The Enid Blyton Society

Her best writing? Will that be the same as my favourite book I wonder? I agree that The Rub-a Dub Mystery has some of her most memorable scenes - very moving indeed. It also has Snubby at his best, I think.
Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm and Six Cousins Again are also candidates for her best writing I think. In fact most of the books others have mentioned come pretty high up my list too.

Her best writing must be the scenes that move us to tears or give us goosebumps. Such as the poignant, emotional end to Rubadub and Bill's reaction when the children tell him they decided to look for him instead of going for help in Sea Of Adventure. I still get that shiver when I read the immortal line in Mountain Of Adventure, "Don't forget Bill Smugs". If certain passages in her writing stimulate natural emotion then that must be considered her best writing, surely?

I think you're right John... it is those passages which affect you as you describe which must be her best writing. I'd forgotten the scene at the end of "The Sea of Adventure" ... that is a good example, for sure.

For me its definitely the emotional impact that decides whether something is well written or not. That's the reason the books cited above stick out - particularly The Rubadub Mystery and the Holly Farm books, as well as Six Bad Boys. There are a few other highly emotional scenes in other Blyton books, such as the Adventure books, as has already been said, and also books like The Naughtiest Girl when Elizabeth tries to help Joan, or in the Circus books when Enid deals with relationships and friendships so effectively.

This is the reason I always cite the short story The Two Runaways in The Yellow Storybook as being one of her best short stories.

I'd say that many of Enid Blyton's short stories are examples of "fine writing". The best of them are carefully crafted and pack a punch, being pared down to essentials yet containing some real gems when it comes to brief but vivid descriptions, deft character sketches, comic timing and concisely-phrased morals.

One that springs to mind immediately is 'Connie's Curious Candle', which is thoughtful and atmospheric and almost Dickensian in the way the candles are animated. I love the alliterative title too.

Another is 'Father Time and His Pattern Book', which is truly stirring and involves an unforgettable New Year's Eve meeting with the mysterious legendary figure Old Father Time. Imaginative and poetically written, this story made a great impression on me as a youngster and left me pondering.

I agree that The Naughtiest Girl in the School is another example of "fine writing", Rob. It's an absorbing story into which ethical questions are seamlessly woven, making readers think about self-responsibility, social responsibility, the way communities are organised, family and friendship issues, and much more. Elizabeth is a marvellous creation, so appealing and unpredictable, and we're swept up into her world from the very first page. The style of writing is deceptively simple and very readable, yet some quite complex matters are tackled.

If I was to pick just one short story that stayed with me from first encountering it as a child it would definitely be 'Connie's Curious Candle' - a story I had read to me and a story I read to myself, many, many times.

Although the Mystery series, Famous Five, Adventure series all give interesting story, all I can remember after 30 years is the character's name, the vague-almost-similar storyline and some of interesting landscapes. However, in Five Find Outers series, I can quite remember detail of the plot. This must be due to the series being given more in depth writing, unique to each story. I think some of her best writing should be in Five Find Outers series as well.

As you can see with my signature, I really think that "The Sea of Adventure" is one of the best, and naturally also the other Adventure-Books. As for the others, there are so many, but I also find "The Secret Island" very well written. And "Five run away together".

For me from the Adventure series The Island of Adventure, and from the Five series Five on a hike.

Although I love The Famous Five and rate 'Hike' as probably in the top three Famous Five books, I wouldn't rate any of the Famous Five books as demonstrating 'best writing' - but there we have a question - what IS 'best writing'?

When I first replied to this thread, I named several books written by Enid which I felt had higher literary merit than most. I interpreted the question as being 'which EB book could be considered a classic' in writing style, emotion, literary value. In answer to this I would still suggest the books I suggested previously...BUT - if we are talking about books that best sum up Enid's power for getting children to read and enjoy stories, I think the Famous Five series would have to come pretty far up the list, as they are her most popular series, regardless of literary merit!

I do think the Famous Five are overrated (though they're still good). But I agree, when it comes to "best writing", everyone's going to have a different opinion of what that means. Most original, most exciting, most evocative, most moving, most memorable, most un-put-downable? It could be any of those things and more.

I must say, though, that there are very, very few books by Enid I've ever read that I didn't enjoy or that I thought were lame and lacking... some I've liked more than others, but there are almost none that I would consider a seriously poor effort on her part. Not bad for an author credited with over 700 books!

If we're thinking short stories, I really think Father Time and His Pattern Book is remarkable. Of the novels, people have already mentioned the Six Cousins, and I really love The Sea of Adventure.

Julie2owlsdene wrote:I wonder why some thought of her as not a 'proper' writer.

Possibly because she was so popular.

Just to add my thoughts - agree with many of you that it is almost impossible to pick out the best ones. We all have our favourites for various reasons. Like Anita, I see the Mistletoe Farm books as to be read together and an excellent example of Enid focusing on character and family development above mystery or adventure. At the end of Six Cousins, I just didn't want to leave the characters behind, and particularly Roddy who had developed so well.

The Adventure series - her best for me and particularly Island, Sea, Castle and Circus but don't want to leave any out really.

The Barney Mysteries - Rubadub by far the best but the first four show a progression of the sub-plot of Barney finding his father and the development of the relationship between the 4 friends - the key aspect alongside the mysteries.

The Find Outers - also so special - Missing Necklace, Hidden House, Strange Bundle, Tally Ho - my particular favourites.

Difficult to take a series apart because it is mainly about our relationship with the characters and what we discover about them - alongside their experiences.

If I was on a desert island and could only have 3 - it would have to be Sea of Adventure, Rubadub Mystery and Tally Ho Cottage to give me one story from each of my favourite series.

Sally H wrote:
If I was on a desert island and could only have 3 - it would have to be Sea of Adventure, Rubadub Mystery and Tally Ho Cottage to give me one story from each of my favourite series.

These three are definitely some of my favourites too!

Although its not amongst my most favourite of books, I also think 'The Put-em-rights' is a very well-written book, with Enid skillfully blending several story-lines into the narrative and showing us some interesting characters. I also think its very clever how Enid depicts the main child characters. They are of the opinion that they can 'put right' various villagers, and yet don't notice that they are being 'put right' at the same time. It's quite a sophisticated idea for a children's book.