35 Signs You Read Enid Blyton As A Child...

[MJE]

     I think I probably to this day say things that would (to the initiated) betray the fact that I read Enid Blyton, and that her influence is still in my mind. I tend to use old-fashioned exclamations like "Gosh" or "Golly", and I also have a tendency to use "jolly" as an intensifier, which I get the feeling is old-fashioned now, at least in Australia, if it was ever used at all.
     I occasionally wonder if people notice and guess where I got such expressions from, although no-one's mentioned it so far. They might just put it down to the generally conservative (old-fashioned?) approach I have generally (not in any Blyton-influenced way) to use of the language as a whole.

Regards, Michael.

[Moonraker]

Pete has always been keen to promote her to the Max!

I love that illustration from Hike Together - it has stuck in my mind ever since I read the book as a child. Betty Maxey didn't go in for shading, but with her deft, sweeping lines she has managed to convey depth, context, atmosphere and anticipation.

     Hmmm... I must be going blind! I don't see any hint of that at all.

Regards, Michael.

Me neither. I wonder if there is a kind of 'inverted snobbery' in pretending to like Maxey's illustrations. A case of, "although the majority consider Maxey to be poor, I will see some good in them." A bit like people trying to sound superior when they say, "I never rated the Beatles."

[MJE]

I wonder if there is a kind of 'inverted snobbery' in pretending to like Maxey's illustrations. A case of, "although the majority consider Maxey to be poor, I will see some good in them."

     Well, I wonder if that would be going too far. I certainly don't question that Anita really was saying how she saw it in the comment I was responding to. I think there have been quite a few people who like Maxey's illustrations, so who knows whether "inverted snobbery" may be a factor with a few of them?
     I can only speak for myself, and I see absolutely no merit at all in these illustrations.

A bit like people trying to sound superior when they say, "I never rated the Beatles."

     On A.B.C. radio here in Australia we have an overnight presenter called Trevor Chappell who says that he doesn't like the Beatles, and, although it's mainly a talk-based programme, he does play an occasional song, but the Beatles are conspicuous by their absence. It's difficult to know whether Trevor's dislike of the Beatles is real or perhaps exaggerated as part of the persona he projects, but he says he likes Beatles *songs*, but just not *performed* by the Beatles - he likes them when performed by others, he says.
     I don't understand this. I have yet to hear a Beatles cover that I think even equals, never mind exceeds, the Beatles' version in merit. It is probably all but impossible to imitate the Beatles convincingly, and it may well be very difficult to play their material differently, but in a way that is just as good - although I suppose that is a subjective evaluation.
     I have heard covers that have been quite interesting and expressive - but almost none of them have been of Beatles songs.

Regards, Michael.

[pete9012S]

I think my love for Betty Maxey & Eileen Soper equally is based on growing up with them both - in my Knight paperback versions and also being given the old red boarded Five's at the same time in the early 1970's.

I can understand why people who didn't grow up with her work don't like her,or those who come across Eileen Soper later in life come to appreciate her more.

For me,it's what I grew up with - both illustrators at the same time.
I struggle with Jolyne Knox and her depiction of the Famous Five and yet I think Farwa once said that Jolyne Knox is her favourite Famous Five illustrator.

The Beatles.
A hard band to cover and do a better version I agree.
As a guitar player myself (and I do use that term very loosely!),I do enjoy the renditions of their songs by the guitarist troubleclef on youtube.

Martha my Dear (The Beatles)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DYWwkwqc9M" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The above song is a rather tricky one to play,but to my ear,he does it well - not saying better,but I enjoy his style anyway.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I think my love for Betty Maxey & Eileen Soper equally is based on growing up with them both

It's the same for me. Some of my 1970s childhood paperbacks (I kept them and they're still the only Famous Five books I own) have Soper pictures and others have Maxey pictures, and I like both interpretations. Neither artist comes very close to portraying what I imagine in my head as I read the books, but each has her merits. And looking at the illustrations of both artists evokes happy memories of reading the books as a child, when my sister and I dreamed of having such adventures ourselves.

[Paul Austin]

Trevor Chappell also has a fondness for Enid Blyton - he's included Blyton questions on the "Overnights" quiz.

[MJE]

Neither artist comes very close to portraying what I imagine in my head as I read the books, but each has her merits.

     I would say that, for myself, Eileen Soper's depictions almost exactly coincide with how I see the characters and events. But that, of course, is not a remarkable coincidence, but just reflects the fact that she was the only illustrator of the Famous Five I saw as a child (and probably the only one even available at the time, in the 1960s), and so she almost completely shaped the way I saw the characters, settings, and events - and still does to this day - I suppose similarly to the way Pauline Baynes' illustrations largely shape the way I see things in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.
     One could probably make out quite a strong case that it would be better for children's books not to be illustrated at all, if you want to stimulate their own ability to imagine things. Certainly I would prefer no illustrations at all to poor, unskilled ones. And I have to say that some updated illustrations (not sure if it was Betty Maxey or not) which give the Famous Five 1970s fashions like flared trousers and mullet hair-styles just strike me as frankly ridiculous. I say either stay true to the styles that were characteristic of the time the stories are set in, or at least use indefinite or plain styles that never really become obsolete.

