The Mountain of Adventure Vs The Secret Mountain

[Poppy]

***Spoiler Warning for both books***


I have recently read The Secret Mountain and The Mountain of Adventure and enjoyed as well as was impressed with both novels. Both are quite similar in relation to the storyline, but the plots are quite different; for instance The Secret Mountain's plot is based on religious beliefs. The 'red-headed tribe' want to sacrifice a life to the sun god, and the 'mad genius and his bunch' in The Mountain of Adventure want to risk lives for their experiments. I love both books but The Mountain of Adventure appeals to me most because it involves the characters I prefer out of the books. Also, in my opinion, it seems a little more realistic. By this I mean the tribe in 'Secret Mountain' must have been pretty potty to want to throw bodies down a mountain; especially children. I know people are tailored to their beliefs, however I think the tribe must have been extremely hard hearted to take a life of a child by doing such thing. I loved the idea of the eclipse, however. It was a brilliant original idea, beautifully thought out and very entertaining to read. The 'wings', a part of The Mountain of Adventure is a nice scientific idea; rather terrifying to read about. It was a great aspect of Lucy-Ann's personality to stick up for Philip and offer to jump out the plane in place of him. I was never over-keen on Lucy-Ann's personality, but this boasted my admiration and respect for her at once. It was grand to hear Bill shout his remark; was it something like "Don't forget Bill Smugs!" when he flew off in the plane with Philip. Quite a complex plot, all in all. Thoroughly enjoyable, however. Mafumu adds an extra mark for The Secret Mountain; he seemed a nice, brave kind of boy in spite of his Uncle's (?) harsh treatment. Like Mafumu was in The Secret Mountain, David is Jack, Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann's guide. Although David did not bargain to take the children on his own, I still thought it was foolish and silly of him to run away from them. Even the children weren't as cowardish as he was. They were all in the same situation after all. I very much enjoyed reading about the scientific entrance to the mountain in The Mountain of Adventure; I wonder if Enid had a scientist as a friend or relative who worked these things out for her, or perhaps he shone in subjects such as Science, too. I was interested to read about Allie and Bill's true feelings for one another and that they finally decided to get married. Wasn't an obvious pair, but they make a nice couple in the later books. So what does anyone else think about these two books? Which do you prefer?

[Carlotta King]

You know, I honestly don't know which to choose!
The characters from the Adventure series are my favourite characters, but The Secret Mountain appeals to me because I love the exotic setting and the wonderful descriptions of the landscape and their trek to the mountain itself. It reminded me almost of Conan Doyle's Lost World!

I remember loving Mountain of Adventure as a child; the eerieness of the lonely mountains, the lovely descriptions of the scenery, the stream, their camping places etc and the wonder of the mountain with the eerie dark pool in the cave the crystal boxes and the amazing lamp. It was so thrilling and exciting!

But then again I adored The Secret Mountain with its foreign country, the thrill of flying off to a dangerous unknown land, the strange and beautiful scenery there, the mysterious tribe, the strange hidden way of getting into the mountain and the amazing eclipse. So many more details that fascinate me but I won't bore you with listing them all!

I think The Secret Mountain just has the edge for me because of the setting, and I'm a real sucker for a good old adventure in foreign lands.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Although the Adventure series is my overall favourite, in this particular case I prefer The Secret Mountain because the story is so incredibly thrilling all the way through, with a real sense of danger and daring. However unlikely the "lost race" and "eclipse" strands might be, the events of that book revolve around a remote and insular community so they don't seem as improbable as the notion of a mad "king" inhabiting a Welsh mountain, carrying out crazy and deadly experiments involving paratroopers who are brought in from outside.

[Poppy]

Interesting to see the comments here. Yes, it is a thrilling idea flying through the night towards and unknown country to find their parents in The Secret Mountain. Ranni and Pilescu proved faithful and worthy servants of Paul! I think another reason why The mountain of adventure takes the edge for me is because it is a little more complex, and shows a lot of intelligence. I really like the idea of a pet goat, too; Snowy seems adorable!
Just remembered, there was a secret entrance to the mountain in The Secret Mountain, too. Enid certainly did have a large stock of secret entrances saved up in her mind! Didn't they have to touch a certain part of rock for the rock to slide open and uncover the entrance?

[Carlotta King]

Yes it was a kind-of balancing rock if I remember right. And there was a fantastic golden door behind it

[Moonraker]

I'm a real sucker for a good old adventure in foreign lands.

Yes, me too! I think that's why I so love the Adventure series. Speaking of mountains, we often used a phrase back in the 50s that you rarely hear now:

If the mountain won't come to Mahomet then Mahomet must go to the mountain

It used to fascinate me as a child, imagining a mountain walking to someone! I have just read the phrase in an Agatha Christie story, and I decided to look up the origins:

The earliest appearance of the phrase is from Chapter 12 of the Essays of Francis Bacon, published in 1625:

Mahomet made the people believe that he would call a hill to him, and from the top of it offer up his prayers, for the observers of his law. The people assembled; Mahomet called the hill to come to him, again and again; and when the hill stood still, he was never a whit abashed, but said, If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill.

