Comments on: "Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

"Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

joseph conrad is fully awesome — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 06:29:35 -0800

The Velveteen Rabbit read by Meryl Streep (24 min. 39 secs.); a shorter, more official source of the video is at Meryl Streep Info blog, with promotional material. Online edition of the 1922 book by Margery Williams, complete with original illustrations by William Nicholson, at the Digital Library at UPenn.

Her melancholy style and approach to writing is detailed at Wikipedia:

"When Margery was seven years old, her father died suddenly, a life-changing event which, in one way or another, would affect all of her future creative activity. The undertone of sadness and the themes of death and loss that flow through her children's books have been criticised by some reviewers, but Williams always maintained that hearts acquire greater humanity through pain and adversity. She wrote that life is a process of constant change—there are departures for some and arrivals for others—and the process allows us to grow and persevere."

A short bio of illustrator William Nicholson here.

By: roomthreeseventeen

roomthreeseventeen — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 06:45:00 -0800

Wow, suddenly I am five again. Thank you so much for posting this.

By: barchan

barchan — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 07:20:29 -0800

why are you making me sob so early in the day

By: thelonius

thelonius — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 07:23:23 -0800

A neighbor's child actually left a velveteen rabbit on the steps to my deck, and then their family moved away. I found it, all rotted from the rain, months later.

By: nicebookrack

nicebookrack — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 08:20:31 -0800

Thank you for posting this. The Velveteen Rabbit was the first story that broke me as a child—broke my heart, haunted me, made me hurt with how much I loved it. It didn't help that I had, still have, a stuffed rabbit as my most beloved childhood toy, so I could project myself into the story and take it much too personally. Years later the story still haunts me, and its influence lingers through many of the stories I'm still drawn to: Cupid & Psyche, the Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, just as some of the more iconic examples. That bittersweet exploration of the powers and limitations of unconditional love, on both sides.

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

Filk singer Kathy Mar has a song "Velveteen" that is guaranteed to make me clutch my now-shabby rabbit and cry. Lyrics.

By: wenestvedt

wenestvedt — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 09:18:10 -0800

One of my sons has a threadbare stuffed duck, and I say good-bye -- and get a high five -- any morning that I hapen to see him on my way out. Wait, "see it." Wait again, definitely "see him." Love you, Puddles!

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 10:37:30 -0800

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. ... *hideous sobbing* Last year my cousin's godfather did a reading at her wedding. He started in on this passage and I distinctly recall muttering "YOU. BASTARD." under my breath because I knew that he knew that it would make EVERYONE CRY.

By: feckless fecal fear mongering

feckless fecal fear mongering — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 18:19:21 -0800

Thanks, louche mustachio. Hadn't thought of it, but now I know what I'm going to say at my sister's wedding in a few months! +1 awesome post would cry again

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 15:50:21 -0800

Welp ... At least I'm glad it's not just me ...