Posted by Andy Bolger on October 23, 2013 at 08:56:08 user beardbiter.
In Reply to: Re: Favourites posted by Peter Hyland on October 23, 2013 at 06:50:42:
It's a bit boring to agree with everyone but
I think I may have to. Some of Buchan's attitudes are, and were,deplorable but his plots rattle like Rattletrap down the Dundale Road.
I confess it never occurred to me that GN was metafiction until I encountered the idea somewhere in the Tarverse, I guess I latched on to it as an excuse for finding it a little wooden. Roger's arguments to the contrary, however, seem compelling. Nevertheless like the parson's egg it has some good bits and being a book not an egg that means it's mediocre not bad.
I wanted to ask about the down channel chapter in PD; I'd always assumed it was based on AR's own experience, but I think I may have read somewhere that he wrote it before he'd sailed down channel himself. Can anyone confirm or deny this?