I've been looking forward to the start of this discussion!
I do love the atmosphere in the opening scenes of the book; as a writer myself I'm always prone to using weather to help set the mood, and Forest does a superb job here of letting the thundery weather begin to introduce the mood of ominousness underlaid with excitement. The yellow sea and the copper sky... just wonderful.
And then there's the introduction of Peter. I must say I find him a bit unsympathetic from the start, when we hear that there's a pool of water on the floor from the rain and, instead of getting up to close the window, he picks up his biscuits and starts getting crumbs in the bed. Add to that having turned down invitations for the summer holiday in order to be able to stay in "luxury and idleness," and he doesn't seem all that appealing a character. You could argue that his choice is really *all* about the "boat thing," as he admits even to himself that it's a factor. And I do feel for him over that. I agree that Forest puts across his mental skirting around the issue really well.
Nicola's fannishness about Hornblower is wonderful and makes her even more obviously the authorial/reader identification character.
During this book I find myself continually comparing the Marlows with the Walkers from Swallows and Amazons - with a naval family and a seaside adventure, this novel in particular is not far from being a Ransome book. I'm probably going to stir controversy here but the Marlows don't necessarily come off all that well in comparison: none of them hate the sea, they wouldn't be lured by a luxury hotel (though maybe if it were by the sea), they wouldn't break into a house which is obviously isn't entirely abandoned, and they certainly wouldn't go out on the Undercliff after a clear warning about how dangerous it is in a storm. Commander Marlow sounds very "better drowned than duffers" but Peter doesn't quite seem to have picked up on the message. Am I being unfair to the Marlows? You could say in their favour that they're more psychologically complex than the Walkers, who are perhaps unrealistically good and competent and sensible.
Foley's attempted blackmail of Sel is very interesting. The first time I read this chapter I just passed it over without speculating but this time I found myself thinking about "he might think he could make him do things." Nicola's imagination obviously failed her with her suggestion of buying beer for the prefects, but anyone who reads boys' school stories will know that prefects sometimes make younger boys do other things too. (Am I being too suspicious? Was Foley trying to convert an aid to treason? But what could he want with the help of a young Navy cadet anyway?) (And I've just noticed that you actually asked about this in the original post - I was being independently suspicious here.)
How wonderfully selfish of Peter: "If Nicola had been drowned it would probably have been his fault... and he was thoroughly tired of things that might have been his fault."
So far I've really only covered chapter one, but I think I'll pause here and come in again later...
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I do love the atmosphere in the opening scenes of the book; as a writer myself I'm always prone to using weather to help set the mood, and Forest does a superb job here of letting the thundery weather begin to introduce the mood of ominousness underlaid with excitement. The yellow sea and the copper sky... just wonderful.
And then there's the introduction of Peter. I must say I find him a bit unsympathetic from the start, when we hear that there's a pool of water on the floor from the rain and, instead of getting up to close the window, he picks up his biscuits and starts getting crumbs in the bed. Add to that having turned down invitations for the summer holiday in order to be able to stay in "luxury and idleness," and he doesn't seem all that appealing a character. You could argue that his choice is really *all* about the "boat thing," as he admits even to himself that it's a factor. And I do feel for him over that. I agree that Forest puts across his mental skirting around the issue really well.
Nicola's fannishness about Hornblower is wonderful and makes her even more obviously the authorial/reader identification character.
During this book I find myself continually comparing the Marlows with the Walkers from Swallows and Amazons - with a naval family and a seaside adventure, this novel in particular is not far from being a Ransome book. I'm probably going to stir controversy here but the Marlows don't necessarily come off all that well in comparison: none of them hate the sea, they wouldn't be lured by a luxury hotel (though maybe if it were by the sea), they wouldn't break into a house which is obviously isn't entirely abandoned, and they certainly wouldn't go out on the Undercliff after a clear warning about how dangerous it is in a storm. Commander Marlow sounds very "better drowned than duffers" but Peter doesn't quite seem to have picked up on the message. Am I being unfair to the Marlows? You could say in their favour that they're more psychologically complex than the Walkers, who are perhaps unrealistically good and competent and sensible.
Foley's attempted blackmail of Sel is very interesting. The first time I read this chapter I just passed it over without speculating but this time I found myself thinking about "he might think he could make him do things." Nicola's imagination obviously failed her with her suggestion of buying beer for the prefects, but anyone who reads boys' school stories will know that prefects sometimes make younger boys do other things too. (Am I being too suspicious? Was Foley trying to convert an aid to treason? But what could he want with the help of a young Navy cadet anyway?) (And I've just noticed that you actually asked about this in the original post - I was being independently suspicious here.)
How wonderfully selfish of Peter: "If Nicola had been drowned it would probably have been his fault... and he was thoroughly tired of things that might have been his fault."
So far I've really only covered chapter one, but I think I'll pause here and come in again later...