Article in the Daily Mail - Anthony Mealing and Mary Mouse

[Francis]

In Germany of course!

[Moonraker]

I don't know if it's the Leffe Blonde, but you've lost me there, Francis!

[Francis]

I think I've lost myself! Best to ignore me when my Irish blood takes over.

[Soenke Rahn]

Yes, it's quite a change since Enid's time that Germany is much more popular than England. Mind you Enid never really made a great deal over Germans as enemies in the Second Workd War. We have talked about her negative examples of Americans but the U.S.A. was not one of her main markets.

If I have it right in my mind, the Second Word War parts were not really translated (text changes) and in the time of the Cold War it fits to other problems. The reason for the popularity was also that there were published also the audio tapes with the voices of the TV-series, I suppose ... It supports the high of the product life cycle ...

[Francis]

In the Valley of Adventure Enid was quite sympathetic to the plight of the population of the valley in Austria where the story takes place. This is only a couple of years after the war.

[Soenke Rahn]

Oh interesting, if I have time (and find it) I will compare it with the German translation ...

[Anita Bensoussane]

In the Valley of Adventure Enid was quite sympathetic to the plight of the population of the valley in Austria where the story takes place. This is only a couple of years after the war.

The people of the Austrian valley were against the Nazis - we hear about freedom fighters like Julius Muller, and about Elsa and her husband keeping valuable treasures safely hidden. So it's not surprising that Enid Blyton shows such great sympathy for them. After all, she employed an Austrian refugee (Mary Engler) as a maid at Green Hedges during the war, and would no doubt have heard some truly distressing stories from her. Otto Engler's surname may have been chosen in Mary's honour.

[Francis]

Thank you Anita, I had forgotten about her Austrian maid.

[Soenke Rahn]

Thank you, and I did not know it.

[Wolfgang]

The people of the Austrian valley were against the Nazis - we hear about freedom fighters like Julius Muller, and about Elsa and her husband keeping valuable treasures safely hidden. So it's not surprising that Enid Blyton shows such great sympathy for them. After all, she employed an Austrian refugee (Mary Engler) as a maid at Green Hedges during the war, and would no doubt have heard some truly distressing stories from her. Otto Engler's surname may have been chosen in Mary's honour.

In both German translations of the book they are talking about the enemy - not the Nazis, but the location is Austria all right.

[Deej]

There still is in the 21st century!

And rightly so!

[Soenke Rahn]

The people of the Austrian valley were against the Nazis - we hear about freedom fighters like Julius Muller, and about Elsa and her husband keeping valuable treasures safely hidden. So it's not surprising that Enid Blyton shows such great sympathy for them. After all, she employed an Austrian refugee (Mary Engler) as a maid at Green Hedges during the war, and would no doubt have heard some truly distressing stories from her. Otto Engler's surname may have been chosen in Mary's honour.

In both German translations of the book they are talking about the enemy - not the Nazis, but the location is Austria all right.

Ah, thank you. I haven't had Austria in my mind. In the wikipedia is also to read that in one volume: Adventurous Four (1941), I suppose the Nazis are changed to weapon-smugglers: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton --- In the case of "The Valley of Adventure (1947)" it's ineresting to see, that the book was 1947 published (thought it was earlier). The Second World War ends in 1945 (Mai in Germany and August in Japan). Maybe she wrote a long time on the script?

[Anita Bensoussane]

The events of The Valley of Adventure take place a few years after the war (the exact number of years isn't given, presumably because Enid Blyton didn't want the story to be tied to a particular date) so it was of its time or even slightly ahead.

[Wolfgang]

Ah, thank you. I haven't had Austria in my mind. In the wikipedia is also to read that in one volume: Adventurous Four (1941), I suppose the Nazis are changed to weapon-smugglers: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Blyton --- In the case of "The Valley of Adventure (1947)" it's ineresting to see, that the book was 1947 published (thought it was earlier). The Second World War ends in 1945 (Mai in Germany and August in Japan). Maybe she wrote a long time on the script?

The German publishers made minor changes in Smuggler Ben and Children of Kiddilin, but the two main Adventurous Four books are changed beyond recognition, which is quite a pity. The short story though is quite close to the original book, which makes things absurd because the two Adventurous Four books are part of the Secret Series, whose translation salso leaves many things to be be desired.

[Daisy]

Adventurous Four part of the Secret Series? I can't even begin to work out how they can make that seem reasonable!