sunt lacrimae rerum

I've been re-reading Antonia Forest's books about the Marlow family. Seriously, she's one of the best children's authors ever. Her plots are interesting and organic (things tend to go to their logical conclusions), the characters feel real and her command of the language is almost unparalleled. Even The Thuggery Affair, with its tremendously dated slang, says more interesting and true things about humankind than many a Newbery winner. I was bowled over (no pun intended) by The Cricket Term again yesterday. Of course, I'd appreciate Forest's writing even if I didn't care for the characters, and I'd enjoy the Murder Must Advertise references and the well-described cricket matches, but really, I love everything about this book. It's one of my top ten favorites, ever. The Attic Term and Run Away Home (the two books that follow) aren't as good, but they're still perfectly fine reads. I'm looking forward to the day that Forest is re-discovered by children's literature enthusiasts in the U.S., both because I want to talk to people about the books and because I got there first .
While I was at my parents' house last week, I curled up in their formal and rarely-used living room and read The Scarlet Pimpernel in great gulps. It was such an unexpectedly fun read! If you haven't read it, please do. I liked it, and I'm not even a fan of adventure stories.
BTW, if anyone can provide a better translation of sunt lacrimae rerum than "there are tears of things", I'd love to see it.