Posted by Mike Dennis on March 24, 2008 at 09:45:53 from 84.68.203.180 user MTD.
In Reply to: Ransome the Socialist posted by Duncan on March 23, 2008 at 14:08:12:
Duncan - firstly congratulations on a well written and argued piece. Your argument, to me, is very convincing. On my mothers side I come from a family with long standing Labour party connections - one of my great-grandfathers lost his job on the railway in London and never worked in full time employment again because he made no secret of his political beliefs. His son a life-long Labour part member knew that for many years after the Second World War (up until his death in the 1970s) he was listed with the local police as someone to keep an eye on (in a small seaside town in East Anglia!). When you have even a scant knowledge, such is mine, of pre First World Warm socialism and the beliefs of the like of William Morris; you begin to see how in the SA series what AR is writing about. Despite the main families being middle class, they have a desire for a simple life and one that is accessible for everyone. In his writing it is often clear which character types he admires (eg the charcoal burners) and those he loathes (eg the hullabaloos). And someone posted here recently a sense of justice is a common thread in most of the books, and not always blatantly so.
Some here will dismiss all this as irrelevant to reading and enjoying the works of a great writer, but my feeling is that great works are not written in isolation. There have always been novelists that churn on best sellers on a regular basis almost by rote, they sell well because they are easy read and make no demands on the reader. AR had the ability to write extremely well and be popular, and in doing so drew upon his life and his beliefs.