The Enid Blyton Society

For me it is her writing style, something about it, i can't really describe it well. She can make me picture a scene so real with a sentence or two especially about the glorious nature. There is no really difficult words too in all her stories. She could write about a simple story like Betsy-May and the toys in Amelia Jane and they feel so alive. I thought perhaps i prefer British authors but then again i find no British authors write the way Enid Blyton wrote.

Without a doubt, the secret passages and the landscapes. I am so amazed by them.

For me its the fact that underneath everything Enid writes is a real 'truth'. I can't put my finger on it - but her characters, situations, speech, plots, all have the ring of truth to them. They may sometimes be outlandish, fantastical, unlikely, but under it all is that 'truth'. She remains rooted in reality even though many of her plots and situations do not. The characters - even pixies, elves and giants, seem to live lives that aren't dissimilar to our own. We can identify with her child characters even if they are from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and above all, the words she uses paint such vivid pictures that our imaginations can embroider them at will, without worrying whether we've 'got it right' or not. Blyton's books are 50% her, and 50% us.

Simple - Enid Blyton's books keep me happy in mind and young in spirit. A happy mind is essential for a happy life and feeling young is far preferable to feeling old.

I agree with all you say IceMaiden. Not only are they wonderful escapism, but they take us back to a more innocent time where the simple things of life were so satisfying. Not only that, but they are very good stories!

She certainly had a great power to take us to a different world! I'm reading 'Five Go Adventuring Again' at the moment, and thoroughly enjoying it, even though I've read it a few times in the past. She had some special magic that I can never put my finger on!

billsmugs wrote: ↑28 Mar 2005, 00:01 Why do people enjoy Enid Blyton's books? I would like to ask this question for discussion. For me personally I enjoy that they were written and set in the forties and fifties, a time when people seemed to enjoy more simple pleasures, were less materialistic, places less crowded, quiet country lanes and beaches, less cars, a slower pace of life, village communities(no out of town shopping centres). Not being around myself in those times I don't know if my idealistic view is entirely accurate but it would be nice to think it was. The books for me are like a living historical document. The stories Secret Series, Adventure Series, Famous Five are exciting adventure stories in they're own right!
Being a keen walker and camper I love the outdoor bits about the wildlife(which I'm sure there was lots more of due to the older farming ways), the countryside, the landscape, the rocks, farming and not least the sea. I understand that Enid Blyton was a keen naturalist and birdwatcher. I like the way animals in her stories become like and are treated as people(quite rightly so for living feeling creatures). The appreciation and understanding of nature. That good overcomes bad. In conclusion the best of the past to be integrated into the future!
I'm sure I could think of loads of other things that I enjoy about her books but I would love to hear other peoples views!!!???

Although Bill's post goes back quite a few years - Enid Blyton's books go back a lot further.
Maybe our newer forum members would like the chance to answer and re-ignite this brilliant thread.

For me, finding Enid Blyton was happy and sad.
I had just finished the best book I had ever read in my life - Five On A Treasure Island and my mum noticed I looked glum.
I told her I was glum because I wanted to read more about the Famous Five - I didn't know aged about six or seven there were any other Five books.

My Mum told me not to be glum as Enid Blyton had written many more books about the Famous Five - as well as hundreds of other exciting books.

That was the distinct day my glum was replaced by fun - I still haven't come down to earth, or read all the books that Enid Blyton wrote - and that was thirty eight years ago!

When i started reading her books it made me happy. I love the element of animals speaking, wearing clothes, having houses and cooking, eating, sleeping just like myself and family. It was different and magical and i just wanted to keep on reading them. I uses to look in the roses and sunflowers to see if i could see a fairy, and imagined what i would say/do if i do see one. The magic was so strong for me and more so when i got into the other books - the adventure ones, i was in Blyton heaven. I uses to buy the cadbury chocolate to nibble when i would read the books, especially when food was mentioned in the books, i felt i was 'one' with them. The books would never be old or outdated for me, i just loved them the way they were written and whenever i read them, i feel like I am back in those 'innocent' times - and not in this modern world. It makes me feel good and at peace. Thank you, Enid Blyton for that and also my love for old or ruined castles, thatched cottages, farmhouses and gentle rolling farmlands.

