Posted by Adam Quinan on August 21, 2006 at 00:32:13 from 72.136.51.111 user Adam.
Jim McDowell commented about Great Northern? "I wish had never happened". Are there any other candidates for the Ransome book that should never have happened?
Great Northern? is by no means my least favourite book. I do think that it does bring all the characters together in a suitable and final way. I understand that Ransome basically took the suggestions of Myles North for the plot, but he wrote it up in his own manner. I certainly would miss it if it vanished (though not, I suppose, if it had never been written).
My candidate for the Ransome book I would miss the least is probably Missee Lee. All of the others have that degree of realism (even Peter Duck and Great Northern?) that I find a great part of Ransome's appeal to me. Missee Lee is too exotic, the Chinese characters seem more like caricatures. It has some nice points, but the whole is not redeemed by those shining parts.