The humour of Julian Kirrin: examples???

[pete9012S]

Thinking caps on for this challenge!

[Courtenay]

I don't have a copy of Five Run Away Together with me to quote it, but I always absolutely loved his war of words with the Sticks (his response to Pa Stick's "Now look 'ere!" etc.)...

[Wolfgang]

The argument with Hunchy in "Five get into trouble"...

[pete9012S]

Good choices.
Those accounts made me, the reader really laugh.
I feel though that Julian himself was deadly serious on those tense occasions!

Any other lighthearted Julian moments in the whole of the twenty one books and the short stories??

Doesn't he hold his hands out towards someone to warm them on the fiery sparks from their eyes, or was that Dick?

[Daisy]

Doesn't he say somewhere to Uncle Quentin that he will make sure Anne doesn't make too much noise and disturb his work? I can't remember where though!

[pete9012S]

That's a great one - Julian actually cracks a gag. Anyone remember the book???

[Wolfgang]

I'm not sure if it's the one Daisy was refering to, because it has nothing to do with noise, but in "Five get into trouble" there was this scene:
‘Oh, Fanny, if Julian can’t look after the others he must be a pretty feeble specimen,’ said her husband, sounding impatient. ‘Let them go! I’d bank on Julian any time to keep the others in order and see they were all safe and sound.’
‘Thanks, Uncle,’ said Julian, who was not used to compliments from his Uncle Quentin! He glanced round at the other children and grinned. ‘Of course, it’s easy to manage this little lot - though Anne sometimes is
very difficult!’
Anne opened her mouth indignantly. She was the smallest and the only really manageable one. She caught Julian’s grin - he was teasing her, of course.
She grinned back. ‘I promise to be easy to manage,’ she said in an innocent voice to her Uncle Quentin.
He looked surprised. ‘Well, I must say I should have thought that George was the only difficult one to ...’ he began, but stopped when he saw his wife’s warning frown. George was difficult, but it didn’t make her any less difficult if that fact was pointed out!
‘Quentin, you never know when Julian is pulling your leg or not, do you?’ said his wife. ‘Well - if you
really think Julian can be put in charge - and we can let them go off on a cycling tour - with their new tents...’

[pete9012S]

That's a great one Wolfgang - thank you. It proves Julian did have a sense of humour!!!!

Any other offers, or have we exhausted Julian's supply of mirth???

[Anita Bensoussane]

Julian may not be brimful of ingenuity, fun and mischief as Fatty and Snubby are, but he certainly has his witty moments.

I don't have a copy of Five Run Away Together with me to quote it, but I always absolutely loved his war of words with the Sticks (his response to Pa Stick's "Now look 'ere!" etc.)...

That's probably my all-time favourite Julian episode.

Doesn't he hold his hands out towards someone to warm them on the fiery sparks from their eyes, or was that Dick?

I think that might well be Julian talking to George, perhaps in Five on a Treasure Island.

Another favourite of mine is Julian's quip about making a noise like an earwig to wake Mr. Luffy up in Five Go Off to Camp - "I'll go and make a noise like an earwig outside his tent. He might not wake with all our yells and shouts, but he'd certainly wake at the call of a friendly earwig!"

[pete9012S]

Great to see these examples of mirth rolling in - was he a bit more light hearted at the beginning of the series I wonder?

[Daisy]

I think Wolfgang has quoted what I was thinking of - thanks Wolfgang. I'm not sure if Julian's mood changed as the series went on - although he was the most responsible so had to take a rather serious view more often than the others.

[Jack400]

" although he was the most responsible so had to take a rather serious view more often than the others."

This was, in my view, the reason that the FF would be allowed to go away so often on their own- without his "grown-up" behavior the stories would have been too far-fetched to be credible.

[pete9012S]

True Jack. I may have found a slight joke from Julian in Go Down To The Sea?

"Golly, this lemonade is good. Can I have another bottle, please?’
The old woman suddenly laughed, sounding just like an amused hen. ‘Well, well, Marty Penruthlan’s got a fine meal ready for you, but seems like you won’t be able to eat a thing, not with all that lemonade splashing about in your innards!’
‘Don’t say you can hear the splashing,’ said Julian earnestly. ‘Very bad manners, that! Furriners’ manners, I’m sure. Well, how much do we owe you? That was jolly good lemonade.’

[Courtenay]

Definitely furriners' manners.

[Lucky Star]

Not to mention “furriner’s humour”.