What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

The books! Over seven hundred of them and still counting...
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Wolfgang
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Wolfgang »

Not exactly reading now, but I intend to start reading "Le mystère du golfe bleu" tomorrow. After a first glance it seems to have about 2/3rd to 3/4th of the volume of "Le mystère de la cascade", which means it's heavily abridged compared to the English text.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Katharine »

I've just started reading The Six Bad Boys.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by John Pickup »

I like to read other peoples opinions about Enid's work, their thoughts on the stories and their favourite books. Even now, I rarely notice strange coincidences and I certainly didn't when I read the books as a child. These holes in the plot don't bother me at all. Like others, I still get immense enjoyment from reading her work so, as Cathy said, who cares?
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

I'm sort of pleased to hear this from so many people, as the EB book I'm currently writing at the moment is based on quite a few coincidences!! :lol: :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: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

:lol: There are masses of coincidences in Shakespeare's plays and Dickens' novels! :wink:
Wolfgang wrote:I intend to start reading "Le mystère du golfe bleu" tomorrow. After a first glance it seems to have about 2/3rd to 3/4th of the volume of "Le mystère de la cascade", which means it's heavily abridged compared to the English text.
That's a shame, as The Sea of Adventure contains some memorable poetic descriptions and benefits from a deliciously slow build-up of tension. I hope those qualities aren't lost in the translation.
Katharine wrote:I've just started reading The Six Bad Boys.
I'm glad you've got a copy as I remember you saying you were longing to read it after coming across the extract in My Favourite Enid Blyton Book. I'd be interested to know what you think of it. I've loved The Six Bad Boys ever since I first read it as a child.
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Wolfgang
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Wolfgang »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: That's a shame, as The Sea of Adventure contains some memorable poetic descriptions and benefits from a deliciously slow build-up of tension. I hope those qualities aren't lost in the translation.
I skimmed through the first chapters, the episode with the governess is completely missing, the train part only comprises three or four passages, without the breakfast scene, so the slow build-up doesn't take place I'm afraid. :-(
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Thanks, Wolfgang. "What a pity," as Kiki would say.
"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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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Katharine »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Katharine wrote:I've just started reading The Six Bad Boys.
I'm glad you've got a copy as I remember you saying you were longing to read it after coming across the extract in My Favourite Enid Blyton Book. I'd be interested to know what you think of it. I've loved The Six Bad Boys ever since I first read it as a child.
Thanks Anita. It was quite by chance I bought it. I was in a charity shop today, and went to their collectable shelf (where I found a Pitman's College Commercial Practise book), and was on my way to the till to pay for it, when I thought I'd just run my eyes over the ordinary children's books and spotted The Six Bad Boys. I couldn't believe my luck. I've read over half so far, and might possibly finish it tonight, if not probably tomorrow. I think we've got a thread devoted to the book, if so, I'll put my thoughts on there.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

A lucky find!
"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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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Kate Mary »

I found a copy of The Six Bad Boys in the cupboard in my husband's old bedroom at his parents house, a first edition no less, no dj but better than my old Armada copy. I'm currently reading another heirloom, Five have a Wonderful Time another first, rather past its best, which has my big sister's name and address on the half title page. Great fun and brings back memories of our old home.
Last edited by Kate Mary on 12 Jan 2017, 10:14, edited 1 time in total.
"I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines." Oliver Goldsmith

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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by sixret »

Old books are always a treasure, Kate Mary! :D

I'm reading all 59 strip books booklets in Bom, Clicky, Gobo, Mandy, Mary Mouse, Mr Tumpy and Noddy at the moment. They are easy read! :D
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The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Yes, books that have been in the family for the whole of one's life - or perhaps even for more than one generation - are particularly special. I kept practically all my childhood books and they still constitute the core of my collection. Reading them takes me back to earlier days, bringing to mind people and rooms and gardens and objects I no longer see, and evoking certain happenings and feelings. A book which has been read repeatedly over the years accumulates many layers of memories. All may be awoken to some extent on a re-reading, but usually the memories of the very first reading predominate. After all, it's on that initial encounter that we form our images of the characters and settings - impressions that stick in the mind and come back to us when we pick up the book again.

I like finding my name scrawled in childish handwriting at the front of a book, or a note from the relative who bought it for me as a present, or a lingering scent of garden flowers, or a bookmark from days gone by slipped between the pages. All enhance the experience and make the past feel very close indeed for a moment or two.
"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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Kate Mary
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Kate Mary »

Beautifully expressed Anita, I quite agree.
"I love everything that's old: old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wines." Oliver Goldsmith

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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by sixret »

I remember you have mentioned that both you and your sister shared the pocket money to buy Enid Blyton books. Do you keep all the books now or some of the EB books are with your sisters?
I stand with justice and the truth. Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.

Learn the history. Do research.

The hypocrisy, double standard, prejudice and bigotry own by some people is so obvious.Shame on them!
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

When we eventually divided all our books, I went for the Enid Blytons while my sister went for the pony stories and Nancy Drews. Regarding things like annuals and Ladybird books, we took half each. Most of our other books belonged to just one of us even though we both read them. I had collected E. Nesbit, Noel Streatfeild, C. S. Lewis and L. M. Montgomery, so I kept all those. My sister had collected Joan Lingard and James Herriot, so she kept those. We split Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" series between us, but I later bought the titles I hadn't got so I now have the complete set.
"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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