Secret Seven Readathon for Bonfire Night

[Rob Houghton]

I thoroughly enjoyed Secret Seven Fireworks - I finished it last night. Its probably one of the best for having the characters being used fairly equally - apart from Barbara, who seems to hardly feature! As a child, I was thrilled by the idea of the baddie hiding on the bonfire and pretending to be the guy - something I now wonder about, as it seems a bit unlikely! But its a thrilling little story with quite a tight plot structure.

I imagine that the 'Moon Rocket' would just be what we would call a 'rocket' - one of those we used to place in a milk bottle and it would soar up into the air like a rocket. I always liked those best as a kid.

As its still Bonfire Night season, I'm now reading 'Good Work, Secret Seven' - another Guy Fawkes story.

[pete9012S]

My younger brother Mike read all the books when he was about seven or eight years old. He never complained to me personally about the lesser literate quality of Enid's writing, but I did hear him chuckle now and again as he read the books above me in our bunk beds.

Perhaps he was laughing in pain at the substandard writing that was being proffered to him aged seven as the book's main target market - or he may have just been enjoying the stories...

I personally used to look down on the Secret Seven back then as I blazed my own trail aged nine through my much more superior and erudite Betty Maxey illustrated Famous Five books.


Sadly, to my chagrin, I made no effort to conceal to Mike that I thought his Secret Seven books were inferior tripe.
Until I secretly read Good Old Secret Seven.

The cover looked so exciting I just had to read it. I'm happy to say that surprisingly, I really enjoyed this book.
Yes, it was certainly aimed at a younger audience - but there was enough going on in these books to give me the stimulus for Mike and I to begin our own meetings with a few carefully selected chums in our own large garden shed.

I agree with Rob, that although I now own all the original dust-jacketed hardbacks, it's the Derek Lucas paperbacks that I enjoy re-reading the most.

[Daisy]

I'll take your advice Rob and read "Good work..." I knew there was another Fireworks story but couldn't work out which it was without some bit of searching. I'll read it tonight - and probably finish it in one sitting!

[Lucky Star]

I'll read it tonight - and probably finish it in one sitting!

Secret Seven books rarely take longer unless you deliberately string them out. SS Fireworks is a good read although I always prefer Good Work SS which somehow stands out more in my memory, probably because of Peter's ploy disguised as the Guy.

I too grew up with the Knight paperbacks and love their illustrations. I don'y own very many of the originals so in most cases it's hard to compare.

[Rob Houghton]

I'll take your advice Rob and read "Good work..." I knew there was another Fireworks story but couldn't work out which it was without some bit of searching. I'll read it tonight - and probably finish it in one sitting!

It used to be one of my favourites as a child, but reading the beginning, I find it a bit more pedestrian than 'Secret Seven Fireworks' - then again, maybe that's just because I must have read 'Good Work' at least ten or twelve times since I was 7 or 8.

Until I secretly read Good Old Secret Seven.

I think this is another of my favourite Derek Lucas covers. Its so atmospheric - the autumn colours are beautiful, and that brooding sky - so realistic, especially at this time of the year. I'm planning on reading that one after I finish 'Good Work Secret Seven'.

regards reading them in one sitting. I guess its all down to personal taste. I've never enjoyed reading a book that way -- perhaps that has something to do with the fact that at college and university I read so many 'prescribed texts' for essays, which seemed like a chore, and I would attempt to read them as quickly as possible. As I've said previously, I have only ever read one novel in one sitting, and that was 'More Adventures on Willow Farm'.

I much prefer to string out a novel across a week or even two weeks...or even three or four if its an 'Adventure' book etc. Secret Seven Fireworks took me around a week to read - just two or three chapters a day. That's how I prefer it - and how I've always read Enid's books since I was a child. I just don't enjoy books if I 'rush' them.

[pete9012S]

...
The 1960 and 1972 front covers compared...

[Daisy]

I don't rush, but maybe I'm quite a quick reader. Most books do take me rather longer! And I would rather see what happens next, than just read a couple of chapters. It isn't so bad if one knows the story already, of course, but I do find myself doing the old "just one more chapter" even when I know the outcome.
I clearly remember the first time I read "Five on a Treasure Island". We were always allowed some reading time in bed, then a call from a parent would say "finish the chapter you're reading and then put out your light". I got to the end of my chapter - and it was where Dick was climbing down the rope in the well... I just had to see what happened next, so when my mother appeared to put the light out as I hadn't done so, I begged and begged to be allowed to read to the end of the next chapter. As far as I can recall, she was merciful!

[Courtenay]

I can't help thinking that figure with the lantern from the 1960 cover bears a bit of a resemblance to William Holman Hunt's The Light of the World...

[Anita Bensoussane]

SS Fireworks is a good read although I always prefer Good Work SS which somehow stands out more in my memory, probably because of Peter's ploy disguised as the Guy.

I prefer Good Work too, partly because of Peter's Guy Fawkes disguise and partly because we get to see the less savoury side of the place in which the Seven live, i.e. the squalid-sounding little café and its shady clientele. It adds an extra frisson to the story.

I too grew up with the Knight paperbacks and love their illustrations. I don'y own very many of the originals so in most cases it's hard to compare.

As a child I borrowed some of the original hardbacks from the library at the same time as collecting (gradually) the Knight paperbacks, so I got used to seeing different illustrators. I like the shadowy look of the original pictures (especially the ones by Bruno Kay) but I agree that Derek Lucas's illustrations are appealing because of their realism.

[Nick]

A tad early but I couldn't resist and both books have been dusted off for, what is now, a yearly reread

Anyone else doing likewise?

[Daisy]

Good idea Nick, I'm happy to join in.

[Nick]

I’m not sure there is much to add to the thread this year but one little detail that I did pick up on was Peter still wearing the Guys cloths and wig whilst talking the adults through the mystery. It’s only at the end that his mother seems to notice

[Nick]

My yearly ritual has began and has never been more needed! I’ve just started to reread Secret Seven Fireworks and thought it interesting to put dates to the events in the book.

Wednesday/Thursday 17th/18th October (guesstimate) Susie teases Peter, Janet and Jack about the Secret Seven “falling to bits”
Saturday 20th October - First meeting to plan Bonfire Night
Saturday 27th October - Second meeting, firework monies collected, the bonfire is begun! The seven meet the villains near Burtons hut!
Monday 29th October - Mrs Strangeways house is broken in to. Colin requests a meeting!
Tuesday 30th October - Meeting about the break-in. Jack gives a description of the third robber to the Police
Wednesday 31st October - Follow up meeting, Jack tricks Susie
Thursday 1st November - Another meeting, a face at the window and Susie vows to destroy the bonfire
Friday 2nd November - The children buy fireworks, the shed is broken into with the guy’s clothes and remaining fireworks money is taken.
Saturday 3rd November - Another meeting, the Seven discover the firework money has been stolen, more bonfire building, holes dug in the field and Peter and Jack take Susie and her friends to the cinema
Sunday 4th November - The bonfire is wrecked, Peter and Janet find a button and spade in Burtons hut.
Monday 5th November - The robber caught in the field and a Guy Fawkes night is rained off
Tuesday 6th November - Crash, bang woosh. The end!

I think these are right, I’ve tried to work backwards as we are only really told that Bonfire Night is a Monday, perhaps someone else has it differently?

[Anita Bensoussane]

That's interesting, Nick. I wouldn't have guessed that the events of the book spanned nearly three weeks - though of course there are no signs of a mystery for the first ten days or so.

[Nick]

The yearly bump for this thread.

I'll be reading both books over the next few weeks if anyone wants to join in and share anything we've missed over the years.