Looking for a Des Res ... Karen Bush

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So far, 100 Aker Wood looks like being the winner.
I wonder if Piglet would take a lodger?

It may be true that you can always escape into a good book ... but supposing you really could, quite literally get away from it all and go live in the fantasy land of your choice? 

 I was thinking about this the other day ... Narnia was the first to spring to mind. I like animals, and the idea of being able to chat to them definitely had appeal. Until I remembered that the Talking Animals tend to come across as an elite minority who refer rather snootily to the 'Dumb Beasts' .... some rather unpleasant echoes there put me off that particular destination. 

 OK, so how about Middle Earth instead then? More particularly the Shire ... like hobbits I enjoy eating, and the idea of all those meals and of listening to Bilbo telling tall tales definitely added to the attraction. But knowing my luck, I'd probably end up with a hole which was constructed below the water table and so was not only nasty, dirty and damp all year round but subject to regular flooding too. And with Lobelia Sackville-Baggins for a neighbour. Hmmmm. Not so good. 

 So then I thought of Valdemar - except supposing I wasn't Chosen: no point in living there if you don't get a Companion. Although of course, if I was, that would mean that I'd be a herald and I might have really boring Gifts: and worse still that I might end up a target in someone's crosshairs   

 Somewhere agrarian then, with good solid fare, respect for animals and a bit of excitement - but not too much. Ah! The very place! Pern! Except there is always a catch isn't there? What if I didn't make the grade and become a dragonrider or fire dragon keeper? I might end up being a kitchen drudge ... 

 So where would you relocate to, if you had the choice?

Comments

Bill Kirton said…
The problem, Karen, is that most fictional locations - real, fantastical, historical, futuristic - don't dwell very much on the nastier aspects of living - sanitation, odours, bodily functions, all that stuff, so we wouldn't really know what we were letting ourselves in for. Mainly, though, your question reminds me of the time I spent role-playing in the online game Second Life. You can not only choose your own time, place, culture, but even your gender, appearance, age - in fact your own bespoke everything. The experience is fascinating but, for some people, addictive. Sorry for the plug but it's where my novella Alternative Dimension came from.
10 July 2015 at 09:21
Catherine Czerkawska said…
Good question! I think most fictional locations do have drawbacks and since my favourite fantasy author is China Mieville and his visions are dystopian to say the least, I don't want to live in any of them (though I'm happy to visit!) I suppose the Shire would be the best of the lot as long as you could live in Bag End or somewhere equally nice. A friend and I decided earlier this year that we wanted to live in our local Dobbie's garden centre: plenty of flowers, warmth, big fluffy scones and coffee, comfortable seating ... even some books. We wondered if anyone would notice a couple of stowaways.
10 July 2015 at 09:48
Debbie Bennett said…
Westeros? Or perhaps not ... too easy to get killed off!
10 July 2015 at 11:06
Kathleen Jones said…
Moominland!! Everyone is a little weird there and no-one cares!
10 July 2015 at 12:14
Susan Price said…
I think Kathleen has it! Yes - Moominland. An inspired choice. You could drift around being odd and bohemian, or be quietly obsessed with some hobby - admire beautiful landscapes, have strange but not very dangerous adventures - and the whole world is down to earth but good-natured and tolerant.
10 July 2015 at 12:37
Lydia Bennet said…
ooh yes Moominland would be fun! For a holiday at least. I love visiting fictional places while reading but mostly wouldn't want to actually be there IRL. Most would involve changing my age, size, physical state etc - things like camping out are fun to read about but the reality sucks. We should be able to have holidays in books, what fun to spend a while in Austenland with the Bennets, then when we find that too confining, pop over to EF Benson's Tilling or a golden age crime country house.
10 July 2015 at 13:11
madwippitt said…
Oh Moominland! Inspired Kathleen! And after returning from a visit to my favourite secondhand bookshop I was just idly looking through a Moomin book ... :-)
10 July 2015 at 13:14
Catherine Czerkawska said…
I'd forgotten about Moominland. Yes - I'd go there. Although when I worked in Finland for two years, I realised that actually - Finland IS Moominland!
10 July 2015 at 19:04
Enid Richemont said…
One of my childhood books was called "Scenes from Fairyland" (I may have got the title slightly wrong). It was one of those early 20th century children's books with delicate line drawings protected by tissue paper, so it felt very precious. No, it's not Fairyland I want to live in, though - I'd like to be the little girl who experienced it all. She lived in a big country house with her very scholarly grand- or god- father, or maybe elderly uncle, who seemed to spend his time proof-reading, but who, when he wasn't doing that, shared his learning and imagination with her, and who was capable of deep understanding. So I'd like to be that little girl in that old house who was able to live in two worlds simultaneously.
Otherwise, I'd opt for Wonderland because everyone's mad there and they keep asking questions and getting silly answers.
10 July 2015 at 20:10
Wendy H. Jones said…
I don't know where I would locate to. I do, however, know where I would not move. Midsommer. There are far too many dead bodies there for my liking.
10 July 2015 at 22:51
madwippitt said…
hahaha ... chunks are filmed locally Wendy ... when I go to the pub I find myself looking over my shoulder ...
11 July 2015 at 17:57
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