Listen out
Look (or rather listen) out for a new radio adaptation of The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper due to be broadcast this December on BBC World Service. It has been adapted by Robert Macfarlane with a stellar cast and should be something very special. Hopefully it will not only attract listeners, young and older, but also encourage further reading of one of our greatest treasures of children’s fantasy literature.
Update (Dec ‘22)
You can now subscribe to the podcast on BBC Sounds. A short (truly excellent) introduction is already available. If the whole lives up to the promise of the intro (and I anticipate it will) then this is going to be revelatory. The first episode is Dec. 19th, with one a day from 21st.
New cover illustrations by Joe McLaren
Stunning new editions
To support this, there are beautiful editions of the full sequence, released by Puffin in 2019. They should help bring a whole new readership to these wonderful books - and our children’s reading experience (and very possibly their lives) will be hugely the richer as a result.
Prelude
The first of the set, Over Sea, Under Stone, was written well before the others, and its earlier genesis does show, although it is still an important development in children’s literature, and well worth reading. It provides a valuable prelude to what follows.
The dark days of Midwinter
Susan Cooper really hit her stride, however, with the book that now gives its title to the whole series, The Dark is Rising. This is one of the very greatest works of children’s fantasy fiction, and a fine piece of literature at any level. With its narrative spanning just a short period of days from Midwinter’s Eve to Twelfth Night, it is perhaps the apotheosis of a child’s stand against the forces of the ‘Dark’. It also draws on the resonances of British landscape and folk myth more sensitively and yet more powerfully than almost any book I know.
True, written when it was, it features predominantly male characters, but an outstanding ‘classic’ story should not be neglected on this count. There are many more recent examples that offer wider gender representation and other diversity. As a teacher I repeatedly stressed that ‘books about girls are not only for girls.’ Whilst this is an important principle, the equivalent also applies to books about boys, A reading diet that is balanced and inclusive overall is the ideal
. . . and beyond
The Dark is Rising series subsequently develops into a quite devastatingly memorable fantasy sequence. Overall, it is truly a story for all time, which very much deserves a presence in our own.
New contributions from two other greats
There are also two very particular reasons for seeking out these new editions. Firstly, the sequence is introduced, at the start of each book, by Robert Macfarlane, a brilliant writer, who is fast becoming the Merlin/Gandalf (Merriman?) for our contemporary world. He conveys his love of, and admiration for, these books most tellingly, and his illuminating introduction is unmissable for any aficionado of children’s literature, as well as for more general readers. No less an attraction are Joe McLaren’s striking new cover illustrations which brilliantly capture the distinct character and energy of each book, whilst still subtly tying them together as a set. Both new additions bring these titles vibrantly into our own time, and a wonderful thing that is.
For now . . . and the future
The Dark is Rising sequence needs to be discovered by as many new young readers as possible, not to mention any older ones who have not yet read these stunning books. They are not one jot less accessible, powerfully thrilling or rewarding than when they first came out fifty or so years ago. I hope these reissues will also prompt revisits from many old friends too, for these are books which amply reward multiple re-readings.
Robert Macfarlane reminds us in his introduction that, ‘The dark is always rising, and the work of the greatest stories is to hold it back.’ Few books succeed better in this than these from Susan Cooper. Long, long may they continue to help hold back the dark.