I agree that Barney's status change is a big downfall from Rat=a-tat onwards, and I think it's also easy to tell that Enid had lost interest in the characters and was merely writing another one to please her readers rather than herself - a big mistake when it comes to writing. It all feels tired and now that Barney is civilised there's no thrust to the story, neither is their the feeling of continuity as there was in the first four books..Lucky Star wrote:rat-a-Tat and Ragamuffin feel very different because of the change in Barney's status. This makes them obviously "add ons" to the series. Despite that I like them both. Rat-a-Tat is particularly suited to this time of year as it is set in bitterly cold snowy weather.Robert Houghton wrote:then started Rat A Tat, but gave it up halfway through, as I feel it's so weak.
I started reading it because of the setting - and must have read it a couple of times before at least, but I'd never read it straight after Rubadub, and I think this didnt help at all, as Rubadub is so very well written, and the two are bound to compare unfavourably.
Rat-a-Tat has some great plot ideas, but Enid never seems to really develop them, and in fact she often dismisses them. Everyone gets all excited about the knocker banging, or footsteps leading only one way to the door etc and then they all sit down to breakfast. Snubby sees the snowman looking in the window - but it's made silly rather than frightening - every scary and unexplained occurrence seems to be wiped away in the next paragraph by tea and scones or bacon and eggs or a game of cards. Instead of Enid building up the tension and dragging it out, keeping us on tenterhooks, she dismisses things, never allowing the tension to reach even the point of mild fear. I know this is a children's book, but she managed scary things much better in other stories. I much prefer 'The Secret of Moon Castle' which has similar plot ideas but is much better done in my opinion.
