Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

Swallows and Amazons was as charming as I had hoped it would be. However I'm a 40-something bookseller and exactly the sort of person this book would charm. As I never read it as child it is hard to imagine whether this rather understated narrative keeps its appeal except as nostagia.

The four Walker children, on holiday in the Lake District, are awaiting a telegram from their father which will either grant or deny permission to sail on their own and camp on an island in the lake. The famous reply:

BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS IF NOT DUFFERS WONT DROWN

is a delight in a world of health and safty and babied children but I am really not sure an 11 year old today would get that, without a good deal of explanation.

The first half of the book is pretty much: "How we did things". The second half has a much pacier feel and will, if they've got this far, keep even quite exacting readers entertained. The characterisation is weak in the first half - there are few ways to tell either the children or the adults apart, other than Mother who is very understanding in the 'good sport' mould. By the second half though John and Susan are pattern card 'good sorts' of the era, and have well defined gender roles (though John's 'captain' is balanced by the marvellous Nancy Blackett, captain of the Amazons) while Titty comes into her own and stands out from both the page and the others quite marvellously. She moves away from being a 'girl' and a little sister, to becoming a really brave and admirable adventurer. She minds the island on her own, including in the dark, is responsible for the lights, she takes the Amazon and wins the war, she spends the night alone on a strange ship, and eventually she carries the day over the missing treasure. Throughout, her drawing is subtle and she emerges gradually, the character on the page developing as her character on the island does. All in all she is a delightful, believable creation.

The final part of the book is dominated not only by the emergent character of Titty but by the lovely 'Captain Flint'. Like Mother, he is a truly good sport, and part of the great pleasure of reading the book. And despite my caveats on plot and characterisation I thought the sum of the whole far greater than its parts, but then I'm 41, and so well I might. Whether your children will find it so too is another matter.

Watch points:

Peril: mild, such as when they are sailing in the dark, or on the island in the dark, or during a large storm.

No violence or bad langauge or relationships or religion or death!

Anything else?

Titty, God Bless her unfortunate nomenclature. I once had a Y8 boy, who was writing a story set in WWII, name every character in this manner: Fanny, Titty, etc. My advice to a young teacher dealing with the inevitable outbreak of hilarity is to smirk with them the first time, admit it is mildly funny, explain language changes over time, and then just ignore them and let them deal with the more unfortunate historical names how they like!

Overall

Swallows and Amazons is utterly charming and I loved it. Not all children will however. The main challenge lies in the distance leant by history to the narrative and setting, and in its length. In a sense, its benefit for our defined group lies in that it is a major piece of the children's canon that no well-read 14 year old should not have in their literary armoury of allusion detectors.

Other reviews and useful sites:

The Arthur Ransome Society is one of many societies connected with the Swallows and Amazons series. Others include The Nancy Blackett Trust and Sailing Swallow.

Writer Julia Jones owns Ransome's boat Peter Duck which features in a later story in the series: you can read more here. She has also written a sailing novel for children which might be of interest: The Salt-Stained Book

Also of interest is Marcus Sedgwick's wonderful Blood Red, Snow White which is a fictionalised account of the time the author Arthur Ransome spent in Russia where he falls in love with Trotsky's secretary. Aimed at a YA audience and probably for the older end of our age group. I will do a proper review of this soon.

As to reviews: there is a fabulous list of contemporary reviews with links and extracts on All Things Ransome and this wonderful site also has a very useful page with a compilation of guides, sources, articles, reviews, booklists and trivia about Arthur Ransome and his works which you can see here. The home page is here.

There are dozens of recent blog reviews of course. I think the one on  The Bookshelf of Emily J. to be one of the most useful for you as it is written by a mother and teacher.

Comments

[Julia Jones]

I'm agog to know what you'll make of The Salt-Stained Book. Its Flint derives more obviously from the Treasure Island character and is neither a pleasure to meet nor to read about (unless you like your villains bullying and grotesque). I fear the PERIL factor will need a higher rating too ...

[Peter Willis]

Must point out that Julia's boat Peter Duck does NOT feature in the book of that name. A very frequent source of confusion. It was built - for Arthur Ransome - about 13 years after the book's publication, and named (rather cheekily by its designer Laurent Giles) after the eponymous sailorman therein. It is, though, a boat of great character that thoroughly deserves to be given a book of its own.
PS One of Ransome's other boats, the Nancy Blackett, does appear in a book - as the Goblin in We Didn't Mean to Go ta Sea.

