Bonham-Carter and Enid Blyton
Melanie Sands
BBC, (have recorded it so will watch rest later) I then read an
interview with H B-C where she apparently said that Enid Bylton
was "bonkers and a bad mother".
Enid Blyton wrote over 750 childrens books, plus magazine stories,
there was a time where she wrote an estimated 10'000 words per day.
Yes, that's TEN THOUSAND WORDS PER DAY.
I listened to Stephen Kings's "On Writing", read by the author (one
of the few authors who can also READ as well as write - usually
authors reading of their books makes one comatose - ) and he
said he writes 2'000 words a day, which is an awful lot.
George Sand wrote 16 pages per night, also a large amount.
Anway, to come to the point - sooner or later in the life of every
famous person, one of their children will crop up with a "Mommy
Dearest" book which slanders and whithers the reputation of said
mommy (or daddy) who was a famous person and never had time
for their kids.
Every parent knows, with kids, you're damned if you do, and you're
damned if you don't.
If you're there, you stifle them, if you're not, you're a neglecting
parent and all their problems are your fault.
If you love them, you're too clingy, if you maintatin a distance,
you're
a cold hag who's fatally damaged their emotional abilities to cope.
If you lay down the law, you're a reign-of-terror, if you let them
decide,
you're an incompetent weakling who should have shown them the
boundries.
If you're at home for them all day and night, you're a loser who
should get a life, if you have a career you're a bad parent
who never should have had kids.
Did Susannah Shakespeare and sister Judith and brother Hamnet
complain that their father was off in London so much? Did John Adams'
children complain that he was off in Philly and Washington and France
and England forming the new US of A? Yes, they did, actually.
Helena Bonham-Carter's 6 year-old son took her ENID script and threw
it
across the room, complaining: "I like you but I don't like what you
do,
because it takes too long." - even though the filming of Enid only
took a
record 16 days. Yup, another "Mommy Dearest" novel in the making!
Melanie