What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

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IceMaiden
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by IceMaiden »

Courtenay wrote:I didn't guess how the robberies were committed until about halfway through either, but still "got it" well before the Find-Outers did — and also thought Enid made the thief too obvious, since the story goes on and on and ON about how obnoxious this particular person is, to the point where one can't help suspecting there's got to be some reason for that. Mystery stories are more effective when the culprit turns out to be someone that no-one would have suspected at first... :wink:
In tv mysteries though, at least most that I've seen, the nastier and more obnoxious a character is the less likely it turns out to be them, and the real culprit ends up being the quiet as a mouse nice as pie character, so I wouldn't have made the connection of horrible character is the culprit. Then again, when I first read Invisible Thief, I guessed what the odd round shape was but still didn't make the connection with the reason for it! :oops: :oops:
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Chrissie777 »

Rob Houghton wrote:You are right that one of my least favourite Famous Fives is Five On A Secret Trail - it doesn't really have a great deal of plot, in my view! The others are Five Have A Mystery To Solve and Five Are Together Again. Mind you, saying that, I still enjoy them all in their own way, I just think these three are the weakest! :-D
It was the very first FF book which I've read when I was 10 years old.
Up to that point I only knew Norman Dale and lots of Swedish and German children's books which were not nearly as suspenseful. I think I didn't discover Astrid Lindgren's Kalle Blomquist/Bengt Berson trilogy until a few years after.
So I guess it has a lot to do with nostalgia and my imagination of the Kirrin Common. I was fascinated by that underground passage.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Stephen »

I thought 'Mystery To Solve' was potentially a great concept for a story. The Five get inadvertently swept ashore onto a forbidden island patrolled by armed guards. But then it gets silly. Even when they get the opportunity to leave - and after Timmy's been injured by a stray bullet - they decide to camp out there anyway to find out what's going on!
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

I agree, it had great potential, and I love the setting, as I have been to the golf course which Enid Owned and seen the white cottage on the hill etc - that really makes the book special - but the various aspects of the plot, such as those you mention, and also the confusion about Mrs Layman being Wilfred's aunt and then grandma (I think?!) etc, make the book feel mixed-up and unfamiliar. :-(
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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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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Shanku »

Moved on to...

Well really, Mr. Twiddle.
Loving the tales of the absent-minded Twiddle and his long-suffering wife. :D
...and there, hidden among the leaves, was Peronel. She had beautiful golden hair and was dressed in silvery white with silver wings on her back.

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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Moonraker »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: It's good to have thoughtful comments on the plots and characters (as we generally do), though once in a long while someone may post something provocative simply to get people going - and then sit back and enjoy the reaction (if they get one)!
As if I'd ever do that! Okay, it might cross my mind once in a blue moon ( :twisted: ) but I can honestly say not on this occasion.

Rob: I have found the story - Smuggler's Cave. It has a well-used plot of a family having to move house as times are hard, but the children find long-lost treasure. It appears we might be at cross purposes, the book to which I am referring is Enid Blyton's Adventure Treasury. So many Treasuries!
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Moonraker wrote:
Rob: I have found the story - Smuggler's Cave. It has a well-used plot of a family having to move house as times are hard, but the children find long-lost treasure. It appears we might be at cross purposes, the book to which I am referring is Enid Blyton's Adventure Treasury. So many Treasuries!
Ah, thanks Nigel! In a way, yes, I think we are at cross purposes! John and I are talking about Enid Blyton's Treasury (1947) :D However, the same story does appear in Enid Blyton's Treasury - where it first appeared.

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I didn't notice too many 'wells' in there on a brief scan-through. Are you being a little unfair to it, lol?! ;-)
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
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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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Courtenay »

Moonraker wrote:
Anita Bensoussane wrote: It's good to have thoughtful comments on the plots and characters (as we generally do), though once in a long while someone may post something provocative simply to get people going - and then sit back and enjoy the reaction (if they get one)!
As if I'd ever do that! Okay, it might cross my mind once in a blue moon ( :twisted: ) but I can honestly say not on this occasion.
I wouldn't do that either, needless to say. :mrgreen: :wink:
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by John Pickup »

I read Smugglers Cave the other day from the Treasury and enjoyed it. Yes, it is similar in plot to other Blyton adventures but I wasn't aware of the overuse of the word "well".
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Moonraker »

It was the overuse of the word 'dolefully' that really grated.
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Rob Houghton
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

