Inevitably, in a miscellany of this kind, some of the pieces will appeal more than others, but I emerged from “Funny Thing, Getting Older” feeling that I had been in the company of a warm and wise man. And I had very much enjoyed that company. (Review by Margaret von Klemperer)
It is hard to categorise this utterly delightful book Funny Thing, Getting Older (and other Reflections). It is not really a memoir, although the author tells us a fair amount about himself and about his past. It is not a collection of essays, although there are essays here. It is really a collection of the author’s thoughts, and in one way, a book about hope for the future.
Michael Morpurgo is probably best known as the author of what started life as a children’s book – War Horse. It later became, in collaboration with the Handspring Puppet Company, an award-winning play and then a film. (Joey, the wonderful puppet horse from the play has been seen here on a visit to the Hilton Arts Festival, and those who saw him will never forget it.)
Morpurgo has written many books for children, and been the Children’s Laureate in Britain, and he and his wife started the organisation, Farms for Children, which gives urban children a chance to work in the countryside, living and working on a farm. He writes about that in the book.
I have had reservations about some of his children’s books, finding them both dark and overly sad, but he explains in this collection that he includes sad events because they are part of life and, if carefully handled, easily accepted by the young. Fair enough. I know I am not in his target audience’s age range. He divides the book into sections – Childhood, Peace and War (and I think the way he places those two words is an important clue to his thought processes), Telling Tales and Searching for Wonder.
For Morpurgo, writing is for “passing it on” whether it is incidents from his own life or from history, showing future generations the similarities and differences between their lives and those who have gone before. Often, he displays a gentle humour, and also anger, particularly at the plight of refugees. There are pleas for compassion and understanding, and, above all, he stresses the importance of reading and storytelling, something that is sadly endangered the world over by the stress on educational outcomes and the disappearance of libraries, in the name of economy.
Funny Thing, Getting Older is published by Hodder Press: ISBN 978-1-399-73972-6
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