Thursday 17 February 2011
September Island
This is set in a small coastal village near Swansea. Martin is on holiday in a small caravan site with his small sister and the family dog. He is only eleven but he feels that he has spent his whole waiting for an adventure. He feels that he is prepared in every way for things to happen. A sudden storm over night floods the surrounding sand dunes and swells the local rivers.
Tuesday 15 February 2011
Outer Hebrides - Great Northern ?
Great Northern ? by Arthur Ransome is the last fully completed book in the 'Swallows and Amazons' series. The adventure takes place on the coast of an island in the Outer Hebrides. The location is left vague as a part of the plot for Ransome is claiming that he wants to preserve the anonimity of the breeding place of the Great Northern Divers of the storyline. It is a clever variation on the old idea of having your cake and eating it. The obfuscation of the setting is a necessary part of the creation of the book. Ransome knew the real Isle of Lewis well and must have used the settings there.
The well-known children of this twelvth story struggle so hard to contend with two opposing dilemmas - the confirming of the fact that these rare birds do break all the rules of known British ornithology is placed against a desperate desire to preserve the secret and, within the story, most alarmingly, preserve the lives of the birds themselves. All of the usual children in the series are assembled again for this additional adventure. The last time they were all together in one joint enterprise was in the Carnegie Medal winning 'Pigeon Post'.
Ransome's achievement is to make all of the children seen the same and yet, at the same time, become slightly older. Titty, so often the key character in many of the earlier adventures, is here relegated into a minor secondary role. John and Nancy are still their reliable selves. Even Dorothea's support is secondary to Dick's dmination of the centre stage.
Both Dick and Roger develop in ways that we might not expect. Roger's liking for himself faces a short-term reverse in his self-esteem. However,it is basically Dick's story, for he is the one who has to re-evaluate his feelings about what life may bring him as he grows up and becomes an independent adult.
The life and opportunities of the birdman seems a desirable objective - something upon which the naturalist can set his heart. We remember that inn 'Pigeon Post' Dick makes an obvious mistake of fact when he allows the painfully mined ore to dissolve in 'aqua regia' and thinks it could still be gold. The threat posed by the fire and the drama of the last section of the book is not a consequence of his error.
In 'Great Northern' he learns that his pursuit of knowledge and the truth lays him open to a greater mistake of judgement when he thinks he can reveal information to a person, Mr. Jemmerling, whom he should never trust. He learns that mistakes, no matter how innocent, can bring unexpectedly painful consequences. The drama of the last part of the final novel is provided by Jemmerlings' greed for reputation, Dick's desperate attempt to preserve what he has so endangered and the fortunate but largely chancy intervention of the Gaelic population.
We are left with the feeling that Dick still has lessons to learn about the world of scientific study. It is not simply a matter of taking accurate measurements,obtaining clear photographic proof and reporting what has happened to the world. Ransome's own achievement is attempting to report the perils of making of a major discovery and the effect that it can have even on the best of people. You can believe that Nancy may glory in the fact that it is the naturalist of the Sea Bear who confounds received opinion about the birds who nest in the United Kingdom. You are more likely to believe that Dick will have learned a greater lesson.
The well-known children of this twelvth story struggle so hard to contend with two opposing dilemmas - the confirming of the fact that these rare birds do break all the rules of known British ornithology is placed against a desperate desire to preserve the secret and, within the story, most alarmingly, preserve the lives of the birds themselves. All of the usual children in the series are assembled again for this additional adventure. The last time they were all together in one joint enterprise was in the Carnegie Medal winning 'Pigeon Post'.
Ransome's achievement is to make all of the children seen the same and yet, at the same time, become slightly older. Titty, so often the key character in many of the earlier adventures, is here relegated into a minor secondary role. John and Nancy are still their reliable selves. Even Dorothea's support is secondary to Dick's dmination of the centre stage.
Both Dick and Roger develop in ways that we might not expect. Roger's liking for himself faces a short-term reverse in his self-esteem. However,it is basically Dick's story, for he is the one who has to re-evaluate his feelings about what life may bring him as he grows up and becomes an independent adult.
The life and opportunities of the birdman seems a desirable objective - something upon which the naturalist can set his heart. We remember that inn 'Pigeon Post' Dick makes an obvious mistake of fact when he allows the painfully mined ore to dissolve in 'aqua regia' and thinks it could still be gold. The threat posed by the fire and the drama of the last section of the book is not a consequence of his error.
In 'Great Northern' he learns that his pursuit of knowledge and the truth lays him open to a greater mistake of judgement when he thinks he can reveal information to a person, Mr. Jemmerling, whom he should never trust. He learns that mistakes, no matter how innocent, can bring unexpectedly painful consequences. The drama of the last part of the final novel is provided by Jemmerlings' greed for reputation, Dick's desperate attempt to preserve what he has so endangered and the fortunate but largely chancy intervention of the Gaelic population.
