Re: Reality and the Reader (more on Peter Duck etc)


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Posted by Martin Honor on February 15, 2012 at 00:01:42 user MartinH.

In Reply to: Reality and the Reader (more on Peter Duck etc) posted by Mike Dennis on February 12, 2012 at 01:21:06:

As far as I can remember when I first read AR’s books as child I accepted without question all they contained. Probably this was because I was introduced to them at a very early age – I think my mother read SD to me when I about four or five years old. Children are willing to suspend belief in books, whether it is traditional “fairy stories” or railway engines talking to each other. It is only as we grow older that we start to question whether a storyline is feasible or not.

I was also introduced early on to ML (the other AR book in my mother’s collection from her childhood). Again, at the time, I believed in it as a story. Re-reading it again when my daughter was of an age to appreciate the books I found parts did not really hang together. The hundredth port! How long had the voyage been?

I agree with Mike that trying to over analyse any book will tend to spoil the enjoyment for many. How many schoolchildren have been put off Shakespeare and Dickens because of having to “study” them for exams. To me any book should be read straight through as a story set in its own universe and time. Only afterwards consider what is meant in detail.

When it comes to favourite books it is difficult to decide. SD, CC and WDMTGTS are at the top of the list; BS and SW at the bottom. I can't put my finger exactly on why this should be so but neither are books that I get the urge to read and re-read again and again.

I am currently re-reading WDMTGS and have just read the passage where John steers Goblin through the night. A piece which brings a lump to my throat, especially when I think back to my own first night watches. That combination of being in charge and having responsibility for others is a very powerful feeling.



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