Posted by Peter H on October 02, 2007 at 20:39:23 from 86.137.75.161 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: . . about the Beckfoot plumbers - the REAL ISSUE posted by Jock on October 02, 2007 at 19:52:24:
AR's non-treatment of this topic was simply following the custom and practice of the time.
Yes, as a general principle I agree, but if an author of a realistic story is going to omit all reference to toilet arrangements, the author should not construct a scenario in which such arrangements are impossible or severely impractical. The author should allow for the possibility of unmentioned 'facilities', particularly an author like AR who majored on meticulous coverage of details mostly in the context of 'real' stories (as opposed to fantasies). On Wild Cat Island there do seem to have been alternative 'methods' (even if unsatisfactory) so maybe that's OK, but I have always had difficulty about Camp Might Have Been and the stony ground. And it really is quite odd to include numerous detailed diagrams of boats, none of which show the 'heads'.