Posted by Jock on March 17, 2006 at 14:58:29 from 87.105.81.146 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: Beckfoot - a heartfelt plea posted by Peter H on March 17, 2006 at 13:30:24:
Peter, Your post 21072 is one of the most eloquent posts that I have read on Tarboard and much of what you write sums up exactly how I feel about Ransome. But though I feel very protective about AR's legacy, I disagree with your conclusion.
I will confess that I also had strong objections to some AR fan activities. In my case I drew the line at 'fan fiction'. I certainly did not want to know 'what happened next', unless it was to be from the pen of AR himself. When I heard that Prue had written a sequel I was so annoyed that I wrote an angry pastiche of 'what happened next' which, (a) made me feel better and, (b) nearly managed to get me banned from Tarboard for ever.
I guess as the years have rolled on I have mellowed. Having discovered some very good 'fan fiction' on various 'Dr Who' sites I can now see its merits. I now feel rather foolish for my veiled attack on Prue and if she forgives me I wouldn't mind seeing her sequel.
So also with the details of Beckfoot. Everybody will have their own mental picture. Those of us who are old enough to remember English houses with boilers, servant bells and even servant quarters will easily have formed a detailed picture of Beckfoot. As you say, AR provides a wonderful and economical description. But, for the increasing numbers of AR readers whose memories don't stretch so far back, some sort of 'guide to the world of the S & A' is long overdue. In so far that discussions on Tarboard try to do this they are to applauded.
And how about a film version of the 12 (13) books? I always view a film of a favourite book with trepidation. Sometimes the adaptation is so well done that the film version and my own mental pictures merge imperceptably. Sometimes the result is not so felicitious.
If the canon is ever to be transferred to celluloid, we better get our facts right about the Beckfoot wallpaper! If you don't want to look then you don't have to. I am 100% with Owen's idea of labelling posts, "If you don't want to know a possible result - please look away now." It would be great to have a number of ready made icons to add to the title of messages that could be regarded as a 'spoiler'.
Over the years that you have been posting to Tarboard you have raised objections to many different kinds of posts. I suspect that the only result is that those of us with broad shoulders carry on regardless, but that some 'fresher' Tarboarders feel intimidated and go elsewhere. May I repeat my plea for tolerance that I posted about a year ago?