The Enid Blyton Society

Hayleymoomin wrote:Ahhh a whole thread on This!!! Fantastic. Obviously I know the books aren't real and are purely from Enids imagination but I love exploring them like this

The books are fiction, Hayleymoomin, but I like the idea that EB probably got inspired to write the Famous Five series during her many Isle or Purbeck vacations in Dorset.
One of our forumites, timv, wrote a book about the FF book locations which will disclose more.
I can't wait for it to be published!

I pondered over the “Kirrin” vs “Barnard” surname when I first read the 21 books, and watched the 1978-1979 series.

But only for a while.

Enid Blyton is human, like any of us here. Proof reading was pretty different back when the original books were written, and with the speed at which Enid churned the books out, it’s hardly surprising there were errors. That’s all they are - errors.

So many far-fetched theories here - mild reference to incest, Uncle Quentin being mercenary enough to marry Aunt Fanny for her estate, Julian, Dick and Ann’s mother remarrying after their dad supposedly died etc. Why think so deeply about what’s an obvious oversight on Enid’s part? Isn’t it much easier to accept the discrepancies for what they are, rather than theorise?

Welcome Siena. I totally agree with you - it was a slip which Enid herself admitted to, (although I can't remember where at the moment). Yes, I was puzzled when I first read the name, but it really is obviously just a mistake. I do question the proof reader of the time though!
There are other mistakes in her books which have all been mentioned at times, but they don't take away from the enjoyment her books have given us - at least not to most of us, I think.

You may enjoy reading this thread. http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... f=4&t=5475" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes, Siena - like Daisy, I totally agree. None of this ever occurred to me as a child. My advice to a new reader is to enjoy the stories and waste no time wondering if Enid's imaginary places existed or to try to work out the family tree! My grandson never asks me any of these questions, either. He just loves the stories.

I agree, it never bothered me either (mind you I didn't read many Famous Fives as a kid!) - but I read the Find Outers and Secret Seven and loads of other Blyton books. Sometimes I was surprised that the characters had nurses and Nannies and cooks etc...but it didn't stop me reading - I just thought Enid's characters had these things as part of the story, and didn't question them. I thought all story-book characters had maids and cooks!

I think the name Barnard is used in 'Five Get Into A Fix'...or am I mistaken? I must admit, that was a strange mistake to make, but in actual fact none of the surname thing makes sense. Quentin is a Kirrin but of course so was his wife before she got married. Its all very well to suggest they were cousins...but it isn't very usual...and Uncle Quentin's side of The Kirrins obviously didn't inherit the castle or island etc - it was inherited by George''s mother's side only. So it would make sense that Julian and DIck etc were Barnards rather than Kirrins.

I have often commented on the anomaly of the 'other' adult Kirrins having no Christian names. George never referred to either parent as Uncle so-and-so or Aunt so-and-so. I know they didn't feature as much as Quentin and Fanny/Margaret/Frances, but it seems strange that they weren't given Christian names.

I'm in total agreement with the previous posters. When I first read these books as a child I was so enthralled with the storylines that I never noticed the mistake regarding the children's name. I'm not the slightest bit bothered where the books are set, they all exist differently in our imaginations and that's what counts.
Welcome Siena.

As a child I did notice it, but, didn't give it much thought- never let a minor detail prevent me from getting to the adventure.

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. I really appreciate it!

John Pickup wrote:I'm in total agreement with the previous posters. When I first read these books as a child I was so enthralled with the storylines that I never noticed the mistake regarding the children's name. I'm not the slightest bit bothered where the books are set, they all exist differently in our imaginations and that's what counts.

Same here, I've never noticed the discrepancy as a child. But I read the German translations, maybe the German editor caught it?

I noticed the Barnard discrepancy as a child reading the books.

It was the only thing in the whole 21 books that puzzled and perplexed me as a child reader- but it wasn't until Tony posted a detailed explanation on these forums somewhere that I understood a bit better the explanation.

I'm half jealous that so many people read the Famous Five as children. But then again, I had the pleasure of discovering all but two of them as an adult! By that time, I'd already read loads about the Barnard thing, so I didn't actually notice it myself without having already read about the discrepancy.

I don't think we can blame an imaginary "proofreader" for the discrepancy. Because I am certain there wouldn't have been the same proofreader for all 21 books. There wouldn't have been someone who compared one book with another. It's only us fans of the books who have read the books and compared them. Somebody just reading one book would never notice the problem.

The fans of ANY "fictional universe" or "continuity" all have this same problem. Inconsistencies that come from the fact that the creators of the stories don't have the same obsessive interest in the stories that the fans do. This goes at least as far back as Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The fans of those have long noticed problems like the location of Watson's wound apparently moving (is it in his shoulder or his leg?) and that sort of thing.

Chrissie777 wrote:

John Pickup wrote:I'm in total agreement with the previous posters. When I first read these books as a child I was so enthralled with the storylines that I never noticed the mistake regarding the children's name. I'm not the slightest bit bothered where the books are set, they all exist differently in our imaginations and that's what counts.

Same here, I've never noticed the discrepancy as a child. But I read the German translations, maybe the German editor caught it?

"Sind sie denn wirklich schon gesund genug, um in die Schule zu gehen?“ fragte Frau Bernhard besorgt.
„Doch, doch! Nur müssen sie diesen Husten loswerden“, erwiderte er und blickte hinaus auf den Schnee. „Am besten wäre..., nein, vielleicht ist es gar nicht möglich, aber...“

I had the dramatised audiobook before I read the book, in the audiobook it doesn't matter because it starts when the children make themselves comfortable in the little hut. When I read the book for the first time I caught it immediately because in the dramatised audiobook of "Finniston Farm" the children introduces themselves as "We are the Kirrins".

Thank you, Wolfgang. Now I know why the name discrepancy never became as obvious to me as to other forumites: "Finniston Farm" is one of the 6 FF volumes that I skip whenever I reread the series. Because I usually only read my 15 favorite sequels.