Look what’s making its grand debut in theaters today! I’m really excited to see it, and I wish it great success.
Oh sure, I’ve heard some grumblings…I suspect we all have. It happens, whenever a storybook classic gets a makeover.
Time and again, we’ve pulled tattered copies from our bookshelves. We settle into our easy chairs, sink deep into the familiar. We pore over the dog-eared pages and get excited all over again, when at last we meet up with our favorite characters. It’s what literary critics call transcendence. We see, mirrored in the original, a more luminous version of ourselves. A magnification of our own world views, and a projection of our personal experiences. No wonder, this resistance.
It’s an act of courage, to reach beyond the familiar and embrace the new. But there’s an important payoff, worth considering: Great stories are expansive–they stretch us, and keep us from getting brittle. Add or subtract glitter, they don’t lose their value. In fact, their intrinsic beauty is further enhanced by these retellings; in large part, because they attract new readers into the fold. We then gather ’round the proverbial campfire, add new chapters to our own stories. And that’s some powerful magic, right there.
Carol baldwin
Not sure I’ll see the movie or not, maybe with grandkids. It does hold a special place in my heart. My father loved it. Wish I still had his copy.
Melodye Shore
So there are family connections this story…how cool is that? I wish you had his copy, too. But you have the memories, also a treasure!
Let me know if/when you go…I’d love to hear what you & and the grandkids think!
Veronica Roth
I thought I would brave it. I believe my no limits imagination can put this in the “do not relive” bin if the movie doesn’t live up to the book. On the other hand, other loved and treasured books, like, Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals, 1987 remake was exactly how I imagined, so hoping for the best. 🙂