Swallows and Amazons for ever! (Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome)

Member Name: summerland85

Product:	Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Date:	25/10/01 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Captivating storyline, Great writing style

Disadvantages: The theme of sailing may not appeal to many children, Time it was written may also not appeal to many children

Wild Cat Island is perfect for the children’s summer holiday adventure. Their sailing boat, ‘Swallow’ has John as captain, Susan as ship’s mate, Titty as able-seaman, and Roger, the youngest of the four, as the ship’s boy. When they reach the island they notice a stone fireplace already made up. Who could have already camped on their island? The answer to this question arrives later when the ‘Amazon’ pirates, Nancy and Peggy, declare war for possession of the island. Dangerous night-time sailing, treasure hunting and ship capturing follows, and when the summer ends they all have to leave behind a lot of exciting memories.

This book has kept me hooked every time I have read it, and believe me that’s a lot of times! I don’t know how or why I have this book, but after reading it I have collected all of the following books in the series. On first impressions, the book may seem to have several disadvantages to younger readers.

The first is one of the themes of the book, which is sailing. This might have been a popular hobby for children back when this book was written, but I don’t think it’s hugely popular at the moment. The book contains quite a lot of sailing terms, which might be confusing on the first read (I certainly didn’t understand them all at first). But, if you persevere with the book you soon catch on to all of the terms, and can vividly imagine the children sailing across the lake in ‘Swallow’ and ‘Amazon’.

The second disadvantage to children may be the time setting. Books set in modern day, such as the Harry Potter series, seem to be very popular with children – they give the children a kind of link with the characters, which can make the book more realistic to them, and set their imaginations flowing. ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was first published in 1930, which means the lifestyle described in the book will certainl
y be very different to modern day. But although there is a big difference, I consider the time setting to be part of the charm of the book - imagining yourself exploring an island and capturing enemy ships is definitely exciting compared to the restrictions that the children would have had if it had been written in the 21st century.

So I hope I’ve now removed all of the possible disadvantages of the book that you might see with the book. I have to say that I don't know of any other books that Arthur Ransome has written apart from the 'Swallows and Amazons' series, so I can only comment on his writing skills for this genre (I think I'd class it as childrens fiction - adventure). But he seems to be in his element in this genre, as all of the books in the series have been equally well written - he not only describes the landscape and the physical features of the children, but he always incorporates the children's feeling and thoughts into his writing, which in my opinion creates a perfect style of writing.

As I mentioned earlier, I think that this book has a brilliant storyline, filled with adventure and excitement. I also don’t think it’s only suitable for children. The first time I read it was when I was about 9 or 10, and I think I’ll be re-reading this book, and the rest of the books in the series, for years to come.

- Vanessa

P.S. If you are interested in this series, the next few books are:
- Swallowdale
- Peter Duck
- Winter Holiday

Summary: