Eve) - The King of Fire and Water, The Hunt Rides6th Jan (Twelth Night) - The Joining of the Signs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Iron for the Birthday, bronze carried long;Wood from the burning, stone out of song;Fire in the candle ring, water from the thaw;Six signs the circle, grail gone beforeI commented to Laura that with snow in Southern England before Christmas it sounds like the Dark is rising. I'm in.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angalin Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 I'm up for it. Name a day, start reading, take it a chapter at a time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady narcissa Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 YES! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!I reread TDIR every Christmas too so I would totally love to discuss it with others this time around. I looked up the reading schedule from another site's read from last year and this is what they followed:20th Dec - Midwinter's Eve21st Dec - Midwinter Day, The Sign-Seeker23rd Dec - The Walker on the Old Way24th Dec - Christmas Eve, The Book of Gramarye, Betrayal25th Dec - Christmas Day[sometime in between - The Coming of the Cold]5th Jan (Twelth Night Eve) - The King of Fire and Water, The Hunt Rides6th Jan (Twelth Night) - The Joining of the Signs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinDonner Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Ooh, I normally avoid these book club things cos I'm prone to slacking off and forgetting, but definitely in for this one! (I also often read this book around Christmas anyway) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 I was just trying to decide what to read next when I came across this thread. It will be 100% new to me, but your descriptions above make me want to give it a go :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deluge Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Oh man, I loved this book when I was younger. I'm all for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 I haven't read these since when I was a kid, I might join in if I can get my hands on a copy. Worst case scenario I might have to dig out my old German version, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LugaJetboyGirl Posted December 12, 2010 Author Share Posted December 12, 2010 20th Dec - Midwinter's Eve21st Dec - Midwinter Day, The Sign-Seeker23rd Dec - The Walker on the Old Way24th Dec - Christmas Eve, The Book of Gramarye, Betrayal25th Dec - Christmas Day[sometime in between - The Coming of the Cold]5th Jan (Twelth Night Eve) - The King of Fire and Water, The Hunt Rides6th Jan (Twelth Night) - The Joining of the SignsThis schedule sounds good to me. That also allows everyone a chance to get the book if they don't already have it (I have to get mine out of storage).The only part of the schedule that I don't like is the vast break between the December 25 and January 5th chapters, but I guess if we want to stick with the timeline of the book we can do that. What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 i started to read this a while ago but i gave up after about 40 pages, it was just all so 'jolly hockey sticks' is it worth sticking with then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Sounds awesome. :)i started to read this a while ago but i gave up after about 40 pages, it was just all so 'jolly hockey sticks' is it worth sticking with then?Are you talking about the "Sequence", which is 5 books in 1? Because we're all talking about book 2 of 5. Book 1 was OK for me as a kid but not special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinDonner Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Book 1 was written several years before Book 2 and is basically just Famous Five With Mysticism, very much inferior. Luckily there is no requirement to read that one first, as the cast is almost entirely different.BFC, remember those special kids' TV series the BBC used to do around every Christmas? The Box of Delights, that E Nesbitt one with the statues that came to life, that sort of thing? Well, this book is kind of like that, but a bit darker and with some great touches of ancient English mythology."The Walker is abroad. And the night will be bad, and tomorrow will be beyond imagining." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Sounds awesome. :)Are you talking about the "Sequence", which is 5 books in 1? Because we're all talking about book 2 of 5. Book 1 was OK for me as a kid but not special.yeah, its all 5 volumes in one. should i just give the actual dark is rising a try, or do you need to read them in order? edit. just seen mins reply, i'll skip book one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokisnow Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 I am so down for this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedles Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Sounds good. I'd always meant to read this one but never got around to it. Provided the book depository has it, and gets it to me by the 20th, count me in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LugaJetboyGirl Posted December 12, 2010 Author Share Posted December 12, 2010 Yeah, as far as I am concerned, the books should be read in the order of The Dark is Rising as Volume One and Over Sea, Under Stone as Volume 2, as they were eventually packaged. Over Sea, Under Stone is for younger audiences and I'm not so sure that I would have read the rest of the series if I'd read that one first; the other ones are much darker and more atmospheric.Anyways, for the Christmas Re-read we are just doing the book The Dark is Rising (not the sequence), since it's the only Christmas-y one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Like Jon, I haven't read this since I was a kid, but I might be in if I can find a copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Mongoose Posted December 12, 2010 Share Posted December 12, 2010 Anyways, for the Christmas Re-read we are just doing the book The Dark is Rising (not the sequence), since it's the only Christmas-y one!We could do The Grey King at Halloween. :)Edit: And Greenwitch in June! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady narcissa Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 This schedule sounds good to me. That also allows everyone a chance to get the book if they don't already have it (I have to get mine out of storage).The only part of the schedule that I don't like is the vast break between the December 25 and January 5th chapters, but I guess if we want to stick with the timeline of the book we can do that. What do you guys think?I'm fine either way. I can follow the schedule or I can reread straight through.I have my battered old copy from the 1970s but I just noticed its now available as an ebook so I might download that so I can take notes for discussion more easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted December 13, 2010 Share Posted December 13, 2010 I started re-reading it last night. I remember when I first read this (I read it in the 4th grade) desperately wanting ti discover I was an "Old One".:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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