ISBN: 9780099503910 [UK]
Continent: Europe
Country: United Kingdom
Title: Swallows and Amazons
Author: Arthur Ransome
First published in: 1930
Swallows and Amazons is a classic British children's novel, one that I hadn't heard of before I moved to the UK. The first time I heard about the novel was when I was working in a book shop over the holiday season a couple of years ago. A customer asked where he could find the book, and proceeded to give me a very funny look indeed when he realized I hadn't heard if it (almost as funny as the look I got when I told another customer that I didn't know what a "Filofax" was--FYI, it's a type of personal organizer).
Swallows and Amazons takes place in Britain's Lake District in August 1929, and follows the adventures of a group of children who are staying at a cottage beside a lake during their summer vacation. The four siblings--John, Susan, Titty, and Roger--are allowed to sail their little boat, the Swallow, to a deserted island where they camp, sail, and have adventures. Their island life is every kid's dream: they sleep in tents, cook over a fire, and go swimming and exploring every day. In the course of their adventures, they meet the curmudgeonly Captain Flint, who lives on a houseboat, and his two nieces, Nancy and Peggy, fierce pirates who sail about causing mischief in their boat, the Amazon.
What I love about this book is the pure joy of the children's pretend world. John, as the oldest, is captain of the Swallow, Susan is the mate, Titty is the "able seaman," and Roger the "ship's boy." They fancy themselves explorers, and set about making a map of the lake and its islands and towns. Nancy and Peggy are pirates, adults are "Natives," and the charcoal burners who live in the woods "savages" (which wasn't an offensive word in 1929, I guess). As a child, I always loved to pretend (okay, I still do), and I found it quite enjoyable to get wrapped up in the characters' pretend battles, alliances, explorations, and adventures.
The novel has a wonderful sense of place, and it's easy to imagine the lake, farms, woods, hills, and islands that the children explore. I especially appreciated this because I visited the Lake District a couple of years ago and I think Ransome beautifully captures the countryside and the holiday atmosphere of the place during the summer.
Another thing that impressed me about the novel is its lack of sexism. I assumed that its having been published in 1930 would guarantee at least a bit of sexism. But the girls and boys in the book are portrayed as equally capable, strong, and brave. All are skilled sailors, good fishers, and clever explorers.
The one small complaint I have with Swallows and Amazons is the large amount of technical description, which is hard to follow for anyone who is unfamiliar with sailing terminology and practice. My eyes would glaze over a bit as Ransome explained in detail about the various parts of the ship and what was tied to what, and whether the sail was tacked, etc. I (like most readers, I expect) don't have much experience sailing--in fact boats make me extremely nauseous--so all that description was sadly lost on me.
Overall, though, I found Swallows and Amazons to be a lovely, well written, and fun little book about childhood, imagination, friendship, and adventure.
4/5
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