The First "Real" Book I Remember Reading

This is the first homework assignment for my Comp II class.  We are supposed to write about a piece of Literature that changed our thinking about Literature.  I chose to write about the first real book I remember reading.  I am sure there were others however, I read these until the covers fell off.  Enjoy!  Oh, and if you haven't seen the movie.  You should.

The first real book I remember reading as a kid was “The Black Stallion” by Walter Farley.  At that age, I thought reading anything that was considered a “book” a pretty big deal.  Walter Farley wrote his first book titled “The Black Stallion” in 1941 at the age of 26 and it continues to be in print to this day.  I didn’t concern myself with things like that as a child; the only part I concerned myself with, was the book had a horse on the cover.  As a child and truthfully, into my teens, I was one of those horse crazy girls.  I remember sitting in my room reading that book all day, every day until it was finished.  Walter Farley easily transported me into the world of Alec Ramsey and his horse friend, The Black, and I had to tear myself away. 

The story begins with Alec Ramsey, the main character, on a ship with his dad.  Also on board is a mysterious horse that belongs to a crazy Arab man.  The horse is unruly and causes quite a bit of commotion on the ship when he boards.  Alec’s father gambles with worldly men to pass the time and returns to their cabin with many treasures.  One of the treasures he decides Alec should have, a small metal statue of a horse.  His father claims that the statue is of Bucephalus the big black horse that only Alexander the great can tame and ride.  That night the boat catches on fire and sinks, Alec falls over board and the horse saves him.  They end up on a desert island together and after many days the horse, shy at first, begins to trust Alec.  They eventually become best friends and Alec calls him the Black.

Eventually, they are rescued and taken back to New York and Alec’s mother is grateful to the Black for saving her son, but is also wary of the bad tempered black horse in her suburban backyard.  The Black escapes from the yard and ends up in the stable of Henry Daly, a former race horse trainer.  Alec wants to race the Black, but Henry tells him that would be impossible, the horse is wild and does not have the proper papers.  Alec eventually talks Henry into it and they train the Black in secret, under the cover of darkness.  They enter him into a match race with two great thoroughbred race horses which he wins as the mystery horse.

As a young girl I was enthralled with this story from start to finish and read every word many times.  The book was made into a movie in 1979 which I saw for the first time much later.  The movie carries the same title as the book and was produced by Francis Ford Coppola.  This movie continues to be one of the most breathtaking movies I have ever seen.  The imagery is incredible and some of the actors are well known.  I am unsure as to who plays Alec; I have not seen him in any other movie since however, Henry Daly is played by Mickey Rooney and Alec’s mother is played by Terri Garr.  The Black is played by Cass Ole, who was a very famous and prized Arabian horse.

Later I found out there was a series of Black Stallion novels that began with “The Black Stallion” and then went on to the “Black Stallion Returns” and “Son of the Black Stallion”.  I think there was also a story about an island stallion, probably 5 or so in the series.  I remember many a lazy summer spent in my room reading every one of these books from start to finish many times.  I wanted to live in Alec’s world, to be him really.  I still watch the Black Stallion movie occasionally, I always appreciate its beauty and I remember my wonder of it as a little girl.