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Once upon a time, a Hoosier child (Indiana was a state
famous for authors, so we had a lot of readers) would read Tom Sawyer, The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Penrod.
Who? Penrod was an Indiana "Huck
Finn" - with smoother edges- created by Hoosier author, Booth Tarkington in 1914. (US
Edition) (UK Edition)
A bitter soul dominated the various
curved and angular surfaces known by a careless world as the face of Penrod Schofield.
Except in solitude, that face was almost always cryptic and emotionless; for
Penrod had come into his twelfth year wearing an expression carefully trained
to be inscrutable. Since the world was sure to misunderstand everything, mere
defensive instinct prompted him to give it as little as possible to lay hold
upon. Nothing is more impenetrable than the face of a boy who has learned this,
and Penrod's was habitually as fathomless as the depth of his hatred this
morning for the literary activities of Mrs. Lora Rewbush--an almost universally
respected fellow citizen, a lady of charitable and poetic inclinations, and one
of his own mother's most intimate friends.
Oh yes, Penrod has to appear in a children's play! It is the end of the world . . .
UK readers will enjoy this as well. Penrod is very much an "everyboy."
He must wear a costume for the play:
The upper part of his body was next concealed from view by a garment so peculiar that its description becomes difficult. In 1886, Mrs. Schofield, then unmarried, had worn at her "coming-out party" a dress of vivid salmon silk which had been remodelled after her marriage to accord with various epochs of fashion until a final, unskilful campaign at a dye-house had left it in a condition certain to attract much attention to the wearer. Mrs. Schofield had considered giving it to Della, the cook; but had decided not to do so, because you never could tell how Della was going to take things, and cooks were scarce.
Dog lovers, there is a beautifully delineated portrait of
Duke:
And then there are those quiet moments that bring back
childhood more clearly than play . . .
And now, a plaintive little whine
sounded from below Penrod's feet, and, looking down, he saw that Duke, his
wistful, old, scraggly dog sat in the grass, gazing seekingly up at him. The
last shaft of sunshine of that day fell graciously and like a blessing upon the
boy sitting on the fence. Years afterward, a quiet sunset would recall to him
sometimes the gentle evening of his twelfth birthday, and bring him the picture
of his boy self, sitting in rosy light upon the fence, gazing pensively down
upon his wistful, scraggly, little old dog, Duke.
Don't let Penrod remain neglected and fall further into
obscurity. Booth Tarkington is America's
most forgotten and underrated author. He
twice won the Pulitzer for excellent novels, but once upon a time it was Penrod
that made him beloved, not his awards or prize winning novels.
This blog is a guide to the best free and inexpensive
classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my suggestions,
please tell your friends who read to give my blog a try.
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