Thursday 31st May - C S Lewis on books

I'm having a slow morning, having fetched up breakfast in bed, and now trying to sit comfortably in the space allowed me by the cat who has chosen the most comfortable spot for her.

Here's a quotation which I am enjoying. I follow a blog which is dedicated to checking attributions of quotations - he was asked to check if

No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.

was by C S Lewis; yes it is, from his essay "On Stories", and here's the full paragraph;

It is usual to speak in a playfully apologetic tone about one’s adult enjoyment of what are called ‘children’s books’. I think the convention a silly one. No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty–except, of course, books of information. The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all. A mature palate will probably not much care for crême de menthe: but it ought still to enjoy bread and butter and honey.

https://fauxtations.wordpress.com/2018/05/30/lewis-books-at-ten-and-at-fifty/

I'm slowly re-reading his Narnia series, which I first embarked upon when I was about ten; I used to colour in the pictures as something to do when I was ill in bed (measles, chicken pox etc) as a child, licking the points of my Caran d'Ache crayons to make the colours really bright.

I love his remark about children's fiction "which it would have been better not to have read at all." And " a mature palate will probably not much care for creme de menthe: but it ought still to enjoy bread and butter and honey". Such a convoluted arrangement of words to enjoy. (what if you have never cared for honey?)