This is one of the books that I read for the first time as an adult, so I sometimes find myself much less sympathetic to the children's behaviour. Was it really ok for well brought up children to break into empty houses for the fun of it? The explanation I invent to keep myself happy is that there must have been a lot of abandoned houses in the few years after the war - often damaged by bombs or neglect; so maybe it was considered normal for children to explore empty houses - at least in stories? I find the incident with the pony extraordinary. What incredible cheek to think you could just climb onto someone else's pony and ride it. Would they have ridden around on someone else's bicycle left outside a shop for example? And that's before you consider that they had no bridle / headcollar and didn't know if the pony was even broken in - they could easily have had a dangerous fall. And were children really allowed to stay in hotels unaccompanied under the age of 16? I think Nicola's 'second favourite family member' comes down to what is expedient for the story. Peter doesn't appear in Autumn Term so it would be bad story-telling form for him to be Nicola's favourite, so Rowan gets the role. Whereas in TMATT Rowan doesn't appear and Peter does. I find it interesting the way Peter and Nicola's actions mirror each other in the first few chapters. In the first chapter Peter fails to pass on the warning he heard in the hotel about not going along the Undercliff in bad weather, because he doesn't want to be the one who seems to be scared. The next day (I know this is next week's discussion really) Nicola fails to pass on Anquetil's warning not to go to Foley's house, because the others are asking her if she is frightened and she doesn't want to seem scared. We often see Peter and Nicola worrying about seeming / being scared whereas it's Ginty and Lawrie who seem to actually do stupid things when they are scared. Peter's self reproach over the 'boat thing' reminds me of Nicola after the Port Wade trip in Autumn Term. We hear about Giles / Foley's ticking off magnified by Nicola / Peter's sense of stupidity where they are blaming themselves. I love the build-up and the sense of growing uneasiness in the first few chapters - the oddness of Foley appearing just as they are talking about him, Nicola's premonitions by the hidden sea, the sense of fear suppressed by both Peter and Nicola occasionally bursting out in moments of feeling panicked. The dangers that they escape early in the book - Nicola nearly washed into the sea, Nicola shooing the pony away because she realises Peter might get hurt trying to get on it, nearly missing the bus home because they've separated add to the tension that's building.
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I find the incident with the pony extraordinary. What incredible cheek to think you could just climb onto someone else's pony and ride it. Would they have ridden around on someone else's bicycle left outside a shop for example? And that's before you consider that they had no bridle / headcollar and didn't know if the pony was even broken in - they could easily have had a dangerous fall.
And were children really allowed to stay in hotels unaccompanied under the age of 16?
I think Nicola's 'second favourite family member' comes down to what is expedient for the story. Peter doesn't appear in Autumn Term so it would be bad story-telling form for him to be Nicola's favourite, so Rowan gets the role. Whereas in TMATT Rowan doesn't appear and Peter does.
I find it interesting the way Peter and Nicola's actions mirror each other in the first few chapters. In the first chapter Peter fails to pass on the warning he heard in the hotel about not going along the Undercliff in bad weather, because he doesn't want to be the one who seems to be scared. The next day (I know this is next week's discussion really) Nicola fails to pass on Anquetil's warning not to go to Foley's house, because the others are asking her if she is frightened and she doesn't want to seem scared. We often see Peter and Nicola worrying about seeming / being scared whereas it's Ginty and Lawrie who seem to actually do stupid things when they are scared.
Peter's self reproach over the 'boat thing' reminds me of Nicola after the Port Wade trip in Autumn Term. We hear about Giles / Foley's ticking off magnified by Nicola / Peter's sense of stupidity where they are blaming themselves.
I love the build-up and the sense of growing uneasiness in the first few chapters - the oddness of Foley appearing just as they are talking about him, Nicola's premonitions by the hidden sea, the sense of fear suppressed by both Peter and Nicola occasionally bursting out in moments of feeling panicked. The dangers that they escape early in the book - Nicola nearly washed into the sea, Nicola shooing the pony away because she realises Peter might get hurt trying to get on it, nearly missing the bus home because they've separated add to the tension that's building.