Regards, Michael.

[MJE]

Trevor Chappell also has a fondness for Enid Blyton - he's included Blyton questions on the "Overnights" quiz.

     I've only heard this a few times over several years. Also, Tony Delroy has included a few elementary Blyton questions occasionally in *his* quiz.
     Quizzes are all the rage on A.B.C. radio (far too much, to my way of thinking - they are essentially dull radio once the novelty wears off, which it did for me years ago, and just become a platform for egotistic, self-absorbed gas-bags with nothing real to say), so many, many questions are asked on a wide variety of topics. I would not particularly assume, just because Enid Blyton's books get caught up in that broad net from time to time, that it signifies that the presenter has a particular interest in Enid Blyton.

Regards, Michael.

[MJE]

     Apropos of late-night radio, I would point out that occasionally there is a discussion about children's literature, and it often seems to be the case that Enid Blyton is either not mentioned at all, or else mentioned briefly, but in a manner or context that clearly indicates that she is just an appendage to "real" children's literature, just at best a stepping-stone to that, or else a deadly trap that can ensnare people and prevent them moving on to "real" literature. It is quite clear from the overall tenor of the mention of Enid Blyton that she is regarded as unimportant, and of poor quality.
     So the old hostility to Enid Blyton is still apparently quite widespread, even if it may sometimes be expressed in a more moderate manner.

Regards, Michael.

[Rob Houghton]

I think my love for Betty Maxey & Eileen Soper equally is based on growing up with them both

It's the same for me. Some of my 1970s childhood paperbacks (I kept them and they're still the only Famous Five books I own) have Soper pictures and others have Maxey pictures, and I like both interpretations. Neither artist comes very close to portraying what I imagine in my head as I read the books, but each has her merits. And looking at the illustrations of both artists evokes happy memories of reading the books as a child, when my sister and I dreamed of having such adventures ourselves.

Similar for me - but as a child I really only came across the annual illustrations, which I could immediately identify with (just smugglers top and mystery moor). These were what the Five looked like to me, and when I saw the Betty Maxey illustrations in my sister's paperbacks, I thought they were a fairly good approximation of what the Five looked like, as they weren't too far removed from the 'originals' I'd seen in the annuals. I was shocked, flicking through my sister's books to see that some of them were also drawn by some other illustrator, who I felt had got the interpretation of the characters completely wrong - I didn't know it at the time, but this other illustrator was Eileen Soper, who I felt had tried depicting The Five in completely the wrong way. The 'real' Five had basin cuts and flared trousers and rode on Chopper bikes and wore bomber jackets.

So for years, the annual illustrations were my first choice, followed by Maxey, with Soper bringing up the rear. Its all to do with what we look upon as 'original' and what we perceive as 'new'. To me the Eileen Soper illustrations were trying to do something new which at the time I didn't understand, so it took me years (until I read most of the books for the first time in ,the early 2000's) to come to appreciate Sopers illustrations, which I was still feeling were 'new' interpretations of characters who were 1970s based. These days I think I put the Soper illustrations first, as they are the oldest and therefore approved of by Enid and historically correct, followed by the annual illustrations, which I still have great affection for, with Maxeys in third place. Joylene Knox doesn't feature at all - shes awful!

[Moonraker]

I certainly don't question that Anita really was saying how she saw it in the comment I was responding to.

I was generalising, and my comment wasn't directed at Anita. I'm not that brave!

Neither artist comes very close to portraying what I imagine in my head as I read the books, but each has her merits.

     I would say that, for myself, Eileen Soper's depictions almost exactly coincides with how I see the characters and events.

Oh definitely. A Blyton without my imagination being influenced by Soper, would be like rabbit pie filled with quorn.

[Katharine]

Me neither. I wonder if there is a kind of 'inverted snobbery' in pretending to like Maxey's illustrations. A case of, "although the majority consider Maxey to be poor, I will see some good in them." A bit like people trying to sound superior when they say, "I never rated the Beatles."

I grew up with both Maxey and Soper and never really liked Maxey's illustrations, simply because she featured the children in 'modern' clothes. That totally prejudiced me against her drawings, and I find it difficult to see beyond the fact that they were updated versions of the 5.

As for The Beatles, I don't think I'm trying to be superior, but I honestly can't see why they are so highly rated. I do like some of their songs, but no more than many other artists. I just can't see why people say they are so much better than any other band. Maybe it's just a question of taste?

[Eddie Muir]

A Blyton without my imagination being influenced by Soper, would be like rabbit pie filled with quorn.

Hear, hear! I totally agree, Nigel.

[MJE]

     Quorn? What's that? (It's the name of a town in South Australia I remember passing through during a caravan holiday around 1965-1966. But I suspect you had something totally different in mind.)

Regards, Michael.

[Daisy]

A meat substitute favoured by vegetarians who want to have something akin to meat without eating an actual animal. I'm not keen on it.... only tried it once.