Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on October 11, 2004 at 09:25:26 from 213.38.124.194 user ACB.
In Reply to: Re: Colouring In (was: Full set of 1st editions??) posted by Peter H on October 10, 2004 at 19:52:16:
I fear I am going to disagree.
The plot is not advanced in a "film" sense of the word "plot", but then this is a book, not a film, and Ransome's notion of plot turns on how the characters are affected by events. Everybody gets tired, dry, and dusty, and this affects how they behave when the get to Tyson's. They have made a decisive break from camping in the Beckfoot garden, they have turned their back on the lake, and now they must live with the consequences.
I liked that chapter as a child, perhaps more than I like it now, for another reason. It is one of the chapters where Ransome tells you how to do something - very important for the young reader. I spent ages using my pushbike as a "dromedary" after reading it.
"He makes a tale of adventure a handbook to adventure" as one of the early reviewers said.