Modern editions.

[MJE]

     Just an hour or two ago today, I went into a book-shop, and had a look at what Enid Blyton books are available nowadays; and I made a number of interesting, and perhaps unsettling, observations about the quality of Blyton publications now.

     The first thing I noticed was a number of cheap hardcover books combining 3 novels together, some of these originally published as short single novels, or as pairs. The covers looked reasonable, even if I didn't find in them the magic I might have seen in covers from earlier decades. I took a look inside, trying to look for particular passages that I felt sure would have been changed, although didn't notice anything in particular. I saw illustrations in some of these books, and wasn't much impressed by any of them.

     I was appalled to see that a pothole was described as "1 metre wide". How ridiculous is this? At least when I was in Britain, it was still normal to use feet, inches, pounds (weight), and so on. Sounds like some variant of P.C. editing to me - completely destroys any sense of atmosphere.
     I bet lots of other changes I didn't notice were also made. Needless to say, I didn't buy any of these; I was just curious to see what current editions are like.
     The first sentence in "The Children of Kidillin" was clearly altered to begin, "In 1940, ..." Obviously the editor felt it necessary to make it clear at the outset that this story was set during the war, and is a period piece now. Clearly this was editorial, since Enid Blyton never mentioned years at all, far less in the first sentence of a book. Sounds harmless enough; but I would have preferred to leave the text as it was and added an editor's foreword explaining the historical context, if that was felt necessary.

     There were also series books published in large paperbacks with 3 books per volume: Famous Five, Secret Seven, Find-Outers, and the like. I was a bit surprised to see Eileen Soper's Famous Five illustrations used, although the quality of reproduction was quite appalling and clunky. I also wonder if some of the original illustrations were left out.

     Secret Sevens were printed as single volumes, as well as triads (I think - maybe I'm getting confused now). I took a look at one at random: "Go Ahead, Secret Seven". I almost shuddered at the illustrations, which looked to me to be the work of a rather untalented junior-school art student. In one illustration, the old man, John Pace, looked nothing like the description of him in the book - rather like some 1960s hippie type rather than a bald, bent old man.
     And a row of dog cages joined together appeared in one of the illustrations: the illustrator couldn't even be bothered to see that the edges were straight (or even *slightly* straight), and met up approximately at corners, that the bars were straight, and that each door had the same number of bars. Rectangular objects have to at least *look* rectangular in illustrations, even if they are not drawn geometrically accurately with a ruler, and not look as if they are about to fall to pieces. It was just appalling.
     I almost said it was cartoonish in its quality, but then realized I would be doing an injustice to cartoonists, who may produce a casual, uneven look, but which can actually be quite obviously skillful when you look more closely. But I did not even get that impression here - it was almost like the doodlings of a primary-school child, as I said above.

     I saw several slim volumes of Famous Five short stories. Well, that's a way of screwing more money out of children likely to be short of cash: publish each story separately and pad it out with huge print and many, many illustrations, instead of putting them all in one volume, as was done earlier.
     It looked as if all the Famous Five short stories were published in this format, although I don't think quite all of them were there on the shelf. I was puzzled that "Five Have a Puzzling Time" didn't look any thicker than the others, even though in the 1995 volume "Five Have a Puzzling Time and Other Stories" the title story filled about half the volume, or the number of pages of all the remaining stories combined: the text size looked the same, and also so did the illustration density: a further look showed that it was an abridgement (probably quite a drastic one), whereas the others appeared to be complete.
     As for the illustrations: they were simply *appalling*: even worse than the Secret Seven ones I described above, if that was possible. Not like junior-school art students of little talent - that would be praising it too much: little more than five-year-old scribblings, as far as I could see.
     I was really puzzled, also, that various words in the text were printed larger than usual, in a seemingly random pattern. I don't know if they were trying to emphasize words they considered important, but I'm sure words were printed in at least three different sizes. It looked totally distracting to readers.
     I also saw school story covers done in this "scribble" style, which I think have been discussed on the forum previously. I hardly need add a comment here saying what I think of these.

     I am rather sorry to see the state of Blyton publication these days, and feel the magic has died, just eaten up by a frankly commercial racket exploiting her work (and mercilessly mutilating her text when it suited them).

Regards, Michael.

[Katharine]

Interesting comments Michael, especially about the different size of the text. I wonder why the books were printed like that.

