Posted by Peter Ceresole on March 06, 2012 at 12:35:47 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: What should we assume? posted by Peter Hyland on March 06, 2012 at 11:52:15:
detailed investigation is often fun and enjoyable but, dare I say it, there is such a thing as self-indulgence.
Well yes there is, of course. But as you say it's fun, and if we can't indulge ourselves here, where can we...?
I don't think that any of us intends to criticise AR. I certainly don't. I think that's it's hugely impressive that he can inspire such detailed scrutiny. It shows that he created a world so real that we can almost live it ourselves.
So, 'Beckfoot Lighting' is indulgent, but it's also loving and joyful. Whether or not AR would have approved is neither here nor there. We're his readers, he wrote the books for us and we're enjoying them, even if a little later than he would have anticipated. As I cruise into old fartdom, through his stories I reconnect with myself as a child complete with rationing (gosh, I really ought to try that again, it'd do me some good) and the boundless optimist of childhood.
It's just good.