Posted by Ed Kiser on February 08, 2003 at 21:18:36 from 205.188.209.46 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Re: microscope posted by Laurence Monkhouse on February 08, 2003 at 11:48:56:
Good point. The fact that there is no RECORD of Dick's usage of the microscope is certainly no proof that he did NOT use it. It is just that those moments of scientific exploration that he enjoyed just were not germain to the plot and thus escaped the narrative.
It is necessary from time to time to remind me that these are fictional characters that existed only in the mind of the author, and through his words, exist now in the mind of the readers. They are real enough to make me wish that somehow, I would have loved to have met these people, to have gotten to know them, personally. Somehow, I feel I do know them, at least, as well as Ransome would have wanted me to.
Ransome himself has said on many occasions that the main question put to him about these stories is, "Are the REAL?" The answer is, YES, to us, they are real, so very real.
But there is one feature that somehow lets them escape true reality and that is, they never get older, but I do.
Ed Kiser, South Florida