FF - Downhill after Hike?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Quite a few people have tried listing the Famous Five titles in order of preference in the following thread:

https://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/for ... re#p174013" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Irene Malory Towers]

I agree with Nick, bar one - I loved Five have a wonderful time. I loved the escape from the castle and the fact they they only just stumbled on the prisoner, and also the interaction between them and the circus people. Yet again Jo comes to the rescue - and in the 3 books she appears she does save them. I won't go as far as ranking them and lots of people have done that - except to say the very good ones were - Hike, Fall into Adventure, Wonderful time, Smuggler's Top (the best) and Into Trouble. Then there were some good ones like Camp, Caravan, Kiren Island Again and Down to the Sea. And then for me the rest are not good, even poor I would say. I think that a series of 21 is far too long - not only was EB ill anyway at the end, but one just runs out of ideas. I see that so many times - in books, films, TV series. Keep them short and wanting more !

[pete9012S]

I read the series in order and enjoyed them all immensely the first time round.

For some reason I couldn't get Hike, so I was bought the annual in 1977 instead. I loved that and also Hike in book form when I got it a few years later.

I read the last two books the wrong way round, so for me book twenty is always the last Five book - even now.

Didn't like Mystery Moor out of all the books when little as I could not take to Henrietta in any shape fashion or form.
Now I quite enjoy Mystery Moor, as it's a book I have re-read very few times compared to all the others.

My gripes after Hike? Very minor - Barnard confusion and Julian and co suddenly living a cycle ride from Kirrin.
Apart from that I loved all the books intensely in my youth and couldn't get enough of them!

[StephenC]

Two of the best FF books came after Hike Together, namely Wonderful Time in 1952, and Mystery Moor in 1954. I have consistently rated Mystery Moor, as the best book of the series, although many people seem to hate it. Plenty of Fun, in 1955, started the downhill slide, in my view, although the third and final appearance of Ragamuffin Jo, was a saving grace in the book.

[Irene Malory Towers]

amendment to my rough groupiing. I also did not rate Mystery Moor highly as a kid but rereading it as an adult I class it as one of the very good Famous Five, along with Smuggler's Top etc. Not sure why as a kid I didn't like it but I certainly do now. I actually liked the interaction between Harry and George, it was nice to see George realise how irritating and immature she is. Although in the end she is a lot braver than Harry as for her it was all talk and not much action. Perhaps the atmosphere of the moor helped and the fact that there was a real air of menace from the baddies. I do hope Sniffer got his bike ! and a nice home to live.

[Snehalatha]

Five.Run Away.together -- five.get into a fix --Finniston farm.are all lovely.books of the famous five.Its difficult to choose

[FiveFanDownunder]

My gripes after Hike? Very minor ... I loved all the books intensely in my youth and couldn't get enough of them!

I think for me it's along similar lines. It would be a great thing to read them all again but I've got a few things on the go at the moment.

Quite a few people have tried listing Famous Fives in order of preference

Indeed they have. A more substantial set of posts than I was expecting. Cheers!

[StephenC]

One problem with discussing the general decline of the FF and SS series from 1956 onwards, is that this final period of Enid's career, produced some outstanding books. Five Get Into A Fix, published in 1958, is an excellent FF book in my view, and stands equally with the Get Into Trouble - Mystery Moor sextet, that ran from 1949 to 1954. Shock For The Secret Seven, the antepenultimate SS book published in 1961, was a great SS book, with two themes running concurrently; the potential breakup of the Secret Seven, and tracking down a clever dog thief in Peterswood. And I also thought that Secret Seven Mystery, published in 1957, was an interesting book, with the main theme being the search for a missing schoolgirl. Not a typical Blyton plot device. But sadly, these aberations, were the exception, rather than the norm.

[Katharine]

I've just started reading Five Go to Billycock Hill. I've had the book since childhood, but it's one of the last ones I received, so didn't read it as often as the earlier ones, and am not as familiar with the story as I am with others.

Just a couple of chapters in, and so far I'm enjoying it. I suppose it could be criticized for being very similar at the start to other Enid Blyton books, ie, a leisurely ride through the countryside, stopping for an ice cream on the way (which Timmy as usual swallows in one go), and lunch at the top of hill with a lovely view, but for me that is also the beauty of the book - it is familiar and comfortable.

I do have a slight quibble about the timing of the story, as it starts with them looking at a map, and then they have to gather their lunch etc before setting off, and yet after 6 miles or so they appear to be stopping for a mid-morning ice cream, so they must have set off really early, and yet Aunt Fanny was only then returning from the shops at the start of the book, which either means that the shops in Kirrin opened very early, or they cycled the six miles very quickly.

I liked the reference to Uncle Quentin getting annoyed in an early story when they turned a table upside down.

I find it odd the way Enid calls a piglet a 'piggling', but maybe that's a regional 'thing'.

I did pick up on one small 'mistake', when the little boy comes running after the baby pig with a "smile just like his brother's" and he is then asked if he is Toby's brother! For a start the girls had never met Toby so wouldn't know what his smile was like, and secondly, if the boys thought the smile was the same, then surely they wouldn't need to ask?

The edition I'm currently reading is fairly modern reprint, and has an annoying reference to jeans and anoraks. I suppose the latter could just about be excused, but I can never understand why shorts have been replaced with jeans. It's especially silly as the book has the original illustrations in!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I find it odd the way Enid calls a piglet a 'piggling', but maybe that's a regional 'thing'.

Maybe "pigling" is an old-fashioned country term for a piglet, like "coney" for rabbit? Beatrix Potter also uses it in The Tale of Pigling Bland, published in 1913.

[pete9012S]

The edition I'm currently reading is fairly modern reprint, and has an annoying reference to jeans and anoraks. I suppose the latter could just about be excused, but I can never understand why shorts have been replaced with jeans. It's especially silly as the book has the original illustrations in!

Eileen Soper: The definitive bathing drawers - Betty Maxey: The poor man's choice - shorts or trunks

When I read the Maxey's I liked the fact that the guys wore what I wore, jeans and sneakers etc.
I also like the 'olden' wear presented by the greatest artist who has ever lived, Eileen Soper.

[John Pickup]

I also like the 'olden' wear presented by the greatest artist who has ever lived, Eileen Soper.

At last!

[Daisy]

I also like the 'olden' wear presented by the greatest artist who has ever lived, Eileen Soper.

At last!

And I've just picked myself up off the floor, John!

[Katharine]

The edition I'm currently reading is fairly modern reprint, and has an annoying reference to jeans and anoraks. I suppose the latter could just about be excused, but I can never understand why shorts have been replaced with jeans. It's especially silly as the book has the original illustrations in!

Eileen Soper: The definitive bathing drawers - Betty Maxey: The poor man's choice - shorts or trunks

When I read the Maxey's I liked the fact that the guys wore what I wore, jeans and sneakers etc.
I also like the 'olden' wear presented by the greatest artist who has ever lived, Eileen Soper.

Pete, didn't you wear shorts then as a child?

I don't remember 'sneakers' in any of the versions I've read, but if they are mentioned, then I wouldn't have felt it had any connection to my life, as I've always considered the phrase to be American, and not relevant to an Enid Blyton story. I can understand updated versions of the bathing costumes, although they would have been old-fashioned when I read the stories in the 1970's, but I didn't have any problem accepting the term.

[Deejay]

I think a lot of the earlier books in the FF series are stronger, but there are some good ones after Hike.

For me, Fix, Plenty of Fun and Mystery Moor are all excellent reads to name a few!