Posted by Dave Thewlis on December 20, 2007 at 14:57:54 from 75.111.50.119 user dthewlis.
In Reply to: Re: posted by Eric Abraham on December 20, 2007 at 23:33:50:
I lean towards Great Northernbeing one of the "real" stories (as opposed to PD and ML); it always seemed to me to be a "real" story as opposed to one of the "fantasy" ones, and the two types have some internal consistencies which differ.
One example is the practicality of the timing. One of Ransome's notes from 1944 when he began to write GN says
"Time. June would be best. Why they are not at school, heaven only knows!!!!!" (The Best of Childhood Pg 310).
There's no concern about school, or the time of year, at all in PD or ML but all of the "real" stories are set during holidays or managed (WH) to make the time of year acceptable. Admittedly Ransome doesn't explain why they aren't in school - but the fact that he commented on it seems to show shows a "real" orientation.