Tougher the Second Time Around

They say that childhood memories should never be revisited because inevitably things will not be the same. Sadly, I have found that true in my recent reread of a teenage favorite. Here are the stats:
Title: Christy
Author: Catherine Marshall
Publisher: Avon
Publishing Date: 1967
My start date: 7/1/10
My finish date: 7/10/10

I no longer remember how I stumbled onto the works of Catherine Marshall, but I do remember that for a rather long period I was totally enamored with them, her more famous work, Christy, in particular. I poured over the pages, getting entirely swept up in the romantic idea of running off to be a school teacher to underprivileged rural children. I reread the books several times and got hooked on the TV series of the same name which found its inspiration in Marshall’s book and starred Kelly Martin. This book was solidly among my favorites.

Fifteen years later as I turn my own current ambitions toward a teaching career and harbor interests in particular of working with higher needs students, I was inspired to once again reach for this good ol’ standby, which I had not picked up in all those years since my previously described phase. I now wish I had let good memories rest as they were because this reading was not at all the same and may have in fact ruined the book for me.

Instead of romance and inspiration I now found formerly cute and quaint aspects of the novel to be outright annoying, most especially the attempts at recreated the different dialects these characters were supposed to use. I found both the accents of the locals as well as the Quaker accent attributed to major figure Alice to be over the top and rather contrived to the point of being a distraction. I guess a teenage imagination is willing to accept these things in the name of romance. Or more likely, at that stage in my life I probably didn’t know any better and thought they might just be accurate. (For that matter, my lack of knowledge and total belief in the reality of these fictional pages might also explain my sheer terror when my parents informed me only months after my addiction to this book that we were moving to Arkansas…)

Similarly, characters I had once adored now disgusted me. While the protagonist of this story is most certainly the title character, Christy, a nineteen year old, privileged city girl who chooses to abandon the expected life to go teach in the wilderness, the hero of the story is decidedly intended to be Alice Henderson, the Quaker woman who oversees the mission-like work being down in the area. Whereas my teenage self was amazed at this woman, my adult self found her to be domineering, close-minded, stubborn and just plain too much in most situations. This newfound frustration with Alice’s character in turn led to regular irritation with the protagonist for her naïve hero-worship for her mentor. In many situations I found Christy’s actions to be admirable, however on receiving a scolding from Alice she immediately repented and dedicated several pages to thinking over how amazing Alice’s thought process is. Argh!

Now, those things being said, some new insights turned out to be good. The story involves a love triangle between the protagonist and two men she encounters in her work. As a teenager I was upset with her final decision whereas as an adult I can see the stronger basis and wisdom of behind her choice. That made the ending a bit sweeter than I had originally regarded it. Although, I am not going to lie, the ending was even sweeter this time just because it finally came. The five hundred pages never seemed so long when I was younger.

I also really valued Marshall’s descriptions of Christy’s growing relationships with Fairlight and Opal, as well as the way she grows to care for the children with whom she works. There is also a ton of value to be derived from the minor characters and their lives, once you just push the pretentious missionary type people from the forefront.

So while I certainly assumed that this reread would be a quick trip down memory lane ending in a glowing review of an old favorite, unfortunately I ended up on a long road of reflection and changed opinions. But it is what it is. Still glad I read it.

On to the next one.
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Sarah