Posted by Jock on August 23, 2007 at 08:29:34 from 87.105.81.146 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: The 'Miss Nancy' enigma posted by Peter H on August 22, 2007 at 20:37:56:
Peter, As we ruthlessly analyse such features of the as the position of Beckfoot's: header tank, front door and long axis (not to mention the GA) I'm all too conscious of your view Oh for the days, long ago, when I read the books for pure enjoyment and thought that all the lake folk were just being friendly to each other! Mrs Blackett was just a nice woman who lived in a house, and had a brother and two daughters - the Amazons. That was enough for me then.
You first expressed such a view during the great 'plumbing debate' and recently in your post 28845 from which the above quote is taken. AR said on a number of occassions that he did not write his books for children, but he wrote them for himself. That being the case, it's hardly surprising that on re-reading the books in adulthood, one finds in them a great deal more depth than one picked up as a child. One can also research the 1930s (a time when the tectonic places of English politics were heaving) and the issues which were important to AR during his lifetime.
Surely such an insight adds to the value to be obtained in reading AR's books rather than subtracts from it. After all, no amount of analysis will ever destroy the picture of Mrs Blackett as a very good woman and Beckfoot, in the absence of the GA, as a warm and supportive household.