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With St Valentine’s Day just around the corner, the book lovers at Country House Library explore the wider, more traditional origins of Saint Valentine’s legacy – celebrating profound spiritual love and friendship for one’s fellow man or woman, transcending the earthbound, human conditions of romance and physical passion. Here’s our selection of ‘besties’ from the world of adult and children’s literature.
“Some people care too much. I think it's called love.”
Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956), educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, became a prolific author of plays, poetry, short stories, biography and essays, all of which have since been overshadowed by the success of his two ‘Winnie the Pooh’ books,Winnie the Pooh(1926) andThe House at Pooh Corner(1928). With inimitable illustrations by E. H. Shepard, (who Milne arranged to share in the royalties), the books were licensed to Walt Disney Productions in 1961, and have been a publishing phenomenon ever since. The characters were named after Milne’s son, Christopher Robin’s stuffed toys, and the woodland setting - Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, where Milne kept a second home. Pooh and Piglet’s endearing friendship are best summed up in Pooh’s own words,
"We'll be friends forever, won't we, Pooh?" asked Piglet.
"Even longer," Pooh answered.
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“Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.”
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was Merton professor of English Literature and Language at Oxford University, 1945-59. He produced a number of philological and critical studies such asBeowolf: the Monsters and Criticsbut became internationally known for the two books based on his own mythology,The Hobbit(1937) andThe Lord of the Rings(3 vols, 1954-5). Starting in 2001, the multi Academy award winning film trilogy by Peter Jackson, catapulted Tolkien’s work into stratospheric realms of popularity. The undying friendship between hobbits “Master” Frodo Baggins and his loyal gardener, Samwise Gangee, is one of the core themes and foundation stones of the books, as the Ring is carried to its eventual end in Mordor.
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“I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it deliberately, just to annoy me.”
Among the treasures to be found in the Country House Library collection of stationery – ourMatilda collection, including writing set, bookmarks, pencil sets, and notebooks. Heroine ‘Matilda’ of the 1988 eponymous novel by writing genius Roald Dahl (1916-90), and illustrated by Quentin Blake, was best friends with her infant-school teacher, ‘Miss Jennifer Honey’. With the help of Matilda’s special powers, they overcome the terrifying Miss Trunchbull and Matilda’s abusive and hapless parents, Mr & Mrs Wormwood. A perfect writing gift for any child (or grown-up) who loves Roald Dahl.
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“It is because I think so much of warm and sensitive hearts, that I would spare them from being wounded.”
One of the most famous friendships in English Literature, from the brilliant mind of Charles Dickens (1812-70), that of runaway orphan Oliver Twist and master pickpocket, Jack Dawkins, better known in the novelOliver Twist(serialised 1837-39) as “The Artful Dodger”. With unforgettable characters such as elderly villain Fagin and menacing thief, Bill Sikes,Oliver Twist is a masterpiece of social commentary and Victorian storytelling. This new, clothbound, hardback copy from the Penguin Classics range, with foil-stamped design on the front cover, is a must for any home library collection of the world’s greatest stories.
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“You have a grand gift for silence, Watson. It makes you quite invaluable as a companion.”
Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes story wasA Study in Scarlet (1887) followed byThe Sign of Four (1890), but the popularity of the famous detective really began with the series of short stories he contributed to The Stand Magazine from 1891, collected asThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes andThe Memories of Sherlock Holmes. The author’s attempts to kill off his creation were unsuccessful, and Holmes reappeared, with his best friend, assistant and flatmate, Dr Watson, inThe Hound of the Baskervilles. The story was so successful that Sherlock lived to solve many more cases, finally hanging up his deer-stalker hat in 1927.
“-'What do ties matter, Jeeves, at a time like this?'
There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter”
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975) abandoned a career in banking in Hong Kong for literature and began by writing short stories for boys’ magazines. He was later published extensively in theStrand MagazineandPunch, establishing himself as one of most widely read humourists of his day. The first Jeeves and Wooster stories were published in 1919 with the titleMy Man Jeeves.Wodehouse went on to write 35 short stories and 11 novels following the escapades of the amiable, upper-class buffoon, Bertie Wooster, and his long-suffering, wry-humoured butler and faithful companion, Jeeves.
“No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart.”
Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s (1896-1940) first novelThis Side of Paradise(1920) propelled him and his glamorous fiancée, Zelda Sayre, to instant ‘stardom’ and together they embarked on a life of high living, big spending and party going, fortified by a view of themselves as figures from the ‘Jazz Age’.The Great Gatsby(1925), widely considered to be his finest work, is the story of a mysterious financier Jay Gatsby, and his romantic, destructive passion for his only friend Nick Carraway’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Studied by generations of English Literature students, Fitzgerald’s masterpiece broaches themes of love, friendship, loneliness and morality in times of plenty, written in prose verging on poetic.
Explore Our F. Scott Fitzgerald Collection.
“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's
why.”
Nobel prize-winning author, John Steinbeck (1902-68), was born in California and studied marine biology at Stanford University. His literary career began in 1929 with the publication ofCup of Gold about the buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan.Tortilla Flatwith its vivid picture of the ‘paisanos’ of Monterey, brought him to prominence in 1935.Of Mice and Men(1937) is the story of two itinerant farm workers who yearn for some sort of stable home. Lennie, of huge strength and weak mind, is exploited and protected by his guardian friend, George. In this short book there’s symbolism, structure, pathos, characterisation, imagery, together with the themes of hope, friendship, loyalty and vulnerability. This vintage copy from Penguin, is a must have for any home library collection of the writing greats.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”
Jane Austen (1775-1817) was the sixth child in a family of seven, born into a relatively prosperous rectory household in rural Hampshire. Her father, the Revd George Austen, encouraged her reading and writing from an early age and she wrote her first novel at just fourteen years old.Pride and Prejudice(1813) was originally written as a youthful work ‘First Impressions’ when Austen was 22 and initially rejected by London publishers. Now, one of the most popular novels in the English language, Austen herself called this brilliant work “her own darling child”. Millions of words of literary thesis have been written on the friendship between the heroine Elizabeth Bennet and her best friend, sparring partner, confidante, emotional support, Charlotte Lucas, and it would be impossible to fully encapsulate it here. We recommend you buy a vintage copy from the Austen collection at Country House Library and enjoy this masterpiece first-hand.
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“There were no embraces, because where there is great love there is often little display of it.”
The great Spanish novelist, often simply referred to as ‘Cervantes’ (1547-1616), was born into an ancient but impoverished family and was wounded in the battle of Lepanto, losing the use of his left hand. He was captured by pirates in 1575 and spent five years imprisoned in Algiers. The remainder of his life was occupied with the struggle to earn a living from writing. His masterpieceDon Quioxote(1605-15) follows the exploits of the eponymous hero as he roams in search of chivalric adventures on his trusty old steed Rosinante, accompanied by a squire (akin to a butler), the rustic, shrewd and credulous combined, Sancho Panza. As the increasingly confused hero ‘tilts at the windmills’ of his mind, the pairs friendship grows with fascinating subtlety.
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SUMMARY
Just as romantic love is one of the core themes in writing, great unbreakable friendship, or platonic love, also underpins many of literature’s greatest works. We’ve highlighted a small selection from the shelves at Country House Library, but we’re sure you’ll have your own favourites, many of which you’ll uncover while browsing our extensive collection.
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