Emma Thompson reads Charlie Brown whenever she feels low

Emma Thompson used part of her recent appearance at the Hay Festival in Wales to make a case for reading Charlie Brown comics when life feels heavy. Speaking with author Elizabeth Day about Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts, the writer and actress called Charlie Brown "the avatar of humility," describing the strip she brought along, You're a Winner, Charlie Brown, in which he stands with his head against a tree and a kite hanging around his neck. "He's not very successful, and he feels like a bit of a loser," she said. "Yet there he is, central to this great philosophy." She had opinions about the rest of the gang too, including a childhood plan to marry Linus and a lasting grievance with Lucy, who is awful to everyone and then charges five cents for psychiatric advice. "Whenever I'm feeling a little bit low in the water," Thompson said, "I will pluck one of those selections of cartoons and immediately feel better about myself, about my failings, about my stupid elderly ambitions."