Finniston Farm: really quite poor

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Maggie Knows
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Maggie Knows »

Moonraker wrote:Image

I'm sure my wife and this chap could find any artifacts!
I've been watching the old Time Team episodes on 4OD from time to time over the past couple of months, starting with the first series back in 1993.

I'm currently somewhere in among series 6, from 1999.

It was great stuff, and very interesting. One of the sites they were investigating did immediately make me think of Finniston Castle actually !

I think they have 16 out of the 20 series currently stored on 4OD - not sure why they haven't got all 20, but I am hoping to find the missing ones on You Tube when I get to the gaps (I think the missing ones are series 13-16 or something)
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Moonraker
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Moonraker »

Phil told us there were still 4 in the can. Since then, two have been shown on C4.
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Enikyoga
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Enikyoga »

It was a book that was more of a treasure hunting expedition rather than having a crime involved, unlike the other Famous Five books.
Stephen I.
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yarvelling
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by yarvelling »

Yes.... it was.
However, the 'treasure hunt' seemed to be all too quick and convenient; started and solved virtually within a few hours, whereas in the real world, that sort of effort would have taken weeks to investigate, test, inspect, set up organised digs.....
Even real criminals would have had more difficulties than this plot provided.
It was a fun book, but a very thin and light-weight plot compared to most others.
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by StephenC »

I rate Five On Finniston Farm as the second poorest of the whole FF series; only the woeful Five Are Together Again, beats it for mediocrity! There are hardly any sympathetic characters in the book at all, which makes it difficult to have any affection for it!

By the by, Finniston Farm was published in 1960, 2 years after the excellent Five Get Into A Fix. Has anyone ever noticed that no FF book was released in 1959?
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Deej »

Enikyoga wrote:It was a book that was more of a treasure hunting expedition rather than having a crime involved, unlike the other Famous Five books.
Stephen I.
I think Blyton intended the book to be about those who were greedy and spoilt being defeated by those who respected tradition and old-fashioned morals of how to behave.
Maggie Knows
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Maggie Knows »

That's a good summary I think.

Does anyone else see the parallels with the Treasure Hunters story ?
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by StephenC »

Yes, there are parallels between Finniston Farm and The Treasure Hunters. The Treasure Hunters was a far superior book, without a doubt. One of the best of the Blyton one-off books. In hindsight, I wonder whether Enid ever wished she had kept the plots of her best one-offs, like The Treasure Hunters and The Boy Next Door, for use as plots for FF or other series books. A Famous Five/The Boy Next Door story, would have been a whole lot better than some of the later FF books like Finniston Farm and Together Again.
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Katharine »

It's quite a while since I read this book, and it was never one of my favourites, so I'm not that familiar with the story. However, I've recently been listening to an audio version of it. I'm not sure how closely it follows the book, however one thing struck me as really odd. That's the attitude of the FF towards Junior. Admittedly some of his manners seem a bit lacking, but the FF seem to think it's wrong that he doesn't help around the farmhouse. Why on earth should he, he is a paying guest! If I pay to stay in a B & B, I don't offer to wash up after the meal. If I was going to do the housework, I might just as well save my money and stay at home. :roll:
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Daisy »

I got the impression when reading the book that Junior was making work - asking for breakfast in bed and leaving a mess everywhere. Added to that he was arrogant rather than at all sorry about it.
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Courtenay »

StephenC wrote:Yes, there are parallels between Finniston Farm and The Treasure Hunters. The Treasure Hunters was a far superior book, without a doubt. One of the best of the Blyton one-off books. In hindsight, I wonder whether Enid ever wished she had kept the plots of her best one-offs, like The Treasure Hunters and The Boy Next Door, for use as plots for FF or other series books.
Hmmm, interesting thought - for me, though, the stand-alone books (of which The Treasure Hunters is my favourite, and indeed one of my favourite Blyton books ever) are all the more special and stand out all the more because they are one-off books. The characters and situations are new and feel fresh; we're not being put through the same tired old "here we go again" sort of stuff as we are with many of the later FF books. Also, sometimes it's nice to have a story that's complete in itself and doesn't have multiple sequels that keep trotting out the same characters and putting them through adventure after adventure. That's my take on it, anyway.
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Moonraker »

I totally agree, Courtenay. Yet, paradoxically, I rather wish there were more (high quality) Find-Outers' books!
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Catbury »

I always found it strange that the twins would look so much alike. For once, they are a boy and a girl, so obviously they can't be identical twins. Even if there are similarities between non-identical twins, I think it would be easy telling them apart - even more so if it's a boy and a girl, and even if the girl tries to look like a boy.
Maggie Knows
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Maggie Knows »

The same thought strikes me when I watch or read Twelfth Night
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Re: Finniston Farm: really quite poor

Post by Courtenay »

Maggie Knows wrote:The same thought strikes me when I watch or read Twelfth Night
I know... I had Twelfth Night as an option for a university-level literature class, and within a very short time I was thinking "Hang on... did even Shakespeare not know that male and female twins CANNOT BE IDENTICAL?!" (He had a twin son and daughter himself, for goodness' sake... :roll:) Of course, though, biological accuracy in this case wouldn't allow for the fun of cross-dressing mix-ups. :mrgreen:
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
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