Posted by Peter Ceresole on July 18, 2012 at 06:45:47 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: Chronological reading posted by Eric Abraham on July 18, 2012 at 04:36:23:
Personally, I started by having Swallowdale read to me by my mum at bed time- as far as I can remember in 1945/6 or so. The copy I have now is from the 1947 edition. Swallows and Amazons followed ('48 edition- a school prize) read by me to me... Then Peter Duck. I forget the rest of the order of succession.
I do remember treating the books as separate entities at the time; the order wasn't important. The characters were and that was what counted, although I remember the shock to the system of adapting to the Broads stories.
I have the whole lot of Cape hardbacks on a shelf just in front of me and now I just spot read what I fancy. But for reacquaintance, reading them in rough order would do no harm. Nowadays, I mostly read the books for the D's. Like any red blooded Ransome fan, I am unconditionally in love with Dorothea. However, now I am not Six, but seventy-two, I find myself re-reading specific bits like 'Lost! Two Days and a Boat' from WDMTGTS, which somehow conveys quite vividly Ipswich in the '30s. It didn't interest me in the slightest when I was little, but fascinates me now as the '30s was the decade that shaped my life- as it led to the second world war and what followed.
Again, purely personally, I wouldn't think missing 'Peter Duck' and 'Missee Lee' would spoil anything vital. I remember, in 'Swallowdale', not knowing anything about 'Peter Duck', my seven year old brain working out that this must be something important to Titty that I didn't understand, but I just got on with the story.
And as this comes up often; my favourites are of course 'Winter Holiday' and 'The Picts and the Martyrs'. PM probably best of all.