The Enid Blyton Society

Somewhat unrelated to this thread but I've found Enid Blyton books in every bookstore in New Zealand I have visited so far!

That's good to hear, Ming.

Ming wrote:Somewhat unrelated to this thread but I've found Enid Blyton books in every bookstore in New Zealand I have visited so far!

Wish Barnes & Noble would offer them.
To my surprise the public library system in Massachusetts has 135 EB books !
However our public library here in Worcester has only three, "Oui-Oui à la fête", "Go ahead, Secret Seven" and "The Adventures of the Six Cousins".

Reading The Children Next Door (1994) by Jean Ure, I came across the following brief reference to Enid Blyton:

...she had read the whole of Roald Dahl, and the whole of Judy Blume, and she had grown out of Enid Blyton, and The Lord of the Rings was too long...

The girl in question is Laura, aged eleven. I'm rather older than that and I still haven't grown out of Enid Blyton!

Me too Anita. Although to be fair I probably outgrew her about age 14 and then rediscovered her much later.

It's quite a theme amongst those who detest Blyton but can't deny that they read her books, to declare just how young they were when the 'grew out' of her.

Of course, they could also be showing their ignorance, not knowing of anything beyond Secret Seven!

Viv

Good point Viv!

Like Lucky Star, I probably "grew out" of Blyton books at around the age of 13 or 14, but later rediscovered them when my own son was young. By coincidence, a few days ago my husband told me that when he is feeling stressed or down he often reads a few chapters of one of my Blyton books as it makes him feel much better. I was surprised (but very pleased) to hear that!!!

That's lovely to hear, Boodi!

Although I packed my Enid Blyton books away in boxes when I was about thirteen (but sneaked the Adventure series out for a comfort read while revising for my 'O' or 'A' Levels a few years later!), I knew I'd come back to them at some point and that they'd always have a place in my life.

Boodi 2 wrote:Like Lucky Star, I probably "grew out" of Blyton books at around the age of 13 or 14, but later rediscovered them when my own son was young. By coincidence, a few days ago my husband told me that when he is feeling stressed or down he often reads a few chapters of one of my Blyton books as it makes him feel much better. I was surprised (but very pleased) to hear that!!!

"The Secret Island", FF or Adventure books have the same effect on me.
When I'm ill, I know nothing helps me more than reading EB.

Author Ross Welford refers to Enid Blyton in a couple of his books.

In 'The Dog Who Saved The World', one of the characters refers to his favourite author, EB, as his girlfriend.

In 'When We Got Lost In Dreamland', a character asks a Nazi SS officer if she is a member of the Secret Seven.

I'll have to read some Ross Welford one of these days! Welcome to the forums, by the way!

In Germany there is a series about a girl named Carlotta that goes to a boarding school. It's mentioned that her friend Katie loves all kind of stories about boarding schools, amongst them "Hanni und Nanni" (St.Clare's).

In Alan Moore's graphic novel 'V for Vendetta', V reads 'The Magic Faraway Tree' to his young protoge Evie and then goes off to murder someone.

There are further references throughout the novel; 'The Land of Do-As-You-Please' is the title of the third chapter of the novel. And V later asks if their anarchic Britain is 'The Land of Do-As-You-Please'?, replying to himself 'No, this is only 'The Land of Take-What-You-Want'.


In a later graphic novel he wrote ('The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen") there are also appearances by Mollie & Peter (from 'The Wishing Chair' series) and Noddy, among many other fictional characters from literature.

Interesting stuff, Hannah and GloomyGraham. I've seen the film of V for Vendetta but I don't think I noticed any Enid Blyton references!

This week's The People's Friend (May 29, No. 7879) caught my eye because it says on the front that it contains "Sharon Haston's lighthearted comedy inspired by Enid Blyton". The story in question is called 'Two Are on the Case' and I wouldn't class it as a comedy but it's a light, gentle story about members of a book club who read Five on a Treasure Island together, which leads to certain developments.

If anyone's interested, the relevant issue of The People's Friend should be available up to and including Tuesday 1st June.