Adventure series Readathon

The books! Over seven hundred of them and still counting...

Are you in agreement of having an Adventure series readathon?

Poll ended at 09 Nov 2008, 18:16

Yes
13
100%
No
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 13

Llywela
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Llywela »

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.
Anita Bensoussane wrote:Yes, the Adventure series does seem to be pitched older even though several of the Secret adventures are also dramatic and dangerous and involve going abroad. I think it's not only the style of writing that makes a difference, but the illustrations. The Secret books were illustrated by an assortment of artists, most of whom tended to make the children look on the young side, whereas Stuart Tresilian's artwork for the Adventure books captured the maturity of the children and the gravity of events.
It isn't the artwork in the Secret series that does it for me; it is the speech patterns and behaviour of the children that reads as much younger (as well as overall writing style). We are given the ages of the Adventure children as 11-14 in the first book, and they read as teenage pretty much right the way through (albeit with a few Doctor Who-ish 'what is it?' moments of asking questions just so someone else can deliver a bit of exposition for the young readers), whereas we aren't told the ages of the Secret children, but they come across as a lot younger in their ways and speech (pre-teen to the Adventure childrens' teens). Definitely a stylistic thing, for me. I'm afraid I'm not an afficionado of the illustrations the way so many on this forum appear to be, so I can't say they influence me in the same way!
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Anita Bensoussane
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Favourite book/series: Adventure series, Six Cousins books, Six Bad Boys
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

My own copies of the Secret books (1970s Armada paperbacks) have a different illustrator (Dylan Roberts) for the first three titles and he does make the children look a bit more grown-up - not teenage, but not as young as they appear in the pictures by artists like E. H. Davie and Dorothy Hall. So I too relied mainly on the style of writing to gauge the children's ages, which I put at around 9-12 in The Secret Island.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Chrissie777
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Favourite book/series: Famous Five, Adventure Series, Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: George Kirrin, Jack Trent
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Chrissie777 »

Llywela wrote:Hello, I hope no one minds me reviving this very old thread. I've lurked on this forum for a while, just out of casual interest, but this last week while off work with a nasty flu-bug, I was hit with a fit of nostalgia and dug out and read the entire Adventure series, which I vaguely remembered as a childhood favourite. Then I came here and found this old thread and spent some time reading through the entire thing!
Hello Llywela, I think it's wonderful that you revived that threat :)!
I re-read the Adventure series almost every year and read it in 2015 the last time. I have to admit that "Mountain" is not my favorite :oops: , because of the SciFi stuff inside the mountain (of course I like Bill's way of making sure that the children recognize him :)), but I never had a hard time believing that Philip was able to tame the Alsatians. There are such people out there who can instantly "communicate" with cats or dogs, lizards, bees, birds etc.
I'm sure of it, because I always got along fine with dogs I had never met before, and with cats, too.
Right now I'm re-reading the FF series which I hadn't read in several years, but plan to re-read the Adventure series later this year. My favorites are "Valley" and "Castle".

I am very impressed with your long post and hope to read more from you in the future.
Chrissie

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Nicko
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Joined: 18 May 2011, 15:44
Favourite book/series: The Five-Find Outers, The Adventure Series

Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Nicko »

I enjoyed LLywela's post as well. Being a North Walian I have never heard the "whateffer" or "look you" methods of speech either. Perhaps there is a solitary village in mid-Wales where people actually do speak like that. :wink:

Philip's way with animals (and Jack's with Kiki) is a little hard to believe but it has never really bothered me with the books.
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Francis
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Favourite book/series: Mountain of Adventure / Adventure and Famous Five
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Francis »

I tried saying "whatever" and "look you" to Izzy but she ignored me! Perhaps I ought to try them on Anita next time we have a meet-up - she's far too polite to do an 'Izzy'.
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Rob Houghton
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Rob Houghton »

As I said elsewhere, my dad was born in North Wales (near Denbigh) and I still have relations living there. We spent holidays there every year when I was a child and visited frequently and I never heard anyone saying 'Whateffer' or 'look you!' - sounds more South Walian to me!
'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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Llywela
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Llywela »

And as I mentioned in my post on the last page, I've lived in South Wales my entire life and have also never heard anyone saying 'look you' or 'whateffer',* so I'm pretty sure it's not a South Walian thing at all, but a Blyton invention designed to look colloquial without actually being colloquial!

*I will qualify that statement by adding that of course kids say 'whatever' all the time, but in a different context entirely. :D

And admittedly my life in South Wales has been from the 1970s on, rather than the 1940s when this book was written. ;)
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Courtenay
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Favourite book/series: The Adventure Series, Galliano's Circus
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Courtenay »

Llywela wrote: And as I mentioned in my post on the last page, I've lived in South Wales my entire life and have also never heard anyone saying 'look you' or 'whateffer',* so I'm pretty sure it's not a South Walian thing at all, but a Blyton invention designed to look colloquial without actually being colloquial!
Or else they're purely local expressions confined to the area of Doth-goth-oo-elli-othel-in. :mrgreen:
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
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Rob Houghton
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Rob Houghton »

My relatives do, on the other hand, say 'up yonder' and 'isn't it/' quite a bit! ;-)

It always amuses me, especially in 'The Ragamuffin Mystery' when Enid says she has written it for her Welsh readers...wonder what they made of the pseudo Welsh! :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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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Francis wrote:I tried saying "whatever" and "look you" to Izzy but she ignored me! Perhaps I ought to try them on Anita next time we have a meet-up - she's far too polite to do an 'Izzy'.
I won't let you leave the meet-up until you're able to say "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"! :wink:
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Daisy
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Favourite book/series: Find-Outers, Adventure series.
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Daisy »

You'd better start practising now Francis!
'Tis loving and giving that makes life worth living.

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Courtenay
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Courtenay »

Here's a recording of the pronunciation of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (from Wikipedia) if you need it, Francis! :wink:

Or else there's this one:
Two English tourists stopped for lunch in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
While eating, they called the waitress over and asked her:
"Could you settle an argument for us? Can you please tell us how to pronounce the name of this place... Very slowly?"
The girl leaned over and said in a beautiful soft Welsh lilt: "Burr... Gurr... King."
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
Llywela
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Joined: 02 Jul 2013, 15:43

Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Llywela »

Or you can just do what the locals do and say Llanfair P.G. :D
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Courtenay
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Courtenay »

Yep. 8) According to what I read somewhere, the town's original name was simply Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll (meaning "parish of St Mary's of the white hazel hollow") — the rest was added deliberately in the 1860s as a publicity stunt so the town's new railway station would have the longest name signboard in Britain!!
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
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Francis
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Favourite book/series: Mountain of Adventure / Adventure and Famous Five
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Re: Adventure series Readathon

Post by Francis »

Anita wrote
I won't let you leave the meet-up until you're able to say "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"! :wink:
I'll have to bring Izzy as she can say it - when we were buying old postcards in Paris she
pronounced it for the Paris dealers who had postcards of the railway station!
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