Old Newspaper/Magazine Articles on Enid Blyton

[Lucky Star]

Each to their own but whatever it was that I found in Blyton as a child is definitely still there as an adult. The well loved characters and the excitement of the plots still grab me even though I now know all the endings.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for the link, John (Boatbuilder). I actually read that article on the day it was published but felt that what Neil Gaiman said about Enid Blyton was so vague that he wasn't really saying anything at all! To quote:

I find it very hard to go back to Enid Blyton. I even find her hard to read to my kids. It’s weird because I remember just how much I loved Blyton, and I’m somebody who loves going back to beloved children’s books, and yet whatever I loved isn’t there when I go back as an adult.

What does he find hard about reading Enid Blyton, even to his children? Why did he used to love her books? What does he feel is missing when he returns to them as an adult? His comments have no substance to them whatsoever!

Some years ago my daughter and I both read Coraline by Neil Gaiman, a creepy story which, as far as I remember, revolves around sinister dolls (or doll-like beings?) and the mother-child relationship. It was written in a polished style but had a hackneyed, drawn-out plot. I've read creepy "doll" books by authors like Rumer Godden, Sylvia Cassedy and Ruth M. Arthur, and their work was far more original and engaging. Even closer to Coraline is the short story 'The New Mother' by Lucy Clifford, about two siblings and a scary mother with glass eyes. Now that really is chilling - and also terribly sad. It moved me in a way that Neil Gaiman's plodding, trite book simply didn't.

As for Enid Blyton, I don't think her stories will ever lose their magic, wonder and excitement as far as I'm concerned!

[Fiona1986]

I've enjoyed what I've read of Neil Gaiman's so far (Coraline, Stardust, The Graveyard Boy) and I'm reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane right now.

It appears he was just answering a series of questions about authors he liked, was inspired by, etc so didn't go into great detail. I think we've all been there, though, and revisited something that we loved as a child (be that a book, a film, a place) and revisiting as an adult wondered what we originally saw in it!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I may well give Neil Gaiman another try at some point, though my "to read" list is already about a mile long!