Readers Digest Condensed Books

[susanstinson]

When I commented the other day in plee's journal about getting mustard on the pages of Readers Digest Condensed Books, tuliptoe said she thought that most of us who read as children read those books. She said it was like candy. I'm not sure whether that's true -- I've never heard anybody else bring it up -- but here's a passage from an unpublished essay of mine about reading. ( I was going to post the whole thing, but think it's too long for lj.)

Did anybody else devour those things?

My parents subscribed to Readers Digest Condensed Books. The whole set made a handsome showing on a high shelf in the dining room. I would stand on a chair to dust them, running my finger down their broad spines. There were five books to a volume, and I read my favorites over and over: the Mrs. Pollifax series, anything by Rumer Godden or Dick Francis. Victoria Holt was only good the first time around (I remember the surprise I felt when it dawned on me that the plot of one of her historical romances was strikingly similar to the last one I had read.) Still, very little seemed stale; I was young. I poured over the illustrations and the brief interview with the author at the back of each book before I went on to the next, untroubled by the vague knowledge that the books had been shortened. School and frequent trips to the library helped me get past the limitations of the Readers Digest selections, but the thought of those thick books radiates pleasure beyond reason to me to this day. Fiction became a companion of my inner and outer worlds, a river of empathy, entertainment and reflection that has lapped over me all my life.

Comments

[tuliptoe.livejournal.com]

Exactly! I loved the Dick Francis too! And all the mysteries. I know that my love of the mystery genre came directly from my love of the RD condensed books as a kid.
It's funny that small things that remind you of being a child turn out to be shared by many. Somehow that makes me feel more connected to people. :)

[susanstinson.livejournal.com]

Right -- I still find a big pile of Dick Francis mysteries in the bathroom every time I go see my parents in Texas. Yeah, that connection thing -- one of the gifts of writing and reading in general, I think.

Laggard

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

Never read the R.D. Condensed Editions, but I have read almost everything by Rumer Godden (for adults or for kids, even the poetry), and discovered the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries two weeks ago (will pick up a few more when I'm back in the States next month).

I've been picking up the Dick Francis books lately when I hit the local English-language used bookshop to see what all the fuss is about, but scanning the back covers/openings, they haven't quite grabbed me and I've put them back. And I like things horsey, having grown up on a horse farm (morgans and paso finos) and having played polo in college and what-all... Is there one you'd recommend in particular, or are they all more or less cut from the same cloth and either they appeal or not?

Re: Laggard

[susanstinson.livejournal.com]

For me, the Dick Francis books are pretty much cut from the same cloth and you like them or you don't. I still have fun burning through a few when I visit my folks in Texas.

I so so so loved Mrs. Pollifax when I was a kid -- at least in part because she was plump and unexpected and adventurous -- too bad that it was all for the CIA.

I bet Rumer Godden wrote a bunch of books, yes?

Condensed Literary Milk

[yohannon.livejournal.com]

Oh wow... I *so* remember those. My mom got me this "subscription" to the literary classics, which apparently were short enough to cram three, sometimes four to a volume (severely dating myself I should note this was 1970ish). My all out favorite was one of the first three, which contained "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass", which were ironically UN-abridged, at least as far as the text (they're both really short, after all!), though they did find some space by omitting some of the Tenniel illustrations.

Under the category of "Scary, But True" I still own that particular book. I never had any trouble finding the section with the two "books", as there's this distinct band where literally years of a young boy's less than pristine fingers (even as fastidious as I was) had left their mark. The rest of the series has vanished, probably during my many moves with my semi-nomadic family.

Wow, another funny flashback: When I got the subscription, I also got my very first bookcase. It was actually a set of four wooden brackets that affixed to the wall, and two lovely wooden shelves. Wild, the things that come to mind after 30 years.

Re: Condensed Literary Milk

[susanstinson.livejournal.com]

I think I must be near the same age as you are.

We had literary classics in one volume, too, only the second one would be upside down. So you could read Little Women, then turn the book over and read Little Men. Or Just So Stories, and hmm, can't quite remember what of the back of that -- Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates?

I think we definitely had an Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass version of these -- the upside down thing was oddly appropriate, there.

I remember the bookshelves they were kept on very well, too.

RDCBs

[puffpastry.livejournal.com]

I *totally* read the Reader's Digest Condensed Books, because that's what was on the shelves at my grandparents' condo in Florida when I was a kid, as well as 40-odd year's worth of Reader's Digests. I devoured both, and didn't notice until I was a late-teen, "Heyyyy....Reader's Digest magazine is...right-wing conservative!!! This is what my Grandfather read for 70 years?!? Uh oh!" :-)

Re: RDCBs

[susanstinson.livejournal.com]

I had that, too, only at my parents' house. "Heyyyy!" But it certainly does pay to increase your word power, and all. And aspiring to get one of those little funny slice of life stories printed -- I think they paid $100 -- was one of my first unattainable writing dreams...