Regarding metres/feet. Although imperial measurements are still in common usage in the UK, it's a bit of a mish-mash. Speed limits are still in Miles Per Hour, and many goods still show both grams and ounces on the packets, but as far as I'm aware, it's illegal to sell anything in pounds or inches. My local butchers had to invest in new scales a few years back to comply with the new regulations, but they still have one set of scales which just weighs in pounds and ounces. The meat has 2 price labels on, showing prices per kilo and per pound. I think I've only ever heard about 2 customers ask for their meat in kilos, everyone else uses pounds.

However that's my generation and older. My children are only taught metric measurements at school, and wouldn't have a clue how wide a hole measuring 3 feet is, whereas they should know how wide a metre is.

[MJE]

... as far as I'm aware, it's illegal to sell anything in pounds or inches.

     I find that outrageous, if it's actually illegal - sounds like a police state to me.
     I despise the way my own country has so slavishly gone the whole way like a bunch of sheep, and it makes me wish I lived in Britain. My feeling about it is roughly the way one here might feel if the government required us all by force of law to learn Chinese and to speak it in everyday life - perhaps to enhance trade relationships with the Chinese or something - or if the U.K. government required everyday life in Britain to be conducted in French or German, to assist relations or trade with the European market.
     I regard it as just as much of an assault on our heritage and culture as that hypothetical example would be.
     Anyway, regardless of all that, I find it absolutely fatal to the atmosphere of a story like that - totally breaks me out of the world of the story in an instant.

However that's my generation and older. My children are only taught metric measurements at school, and wouldn't have a clue how wide a hole measuring 3 feet is, whereas they should know how wide a metre is.

     I know of no other authors who are bowdlerized in this manner, so I don't see why Enid Blyton should be.
     I suspect that governments get an agenda about the way things should be done, and schoolchildren are brainwashed into that from an early age by official decree.

Regards, Michael.

[Anita Bensoussane]

  
     The first sentence in "The Children of Kidillin" was clearly altered to begin, "In 1940, ..." Obviously the editor felt it necessary to make it clear at the outset that this story was set during the war, and is a period piece now. Clearly this was editorial, since Enid Blyton never mentioned years at all, far less in the first sentence of a book. Sounds harmless enough; but I would have preferred to leave the text as it was and added an editor's foreword explaining the historical context, if that was felt necessary.

I agree, Michael. If it was felt that the historical context wasn't clear, it would have been much better to add a brief foreword than to tamper with the text.

  

  
     I saw several slim volumes of Famous Five short stories. Well, that's a way of screwing more money out of children likely to be short of cash: publish each story separately and pad it out with huge print and many, many illustrations, instead of putting them all in one volume, as was done earlier...
     
     ...I was really puzzled, also, that various words in the text were printed larger than usual, in a seemingly random pattern. I don't know if they were trying to emphasize words they considered important, but I'm sure words were printed in at least three different sizes. It looked totally distracting to readers.

As you say, Michael, the volumes containing just one short Famous Five story are poor value for money and I would never have bought them if they'd been available in that format when I was a child. I liked to get a lot of reading for my money - and still do! And yes, the random words in different sizes are annoying and could be particularly disruptive for children whose reading isn't yet fluent.

[Katharine]

Michael, I can't find anything on the internet to confirm my thoughts about the legislation about weights and measures, but I'm reasonably confident I'm right. I don't think my local butcher would have gone to the expense of buying 3 new sets of scales if he didn't need to.

As for other languages, well 10 years ago when I worked in a playgroup we were criticised by OFSTED (the official body who inspects all schools) for not having a welcoming sign up in different languages. My local primary school has 'welcome' up on the wall in about 20 different languages (maybe more).

[Anita Bensoussane]

You are right about weights and measures, Katharine - though the rules are different in Northern Ireland:

https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and ... easurement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Katharine]

Thanks Anita, I must have been looking on the wrong bit of the Governments web-site.

[MJE]

As you say, Michael, the volumes containing just one short Famous Five story are poor value for money and I would never have bought them if they'd been available in that format when I was a child.

     I probably *would* have, because I was pretty hungry for anything about the Famous Five. Perhaps the publishers realize children will fall for it; but it seems like a cynical way of squeezing more money out of a group that is likely not to have much money by general social standards. That just doesn't seem right to me.
     Do you know if the single-volume edition of all the stories is still available, Anita?

And yes, the random words in different sizes are annoying and could be particularly disruptive for children whose reading isn't yet fluent.

