Posted by Mountaineer on August 08, 2008 at 10:29:51 user Mountaineer.
In Reply to: Re: Great Northern & Characters as Adults posted by Jock on August 08, 2008 at 09:33:45:
(Jock:)"I don't think there is a consensus that GN is 'made up'.
Christina Hardiment seems to think so and there is an apparent
inconsistency beween the GN nesting period and school holidays."
When is the nesting period of the Diver?
While GN is far from being a favorite (admittedly I just discovered AR a few months ago, completely missed him as a kid, he is hardly known in Germany, and have not read Missee Lee and Big Six yet, but some of the others already twice over...), it doesn't seem made up to me in the way Peter Duck clearly is.
The plot seems artificial, but entirely probable. As you said, they are quite experienced (and older, Dick about 12, Nancy/John 15 or 16) and in fact everything went so well on the cruise before the book starts that they are a little bored for lack of adventures!
Note that in the realistic books they have mor freedom from parents/grown ups as the series progresses: The camp in PP is not regularly visited by one of the mothers or Captain Flint as in SA or SD and in SW the parents are absent for the main plot. (Even the P&M, a story I see as an "intermezzo" not quite fitting in the standard scheme, follows that line. The Picts are quite isolated)
Maybe the holidays/nesting season inconsistency was ignored on purpose. You can't use any old bird for this kind of plot.
Admittedly, this explanation is not very satisfying and of the books I read so far, I liked only Coot Club less than GN. And I agree that it is not (and probably never meant to be) a real conclusion to the series. Not sure if any conclusion is needed or wanted, but if any, it had to take place on the Lake.
Mountaineer