Posted by Andy Clayton on September 03, 2012 at 07:14:08 user cousin_jack.
In Reply to: Re: South Pole posted by Peter Ceresole on September 03, 2012 at 02:53:22:
'the richness of his imagination...'
That's hit the nail on the head. Ransome's illustrations are quite sketchy and leave a lot of fussy detail out. Compare the two recently posted pics of Nancy arriving at the north pole, the one by AR is almost tantalising in its vagueness, it leaves far more for the reader to imagine and fill in. By not showing the D's peering out, we have to fill the interior action in ourselves, so we create our own image of the cosy coal stove, the opened tea chest, the scattered provisions, the atmosphere deepens. It also gives far more scope to manipulate the landscape. The illustrations add so much to the books by leaving so much out.