The Sea of Adventure

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Anna Moss
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The Sea of Adventure

Post by Anna Moss »

I and my dad are currently reading the sea of adventure together in our free time. I am on the bit where phillip gets captured when he sneaks out to tell Bill about the man behind the bush, when he finds bill was the one who accidently caught him and thought he was someone else! I think it is a really exciting story, and I really can't wait to see what happens next! Any comments on what you thought of the sea of adventure?
gareth jones
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by gareth jones »

Hi Anna.
The Sea of Adventure was the very first book of Enid's i read, it was way back in 1968. I'd been naughty and my teacher had kept me indoors at playtime as punishment. So i picked up this book and started to read and i was hooked from then on. So my punishment turned out into years of pleasure for me. I loved the Sea of Adventure then and it still remains as one of my favourites. I like the wildness of the location.the Islands and the remoteness of it all, very much like St Kilda's which is on the tele now. Hope you and your dad enjoy the book.
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Daisy »

I feel quite envious of you Anna - reading the Sea of Adventure for the first time. It has always been one of my favourites and one I often return to when I want to escape from the world and its worries! I'm sure you and your Dad will enjoy it very much.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

gareth jones wrote:The Sea of Adventure was the very first book of Enid's i read, it was way back in 1968. I'd been naughty and my teacher had kept me indoors at playtime as punishment. So i picked up this book and started to read and i was hooked from then on. So my punishment turned out into years of pleasure for me.
What a great story, Gareth! :)

The Sea of Adventure is one of my favourite Blyton books too. The descriptions of the voyage and the seabirds are wonderful - Blyton at her best - and the adventure is thrilling. Whenever I read it, it leaves me longing to go off travelling.

Let us know what you (and your dad) thought when you've finished it, Anna.

Anita
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Tony Summerfield
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Tony Summerfield »

Funnily enough The Sea of Adventure was the first Blyton book that I read too! I was about your age, Anna, perhaps a little younger and I remember reading the bit you describe in bed at night. I lived in a remote part of Devon and remember peeping nervously through the curtains and being petrified that I was also going to see a face in the bushes. I don't think I would have gone down to investigate if I had seen someone, more likely to have jumped back into bed and dived under the bedclothes! :lol:
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Stephen »

I must have been about 10 or 11 when I first read this. I remember thinking that seaplanes sounded like the best form of transport ever invented. A plane designed to actually land on the sea! Who'd have thought of it?

It is a great story, isn't it? When I was a child I marvelled at the adventure of it all, but now as an adult, it's startling to consider these aren't just some inept crooks out to steal a Siamese cat or a pearl necklace. They're gun-runners who are clearly prepared to kill if necessary. And even though it's not quite Lord of the Flies, you still get the clear impression the children are isolated from civilization and need to help themselves in order to survive. Also, their loyalty towards Bill is very touching.

Mind you, what was all that Horace stuff about? Didn't like the way they treated him at all!
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Lucky Star
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Lucky Star »

How strange is this? The Sea of Adventure is also the first Blyton book that I read. :shock: It was obviously an influential book. :wink: It got me hooked on Blyton and I have re-read it many times.

Anna you are just at the start of it. Soon they will head off to Scotland by train and thence by a wonderful little boat (ahem :wink: ) out in to the vast green sea and myriad small islands. The atmosphere of lonely grandeur, the exciting plot and thrilling ending are all treats which await you in this book. It is Blyton at her very best IMO. Enjoy.
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Viv of Ginger Pop »

Lucky you (and Dad!)

When you get to the bit about Euston railway station, remember that the book was written in 1948, and they are travelling by Steam Train.

The link below shows you what Waterloo station looked like in 1948

http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/resu ... e=10282828" target="_blank

I'm off to bed, travelling far, travelling far

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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Timmy-the-dog »

hi all - this is one of my favourite books too. Wow, you're bringing back so many old memories, especially the train journey and Euston, Viv
I went on a week's camp to Keswick in the Lake District - I think in 1967 but could be a year or so out!! - steam train out of Euston via Liverpool and Penrith. It was a great adventure in those days for a small boy. At some point in the journey there were loads of people taking photographs all along the track and we later found out we were on the last steam train to run in that area. Wish I had had a camera myself - no record of such a great trip. :(
Sea of Adventure always reminds me of this - I can just imagine their excitement
cheers
woof,woof!!
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Belly »

Glad you are enjoying it Anna. Let us know what you think as you get further along.

I read the Mountain when I was about your age and can still feel the thrill I got to this day!

Viv, that was interesting. The station looked very busy but strange due to a lack of shops and smaller somehow.

The clocks prominence is interesting. In some of the work I do (helping to reunite the children of American WW2 GIs with their children born in England at the time) children to be adopted were handed over under the clock at various stations to adoption workers. They were treated often as if they were a 'parcel' but that's a whole other debate/story.

Also Enid in her work often, I think, has Bill etc meet the children under the clock. I always think if I was asked to meet someone under the clock at say Paddington, I wouldn't know where to begin to find them!

Goodness knows how they managed in the days before mobile phones (no way of explaining unexpected delays, etc)!
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Viv of Ginger Pop »

The Waterloo painting is one of a pair, painted for the anniversary of Southern Railway. The 1948 shows the station reverting to peacetime, whilst the link below shows how the station had been just a few years earlier.

http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/resu ... imagepos=2" target="_blank

You may be able to spot that the soldiers have swapped khaki for dress uniforms, and the Sailors have become Scouts!

I bought the posters for myself at the National Railway Museum in York, but sometimes stock a lovely jigsaw puzzle of the paintings. It is useful to show children what is meant by a Blyton train journey!

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Belly
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Belly »

The jigsaw idea sounds great, thanks for posting these Viv.

I have a snakes and ladders game that dates from about 1944. I play it with my girls (although they are a bit young really). It is a bit weatherbeaten but tells the story of an old fashioned (steam) railway journey, complete with 'left luggage', signals etc. I love it! My husband laughs at me!
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Moonraker »

If you want to see Waterloo in all its glory, watch the BTF film, Terminus. It is the story of a day in the life of Waterloo Station, and is really good. It is possible to view the opening scenes here.

By the way, good to see you're still here, Anna; I was only thinking recently that we hadn't heard from you in ages. You are so lucky reading Sea for the first time, it really is up with the best of Enid's books.
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Anna Moss
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Anna Moss »

Yes, sorry i haven't been on the forums for ages, i was quite busy. But i certainly missed you a lot!!! But gareth, if your teacher made you stay in at playtime why did she let you read? Reading is the best glory ever, and definitely not a punishement - especially an Enid Blyton book!! Or did you sneakily get it out? By the way, tommorow I have got Bullers Wood induction day, because I have to leave my school :( and i shall be sad to leave, but I like the look of the new school I shall be in. I'm nervous starting secondary school and I hope i make a good impression tomorrow at induction. Luckily my freind Phoebe (from my present school) is coming and shall be in the same class as me, and we get on just perfect. I hope for the best!
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Re: The sea of adventure

Post by Viking Star »

Best wishes for tomorrow Anna!

The school sounds nice, and as you say, you will have your best friend with you. So it sounds quite promising!
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