Lovely posts, Pete and Anjalli. I used to look for fairies too, Anjalli, and decide what wish I'd make if a fairy were to grant me one!

I loved the sense of adventure, and the fact that the children were treated as individuals of intelligence and ability. The plot-lines actually created in me an enhanced appreciation of my ‘gut feeling’ about some adults that I (and my dog) distrusted on sight, and I think Enid Blyton did a great service to her readers by making them aware of their own abilities to make sensible appraisals of people and circumstances and to trust their own judgement. The psychological insights are so interesting to look at as an adult - I think the main thing was that Enid Blyton was child-centric, and child-affirming. It felt good to be recognised as a full person, not just a child persona, a seen-and-not-heard minor character in life’s ongoing comedy-drama.

Everyone - every child and many parents were reading Enid Blyton, we were all ‘on the same page’, we seemed to have the same basic values and expectations. I grew up with children from a range of backgrounds, who all knocked around together in groups without much friction - though some of the things we got up to!

As an Australian, Blyton’s child adventure worlds seemed very relatable, and apart from the villains, nothing was was terribly unfamiliar to me. As children we had a degree of the freedoms that Enid Blyton’s characters had. Mum would let us do whatever we felt like on our own time as long as we were back home in time for dinner, or by sunset, whichever came first, so we were kindred spirits with the free-ranging, independent children of the Blyton books.

I remember a family friend had brewed some home made ginger beer, so we persuaded dad to do the same in emulation of our various Blytonic heroes. One hot summers night we heard a series of loud bangs under the house as every bottle exploded - there was nothing much left of the contents of the two dozen bottles the following day.

The year I discovered the Famous Five, a lot of things were going on in my life - we moved house, away from an isolated bushland environment to the centre of the very small coastal town less than 2 miles from our original home, but much closer to the public lending library, replete with dozens of Enid Blyton books. It was 1959 and decades before ‘political correctness’ stripped them from our public and school libraries.
I got ill several times that year, bouts of bronchitis, a tonsillectomy and appendectomy, and was plagued by chronic asthma, so spent masses of time off school and had lots of time to read.

I also read a lot of phantom comics, and many Australian children’s novels: Books by Joan Phipson, Mary Elwyn Patchett, Patricia Wrightson, Mavis Thorpe Clark - many others. The Australian children’s novels also had a distinct sense of independence and freedom for their child protagonists, so they seemed to mesh pretty well into a consistent world view.

There are multiple reasons for loving enid blyton and her books.Enid blyton is a true phenomenon.-- her books convey happiness and cheer-- We all love people who make us happy isnt it?? And Enid Blyton always makes me so joyful.-- there are no negative approaches in her books-- everything is full of good vibes-- Also we learn.a lot -- how honesty, truth, hard work , kindness , generosity play a great part in ultimate gain.In strange messages-- Fatty.tells Ern-"when your paid to do a job its better to give five minutes more to itthsn five minutes less-- thats the difference between doinga job honestly and doingitdishonestly"

Nair Snehalatha wrote: ↑06 Jan 2022, 13:21 Enid blyton is a true phenomenon..

This is so true Nair, as I found out to my chagrin when I tried to find books by others authors to read that were as good as Enid Blyton.

Phil Raymond, on talking about the new Grange Hill film, said it will be gritty and real - not Enid Blyton!

Grange Hill was never very "Enid Blyton" anyway. Nevertheless it's a shame that our favourite author's name has become a byword for cosy, unrealistic scenarios. She wrote many "gritty and real" books such as The Six Bad Boys and House at the Corner. I would even class the Mistletoe Farm books as quite gritty as they deal with disasters and difficult family relationships.