Posted by Peter H on December 17, 2000 at 21:36:37 from 193.113.185.137:
In Reply to: Roger's New One posted by Martin Affleck on December 16, 2000 at 20:00:21:
Having badgered Martin A and John L into posting AR material, I feel honour bound to reply to at least one of you! As to Roger Wardale's new book, in my opinion Shirley Skinner said what needed to be said in her review of the book for Mixed Moss. I personally think that there is very little more mileage to be had in trying to track down further Ransome locations, Ransome boats or even Ransome characters. We are never going to identify exactly some of these sources and it seems pointless to go on guessing. However, I suggest that there are at least two areas where there is still exploration to be done: 1) the actual techniques that AR used when he wrote the stories - this has been covered a little at the Lit Weekends, but not much in MM . It's technical, and may not interest everyone, but it's important. 2) The overall 'philosophy' that emerges from the AR books - what is it exactly, and is it at all relevant today? We all blithely say that children should be encouraged to read AR, but what sort of values will they pick up, if any, and will they benefit? The answer seems obvious, but is it?
I've got ideas on all this myself, but I don't want to post any more for the present. I am extremely sad to hear about Martin Lewis.