Posted by Ed Kiser on June 03, 2002 at 15:05:46 from 205.188.195.53 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Re: map of the Lake posted by John Lambert on June 02, 2002 at 07:17:37:
John-
"Are they for real?"
This is a common comment that AR heard concerning his characters.
He made them so "real" to his readers. In a similar way, the
geography of his imaginary world also seems to take on a sense of
"reality" with us. Whereas it is true that many features of his
imaginary stories are based on real places in that area, their
relative positions to each other are not necessarily as we have
pictured them in our imagination as we read his stories. But,
considering the origins of many of the features of his stories
to be actual real locations, perhaps the imaginary lake he tried
to first visualize and then portray in his stories takes on a
degree of similarity to the real settings.
Not that this is an answer as to "how long is 'The Lake'", but
as the raw material that fed his imagination, perhaps it would
be helpful if we could find out:
1. What are the dimentions of Peel Island?
2. How long (and wide) is Lake Coniston?
3. How long (and wide) is lake Windemere?
4. How tall is the "mountain" known as Conniston Old Man?
Not that these facts answer any questions about "The Lake", but
it might help our own imaginary image that AR drew for us with
his words.
As for the art work in the assorted maps, there are so many
inconsistancys among the various maps of "the Lake" as shown
in each of the five Lake Stories that any "Fact" regarding
the "True" location of the various elements cannot be really
determined. The art work is not necessarily the product of
AR's hand, but drawn by others that were not privy to the
mental image AR had as he created his little world for us
all to come and play in. Perhaps all they had was a simple
sketch from AR as to where things were.
Near the end of SA, Titty expresses the desire that they would
be coming back to Wild Cat "for ever." Mrs. Tyson commmented
that such desires are common among those that are young.
Many of us met these characters when we ourselves were but
children, and delighted in sharing these adventures with our
new found "friends". We have grown up, and yet we still feel
like we would like to come back to Wild Cat, and do so
"For Ever". The beauty of this whole deal is, we CAN indeed
keep coming back, as long as we are alive, and if we pass on
the Word properly, so can our children, for as many times as
we wish with the marvelous outcome being that each time we
come back to these beloved places, our old friends of our
childhood are still there, and they are still the marvelous
adventurous children we came to know and love from our childhood.
They never grow up. We have matured, but we can from time to time
re-visit those joys of our childhood and relive those places and
those people whenever we wish. They remain our dear friends
"For Ever."
Thank you, AR, for creating such a delightful world for us to
play in, whenever we want.
From Sunny South Florida, sneaking onto the computer between
thunderstorms...
Ed Kiser (that's an "s", not a "z" [worst I've seen is KAIYZER])