Insipid books for boys


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Posted by Joy on September 03, 2009 at 17:14:39 user Joy.

Am moved to post by reading this review of Roland Chambers' new book on Ransome THE LAST ENGLISHMAN in METRO (a freebie UK newspaper) yesterday. I can think of many many ways of describing Ransome's books - some of them quite insulting - but insipid is not an adjective that has flitted across my mind!

Robert Murphy writes: Arthur Ransome turns out to have led a fairly interesting existence, which is probably this biography's biggest revelation. His insipid books for boys hardly suggested he'd been a supporter of the Russian revolution. In fact, they were written as part of his later attempt at rehabilitation back in England where he radically distanced himself from his political advocacy. His time in Russia is naturally absorbing, as are the clues that his real interest may have been in betraying his comrades to MI6. Roland Chambers sensibly devotes the majority of the book to this period but amasses unanswered questions – he's more focused on unveiling Ransome's fabrications about his experiences and in tracing the conflicted emotions of an English gent abroad. This is not the most that could have been done with the material but it does offer an individualised perspective on some of history's pivotal moments.


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