Posted by Peter H on December 23, 2005 at 16:17:27 from 86.130.136.193 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Approaching Ransome (was Enid Blyton beats AR hands down) posted by Joy of Christmas on December 23, 2005 at 14:52:41:
I think Joy of Christmas is taking us more into the whole question of literary genres with regard to writing for children. I'd bow to her knowledge here, but I'd like to get back to detailed character comparisons, not to 'catch AR out' but just as an interesting bit of research. How original is Peter Duck (the sailor, not the book)? Was the idea for him inspired by Hugh Lofting's character 'Ben Butcher' (another know-all mariner)?
Compare:
'First gust of wind come along and away goes your canvas overboard. Well, it's all right now I'm here. We'll soon get things in shipshape'. Ben Butcher, in The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle (1922)
'and if it's all the same to you, I seen a block up there that's like to come adrift, and . . .I might as well be putting a whipping on it'. Peter Duck, in Peter Duck (1932)
There is one essential difference: Dr Dolittle dumped his know-all sailor at the first port. Capn Flint didn't.