Posted by David Brooks on April 13, 1999 at 14:41:03:
Perhaps it's a sign that I've been tainted by today's crass popular culture, but after reading the S&A series to my kids, I was struck by the lack of, shall we say, latrines. (I never noticed this lack when I read the books as a boy, 25 years ago.)
AR is so good at being realistic about youthful outdoor life that it jars me when nobody ever goes to the bathroom. That's an important part of life, especially when you're camping, and ignoring it seems a bit like cheating. Six or eight kids in one spot for a week or two would have to spend a lot of time planning for and cleaning up after this aspect of life.
I'm sure AR could have handled it with style and wit - after all, he made cleaning up after dinner an integral part of the rhythm of his plots. (If nothing else, digging-latrine duty would make for some good Roger scenes.)
I imagine he didn't because it just wasn't included in fiction at the time. It would have been jarring to readers to include it.
Has my mind been warped by too many years of dirty diapers, or is anybody else at all bothered by this?