[Juxtabook]

Julia - I'm looking forward to it! Peril factor not withstanding!

Peter - thank you for your comments. Very useful information. I will read both Peter Duck and We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea eventually.

[Barbara]

Great review Catherine and I very much admire your 'new' blog - I don't know why I've not found it before, but I'm glad I have now!

[GeraniumCat]

Do read The Salt-Stained Book, Catherine - it's terrific fun and I'm sure that it will help modern modern readers to get into Ransome's books. Definitely a higher peril rating though, I couldn't stop reading when I got near the end.

[Juxtabook]

GeraniumsCat: I'm working my way through the Flambards books at the moment, but The Salt-Stained Book is on the top of my TBR pile!

[Juxtabook]

Thanks very much Barbara!

[Kristen M.]

I believe that this book is on my schedule for the year so I'll definitely come back and reread your thoughts once I'm more familiar with the book. I had hardly even heard of it until maybe last year!

[Juxtabook]

I'd be really interested to hear what you think Kristen. Over here it is one of the big classics of children's lit. I'll be fascinated to read what you make of it, especailly as, like me, you're coming to it as adult.

[Frozen Pond]

Just thought I should let you know I read S&A to my 8 yr old daughter recently and she enjoyed it. She found it a bit slow to get going (older books definitely have this tendency when compared to modern ones for children, and adults too) but she really enjoyed it and is very excited about the idea of camping on an island and visiting the lake district. She now knows about Scots Pine trees (i showed her one so she would know about the lighthouse tree) and she liked the strong female characters (Titty and Nancy)as she is keen on adventure and the oudoors. She didn't comment on Susan's more traditional role. So a modern child can love it (though she knows nothing about sailing and there is quite a lot of technical sailing stuff in it) but she is used to being read old fashioned books (Milly Molly Mandy, Children who Lived in a Barn etc.) However, given the slow start I am not sure she would have read it by herself (or not at this age, a faster reader might). We will read Swallowdale soon and I am looking forward to Winter Holiday too. I read them all as a child as did my mother.

[Juxtabook]

Thanks Frozen pond, that's very interesting. I think my 9 year old would enjoy this if I read it to her but I am not sure she would have the patience with the first section if reading on her own, as you note with your daughter.

I think one of the benefits of a bookgroup is the slight pressure to wade on and finish as everyone else is reading it too. Whilst you don't want a bookgroup to be a chaore for them, they do need to realise that some books need perseverance, but that you can still get a lot of pleasure from such books.

We too are a Milly Molly Mandy house btw!

[Dark Puss]

My teenage son loved the whole series when we (and then he) read them a few years ago when he was 11-13. My personal favourites are Pigeon Post and Winter Holiday. Peter Duck and Missee Lee are slightly different to the others and have darker and some fear and violence in them.

[Alicelsmith.wordpress.com]

I read the Swallows and Amazons series when I was 9 or 10 (about 2001) and loved it, although I was brought up on Enid Blyton so used to reading old-fashioned books. I remember being particularly taken with the charcoal burners. I didn’t know what duffers were, but worked out the general sentiment of the message. When reading as a child I could normally work out unfamiliar words from the context, or sometimes had to ask my dad for clarification. Or I'd look in a dictionary, although nowadays children would probably rather google words. It meant that I probably had quite a wide vocabulary for my age, and in particular a knowledge of quite a lot of food that I’d never seen let alone eaten (macaroons/ Turkish delight/ ginger beer). The books really are charming, and definitely worth reading (or having read to you).

[Juxtabook]

Thank you both for the feedback, Dark Puss and Alice. It is good to know that S&A is still holding its own. And thanks too, Dark Puss for the recommnedations for later in the series.

[Aspiring Novelist]

I'm 17 now, but I first started reading S&A in year 3 at school, so I must have been about 8 (and the most advanced reader in the class, I took books from the year 6 library...)I absolutely loved the books, and my love for them has never really faded. But, I grew up reading books like Famous Five and Chalet School, so I was used to the writing and the 'old-fashioned middle class' attitude which makes so many people dismiss this sort of book. Many people in my year at school I know hated books like the famous five because they couldn't relate to them. But whether they ever tried S&A I can't say. I know a friend of mine who doesn't enjoy reading so much watched the 1974 film and loved it. (We are both very excited about the new film!)

I'm glad you enjoyed it, it really is a fantastic book,

Hannah