The Enid Blyton Society

Like Rob, I always wish Mr. Martin was shown leading a rather more unconventional life.

Rob Houghton wrote:I also love Snubby's idiocy - and I never found that term 'not nice' - just affectionate and rather friendly-like! Maybe I misinterpreted it!

I don't think you did misinterpret it. Enid Blyton surely intended readers to thoroughly enjoy Snubby's idiocy!

Rob Houghton wrote: Its also odd that Barney's father is never actually seen to be an actor, I don't think - except in the 'back story'. Enid seems to abandon this idea once Barney finds his father. Mr Martin certainly doesn't come over with any verve and doesn't ever become the exciting character Enid has painted him as previously. You can hardly imagine a glamorous circus girl falling for him! He actually seems rather blandly middle-class, whereas Enid could have made him a bit more exciting and dashing as he's supposed to be an actor in Shakespeare's plays! Instead, she seems to have given both Barney and Mr Martin a 'head transplant' by the fifth book!!

Mr Martin suffers from Enid's often remarked upon inability to portray really interesting strong men. She concentrates on the plot in Rat-a-Tat to the detriment of the peripheral adults. I agree Rob, Mr Martin's career seems to have evaporated in this book!

Perhaps Mr Martin decided that, now he had found Barney, he maybe didn't want to be going off all round the country acting any more, perhaps he wanted to be at home for Barney.

Before he found Barney he could do what he liked and go anywhere, and had no idea of Barney's existence, but after they found each other he might well have wanted to stay home, rather than disappearing all round the country in plays, and not having much time for Barney.

That's a nice idea Cathy - I wish Enid had said so though!

Yeah, same here.

Perhaps Enid just took it for granted that everyone would automatically think that was the only thing for Mr Martin to do; the logical thing.

She probably assumed that it wouldn't even occur to anyone that Mr Martin might still want to be an actor and go off all round the country - he's found Barney so the only thing that would be in his mind would be staying at home and being Barney's dad.

There is still a hint of the 'travelling ways' in Ragamuffin because they're off driving round touring the country together, so obviously Mr Martin wants to spend time with Barney but still in a bit of an unconventional way and something they both are fond of and used to (Barney as a traveller and Mr Martin as an actor).

I guess we should be thankful that Mr Martin hasn't totally caved and got himself some office work!

Lovely to see the discussion getting vivid.

Well, now. A lot of things could have happened that we as the readers can only guess about - like the hardliners in the Martin family having died over the last 15 years or so - and some other having had time to think and to reconsider positions. After all, we only meet Barney's father and grandmother, who seems quite nice indeed. What was her stand on the marriage and the running off with the circus 15 years ago? Was she supporting her son and her husband was not? If he was the same sort of domestic tyrant we sometimes see in Mr Lynton, I wouldn't be surprised about him putting his foot down. Or was it her digging her claws into her boy, not wanting to let him go at all and especially not with a circus girl? We cannot but guess here.

As for Mr Martin being somewhat bland - he sure would not be the first actor who albeit brilliant on the stage was a bore in normal life. Or Mr Martin comes across as bland Middle Class but has a fire burning underneath or is a deep thinker. All possible and once again we are left to guess here.

And well, the Barney metamorphosis, it could have been done better. After all, asking yourself about your own character and your own role in life is quite natural at the age EB put that series at. So, it would have been nice if there had been more there. We will learn in the chapters of Rat-A-Tat - usually in a few bylines - how Barney felt. We also learn of how he acts - well, he would be getting along famously with 'my big brother' Julian... level headed and sensible, albeit a bit bland, dull and nearly too good a lad to be true. Sorry Ju, really I am sorry to tell you that.

So, does Barney's character suffer - or are some deep-rooted attitudes beginning to show? It is very much up to interpretation, and he still is a likeable character.

I would imagine that Enid Blyton found Mr Martin's occupation to be pretty much irrelevant when she sat down to write Rat-a-Tat. Her priority as always was to remove all parents from the scene as quickly as possible and get on with the mystery. This she does. It is a pity that she could not have found some way to make Barney and Mr Martin more interesting; they could have been portrayed as travelling together around the theatres of the country with Barney training as an actor maybe but as Daisy said she often had trouble with strong male characters (though she did well with Bill Smugs) and so obviously chose not to waste much time and trouble on Mr Martin.

It's a difficult series to put in order but here goes anyway:

1) Rubadub
2) Rilloby Fair
3) Ring o Bells
4) Rat-a-Tat
5) Rockingdown
6) Ragamuffin

I notice that we all seem to be very firmly placing Rubadub, Ring o Bells and Rilloby Fair as the top three so Courtenay you seriously must read at least these three books. They really do rank among Blyton's finest work ever.

I notice most people rank 'Ragamuffin' right down the bottom of the list - while I rank it higher...but I think this has to do with teh fact that Ragamuffin and Rilloby Fair were the only two in the series I read as a child. The others I came to fresh as an adult. I read Ragamuffin Mystery in a paperback while on holiday in North Wales...so maybe the setting had something to do with the fondness I have for that one!

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
I agree that Rilloby Fair is a brilliant title, sparkling with humour and intrigue. It's in third place for me too, my order of preference being as follows:

1) Ring O' Bells
2) Rubadub
3) Rilloby Fair
4) Rockingdown
5) Rat-a-Tat
6) Ragamuffin

I wasn't quite sure whether to put Rat-a-Tat before Ragamuffin, or vice versa. Rat-a-Tat always seems a bit daft to me, and Ragamuffin a bit drab. In the end, daftness won out over drabness!

And where do you put "Rumlington", Anita ?

Daisy wrote: Mr Martin suffers from Enid's often remarked upon inability to portray really interesting strong men.

Don't forget Bill Smugs!

As John has already remarked.

Lucky Star wrote:... they could have been portrayed as travelling together around the theatres of the country with Barney training as an actor maybe but as Daisy said she often had trouble with strong male characters (though she did well with Bill Smugs) and so obviously chose not to waste much time and trouble on Mr Martin.

Wolfgang wrote:And where do you put "Rumlington", Anita ?

I wish I could actually remember it well enough to rank it!

Anyway, I'm still enjoying Rat-A-Tat Mystery - any Blyton book is good - it's just occasionally that I think 'meh!'

Daisy wrote:As John has already remarked.

Lucky Star wrote:... they could have been portrayed as travelling together around the theatres of the country with Barney training as an actor maybe but as Daisy said she often had trouble with strong male characters (though she did well with Bill Smugs) and so obviously chose not to waste much time and trouble on Mr Martin.

Ah, I missed that post — thanks, Daisy. Mind you, the fact that she did brilliantly (I think ) with Bill means that Enid didn't have too much trouble imagining and portraying strong, likeable, interesting adult male / father-figure characters when she wanted to.

Really, I would say overall she doesn't have a huge number of outstandingly strong and memorable adult characters — male or female — in her writings as a whole. I can't think of any adult character other than Bill, in fact, who actually accompanies the main child characters regularly and becomes an integral part of their adventures. Of course there are plenty of adults who are essential to the plot in many of her books, but her focus is nearly always on the child characters, while the adults tend to be less well developed, so to speak. Maybe she figured her young audiences would be more interested in reading about people of about their own age rather than potentially boring grown-ups? I don't know.

Wolfgang wrote:And where do you put "Rumlington", Anita ?

No, the big question has to be how you rank The Rhubarb Mystery