Posted by Peter H on April 02, 2006 at 13:23:03 from 86.130.129.112 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Children's writers posted by deb on April 02, 2006 at 12:52:08:
I have always thought that Arthur Ransome's books were 'stories about children' rather than 'children's stories', if you see what I mean. There is no doubt that adult readers were occasionally catered for by AR, with a phrase or two of quiet humour here and there (like Mrs Blackett's 'You may well wonder' in Ch 1 of PP). That, plus the ability to enter a child character's mind without 'writing down', enables adults to enjoy AR. And , of course, the technical detail, which Tarboard celebrates unceasingly ;-)
Returning to the late Linda Smith briefly, I am very uneasy about excusing her comments by saying 'she was a comedienne', and 'she was trying to get a reaction'. Irrational prejudice is always prejudice, no matter how you dress it up. It is but a short step from that to slamming vegetarians, say, then perhaps people who live in caravans, then Catholics, then Jews . . . People on the left of the spectrum are not immune from prejudice, and if you want proof, I would say 'Ken Livingstone'.