Re: Time scale of books


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Posted by Robert Hill on February 12, 2006 at 16:48:12 from 195.92.168.164 user eclrh.

In Reply to: Re: Time scale of books posted by John Wilson on February 12, 2006 at 00:09:29:

I don’t know if the books in between were published in the order that they were supposed to have happened

In most cases there is plenty of internal evidence showing that the order they were supposed to have happened is the same as the order of publication, and establishing the relative chronology pretty clearly.

We have to make exceptions for PD and ML, which are generally regarded as fantasies, or stories within the story; and for GN, which is lacking in the sort of 'last year' references that most of the others contain.

In the nine remaining books, despite some (definite or arguable) inconsistencies (of which the 1929/1931 business and the rapid ageing of Bridget are by far the most glaring), most of the evidence fits together nicely.

All this is clear enough to have been apparent to me when I first read the series as a child. Even though I first read the books out of sequence, I have the sort of mind which made it inevitable that I would try to fit them into a timeline. And it later came as a big shock to me to learn that some readers aren't like that!

So although I don't think AR wrote PM with the thought 'this is set in 1933' in his mind, I think it was perfectly clear in his mind throughout the writing that it was set one year after PP, two years after SD, and three years after SA, and that he had equally clear ideas about where WH, CC, WD, SW and B6 fitted in.


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