John Pickup wrote:I read Smugglers Cave the other day from the Treasury and enjoyed it. Yes, it is similar in plot to other Blyton adventures but I wasn't aware of the overuse of the word "well".
Me neither. I actually read through it properly just now, and counted the amount of times the word 'well' was used - 6 times in nine pages, but a couple were used in different ways, such as - 'the place they knew so well' or 'well-hidden'. :-D
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
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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Rob Houghton
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Moonraker wrote:It was the overuse of the word 'dolefully' that really grated.
I think you're pulling our legs, lol! Dolefully appears once, while 'doleful' appears twice... :wink:
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
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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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Stephen »

I've finished Five Get Into A Fix. Oh my goodness, I really liked this one! The setting is both beautiful, and yet sinister and highly unsettling. Aily is almost like something from Folklore. I didn't quite believe that a child could roam around the snowy Welsh mountains in thin, ragged clothes - but I wanted to all the same! And the shepherd being "like one of the old prophets out of the Bible," conjured up all kinds of images.

And yet despite all this archaic feel, there's a strong hint of science fiction in the plot. The bit that stood out for me as a child was when they saw a shimmering mist in the distance...
"Look at that!" said Anne, in wonder. "Not red - not yellow - not orange. What colour is it?"

"It's not a shade I've ever seen before," said Julian, rather solemnly.
I always found the idea that you could suddenly be introduced a new colour you had never seen before a very peculiar concept, and apparently this sort of thing has even been discussed by philosophers. And yet Enid Blyton managed to fit it into one of her Famous Five books!

Also, the plot is very dark in the way that the old lady thinks her son has actually been murdered by the baddies - only for him to be one of the baddies himself. Surely Enid doesn't get much bleaker than this!

And this is where the name Barnard appears! I'd never actually noticed it reading this book before, but I've seen it mentioned on this forum. I'd never given it too much thought before, but it did strike me the first time I read 'Treasure Island' that Julian, Dick and Anne were unfamiliar with the name Kirrin. If it had actually been their surname, then the fact they were going to stay in Kirrin Cottage in a village called Kirrin overlooking Kirrin Island in Kirrin Bay would have made one of them point out their name was all over the place!

My next book is The Mystery Of The Disappearing Cat - my first read FFO.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by pete9012S »

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A great overview Stephen. Thank you.
I can still remember the snowy,wintery day my Mum came through the door with this book in the 1970's.
I absolutely loved it from the moment I saw the exciting front cover.
I loved the Betty Maxey internals too.

The Barnard name in this book was probably the one thing that confused,puzzled and upset me as a child out of the whole twenty one books.

The other puzzle came a few books later when they seemed to be able to bike over to Kirrin very quickly from the 'Barnard' residence!!
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I must admit I didn't notice the introduction of the surname 'Barnard' as a child, even though I read Five Get Into a Fix two or three times between the ages of eight and twelve!
Stephen wrote:I've finished Five Get Into A Fix. Oh my goodness, I really liked this one! The setting is both beautiful, and yet sinister and highly unsettling. Aily is almost like something from Folklore. I didn't quite believe that a child could roam around the snowy Welsh mountains in thin, ragged clothes - but I wanted to all the same! And the shepherd being "like one of the old prophets out of the Bible," conjured up all kinds of images.

And yet despite all this archaic feel, there's a strong hint of science fiction in the plot...

...Also, the plot is very dark in the way that the old lady thinks her son has actually been murdered by the baddies - only for him to be one of the baddies himself. Surely Enid doesn't get much bleaker than this!
A very interesting write-up, Stephen, which captures the essence of the book. Five Get Into a Fix is unsettling, as you say. To read it is to step back into the past and forward into the future - simultaneously! It's a story I enjoy as much for the eerie atmosphere as for the plot.

The notion of mountainous areas in Wales being old-fashioned, sinister and cut off from civilisation was made use of in a mobile phone advert some years ago. If I remember correctly, a man driving through a Welsh hamlet needed to contact someone (perhaps his car had broken down - I don't recall) and he asked for help at a farmhouse. The weather was bleak and, when the visitor explained his predicament, a man or woman (I forget which!) yelled "Die!" and the traveller cowered, thinking he was about to meet a sticky end, especially when a man appeared brandishing a pitchfork! It turned out that the word was "Dai!", not "Die!", and Dai revealed that it was possible to get a mobile phone signal despite being in such a remote place.
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