The Enid Blyton Society

Posted: **28 Jan 2017, 12:09**

Wolfgang wrote:
Rob Houghton wrote:Not to start political arguments, but I assume this will happen more often when we are out of the EU, due to customs charges etc. This is one aspect many people haven't thought of.
Things have to go through customs even if they're from the EU, that was not the problem. The problem was, that the German Parcel service made it impossible to identify the sender of the parcel. If things are sent to countries that are not part of a custom-free agreement, the sender has to fill out a form for custom services so offices can check things accordingly.

Thank you for your sympathy, Anita and Pete .

Yeah - I am thinking more about the extra duties we'll have to pay - similar to what we now have to pay on items from America.

Anyway - that's something for the future - thankfully not happening yet!

Posted: **28 Jan 2017, 14:06**

Wolfgang, sorry to hear about the hold-up with your books. I hope the enjoyment of reading makes up for having to miss some work.

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 08:52**

My local paper.

Yesterday on-line it had an article about the Famous Five turning 75 this year. I only had time to skim through it, but it had a photo of Ipswich High School around the time Enid was training there, and another of Seckford Hall. Unfortunately it also mentioned racism and the latest Famous Five books, but on the whole it looked an interesting article. I forgot to read it properly last night, so logged on this morning intending to read it through and then put up the link on here.

I couldn't find it though, and it didn't appear when I searched for it. I then Googled it, and found it listed as being in The East Anglian which is a sister paper to the one here. When I clicked on that though, it came up with an error message - the article has been removed.

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 09:00**

What a shame, Katharine. Maybe the article is being edited and will then be reinstated. Hope so!

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 10:50**

Sorry to hear about that Katharine.I did find this article on a blog and a link on the blog really cheered me up!

The Famous Five are 75!

https://sally-jenkins.com/2017/01/09/th ... ve-are-75/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hachette reverts to original Blyton text

Hachette Children’s Group (HCG) is reverting to using the original Enid Blyton texts after attempts to modernise the language “didn’t work”.

In 2012 the publisher decided to give some of the texts a “sensitive reworking” but the decision did not go down well with fans, according to senior publisher Anne McNeil.

“Essentially we were looking at dialogue and making sure it worked for a contemporary audience. It was a very subtle change and thoroughly researched but proved very unpopular,” she told The Bookseller. “We thought it was a necessary step but it wasn’t. So we are reverting to the extant classic text.”

Hachette UK bought the Blyton estate from Chorion in 2012 and this year HCG c.e.o. Hilary Murray Hill announced the creation of Enid Blyton Entertainment to look after all projects relating to Blyton publishing and related merchandise, TV and film deals.

Next year Enid Blyton Entertainment is launching a campaign to promote the Famous Five series as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of Five on a Treasure Island and will release a series of new paperbacks illustrated by Laura Ellen Andersen. The new paperbacks will be released in May, each priced at £6.99.

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 12:06**

I'm either having Deja vu or you posted that link before - or one similar, Pete! think I remember us discussing it, and how the 'original text' is not actually the 'original text' at all, but the original 1970's text! I could be wrong...

Its so annoying that everyone who writes about Enid has to mention racism. Its absolutely stupid, because to be honest there are maybe only three or four books in Enid's vast repertoire that could maybe considered 'racist' *though I disagree that she was racist at all!) and these aren't even published in their original forms any more!

I wish newspapers etc would change the record!!

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 17:43**

Rob Houghton wrote:I remember us discussing it, and how the 'original text' is not actually the 'original text' at all, but the original 1970's text! I could be wrong...

The Famous Five books that are coming out in May (with covers by Laura Ellen Anderson) have what Hachette call "the extant classic text", but what they mean by that is the 1997 text that is currently used in the paperbacks with Eileen Soper covers. There had already been a number of revisions by 1997, but in 2010 there were further updates and the language was modernised extensively. It's the 2010 text that is being dropped.

We've got a thread about it here:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... te#p277515" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 18:53**

Yes - I got a bit confused between 1970's texts and 1997. I'd forgotten they'd been altered, though I think they hadn't really been altered so much even by 1997.

They were talking about the 2010 editions - which is odd, as these were never 'the definitive version' and never replaced the 1997 version, which has remained in print - so it does seem odd that the publishers describe the text as reverting to 'the original' when in fact the original they are meaning never went away!

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 19:24**

At my count there were 117 unique alterations to the text between the original and the 1997 text. If you counted every time queer was changed, hyphens were dropped etc it would be a lot higher.

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 19:56**

Yes - "classic text" suggests "original text" but quite a lot of editing had already been done by 1997!

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 20:03**

Even so, it's misleading, as they are making it seem as if the 2010 text had completely replaced the 1997 text.

I'm very glad the 2010 text is no more!

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 20:35**

I really want to get hold of a 2010 copy just to see how high the alteration number would be. Is it that there were more changes or were the changes just worse?

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 20:40**

I remember reading a 2010 copy of Five Go Off in a Caravan. The children said "mum" and "dad", Nobby had become Ned and lots of sentences were abbreviated to sound snappier and more modern.

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 20:44**

Fiona1986 wrote:I really want to get hold of a 2010 copy just to see how high the alteration number would be. Is it that there were more changes or were the changes just worse?

Various changes - such as 'Mum' instead of mother etc, and some sentences were completely removed or rewritten!

You can buy them on eBay -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FAMOUS-FIVE-R ... Sw7aBVHRF6

Covers like this are all 2010 versions -

Posted: **01 Feb 2017, 21:59**

Fiona1986 wrote:I really want to get hold of a 2010 copy just to see how high the alteration number would be. Is it that there were more changes or were the changes just worse?

Really, really, really worse, Fiona. I picked up a 2010 edition of Five on a Treasure Island (with an Eileen Soper cover — how dare they!!) in a charity shop a while back and was aghast. Even without the original on hand to compare directly, I could tell the whole style and feel of it was totally different from genuine Enid. It wasn't merely "editing", it was a complete rewrite. If you wanted to do a comparison, you'd be sitting there counting changes in almost every sentence — seriously.

I'm sure there's a thread where someone compared the opening paragraphs — just found it: http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... 49#p277949" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; You get the idea.

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