Thanks very much indeed, Lenoir. I've saved it to my computer. I find your Journal Index very helpful and I often use it.Lenoir wrote:The index has been updated up to the latest journal and can be downloaded:
Index56
Journal 56
- Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Journal 56
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
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"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
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- Eddie Muir
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Re: Journal 56
Many thanks, Lenoir. I've also saved the update to my computer.
'Go down to the side-shows by the river this afternoon. I'll meet you somewhere in disguise. Bet you won't know me!' wrote Fatty.
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- Courtenay
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Re: Journal 56
Thank you, Lenoir!
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
- Nick
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Re: Journal 56
An article that I really enjoyed was John Henstock's Enid in Swallowdale and Elsewhere. Indeed, I enjoyed t so much that not being familiar with Swallowdale, or any of the books by Arthur Ransome for that matter, that I purchased a copy of Swallows and Amazons and Swallowdale from a charity shop in Louth (quite a bargin - £1 each ). I'm pretty much at the end of Swallows and Amazons and whilst I am enjoying the read it doesn't really seem to be about anything! Am I missing something?
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- Poppy
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Re: Journal 56
I thought the same whilst reading Swallows and Amazons for the first time, actually: it strikes me more as a tale of survival and friendship than an exciting adventure story. Nevertheless, I did really enjoy it because it was a very relaxing and interesting read. Some of the other books in the Swallows and Amazons series have more of a story to them such as Swallowdale (2nd book of the series) and Winter Holiday (4th book in the series).Nick wrote: I'm pretty much at the end of Swallows and Amazons and whilst I am enjoying the read it doesn't really seem to be about anything
"Beware of young men with long hair - that's what dad says, isn't it?"
Pat, Holiday House
Poppy's Best of Books
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Pat, Holiday House
Poppy's Best of Books
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- Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Journal 56
I've read about eight of the "Swallows and Amazons" books and they're pretty tame on the whole compared to Enid Blyton, but then Arthur Ransome is writing about a different kind of adventure - to do with exploring, living in the wild and playing imaginative games rather than solving mysteries and catching crooks. The children are plucky and spirited and face real danger, for example in We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea and Pigeon Post, but the stories are slower-paced. To read them is to experience an old-fashioned (and privileged) childhood of freedom, responsibility, make-believe and countryside ways.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
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"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
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- Courtenay
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Re: Journal 56
I've only read Swallows and Amazons, and that was quite some years ago, but I remember I very much enjoyed it. I agree it's not nearly as fast-paced as Enid Blyton, but it's a lovely, gentle, beautifully described, humour-filled story that does have its own kind of adventurousness and excitement about it. My mum is a huge fan and has nearly all the Arthur Ransome books, so I ought to read more of them one day. In fact, I think the only thing that put me off pursuing the series further was that we didn't have Swallowdale - the second book - at the time, and I prefer to read a series in order as much as possible! (I think I intended to look it up at the library, but I had too much else going on with school and forgot about it.)
The thing I most appreciated about Arthur Ransome, now I think about it, is that his girl characters are as much involved in the story as the boy characters and he makes a big point of the fact that Nancy and Peggy are better at sailing than the boys. Well ahead of Enid Blyton in the gender equality stakes, and he started writing about a decade earlier!
The thing I most appreciated about Arthur Ransome, now I think about it, is that his girl characters are as much involved in the story as the boy characters and he makes a big point of the fact that Nancy and Peggy are better at sailing than the boys. Well ahead of Enid Blyton in the gender equality stakes, and he started writing about a decade earlier!
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
- Chrissie777
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Re: Journal 56
Years ago I once tried it, but I gave up on "Winter Holiday". Guess I set my expectations too high after having read so many EB books first.Poppy wrote:I thought the same whilst reading Swallows and Amazons for the first time, actually: it strikes me more as a tale of survival and friendship than an exciting adventure story. Nevertheless, I did really enjoy it because it was a very relaxing and interesting read. Some of the other books in the Swallows and Amazons series have more of a story to them such as Swallowdale (2nd book of the series) and Winter Holiday (4th book in the series).Nick wrote: I'm pretty much at the end of Swallows and Amazons and whilst I am enjoying the read it doesn't really seem to be about anything
"Swallows and Amazons" doesn't seem to have much of a plot. That's what I thought, too. But I like the TV series which I have on DVD.
For me Norman Dale comes closer to EB's style than Arthur Ransome. Of course I still have not read Malcolm Saville, but received "Ambermere Treasure" a few weeks ago.
Chrissie
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"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
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"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
- Rob Houghton
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Re: Journal 56
I have Swallows and Amazons but after reading a few pages I couldn't really get into it. I found it difficult to take a character called Titty seriously.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
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hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
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- Chrissie777
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Re: Journal 56
Nigel, I always enjoy your comparisons!Moonraker wrote:No more could I. Just a lot of meandering paint drying.
Chrissie
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"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
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"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
- Courtenay
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Re: Journal 56
And yet none of us Blyton fans bat an eyelid at Dick and Fanny??Robert Houghton wrote:I found it difficult to take a character called Titty seriously.
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
- Rob Houghton
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Re: Journal 56
Lol! True - but Titty is also such a baby name, and as far as I know, isn't even a real name like Dick and Fanny were??
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
Society Member
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'
(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)
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- Kate Mary
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Re: Journal 56
According to Christina Hardyment in her book "Arthur Ransome and Captain Flint's Trunk"' Ransome liked to know more about his characters than his readers did. The character Titty"s 'real' name was Mavis which doesn't appear in any of the books ( in real life she was Mavis Altounyan and the boat Amazon was the Mavis too). The unfortunate pet name comes from the (very weird!) English fairy tale 'The Tale of Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse'.
"I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines." Oliver Goldsmith
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- Nick
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Re: Journal 56
Well, I'm glad it's not just me. I was starting to think that I was a literacy heathen!
As mentioned in the original post, I'm enjoying the read and what it has made me appreciate is, what a master story teller Enid was. I've always felt the real strength in Enid's work were those early chapters in which she paints wonderful scenes of long summer holidays, idyllic locations and lazy journeys in Caravans. She always leaves the reader wanting more. Swallows & Amazons seems to be a whole book of Enid's chapters 3 and 4 and as a result I find descriptions of locations such Wild Cat Island quite tiresome by the time if reached chapter 20. Enid knew exactly when the story needed to be advanced.
I'll certainly be reading Swallows dale and Winter Holiday, despite the comments above, appeals with it's snowy setting. I wonder how it will compare to Kirrin in five Go Adventuring Again.
As mentioned in the original post, I'm enjoying the read and what it has made me appreciate is, what a master story teller Enid was. I've always felt the real strength in Enid's work were those early chapters in which she paints wonderful scenes of long summer holidays, idyllic locations and lazy journeys in Caravans. She always leaves the reader wanting more. Swallows & Amazons seems to be a whole book of Enid's chapters 3 and 4 and as a result I find descriptions of locations such Wild Cat Island quite tiresome by the time if reached chapter 20. Enid knew exactly when the story needed to be advanced.
I'll certainly be reading Swallows dale and Winter Holiday, despite the comments above, appeals with it's snowy setting. I wonder how it will compare to Kirrin in five Go Adventuring Again.
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