Jerry Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 In Kazuo Ishiguro's novel NEVER LET ME GO the first two sentences in Chapter 3 are: The pond lay to the south of the house. To get there you went out the back entrance and down the narrow twisting path pushing past the overgrown bracken that in the early autumn wuuld still be blocking your way. Hm. I went to Scout camp at Lake Bracken in Illinois. I remember a movie actor named Eddie Bracken. When I looked up 'bracken' in the online dictionary all I got was it is the Indiana University mascot ??? and also it refers to someone who is really really drunk. It seems to have medical meaning in 'bracken poisoning'. I've never been able to find Lake Bracken on a map and now I can't even pin down it's meaning -- some kind of growth around or near a pond of water, it seems. Anyone familiar with the plant. Bullrushes, pussywillows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 from wikipedia:- Brackens (Pteridium) are a genus of about ten species of large, coarse ferns, in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, commonly found on moorland. The genus has probably the widest distribution of any fern genus in the world, being found on all continents except Antarctica and in all environments except for hot and cold deserts. Therefore it is considered to have a cosmopolitan distribution. In the past, the genus was commonly treated as having only one species, Pteridium aquilinum, but the recent trend is to subdivide it into several species. Lake Bracken in Knox County, Illinois. it is south of galesburg. if you go on google maps and type in lake bracken country club it will show you the location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Posted April 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Wow! Thanks for the info. I lived in Monmouth growing up, just 15 miles from Galesburg, but only hit the Lake one summer, Camp Shabena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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