Posted by John Robinson on September 18, 1996 at 01:08:04:
Having just started reading the Swallows and Amazons series
to my sons, I attempted a Web search on "Arthur Ransome" and was
delighted to discover the TARS pages. Congratulations to those
in the UK and New Zealand who created these spaces.
I don't know how many times I have read the books: I read them
repeatedly during my boyhood, then reread them as an adult when
Hugh Brogan's biography came out. Now I have returned to them, and
am entranced all over again, though not, perhaps, to the extent of
my 1980s reading when I read from sentiment and forgave everything.
Now I sometimes cringe.
One of the things I find remarkable is the provision AR makes for
both children and adults. Nowadays I admire the books'
wit -- something I never really noticed as a boy. Now, too,
I notice every blurring of imagination and fact, and I half regret
that I am no longer so naive. Characters which seemed
secondary -- like Roger -- are now among my favorites. I was already
tired of John by the time
I was a teenager, but by many hints of depth, I find him redeemed,
and I can enjoy the knowledge that he is designed for a boy's
admiration, because once I did admire him. (I suspect that my
childhood dislike of Secret Water was because AR turned my hero
into a sulky, bore.) Nancy Blackett is better than
ever -- I'd thought I'd find her tiresome, but I haven't, yet. And
I think I'm going to like those D's even more this time.
Reading S&A, though, I do wonder what went wrong with Peggy and Susan.
Peggy seems to have started with a personality of her own, and some
talents, but there wasn't room for her to develop. In Winter
Holiday she gets half a chance, but only as a surrogate Nancy.
Everyone knows that Susan is a plot device and as flat as a pancake.
As a child, I managed to ignore (and therefore accept) her successfully.
But now, I find it hard to understand why such a perceptive author
as AR could use her so mechanically. I've been trying to think if
Susan is ever liberated from her ultranativeness. I remember she
handled the Goblin through much of the night voyage. But did she
ever do anything imaginative? Does she have a sense of humour? Will
she grow up to be someone's Great Aunt?
I am looking forward to reading the whole series again, and I
will keep one ear to the TARboard to hear what net enthusiasts are
saying.