Five Get into Trouble Talking Points

[dsr]

In "Finniston Farm" they introduce themselves "We're the Kirrins".

Maybe after all those years of boarding school in term time, holidays with George in holiday time, they had forgotten who their parents were.

[Nair Snehalatha]

One thing I dont.understand is why Ern is invited to dinner in the kitchen with the cook-- Its in Strange Messages-- and Ern is always afraid that Fatty may not include him in the tea invitation.to the dairy-- And Ern.adored Fatty-- am sure he would have.been Fatty's right hand man-when Fatty becomes at Scotland Yard--.Ern would be very loyal and trustworthy. Julian, Dick and Anne's father was brothet.to Uncle Quentin
It must have been.Quentin Barnard.The surname Kirrin was from George's mother's side-Perhaps-- .Anyway , they were loving cousins which matters most

[Courtenay]

I'm pretty sure I've seen a statement by Enid somewhere — maybe it was reprinted in one of the Journals, or copied into a post somewhere in the forums here — where she answers a reader's question as to what the Famous Five's surnames are, and she states very clearly that Julian, Dick, Anne and their cousin George all have the surname KIRRIN. As someone else has pointed out, Enid also later claimed that the mention of "Mrs Barnard" in Fix was a mistake (for which she blamed her publisher, apparently...).

I do think Enid was a bit vague about names of ancestors. There is an anomaly on "Five go Adventuring Again" regarding the name of the occupants of Kirrin Farmhouse which is Sanders. Mrs Sanders claims that the recipe book the children found belonged to her great-grandmother Alice Mary Sanders, but surely she had married into the Sanders family and would have had another name before that. I think we just have to accept that these references are a careless moment in great stories where these points do not actually make any difference to the plot.

Oh yes, I'd forgotten that one — an even clearer example than the Treasure Hunters anomaly. Maybe Enid had gone by her own maiden name in public for so long, even after being married twice, that she forgot that the vast majority of married women in her time took their husband's surname?? (I'm only joking there, but she does seem to have a bit of trouble with these concepts.)

I also remember how much it stood out in The Rilloby Fair Mystery that it's unclear whether Great-uncle Robert is Mr or Mrs Linton's uncle — he has the surname Linton, and yet a couple of times Mrs Linton speaks of things she and Great-uncle Robert did together when she was little. Either Roger and Diana's parents were childhood sweethearts and their families were exceptionally close, or there's even more inbreeding going on here, or Enid just never thought things out clearly when it comes to family relations!!

[Nair Snehalatha]

I dont think there was.any in breeding-- Perhaps.Enid did not pay much attention to these little points
But I am sure Great uncle Robert was Mr Lynton's great.uncle in Rilloby.fair.mystery
I.dont recall Mrs lynton.making any comments.on her.childhood with uncle Robert
If I am wrong , sorry.

[Katharine]

I'm pretty sure I've seen a statement by Enid somewhere — maybe it was reprinted in one of the Journals, or copied into a post somewhere in the forums here — where she answers a reader's question as to what the Famous Five's surnames are, and she states very clearly that Julian, Dick, Anne and their cousin George all have the surname KIRRIN. As someone else has pointed out, Enid also later claimed that the mention of "Mrs Barnard" in Fix was a mistake (for which she blamed her publisher, apparently...).

Yes, it's in Journal Seven - an extract of a letter she sent explaining the error.

[pete9012S]

Yes that is correct Katharine - I too remember that.

[Boatbuilder]

I'm pretty sure I've seen a statement by Enid somewhere — maybe it was reprinted in one of the Journals, or copied into a post somewhere in the forums here — where she answers a reader's question as to what the Famous Five's surnames are, and she states very clearly that Julian, Dick, Anne and their cousin George all have the surname KIRRIN. As someone else has pointed out, Enid also later claimed that the mention of "Mrs Barnard" in Fix was a mistake (for which she blamed her publisher, apparently...).

Yes, it's in Journal Seven - an extract of a letter she sent explaining the error.

Don't tell our member Barnard he is a 'mistake'.

I do wonder how a publisher could make such a mistake? It's not just a mis-spelling but a completely different name. Surely it must have been in the original manuscript and it wasn't spotted by the proof reader. If not, what is in the extract of the letter, Katharine?

[Barnard]

It was because Anne, Julian and Dick were mistakenly called Barnard in one Famous Five book that I decided to take it as my username. My real first name is Alan.

[pete9012S]

Pleased to meet you Alan!

[John Pickup]

Are you sure it's Alan? Not Julian?

[Barnard]

Definitely!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I do wonder how a publisher could make such a mistake?

I'm sure they couldn't! Enid Blyton was probably just too embarrassed to admit to her readers that she had forgotten (when writing Five Get Into a Fix) that Julian, Dick and Anne already had a surname!

[pete9012S]

All these years I had assumed these illustrations depicted the Five just outside the huge gates of Owl's Dene.
My recent re-read and the arrival of new books with the original cover has made me realise how wrong I was!

[Lucky Star]

The original first edition cover is head and shoulders above the reprint cover. It looks so much more realistic.

[pete9012S]

It is rather good, I agree John.

Any takers for this German interpretation?