Re: AR's 'silly books'


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Posted by John Lambertj on March 15, 2009 at 04:48:10 user John.

In Reply to: Re: AR's 'silly books' posted by Dan Lind on March 15, 2009 at 02:56:33:

It seems to me that AR was running out of steam by the time he wrote SW. Although I realize my opinion is far from unanimous, I cannot help feeling that the story is as flat as the landscape. Don and Daisy never become believable, and so their imaginations seem just a pale reflection of those real masters of imagination: The Swallows and the Amazons. Maybe AR was looking for another Nancy. If so, he never found her; neither was he likely to find another such as she. It just seems too contrived, although the kidnapping of Bridget and the incident at the Wade were good. I wonder if the dullness of the rest of the story is due to the expanse of mud and flat islands that are not always islands, but sometimes just more mud. I've just realized - I don't like SW because there is no sanctuary!! That's it! I'm back on the theme of sanctuaries again. In PD, the top of Peter Duck's palm tree and the wrecked ship on the beach are sanctuaries, while Missee Lee's lookout is a sanctuary for her, and for a time, for the others as well. Since you can find sanctuaries in all the other stories, I maintain that this was an important theme with AR, whether or not he realized it. I wonder if there is anything in his history that might explain it.


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