Posted by Peter H on July 04, 2005 at 22:42:51 from 86.130.124.109 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: In PIGEON POST - why make a nugget? posted by Prue Eckett on July 04, 2005 at 21:48:01:
Oh dear, once again it is necessary to point out (though why I don't know) that AR did not put spurious or romantic details into his novels 'just to make a good story' - such an idea would have horrified him - an ultra-realist.
Let's get real: 'nuggets' are not made, but found - they are lumps of native metal. You have to get lucky, or be in Alaska. The correct word for the solidified product of melting ore is 'ingot', which Dick used. And it was Dick, not Nancy, who insisted on an ingot (Ch 21):
'Slater Bob'll show us how to make it into ingots. We must have one ready for Captain Flint.'
This was for assay purposes, as the process of making the ingot would remove much of the impurities (they hoped). This was the practice in California, where private assay firms would melt the gold for you, make an ingot and assay it. There are other methods of assaying (which I'm not qualified to describe), but Dick evidently felt he had to follow this one. In the end, he didn't have to, but he thought he had to and this is the whole point with AR - it is not the author who goes over the top romantically, but the children, and because they are children the whole thing is believable and realistic and not over the top at all.
Prue - when did you last properly read Pigeon Post?