Posted by Ed Kiser on September 24, 2003 at 04:42:01 from 205.188.208.8 user Kisered.
In SECRET WATER, Daisy is meeting the S&A for the first time.
They go through the introductions, and she says...
"You must be John and you're Susan. And
that's Roger. Which is the one with the funny name?"
Nice for Ransome to recognize that there are some aspects
of that name that seems to produce snickering when trying to read
these stories out loud to certain impressionable pre-teens. The
particular name in question he does not indicate specifically,
but no one seems to be wondering whom she is asking about.
Makes one wonder, why, with this highly expected reaction, did he
choose this name. After all, he chose "John" out of the blue.
The name of some silly mouse has received more notariety than it
was worth.
"What's in a name? A rose, by any other name, is still a prickly
thorn bush." I may have misquoted that a bit.
======================
While on the subject of names, we may wonder what real person he
had in mind when he named certain of his characters - if indeed
there was a real person in mind at all.
For example, there is the character, Helen, (See SW Chapter 11).
Not much is known about Helen, except that for some unknown
reason (relationship) she happens to be Nancy and Peggy's AUNT
that lives in London. She is not identified as being an aunt on
their mother's side or their father's side, as no last name is
indicated. Nancy refers to "Aunt Helen" as being a "Good aunt",
in contrast with Maria Turner. Maybe she was a sister to Bob
Blackett, but such is just guesswork.
The name, "Helen", appears but once in all these twelve books.
The amazing thing about Helen to me is the fact that, in spite of
the MANY times I have been through these stories, in a very
recent rereading of SW, it is the first time that I really paid
attention to the fact that she exists. Even when typing in her
name, way back when I was typing in this stuff, that name did not
really stay with me. A recent rereading discovered it, and it
was as if seeing it for the first time.
It is a rather remarkable thing to me, that as I go through these
stories, some for the umpteenth time, there are still those
details that seem to come out as being brand new, that I have no
recollection of this little trivia from previous readings. There
is always the thrill of discovery, each and every time, and I am
never disappointed. There is still the excitement of discovery
in All Things Ransome.
Ed Kiser, South Florida