wellinghall | (no subject)

I was enormously obsessed with Swallows and Amazons aged 8 - 10. A heartening number of today's children still love them - not huge numbers, but enough. Just William is mostly read by the adults. Biggles has been reissued, but few children read him - it's mostly adults who borrow the books. The Willard Price series still gets read by children, but there is some pressure to remove them from the library shelves, for containing out-dated attitudes to other countries. I'm keeping them for as long as I can, though, because there is a dearth of good books for boys. Children's publishing has gone very pink.

Arthur Ransome is wonderful, and a better writer than many of those writing for adults.

Glad to see someone else enjoyed the Lone Pine books, too - always much keener on those than on Blyton. And I enjoyed Willard Price tremendously when I was in a zoology obsessed phase (c. 8-11).

I love Ransome, as I went on about not so long ago. He is remarkably able to give his young characters kids' feelings (as I remember them at this great distance) utterly without sentimentality.

That is to say I have read some of each, but mostly from libraries although my sister did have a lot of the Saville's and as stated above they were actually better than the Famous Five.

I've never read any of them *hangs head in shame* - I'd never even heard of any of them before moving to this country.

I did try reading Swallows and Amazons last year, because I am certain I would have adored the books had I discovered them as a child, but something about the portrayal of Mother in the first chapter set my teeth on edge, and I set it aside. (In my defence, I was so tired and shellshocked I was hardly able to get into anything I tried to read the first few months I was in this job. Maybe I'll try again.)

Biggles - yes, because although twodimensional, the stories and characters have a cartoonish, period charm. Haven't read any for years, but my memory is that the early ones set in WW1 are the best ones: the later ones when he becomes a detective and isn't in daily danger of death are a bit of a let-down.

Swallows and Amazons - of course. Essential reading if you are 7 years old or so and your family are boaty types: not only are they good stories, but so far as I remember, all the technical stuff about knots and giving way and stuff was right as well, very handy!

I read a few Malcolm Saville and Richmal Compton books, but only once and I remember them smelling dusty and being a bit crap. Willard Price I either never read or can't remember.

Well that proved a popular poll!