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Re: Did Blyton expect the books to become as popular as they
Posted: 06 Sep 2017, 23:34
by Anita Bensoussane
I can see
First Term at Malory Towers and
Tales After Tea among the books, Pete, but I think there are one or two others as well. Great caption, by the way!
Wouldn't it be amazing if we could show Enid Blyton this website and the Journal - and take her into bookshops where she'd see shelves still laden with her books? (Hopefully, she wouldn't catch sight of the Bruno Vincent ones first!)
As for her possible thoughts on adult fans, I think you put it well when you say:
Hopefully she would realise that she has brought her fans along with her.They started out as childhood readers and simply refused to grow up and give up their love of Enid Blyton.
That certainly applies to me!
Re: Did Blyton expect the books to become as popular as they
Posted: 07 Sep 2017, 00:04
by Courtenay
Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Wouldn't it be amazing if we could show Enid Blyton this website and the Journal - and take her into bookshops where she'd see shelves still laden with her books? (Hopefully, she wouldn't catch sight of the Bruno Vincent ones first!)
As for her possible thoughts on adult fans, I think you put it well when you say:
Hopefully she would realise that she has brought her fans along with her.They started out as childhood readers and simply refused to grow up and give up their love of Enid Blyton.
That certainly applies to me!
Well said, Anita, and yes, that applies to me too. I can't see the picture in your post, though, Pete — is it just my computer being funny, or has something happened with the picture?
Re: Did Blyton expect the books to become as popular as they
Posted: 07 Sep 2017, 09:27
by Anita Bensoussane
I can still see the picture. Sometimes it helps to refresh the page or delete cookies. Computers can be frustratingly contrary!
Re: Did Blyton expect the books to become as popular as they
Posted: 07 Sep 2017, 09:33
by Courtenay
Oh yes, I can see it now. Good one, Pete.
Re: Did Blyton expect the books to become as popular as they
Posted: 07 Sep 2017, 14:54
by IceMaiden
pete9012S wrote:
(Can anyone recognise the books being signed?)
I think the question Yak poses at the start of this thread is a rather good one.I wonder what the opinion is from the numerous members who have joined us since the original question was raised.
Enid seemed to be making quite a reasonable living from her writing before The Famous Five etc came along and her career exploded exponentially.
I always have the impression deep down that she would have liked to have achieved success and recognition as an adult author writer like Agatha Christie too?
I do wonder what she would make of this forum with it age range from school age to superannuated would be too!
Hopefully she would realise that she has brought her fans along with her.They started out as childhood readers and simply refused to grow up and give up their love of Enid Blyton.
I appreciate that won't be the same in every case but it fits my profile. There are others too,who come back to Enid Blyton later in life and rekindle that first childhood love of her work and start reading/collecting her books all over again.
Some may be here because of the TV series from the 70' & 90's and some may have different reasons again for reading Enid Blyton's as mature adults.
I don't suppose it matters how we got here,the fact is we are all here and appreciate her enormous volume of varied and exciting work!
An interesting question. Personally I think she would be quite touched to know that her stories were still loved by so many, as I bet she never dreamed that the books she wrote for us to read as children would have such a profound lasting impression we'd be reading them with the exact same enjoyment as adults decades later. She'd probably think they'd been outgrown years ago as not many things you had as a child still hold the same magical appeal to you as an adult. Most of them have long gone or been stuck in a dusty box, occasionally taken out and glanced at while you're looking for something else. Enid Blyton books aren't though, at least not in my case, (and I'm guessing everyone else here is the same) they're on every bookshelf in the house ready to be picked up and enjoyed before bed just as they have been since before I could read them unaided, and with equally the same joy and enthusiasm. That is a pretty remarkable achievement that not many could lay claim to.
Re: Did Blyton expect the books to become as popular as they
Posted: 08 Sep 2017, 00:19
by KEVP
One biography I read (don't remember the title, sorry) said that she did once write a novel aimed at an adult audience, but it was rejected by the publisher, so she never again attempted to write anything other than children's books.
Re: Did Blyton expect the books to become as popular as they
Posted: 08 Sep 2017, 07:58
by pete9012S
Here's a section of the cave dealing with some of Enid's short story output for adults:
BLYTON PERIODICALS...
http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/sear ... eriodicals" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's a thread somewhere too about the adult book potentially recycled by Enid ...
Re: Did Blyton expect the books to become as popular as they
Posted: 08 Sep 2017, 08:05
by Anita Bensoussane
Yes, the adult novel was The Caravan Goes On. Barbara Stoney was probably the first to discuss it in her book Enid Blyton - the Biography (1974). Enid wrote The Caravan Goes On at the beginning of 1932 but failed to find a publisher and the manuscript has never come to light.
In 1956 she also attempted a play for adults, Summer Storm, under the pseudonym Justin Geste. However, I believe it was never published or performed.
Enid did have a few short stories and poems for adults printed in magazines and newspapers, many of which can be seen in the Cave if you click on Pete's link. Some deal with romantic relationships or romantic musings, e.g. 'The Man She Trusted' (a short story in Home Weekly, September 30th, 1922) and 'Man of My Dreams' (a poem in People's Friend, April 21st, 1923). Others are really quite quirky, including several short stories which take a well-known joke and expand it (e.g. check out 'An Unusual Reception' and 'The Reward of Virtue' in the Cave). Enid also wrote many articles for an adult audience on nature, education, bringing up children, etc.
I bet she didn't realise how many adults would continue to read her children's books though!
Re: Did Enid Blyton expect the books to become so popular?
Posted: 08 Sep 2017, 08:19
by sixret
