Posted by John O'Flynn on February 22, 2000 at 00:06:04 from godzilla-3.openface.ca:
In Reply to: Re: Newbie Query posted by Tim Johns on February 21, 2000 at 16:47:22:
Now that the question of the "unreal" stories has come up again, maybe
someone could review for me the arguments for placing GN in this category.
Such an idea had never occurred to me until I read Hardyment's Trunk
(was it she who originated it?), and I assumed that she simply didn't want
to go to the Hebrides because it was inconvenient and wouldn't be very
rewarding since the map in GN doesn't correspond to any actual place.
(Or have I got it wrong? Is this a real location?)
If the argument is based on the idea that the story is "inherently less
believable" (in Robert Hill's words), then I simply don't buy it. Far from
being a remote and exotic place, the Hebrides are in the UK and a popular
if challenging venue for sailors. The SAD's have had some years of sailing
experience at this point, at least four of them are in the second half of
their teens, and they are in the company of an experienced adult. I always
saw this trip as a kind of graduation exercise or coming of age ceremony
for this group of young sailors, and I'm pretty sure that when he wrote it
AR intended it as their farewell to us.