We are left with the feeling that Dick still has lessons to learn about the world of scientific study. It is not simply a matter of taking accurate measurements,obtaining clear photographic proof and reporting what has happened to the world. Ransome's own achievement is attempting to report the perils of making of a major discovery and the effect that it can have even on the best of people. You can believe that Nancy may glory in the fact that it is the naturalist of the Sea Bear who confounds received opinion about the birds who nest in the United Kingdom. You are more likely to believe that Dick will have learned a greater lesson.
Thursday 10 February 2011
Great Northern ?
A lot is usually made of the fact that Ransome was send the plot of this story by another person "Myles North" and that this is no more than an adaptation. But my brief notes here will suggest some of the highlights of the story. The concealment of the location - it is probably somewhere on the isle of Lewis - is actually a bonus to the atmosphere.
Tuesday 8 February 2011
South Wales Coast
This is a book which belongs to the South Wales section of the plan. The author was also an artist and her eye for physical detail comes out in many of the descriptions.
She is not specific about the location in terms of naming the nearby town which is definitely on a railway line but it doesn't seem to be either Cardiff or Swansea. I suspect somewhere near Barry. The children in the story are a family of three children with two boys, Peter and Robert, who have a younger sister called Stella.
The early preoccupation of the story is with the girl who seems left out of things whilst the boys are busy building a sailing dinghy in which she has a third share. She expects her time to be taken up with looking after a female French exchange friend whom she has never met. The two boys have been to France and met the brother of the girl due to arrive. The book takes an unexpected turn when an accident happens to the French girl before she leaves home and her brother arrives as a replacement. Stella is left without a companion as the French boy,Philippe, also seems fascinated by the soon to be finished sailing boat. Yet somehow the English girl finds herself making friends with the incomer.
The pair of them are particularly drawn to the fate of a disabled man,Sammy, who in England/Wales would be regarded as "simple". For the French boy he is "a child of God" and to be treated with respect. The figurehead of the title lies on the sand near the cottage and seems to have a particular importance in the story of disabled Sammy. Sammy's aunt, who looks after him, dies and Sammy is due to be turned out of his cottage by the owners of the local estate. Sammy's care for all the injured creatures of the coast is the centre of his life and the prospect of moving into a proper and regulated form of care appals the young people and their French guest. A mystery and a secret surrounds Sammy and figurehead. This is the riddle of the title whixh is unravelled in the nick of time.
At the same time the boys are ready to launch their boat and make the first voyages. The description that surrounds the naming ceremony of the 'Evening Star' and the sudden drama that follows is just one excellent part of the plot which works its way to a very satisfactory, if not unexpected conclusion. This is a notable book for its treatment of the launch as the tide rushes in over the muddy backwaters.
She is not specific about the location in terms of naming the nearby town which is definitely on a railway line but it doesn't seem to be either Cardiff or Swansea. I suspect somewhere near Barry. The children in the story are a family of three children with two boys, Peter and Robert, who have a younger sister called Stella.
The early preoccupation of the story is with the girl who seems left out of things whilst the boys are busy building a sailing dinghy in which she has a third share. She expects her time to be taken up with looking after a female French exchange friend whom she has never met. The two boys have been to France and met the brother of the girl due to arrive. The book takes an unexpected turn when an accident happens to the French girl before she leaves home and her brother arrives as a replacement. Stella is left without a companion as the French boy,Philippe, also seems fascinated by the soon to be finished sailing boat. Yet somehow the English girl finds herself making friends with the incomer.
The pair of them are particularly drawn to the fate of a disabled man,Sammy, who in England/Wales would be regarded as "simple". For the French boy he is "a child of God" and to be treated with respect. The figurehead of the title lies on the sand near the cottage and seems to have a particular importance in the story of disabled Sammy. Sammy's aunt, who looks after him, dies and Sammy is due to be turned out of his cottage by the owners of the local estate. Sammy's care for all the injured creatures of the coast is the centre of his life and the prospect of moving into a proper and regulated form of care appals the young people and their French guest. A mystery and a secret surrounds Sammy and figurehead. This is the riddle of the title whixh is unravelled in the nick of time.
At the same time the boys are ready to launch their boat and make the first voyages. The description that surrounds the naming ceremony of the 'Evening Star' and the sudden drama that follows is just one excellent part of the plot which works its way to a very satisfactory, if not unexpected conclusion. This is a notable book for its treatment of the launch as the tide rushes in over the muddy backwaters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)