Swallows and Amazons
by Arthur Ransome
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Book Summary Information
Author: Arthur RansomeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1994
ISBN: 087923573X
Number of pages: 351
Publisher: David R Godine
Product features:
- paperback with cover showing the family at camp.
Book Reviews of Swallows and Amazons
Book Review: "Three Cheers for Wildcat Island!"
Summary: 5 Stars
Arthur Ransome's holiday series, beginning with "Swallows and Amazons" are essential reads, namely because of their literary importance as the first children's books to fall into the "holiday adventure" genre. But of course, they're so much more than that. Ransome's books are a valuable glimpse back into an age that no longer exists, in which children were trusted to use their imagination in providing entertainment for themselves, and their common sense in keeping themselves safe. There were no qualms about sending children out from under the watchful eyes of grown-ups, entrusting them with the upkeep of a small yacht, and allowing them an extraordinary amount of freedom in their adventures and explorations.
In today's world of cell-phones, day-care, babysitters, stranger-danger, organized fun and parental supervision, all designed to keep children safe, young readers will be bursting with envy when vicariously joining in on the Walker children's fun.
There are four Walker children: responsible John, motherly Susan, dreamy Titty (short for Letitia) and energetic Roger. Each have distinct personalities, but each are enraptured with the sight of an island offshore from the holiday home in the Lake District where they're staying with their mother and baby sister. All eagerly await permission from their father to camp out on the island, and when the good news finally comes, it doesn't take long before they're packed and sailing aboard the "Swallow" out to the island.
The story itself can hardly be described as a "story" per say, as the length of the book simply follows their adventures out on the island and the lake, chronicling how the children find new friends, cook their own dinners, make their own campsite, handle their boat, map out their locations and the other one hundred little things that encompass childhood life.
Of course, a few things do stand out, such as their meeting with the wild Nancy and Peggy Blackett, the owners of the "Amazon", with whom the Walkers engage in playful warfare, first with each other, and then with the Blackett's Uncle Jim (dubbed Captain Flint). After starting off on the wrong foot with Captain Flint, the houseboat dwelling Uncle soon becomes privy to the games of the children, joining in to a much larger extent than any other adult in the text. And soon the Walker children (especially Titty) find a way to be of great use to Captain Flint, who suffers a loss when his houseboat is robbed.
Each child brings a different viewpoint to the story: John the eldest is taking the first steps toward being a man, and looking after the younger siblings, not just by attending to their physical needs and dealing with the "natives" when need be, but by instructing them on practical skills, such as swimming and sailing. It's hard not to get the warm-fuzzies when he teaches Roger how to swim, or when he comforts him when he gets nervous during a midnight foray into enemy waters.
Susan (bearing a striking resemblance to C.S. Lewis's Susan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia)) plays second-in-command to John, and despite the fact that she's a bit more domesticated than John (being in charge of the cooking and cleaning in the campsite) she's just as apt as he as at sailing, and treated as an equal by her older brother.
Titty is the bookworm of the group, constantly referring their adventures to her favourite books Treasure Island (Enriched Classics Series) and Robinson Crusoe (Modern Library Classics) (in fact, it may help if you have a vague knowledge of these books, given that they're referred to so often by Titty). Determined and dreamy, she's the ringleader in terms of the imaginative fancies of the children, insisting on illusions of pirates, treasure and danger even when the others are ready to concentrate on reality.
Finally, Roger is the youngest, liable to be a bit troublesome at times, but cared for by the two eldest, and the most likely to get carried away by Titty's stories. Plus, he can be pretty adorable at times. After a night-long boat ride, he: "yawned, pulled himself up by the gunwale to look over the side, had one look, and then, without saying anything, settled down to sleep again."
Drawing on his own experiences as a child, Ransome is extremely sympathetic toward a child's point of view. For example, the children refer to all adults as "natives" throughout their adventures on the island, and the text itself follows their lead by joining in and also using the term `native' in the place of `adult'. Whenever the children get caught up in their imaginative wonderings, the text is more than happy to play along with them, referring to the children as Captain, Able-Seaman, Mate and Ship's Boy, pulling the reader not just into the atmosphere of the Lake District, but into the minds of the children themselves.
Within the context of the story, the pretending becomes as real as the children believe it to be - Ransome never goes overboard, but certainly keeps up the pretence whilst the game lasts. This would be a great book to lend to a person who has forgotten what it's like to think like a child, and any child will instantly recognize the way in which the Walkers go about their business.
And it contains the rarest thing of all to be found in children's literature: sympathetic parents. Although the Walker father is not to be seen in this installment, it is his telegram that gives the children leave to camp out on the island, with the words: "Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers, won't drown." There's an entire philosophy as to how to raise children found in that simple passage. Furthermore, their mother (often called "the friendly native") is more than happy to play along with some of their games, providing them with the supplies they need whilst respecting their desire for independence.
The novel portrays a delicate picture of adult/child relations, in which the adults are constantly aware of what the children are up to, but reluctant to impinge upon the children's first taste of independence. Sometimes they can't help themselves of course, as the children are constantly surprised at just how much the adults are aware of what they're up to: "They all held together, a huge network of gossip and scouting, through the meshes of which it was difficult for explorers and pirates to slip." There is a delicately constructed tension between the inner child's world and the outer adult world, one that is never negatively portrayed, but with a sense of reassurance and frustration in the minds of the child that is surely familiar to everyone.
Uninitiated readers may be put off by the lack of drive in the narrative - as I've mentioned, there is little in the way of story here, but those that know what to expect (and stick with it, as admittedly, it does start a little slowly) will soon find themselves caught up in the day-to-day adventures of six likeable, fun-loving, sensible children. This is a nostalgic look back at a world that possibly no longer exists; where children were trusted to look after themselves, expected to do the right thing, and had the entire world (or at least an island, which is just as good) to explore all by themselves.
Summary of Swallows and Amazons
This is the first title in Arthur Ransom's classic serires, originally published in 1930, for children and grownups. This first book introduces the Walker family and the camp on Wild Cat Island.Subjects Books
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