Winter Holiday

Perhaps my favorite of the Swallows and Amazons series. Dick is the person I can truly identify with - Dorothea (which I always want to shorten to Dot, but they don't seem to) is a bit too - airy-minded? She's always going off into stories, worse than Titty. But Dick is always aware of (some part of) his surroundings - though his focus is sometimes not quite where it ought to be. Nice dealing with getting to know one another - and it's interesting to get that from the D's view, rather than the children we already know from the previous books. And then, the emotional line in this book is perhaps the most active - hopes and despair following one after the other, over and over. The planned adventure is good - what actually happens is, as show more Nancy said, much better - much (much!) more exciting. And right on the edge of disaster, over and over - but never quite going over. It would be interesting (though painful) to see the same events from the grownup point of view - we just get the comment from Captain Flint (or rather, Uncle Jim) about calling off the search parties. show less

I picked this up on a whim during an Audible sale.

Coming to it as an adult reader with no past familiarity, I didn’t experience the thrill that other readers might, though it was pleasant enough. I wanted a light brain break, and it served that purpose, even if it felt a bit unengaging from an adult perspective.

The book beautifully captures how children imagine and create adventure, and I can easily see young readers being inspired and fully absorbed. It offers imaginative escapades and shows how to get up to harmless mischief safely, with far more trust and freedom than the modern health-and-safety–inspired infantilisation of children.

For kids, it’s a delightful read full of adventure and creativity; for adults, it’s a gentle, show more nostalgic diversion. show less

Good fun, though I didn't enjoy this as much as the previous Swallows and Amazons books. Maybe this is the fuddy-duddy grown-up in me talking, but I didn't care for how self-involved the children were at times (which, no matter how caught up they were in Nancy's mission, still seemed a bit of a stretch). And the new characters Dick and Dorothea kept rubbing me the wrong way, especially with how oblivious and reckless they behaved near the end of the story. It was nice to see the crew in a winter setting, though, and I applaud the spirit of self-reliance and adventure that runs throughout this entire series.

It's always unnerving when new characters are introduced to a series; thankfully there is nothing to worry about here. This S&A take on arctic exploration is a joy from beginning to end; it is the equal of the first two books and perhaps slightly better than the third.

Growing up the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome was one of my favorite series. When I decided to re-read it as an adult I was worried that it would not stand the test of time. I was delighted to find that in general found it just as enjoyable now as I did as a child. The characters, writing style and adventures are great and I truly enjoyed the series.

My favorite of the series. The worst part was that fearless leader Nancy (my favorite character) was mostly out of the picture due to mumps. The best part was the race at the end to the North Pole and the fantastic surprise awaiting them. Lots of fun to read!

Excellent yarn set in the arctic wastes of lake district, when mumps extend school holidays, and allow chance for a crack at the north pole.