     Do you have any idea why they may have done that?

Regards, Michael.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm not sure if the single volume containing all the Famous Five short stories is still available, Michael. As for the random words in different sizes, I suppose the wackiness is considered "cool"!

Burger chains like McDonald's sell a burger called a Quarter Pounder. Aren't they breaking the law? Surely they ought to retitle it 113.4 Grammer!

Edited to add a bit more.

[MJE]

Michael, I can't find anything on the internet to confirm my thoughts about the legislation about weights and measures, but I'm reasonably confident I'm right.

     Oh, I never doubted you, Katharine - just found it outrageous if true. I still believe in the apparently old-fashioned idea that, if something you do is not hurting or endangering anyone, then it should not be a crime. But I'm also cynical enough (or just observant enough, maybe) to see that governments do not subscribe to this philosophy. All sorts of things now are crimes that I would never have dreamed of being so 20 or 30 years ago.

As for other languages, well 10 years ago when I worked in a playgroup we were criticised by OFSTED (the official body who inspects all schools) for not having a welcoming sign up in different languages. My local primary school has 'welcome' up on the wall in about 20 different languages (maybe more).

     What a lot of nonsense. Fair enough if people want to do this; but it should not be a requirement, either legally or by social pressure. After all, it is an English-speaking country.
     One thing I really object to is the increasing tendency to dispense with English-language indications on signs or public fixtures, and replace them with little pictures which are meant to convey the meaning - obviously trying to cater for non-English-speaking people. But I often cannot figure out what the little pictures are meant to be, and they convey no meaning at all to me; or sometimes I know what object the picture is showing, but still don't know what it's trying to tell me. I really object to that, and feel the English should be there as well, if the pictures really have to be.
     What, with one thing and another, you could almost feel you were a foreigner in your own country.

Regards, Michael.

[MJE]

Burger chains like McDonald's sell a burger called a Quarter Pounder. Aren't they breaking the law? Surely they ought to retitle it 113.4 Grammer! :wink:

     The Americans seem to be the only English-speaking country left with the guts to say, "No way - we're going to stay with our English-language heritage". Australia and New Zealand have lost long ago, and Britain seems to be wavering, and I guess it's only a matter of time before they fall.
     I regard it as a new style of European imperialism.

Regards, Michael.

[MJE]

I'm not sure if the single volume containing all the Famous Five short stories is still available, Michael. As for the random words in different sizes, I suppose the wackiness is considered "cool"! :roll:

     I don't see how it could be deemed "cool". I assumed it might have been an educational attempt to alert children to important or possibly new words, though. But this prompts two thoughts, if true:
     I imagine many children would not touch with a ten-foot pole anything they thought was trying to "educate" them; and, if this is what it is, I find it quite patronizing to inform child readers in that way what words they should consider important, and what ones they shouldn't.

Regards, Michael.

[Anita Bensoussane]

An interesting thought, Michael. I don't own any of the Famous Five Colour Reads - I've just seen them in the bookshop and library - so I can't check whether the highlighted words appear to have any significance. The illustrations look zany to me, so I assumed the differing sizes of text were all part of the general madcap presentation!

[MJE]

The illustrations look zany to me,

     You are kinder and more polite than I am, Anita.

so I assumed the differing sizes of text were all part of the general madcap presentation!

     I find that bizarre, if that's what it is. Why didn't they print all nouns in blue, all verbs in red, all adjectives in green, all adverbs in purple, all pronouns in grey, and so on? (Running out of colours.) They might as well - and it might be "educational".
     I am finding the world weirder and weirder as the years go by, and feeling less and less part of it.

Regards, Michael.

[Katharine]

Michael, I can't find anything on the internet to confirm my thoughts about the legislation about weights and measures, but I'm reasonably confident I'm right.

     Oh, I never doubted you, Katharine - just found it outrageous if true.

That's ok Michael. My memory isn't all I would like it to be, and I just wanted to be sure I hadn't got half a fact right.

Why didn't they print all nouns in blue, all verbs in red, all adjectives in green, all adverbs in purple, all pronouns in grey, and so on? (Running out of colours.) They might as well - and it might be "educational".

Maybe that would be a good way of educating children? I know I struggle to remember what adjectives are. Although as you pointed out elsewhere, if children feel they are being educated, they probably wouldn't want to read the books.

I am finding the world weirder and weirder as the years go by, and feeling less and less part of it.

I know exactly what you mean.