The Real Enid Blyton

[Snehalatha]

Enid.Blyton is always the foremost in my thoughts.-- Still reading her books.and will continue strongly.. A lovely gift for children and grandchildren.

[pete9012S]

I've been waiting for this book to come way down in price.
Just bought a copy for a fiver - have I paid too much!!??

[Anita Bensoussane]

Once you've read it, let us know whether you paid too much, Pete!

[pete9012S]

Well the book has arrived. £19.99 RRP - I paid a fiver.
It's bigger than I imagined and hardbacked. I had expected a softback for some reason.

The book itself is of good quality. It does not contain many photos. A few black and white ones.
So far I have been surprised by two things before I begin to read the book.

One: The author owns a golliwog doll - for some reason I wasn't expecting that.


Two: The authors personal collection of Famous Five's:


Reading that the author of a book entitled The REAL Enid Blyton had that collection with one book missing raises questions for me.
These editions have many of Enid's words removed and many she never uttered added - how can we grasp the REAL Enid Blyton from an author with such a tampered with collection.

As Jomo recently wisely said:

...I have been looking for a suitable edition of the entire Famous Five series with the original Eileen Soper illustrations for some years now, and this Christmas I was gifted a boxed set! I started reading straight away and am half way through the set already, but almost immediately I realised that the text has been altered - I suppose someone thought that it needed updating.
I’d love to collect some original editions...

I am already approaching this book with some trepidation - but a fiver is a fiver so I must get my money's worth!

If you're not quite sure if you want to lash out twenty quid or even a fiver on this book why not read the free kindle sample that amazon has provided.

It's in pdf form to read for a short time here:

The Real Enid Blyton - Nadia - The Free Kindle Sample.pdf
https://www.docdroid.net/AjCGieU/the-re ... sample-pdf

[Tony Summerfield]

A good price to pay, Pete, I might have bought it at that price. I have only seen one review of the book and it was full of praise - but I felt it might have been a trifle biased as it was in the Daily Mail and written by one of their regular contributors - Nadia Cohen.

One of our members told me he had borrowed the book from the library and was so disgusted with the drivel she had written that he returned it after reading about half the book. I asked him if he would like to review it for the Journal, as he has contributed articles from time to time - I think you can guess what his reply was!

[pete9012S]

Many thanks for the warning Tony!

I will do my best to plough through the book and post any observations/queries here as I go along.

[Lucky Star]

I have only seen one review of the book and it was full of praise - but I felt it might have been a trifle biased as it was in the Daily Mail and written by one of their regular contributors - Nadia Cohen.

She reviewed her own book? That sets the alarm bells ringing for a start. A good price you paid Pete. At least you can put it on your shelf to round out your collection. Doesn't sound like you'll get much reading pleasure out of it but do let us know what you think.

Maybe you could write a Journal review of it?

What an excellent idea, why didn't I think of that - Tony

[Viv of Ginger Pop]

In a Radio 4 programme, biographer Nadia Cohen said "The golliwoggs were always villains and criminals, they had to be washed or spanked before they could become acceptable"

[Anita Bensoussane]

I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy this!