Posted by Jonathan Labaree on March 22, 2001 at 19:56:09 from 207.5.233.128:
In Reply to: Re: USA Readers posted by David Brooks on March 22, 2001 at 16:30:02:
I agree with David. Although thoroughly American, I am enough of an Anglophile, having spent a year in Cambridge as a second former, to be drawn to the Britishness of the characters and landscapes of the books. Like Rat and Mole or Davies and Carruthers, the Walkers, Blacketts, and Callums could never be mistaken for Americans. Likewise, the Lakes and Broads are of the Old World.
But, the real lasting appeal for me is how closely the children’s adventures and aspirations matched my own as a kid spending summers on the coast of Maine--sailing our dinghies, charting channels and coves, camping on islands, battling hullabaloos (in our case, poachers shooting seals in the bay), making friends, planning adventures, building rafts, engaging in great sea battles (we were reading Hornblower as well), and agonizing over the end of vacations. We learned about marine life, astronomy, birds, tracking, boatbuilding, and living off the land.
We even got to know some of the older generation who remembered dory fishing from schooners (a la Captains Courageous) and working in the by-then dormant granite quarries, so the past never seemed too far behind. Naturally, our natives featured a bit more prominently than those in the books, but the reliable ring of the dinner bell, not to mention ready access to our own sailmakers, expedition outfitters, and sailing masters seemed a small price to pay for any lack of freedom it cost.
Those were idyllic times that inspired me to pursue my current work in land conservation in the very area where I spent my youth. I hope children many years hence will have the same opportunity to explore uncluttered (and "uncharted") grounds and take delight in and draw inspiration from Ransome’s masterpieces.