What was Blyton's literary forte?

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TheOriginalFive
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What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by TheOriginalFive »

Most of us know how different authors have different strengths or weaknesses in their works. Such as Tolkien being wordy with his descriptions and a lack of dialogue, Terry Pratchett and his absurdity, or (ugh!) Stephenie Meyer pandering to a certain demographic. What was Blyton's greatest strength in most of her works, in your opinion?

I think Blyton's strengths were characterization and easy descriptions. She didn't need to load up on words, just an odd word here and there to get the imagination flowing. As for characters, she didn't have to describe their looks a lot, their actions spoke louder than what they looked like.
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Poppy »

An interesting topic. I always enjoy and admire how imaginative and well-flowing the text is. It seems to come so easy to Blyton. No struggling along with massive chunks of description, no comprehensive reviews of the characters: Enid Blyton tackles all of this throughout the story and we get to know the characters and settings just as well. As you said; it's just enough for the reader to create their own vision of the surroundings and characters.
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by pete9012S »

You may enjoy looking over this older thread which contains a few examples of her writing that many have enjoyed.

Who Said Enid Can't Write!

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... ily#p67117" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

One of my all time favourite lines from Enid is still her sketch of the irate daffodil loving Mrs Trotteville:
'And away she went up the garden path,her skirts whisking angrily over the edges of the border.'
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane -

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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I agree that the simplicity and naturalness of Enid Blyton's writing style is her main strength. She makes simple prose do the work of complicated prose.

Another strength is her ability to draw the reader in and make him/her feel part of the action. I feel included in Enid's world and the world of the characters when she appeals to me at the end of a story, saying, "I'd really like you to see it" or "Have you seen them blowing about?" or "He did. Could you?" or "I think Alice deserved it, don't you?" or "Wouldn't it be lovely if she did?" or "won't the little Prince be surprised!" or "But nobody believed her - and I don't expect you do either" or "those children will be surprised to see what happens, won't they?" or "But I think he deserved them, don't you?" or "he does make things difficult for himself, doesn't he!" or "It's surprising what a lot of trouble can come from quite a tiny thing, isn't it?" or "Well, I know what had happened, and what all the guests were doing. Do you? If you do, write a note to Sandy Rabbit and tell him. He will be so pleased!" (All these endings are taken from tales in Stories for Bedtime, Dean & Son).
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Moonraker »

Anita wrote: I feel included in Enid's world and the world of the characters when she appeals to me at the end of a story, saying, "I'd really like you to see it" or "Have you seen them blowing about?".....
When I read these stories to my grandson that end with such a question, he always replies - as if it is me asking him!
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Brilliant! I bet Enid would love to hear his replies and see him engaging so fully with the stories.
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Daisy »

That's how it sounds if you're reading aloud..... it was the same when I used these stories in school. The children would always respond - which is nice as it showed they were listening!
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by TheOriginalFive »

I think her strength at characterization shows best in her stand-alone novels like the Put-Em-Rights and Mistletoe Farm. Were those aimed at slightly older children?
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

It seems that Enid Blyton did aim some of her "family and society" books at slightly older children, but nevertheless wrote them with a keen awareness that younger children would probably pick them up and read them as well. In Enid Blyton - the Biography Barbara Stoney quotes from a letter which Enid Blyton wrote to publisher Noel Evans (of Evans Brothers) in 1947, discussing Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm:

"I will do it for ages 11-15, though I expect you realise that children of any age from six upwards will buy it! That's the snag about my books - no age limit really applies."
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Lucky Star »

Her literary forte was getting children interested in reading, a habit which many of her readers carried on into adult life and all of their lives. I know of no other author who achieved quite so much success in that field. She did it with simple but fascinating stories filled with instantly memorable characters whose personalities and attributes appealed hugely to children of all ages.
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Courtenay »

I agree with all the fortes suggested so far! Another one, I believe, would be Enid's remarkable ability to write consistently well across such a huge range not only of age groups, but also of genres. Adventure stories, mystery stories, family stories, school stories, nature stories, stories about magic and fairy-land, stories with toy characters or animal characters, retellings of Bible stories or old legends... the list goes on and on. It's only relatively recently that I first read some of her books aimed at older children (age 12 or so) and was amazed at how exciting, intriguing, gripping and sometimes even scary her plots for such books could be. Those "older" ones are so very different from the younger children's books I mainly grew up with (such as the Wishing-Chair and the Faraway Tree), and yet Enid was equally masterful at writing each kind of book and for each age group and level of comprehension. I can't think of many other authors whom this could be said about.
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by John Pickup »

Lucky Star has hit the nail on the head when he says Enid got children interested in reading. I have read books ever since I read Enid's and I believe my love of adventure stories by authors such as Alastair MacLean and Desmond Bagley stems from the ones that Enid wrote. I also believe one of her strengths is the pace of her books, a veritable helter-skelter of a ride, where the action just keeps on coming.
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by walter raleigh »

I agree with most of what's been said above but especially Courtenay's observation about Enid's ability to target age groups with her work. As a child the first of Enid's mystery stories I read was the 'Famous Five'. I devoured all I could find and then moved on to the 'Secret Seven' novels.

While I still enjoyed them, even at a tender age I realised they were aimed at a younger audience than I was at the time, and thus they didn't enthrall me quite as much. Whereas I'm sure, if I'd have started with the 'Secret Seven' and then moved on to the 'Famous Five' I'd probably have noticed very little difference as the gap in intended age ranges would have been negated by the time I'd moved on to the second series of books.
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by rosy_posy »

For me, characterisation is always the most important thing in any story, and Enid Blyton excels at this - she can paint a character in just a few words and make you really see them as a person. Also, she doesn't fall into the trap of always having the bad character reform, which many children's books of that period do; and the good characters aren't perfect. It's nice to see such realism in her books.
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Re: What was Blyton's literary forte?

Post by Rob Houghton »

One of her definite strengths, I feel, is her ability to paint a scene using very few words. Her descriptions are often beautiful and easily imagined, using just a few well chosen words, and often using colours and very little else. She does the same with characterisation - her real strength being that it's easy, as readers, to imagine ourselves as being one of the main characters so that we feel we are there.
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Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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