Comments on: ‘And Only Man Is Vile’ – Review: The Twyning by Terence Blacker

By: Mr Slang

Mr Slang — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:45:26 +0000

Reform? Stopping them killing rats. And if you disapprove of this seeming attempt to stem nature, then remember that Tom’s sisters – Mittens and Moppet – grew up into excellent ratters. Mrs Potter appreciated animals; she did not romanticise them.

As for Ratty in WitW, he was modeled in part on Frederick Furnivall, one of the founding fathers of the OED. FF was a pal of Grahame and supposedly introduced him to the pleasures of the river. Furnivall himself, apologies if I have already posted on this, ran a rowing eight composed of waitresses from the ABC restaurant in New Oxford Street (here they are: http://bit.ly/X0V4uk and http://bit.ly/12WgRHk) and indeed married one of them. Sadly, like Miss Havisham, she died when her dress caught fire via an ill-placed candle. But then FF also wore a red tie and it may have been felt by his starchier contemporaries that this bereavement was no more than he deserved.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:42:08 +0000

I have an ancient copy of the Tale of Samuel Whiskers – one of my childhood favourites – and several Randolph Caldecott books (collected later) that feature some rather endearing rats. What about Ratty in Wind in the Willows too? And… “reforming a bullying feline is no bad thing” – what exactly do you mean by that, Jonathon?

By: Brit

Brit — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:00:15 +0000

I really liked Watership Down – even as a kid I admired the chutzpah of writing a bleak, deep, semi-spiritual epic about bunny-rabbits.

By: Worm

Worm — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 09:29:21 +0000

Thanks for the review Jonathan – it sounds a bit like Duncton Wood, but with rats instead of moles…

Terence Blacker’s book about Willie Donaldson is a terrific read which I recommend to anyone