[Lucky Star]

Speaking of mountains, we often used a phrase back in the 50s that you rarely hear now:

If the mountain won't come to Mahomet then Mahomet must go to the mountain

It used to fascinate me as a child, imagining a mountain walking to someone!

[Carlotta King]

Ah the Far Side, so funny, got some of the books

[Carlotta King]

I'm a real sucker for a good old adventure in foreign lands.

Yes, me too! I think that's why I so love the Adventure series.

Me too! The locations for the Adventure series are just amazing, I wish there were more - maybe old forgotten Indian ruins in the jungle, or somewhere similar to Macchu Picchu, or somewhere tropical, or mysterious Russia - with Bill able to work all over the world on missions there is so much scope for more adventures!

[Julie2owlsdene]

I can't quite remember how the Secret Mountain reads now, as it's been a few years since I read it, but I think a reference was made in the Cave that both books were in a similar league.

[Lucky Star]

Like Anita I love the Adventure series but on this occasion I am plumping for The Secret Mountain. In fact I think that both Secret Mountain and Secret of Killimooin are due the ultimate Blytonian compliment; that they are worthy of being a part of the Adventure series. Though heaven knows what Dinah would have made of the African wildlife.

I always find the beginning of The Mountain of Adventure to be rather slow. Yes Enid does her usual good job of setting the scene and describing the natural landscape and the glorious farmhouse meals but the rambles and the long trip to the vale of butterflies is definitely less exciting than the lead up in The Secret Mountain. There we have a thrilling idea followed by an exciting plane ride and then the trek through the jungle in search of the mountain itself.

In both books the activities inside the mountains are very exciting. We have thrilling descriptions of the heroes creeping through darkened pasageways, slipping in and out of caves, desperately avoiding baddies and effecting daring rescues of others. The baddies are equally intriguing; a lost tribe of sun worshippers as opposed to a mad "king" and his japanese paratroopers. One lot wants a human sacrifice, the other wants a human guinea pig who will almost certainly die in the experiment.

The characters in each book are particularly strong although in the Secret book it is Jack, Mafumu, Ranni and Piescu who take the main roles while in the Adventure book it is, as usual, the four best characters of all who carry the honours. The ends are equally thrilling also. On the one hand we have the desperate "killing of the sun" followed by flight on an airplane whereas on the other hand the aircraft fails and a tense journey back down through the interior of the mountain ensues followed by fleeing from manhunting dogs.

I think it is the exotic and perilous trek through the African jungle that elevates The Secret Mountain just a little above it's rival. The excitement starts almost from the first chapter whereas with The Mountain of Adventure we have to plough through nearly half the book before the action suddenly explodes. As a personal thing I must say that Mountain has mostly been my least favourite Adventure book whereas as Secret Mountain is a longstanding childhood favourite.

[shadow]

The Secret Mountain has Prince Paul in it so therefore The Mountain of Adventure wins hands down !!!

I also have a 1970's copy of The Mountain of Adventure with a prize plate stuck in. I remember going to the shop to pick my prize book and read it loads. Bit of an unfair comparison for me.

[Carlotta King]

Haha I take it you're not keen on Prince Paul?

[Ming]

If the mountain won't come to Mahomet then Mahomet must go to the mountain

I am quite sure I have read this quote in a Famous Five book and I am reasonably certain that it was said by Julian, only in my copy Mahomet was replaced with Mohammad.

It's been a while since I read either so I can't comment properly yet, but it is interesting to read people's views.

By this I mean the tribe in 'Secret Mountain' must have been pretty potty to want to throw bodies down a mountain; especially children. I know people are tailored to their beliefs, however I think the tribe must have been extremely hard hearted to take a life of a child by doing such thing.

I actually didn't have any problems believing this because I'd seen the film Apocalypto on TV around the same time as I read The Secret Mountain. It was terrifying, to say the least. In the film a South American tribe attacks another tribe, and kidnaps them to offer them up as a sacrifice to their god. Men, women, children were all sacrificed.

Also, much earlier, on a trip to India, we passed through a forest quite close to our northern borders (I cannot remember the name of the forest). The tour guide bade us all to keep our eyes down whenever we passed a person for some reason. Once or twice we couldn't resist looking up and we regretted it instantly, since the roadside in places was decorated with several freshly beheaded heads.

I'd like to clarify that this isn't a general thing in India, probably an isolated incident common to that small area.

[Poppy]

Interesting to hear of your travels Ming.

The Secret Mountain has Prince Paul in it so therefore The Mountain of Adventure wins hands down.

I'm not that keen on Paul either but in The Secret Mountain, he proves magnificently brave which I respect him for, as well as of course when he is kidnapped in The Secret of Spiggy Holes.