tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902996684146416339.post2533353438981288477..comments2013-03-26T14:38:08.671+00:00Comments on Great Northern?: Ransome the SocialistDuncan Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16787646693693466048noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902996684146416339.post-85458552589425082592008-07-15T02:54:00.000+01:002008-07-15T02:54:00.000+01:00It's interesting to wonder how the people he met a...It's interesting to wonder how the people he met and the events he experienced in Russia found their way into the Swallows and Amazons stories, if they did. A lot is said about the possible use of people and places he knew in the Lake District while he was writing them - "safe territory" perhaps. Why not people from other periods in his life - particularly such an obviously traumatic period as his time spent in Russia?<BR/><BR/>I have recently been thinking about possible political allusions in the books and have posted an article on my own blog about it.Dominic Rivronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02618013365521035400noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902996684146416339.post-61387492665604292812008-04-25T16:28:00.000+01:002008-04-25T16:28:00.000+01:00Just an interesting extra on George Lansbury (some...Just an interesting extra on George Lansbury (something I'd heard years ago but forgotten) - it has been said that the King persuaded Ramsay MacDonald not to give Lansbury a cabinet position in the first Labour government because he had 'shaken hands' with the 'murderers' of the Romanovs (i.e. the Bolshevik leaders). Further adding to the surprise that he should have been the obvious Labour figure Ransome would seek out in 1919.Duncan Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16787646693693466048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902996684146416339.post-57723267432382426882008-03-24T13:03:00.000+00:002008-03-24T13:03:00.000+00:00Interesting analysis and not too far distant from ...Interesting analysis and not too far distant from my own feelings about Ransome. Ransome grew up in a leftist household and his early adult time in Bohemian London seem to have nurtured those political sympathies. <BR/>He undoubtedly was a strong supporter of the Bolsheviks of the early days of the Revolution. He knew them personally which breeds sympathy. It is pretty obvious that he agreed with their aims, if not all their methods.<BR/>The question of what happened to those political feelings after he and Evgenia returned to England is more complex. My thought is that he decided deliberately to hide his beliefs, perhaps to protect himself and Evgenia from too close an interest by British or Soviet authorities, especially after the Soviet purges started. Finally, I suspect that he probably became somewhat more "conservative" as he aged, many people do.Adam Qhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17364550012835934648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902996684146416339.post-70990159654928571642008-03-24T10:32:00.000+00:002008-03-24T10:32:00.000+00:00I guess this is where my point about politics bein...I guess this is where my point about politics being divisive comes in! As a socialist myself, I don't have any difficulty in seeing socialists as having sensitivity and insight! <BR/><BR/>I agree that Captain Flint is mostly the presence of Ransome himself in the books. And not really an idealised form (after all he is often rather rash! As is the Mrs. Barrable, who could be seen as a surrogate Flint in Coot Club!) I don't think there's anything overtly political in the books, so I don't think it's surprising that Captain Flint doesn't say, 'chin up, John, read the Communist Manifesto and it'll put things in perspective!'Duncan Hallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16787646693693466048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902996684146416339.post-71996697680531508842008-03-24T09:29:00.000+00:002008-03-24T09:29:00.000+00:00gwja wrote 'I believe many readers find it hard to...gwja wrote 'I believe many readers find it hard to see even a reformed left wind socialit in a man who wrote with such senstivity and insight into the feelings of childred.'<BR/>Why would left-wing beliefs exempt you from having insight and sensitivity towards children?<BR/><BR/>MTDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3902996684146416339.post-31338287302060006202008-03-24T07:43:00.000+00:002008-03-24T07:43:00.000+00:00I believe many readers find it hard to see even a ...I believe many readers find it hard to see even a reformed left wind socialit in a man who wrote with such senstivity and insight into the feelings of childred. For example in Swallowdale when Peter wreacked swallow, Captain Flint showed gread delicacy in restoring his confidence as a salor. Flint is one of numerous protective adult figures which can pop up anywhere from Crab Island to Holland. To me these adults represent the author himself, seeking to guard his own creations. Meanwhle Ransome had given up his overtly political writing becase while he wasn't affraid of making enemies, his deeply protective nature reciled at the idea of not being able to protect his friends. Perhaps this is as close as we will ever get to the exact truth of tht matter, but I am very glad Ramsone's second carreer was a sucessful and joyous one.gwjahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10629062529200636543noreply@blogger.com