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Riddle 7 - The terrain
Did the terrain come over vividly to you? Tidal mudflats are extremely dangerous for those who don't know the area well - equivalent places in England include Morecambe Bay, the Solway Firth, and The Wash. The tide can come in at Morecambe Bay at up to 10 mph, and there are regular rescues and deaths out on the sands. Someone who tried to replicate the journey of this book said "I set out to recreate their journey at low tide the next day. On foot. I realised just how foolish the idea had been when I spoke with my hosts that evening; they were horrified at my venture and were full of tales of how unwary walkers on the sands had been swept away and drowned." Did the physical danger of the terrain come over clearly enough in the story? What stood out as the most obvious threat to the protagonists?
Comments
The terrain is a major factor in the book, and the story mostly comes out of the terrain and its military implications. What I thought was missing was the element of danger in it. As I said elsewhere, there's very little jeopardy coming from the terrain.
Dollman's attempt to sink the Dulicibella happens before the book starts. The long dingy trip to Memmert is long rather than dangerous. Characters routinely go for walks on sandbanks at low tide, and there's no concern that they'll get trapped on them in the tide.
More could have been done to make the environment a source of activity rather than a well-drawn background.
I thought the trip in the fog to Memmert was breathtaking in it's danger! It was a tour de force of sailing.
It's a place where the written version comes over much better than the film - in that version you just see them going through mist and stuff and don't really get much sense of how difficult it would have been. There's a bit of voice-over saying something like how remarkable it was, but sadly it doesn;t really come over nearly so well as in the book.
Here is an aerial photo of part of the East Frisian Islands, showing low tide conditions. I believe the leftmost island shown is Norderney: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FwQZIy2aMAkdzBA?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
Cool!
How excellent! Shows off the watersheds behind each of the islands really well
This was a case where my ignorance of the terrain probably played a huge role in why I didn't get the book. I pictured Anne of Green gables sand dunes and wondered what the big deal was.