Posted by Alex Forbes on February 21, 2004 at 05:02:49 from 209.86.0.236 user Pitsligo.
In Reply to: Re: GN? as fantasy, was Re: Captain Flint's wealth and insurance posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on February 20, 2004 at 20:56:15:
Sorry to drag out this discussion if it is, as it sounds like it may be, an old and weary topic, but do loons/GNDs in fact nest in the Isles? And did they during the time frame GN? falls within? What is the science behind the seed of this fiction --was there a discovery to be made, was it already a known scientific fact that GNDs nested there, or have they never nested there at all, even to this day?
As for when GNDs nest, I haven't a clue. I saw them all the time when I was living in Maine, but that was mostly summer, and I wasn't notably observant as to bird behavior at that point.
I like Peter Willis's observations on how AR combined the fantasy of PD/ML with the more "real" stories as a semi-fantasy finale to the series. As I have never read the incomplete CITN, I can't speak to that, but I really do think GN? is a fabulous wrap. The final scene is a real deusy, and entirely fitting to end the tale.
Alex