Posted by davidm on June 25, 2007 at 21:10:41 from 62.194.15.45 user davidm.
In Reply to: Re: What would Susan's story be? posted by Jock on June 24, 2007 at 22:01:41:
I had forgotten William. I think he should go between Nancy and Iain in my list.
At the risk of re-opening topics which have probably been extensively covered already, I agree that the stories are believable, but not necessarily realistic. As a child of the 60s I would have loved to have had the same adventures, but in practice I don't think I or my contemporaries could have maintained the fantasies as long as they did in the books, nor would we have been capable of being so decent and considerate to each other for more than a few hours. Even with higher expectations of good behaviour in the 30's, I have often wondered how AR's real-life camping and exploring adventures in Norfolk and Suffolk actually compared with his fictional versions. The books represent more of an achievable fantasy than a realistic account: they are carried further by the reality of the settings, strong characterisation, good plotting and narrative completion.
Part of the believability is that the characters get older and more developed through the four year span of the books (except for Susan, who was older already). If they had not I think that the books would have become formulaic, like Richmal Crompton's William, or Billy Bunter. They would no doubt have retained some of their charm, and there could have been a lot more of them, but they surely would have lost the depth of interest which keeps Tar Board going. However, after four years, Nancy at least would have been well and truly a teenager, and to remain believable the books would have had to evolve into a new genre; something like those of Geoffrey Trease perhaps. On balance I am rather glad that AR stopped when he did. The characters are fixed in their brief span, and are all the better for it.
Regarding the further lives of the characters I recall that in Peter Tinnisdale's 'I Didn't know you cared' - the book, not the television series - the hero, Carter Brandon, speculates on the future of the Swallows and Amazons, and imagines that John was killed in the war, that Roger survived and visits Peggy, who is living rather sadly and alone, once a week with a bottle of gin and a friendly grin. Can anyone complete the reference?