Was Blyton influenced by other writers or media of her time?

[auscatherine]

This question struck me when I was reading the Faraway Tree to my son, and particularly the chapters set in the Land of Dreams, ie, the field of poppies that the children fall asleep in seems very like the poppy field in the Wizard of Oz (the film of which was released in 1938 or 39, ie, 5 years before the publication of The Magic Faraway Tree). Also the policemen filling up the pool with their own tears seemed very reminiscent of that episode at the start of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (first published in 1865 but continuously in print since then). If she was being derivative, I wonder if this was deliberate (as a kind of tribute or author's joke) or if it was unintentional (ie, given the speed that she wrote, maybe other peoples' ideas did pop into her head sometimes and make their way onto the page). Anyway, I hope this isn't considered heresy! I am also interested in other influences she might have had from popular culture of the time.

[Kitty]

I recently read a vintage detective story called The Cheyne Mystery, and it reminded me greatly of the FFO - the procedure of the story, the elimination method of detection, certain plot points. I can't say that overall the book and the EB series had startling similiarities, but at the same time, sometimes I felt as if I was reading an EB for adults. I'd love to know if Enid ever read the book.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I agree that a few episodes in the Faraway Tree books are reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and there are quite a lot of "Alice-inspired" moments in the Faraway Tree and Wishing-Chair books, as well as in The Enid Blyton Book of Brownies. In Adventures of the Wishing-Chair (Chapter 6), Peter goes into a sweet-shop in the Land of Dreams and the shop-keeper is "a large old sheep sitting there, knitting." In Through the Looking-Glass (Chapter 5), Alice too goes into a shop which is kept by "an old Sheep, sitting in an armchair knitting." The influence of Bevis (and, indeed, Robinson Crusoe) may be seen in The Secret Island, while there are echoes of Little Women in the family stories and of Black Beauty in books like Shadow the Sheep-Dog. The Land of Far-Beyond was modelled on Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and school stories like Angela Brazil's A Fourth Form Friendship appear to have influenced some of the St. Clare's and Malory Towers titles. Then there are numerous Blyton short stories which are based on traditional folk-tales, legends and fables. I'd guess that Enid Blyton sometimes deliberately modelled a story on an earlier one, eg. a story like "You Can't Please Everybody!" (Six O' Clock Tales), which is about two gnomes taking a wheelbarrow of apples to the market but is clearly based on the traditional fable about a man, his son and a donkey going to the market. At other times, the echoes of earlier stories may have been unconscious.

Anita

[Redrachel76]

I recently read a book made up of extracts from "Boy's Own Paper".
The book was called "Your Case Is Hopeless: Bracing Advice from Boy's Own Paper". The book was rubbish. The premise sounds more interesting than it was. Interestingly, in the book there was a short description of the type of stories figured in BOP and they reminded me of EB's moralty type stories like "Put Em Right's" and her adventure and school stories. The 1st issue went out in 1879 till and the magazine ran till about 1967.

There was also a "Girls Own Paper" later but Boy's Own paper was often read by girls and was very popular.
EB must have read BOP as a child or come across it, unless she lived in a cave. There's a bit about it at the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy's_Own_Paper
The illustrations also look similar to some of EB's book's though it might have just been the style of the times.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for the link. I had to laugh at the following quotation from Boy's Own Paper:

Most boys like to think they have a girl friend, especially the 13 to 14 year olds. I would like to see an article on how to get a girl, and when you've got her, how to keep and please her. I would also like to see more articles on music in B.O.P as I am a trombonist in the Tiffin School Band.
R. Wilmot (New Malden, Surrey)

Editor's Reply : We will bear the suggestion for an article on how to keep a girl friend in mind! In the meantime there is an article on keeping Golden Hamsters on pages 34 and 35 of this issue.

Enid had two brothers so it seems quite likely that she'd have seen the magazine or the associated annuals. In The Story of My Life, Enid Blyton writes that she loved annuals as a girl and that one of her young brothers once described an annual as "a dippable-into book." How interesting that, according to the Wiki article, the Boy's Own annuals included all of the text of the weekly (and later monthly) issues, with additional illustrations.

Anita

[Enikyoga]

It is often argued that George's character as a tomboy in The Famous Five series was influenced bi jo of Louisa M. Alcott's Little Women. Like Jo, George cuts her hair short and at the beginning of The Famous Five series, Five On A Treasure Island tries to avoid meeting her cousins for the first time by arriving late at Kirrin Cottage. Jo earlier does the same thing in Little Women albeit in different circumstances. Also the title Secret of the Old Mill (the precursor book we are told of The Secret Seven) may have been inspired by Stratemeyer's The Hardy Boys title, The Secret of the Old Mill, first published in 1927, though the contents of the Secret Seven appear to have been original. I have already discussed The Secret Island under the forum's "Secret Island" segment. However, borrowing from or being inspired by other authors was not a one-way process. I strongly believe and argue in my book, The Famous Five:A Personal Anecdotage that The Three investigators series written by Robert Arthur (maybe in conjunction with Alfred Hitchcock), was influenced by Enid Blyton's Mystery series. For example, you have Jupe who is fat and clever, just like Fatty is in Enid Blyton's Mystery series. There are other inferences and references that i make that I cannot get into. So Enid Blyton's being inpired by other writers and events of or before her time was a two-way symbiotic process.

Stephen Isabirye

[Rob Houghton]

I think all authors are influenced by their contemporaries, or at least by other authors they have read during their childhood and later. This is proved even nowadays by the rash of 'young magician/wizard' books that appeared after Harry Potter,for example. Enid was clearly influenced by many books she read as a child,and wrote books that were likely to be popular based on popular genres of the day. It is the mark of a good writer, surely, to target an already-waiting audience with more books in a similar style. Enid did this at the start of her writing career, giving children books in already popular genres, then, having herself created popular series, she continued to exploit the most popular ones until her death. that is the secret of her success.

I also think Enid was very influenced by the world around her, using atomic bombs, special metals, scientific discoveries, smuggling during war time, Nazi enemies etc, and showing a vast knowledge of the world she was a part of, despite the critisisms that she often lived in a world of Nannies and servants.

[Lucky Star]

This is proved even nowadays by the rash of 'young magician/wizard' books that appeared after Harry Potter,for example.

The ultimate example of that sort of cash-in craze has to be the staggering number of very boringly written religious thrillers that appeared in the wake of The Da Vinci Code. As regards Blyton she was obviously influenced by the authors she read in her childhood, if I was to write a book I would be the same. Good points about The Three Investigators Enikyoga. Jupiter's personality, the guys biking everywhere, and even the ingenious entrance to, and cosy descriptions of, their headquarters all recall the FFO series.