I was very encouraged by the response to my earlier blog entry about interwar imagi-nations and have now 'discovered' some more. They include:
- Graustark (which featured in a series of novels written by George Barr McCutcheon between 1901 and 1927)
- Herzoslovakia (which formed the backdrop for Agatha Christie's novel THE SECRET OF THE CHIMNEYS (1925) and her short story THE STYMPHALEAN BIRDS
- Ixania (which is the setting for Eric Ambler's 1936 novel THE DARK FRONTIER)
- Laevatia (which is the location for part of the action in Neville Shute's 1938 novel RUINED CITY [which was also published with the title KINDLING])
So I can see an alternative atlas of these imaginary nations being developed.
ReplyDeletePaint it Pink,
ReplyDeleteIf I had the time, you probably would!
All the best,
Bob
The earlier Graustark books are really in a pre-WWI setting. The last one chronologically in the series, East of the Setting Sun, takes place interwar, as out protagonist finds that his marriage of convenience to a Graustark princess to enable her to escape from Hungary under Bela Kun isn't as easy to get out of as he thought...There's some fighting in the Graustark books, but I'd have to go back and see; it's been some years since I read them.
ReplyDeleteThere's a revolution in Laevatia in Ruined City (Shute is my favorite 20th century mainstream author) although it's off-stage.
Rob Dean,
ReplyDeleteI only mentioned the Graustark because of the interwar book. I have yet to read it, but someone I know who has says that it is not too bad considering when it was written.
I think that the interwar period is much under-rated as an era when all sorts of minor conflicts involving imagi-nations could be set.
All the best,
Bob
PS. I must agree with you about Shute being a good writer. He was very respected when I was younger, but has since gone 'out of fashion'. My personal opinion is that ON THE BEACH was the best thing he ever wrote, but many of his other books run it a close second.