Re: Listen-Through/Discussion of Famous Five Audio Books
Posted: 03 Mar 2017, 13:12
Five Go to Demon's Rocks
** spoiler alert **
Brief Summary by Poppy Hutchinson (from http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;): At first, the Famous Five can't believe that Tinker, a quirky young boy, with a pet monkey called Mischief – owns a lighthouse, on Demons Rocks! But then, when he offers to take them to spend the holidays, there – this extraordinary fantasy becomes an exciting reality – and they become involved in an adventure of undersea tunnels, a treasure trove of gold coins, and some ruthless villains, prepared to do anything to claim the fortune stored beneath the Lighthouse. The Famous Five and Tinker need to tell the Police: but then, they find themselves locked within the walls of the Lighthouse...
Random thoughts:
We are back at Kirrin Cottage for the start of the holidays. We get the usual Quentin-ness. His scientist friend is visiting sooner than expected, creating a problem for Aunt Fanny. Of course, Quentin doesn't think there's a problem, just get rid of those bothersome children. He already sees his own daughter too often, after all. Why, most vacations she spends at least a few days at home! And if they can't get rid of George, surely they can send Julian, Dick and Anne away! Only it's not so easy. Their parents do not show more inclination to want to spend holidays with their children, even though they are away at boarding school most of the time. All convenient for us, since we can get all the children together having adventures, but rather sad when you stop to think about it.
Anyway, Uncle Quentin's guest arrive, bringing with him his small son... and his son's pet monkey, Mischief. OK, I liked Tinker and Mischief, but Blyton tries too hard sometimes. In order to make Tinker quirky and interesting, he ends up making him tiresome with all his pretending to be a car, no matter how inappropriate the situation. How old are you, Tinker? OK, you're younger than the others, but you are acting like you are five years old!
Blyton herself seems to realize how bothersome it is, and once the children leave Kirrin Cottage Tinker forgets about pretending to be a car, which is something he was doing all the time at the beginning. It's so noticeable that Blyton decides to lampshade it, having the children comment on it and say that maybe Tinker is growing up. I was thankful he grew up so fast, in just a few days!
Anyway, George is a bit snotty about having another pet in the house, but Timmy shows himself to be more sensible and makes peace with the little monkey. Good for you, Timmy!
The two Quentins... I mean, the two scientists can't bear having children in the house making noise, so when Tinker reveals that he owns a lighthouse that happens to be near Kirrin (convenient coincidence!) they all are happy to go there for a short vacation. Julian takes care of hiring a taxi and everything (I hope the adults at least pay for it).
I have to admit that by now I'm very familiar with the quirks and tropes of the series, and reading all this is a bit like joining an old friend, but also it's becoming a bit too familiar, like I wish the stories would not be so similar. To be fair, I'm not in the age group of the target audience (children really enjoy being told a story they love time and time again), and also I have listened to all these books in a short period of time (reading one of this books a year is not the same as reading the whole lot in a couple of months).
Still, we are at book 19 of the series (out of 21) and, while I would have liked Blyton to introduce more new ideas, I think she's still producing worthy entries to the series. The lighthouse is a great new setting able to capture the imagination, even if we also come back to the familiar wreckers. Blyton loved her wreckers and smugglers, didn't she? (And her funny pets, and her undersea tunnels, and her sage old men telling old stories about the setting that turn out to be relevant and...)
The adventure is also adequate, if unoriginal by now. I missed George having more of a role. The series has grown more conventional in that sense, and she seems comfortable being given a "girl's role".
Reading other reviews, I find out that in the original the children do not buy sweets for the old seaman, but tobacco. I guess the powers that be decided that child readers could be perverted if exposed to the idea that an old sailor smokes.
I loved the storm scene. It really got across the fury of the elements and the experience of seeing it from the lighthouse.
To sum up, I enjoyed this story. It has all the familiar, effective elements of the series, and in fact its real problem is that it's too familiar and recycled after reading all the previous ones.
Next up: Five Have a Mystery to Solve (Famous Five, #20)
** spoiler alert **
Brief Summary by Poppy Hutchinson (from http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;): At first, the Famous Five can't believe that Tinker, a quirky young boy, with a pet monkey called Mischief – owns a lighthouse, on Demons Rocks! But then, when he offers to take them to spend the holidays, there – this extraordinary fantasy becomes an exciting reality – and they become involved in an adventure of undersea tunnels, a treasure trove of gold coins, and some ruthless villains, prepared to do anything to claim the fortune stored beneath the Lighthouse. The Famous Five and Tinker need to tell the Police: but then, they find themselves locked within the walls of the Lighthouse...
Random thoughts:
We are back at Kirrin Cottage for the start of the holidays. We get the usual Quentin-ness. His scientist friend is visiting sooner than expected, creating a problem for Aunt Fanny. Of course, Quentin doesn't think there's a problem, just get rid of those bothersome children. He already sees his own daughter too often, after all. Why, most vacations she spends at least a few days at home! And if they can't get rid of George, surely they can send Julian, Dick and Anne away! Only it's not so easy. Their parents do not show more inclination to want to spend holidays with their children, even though they are away at boarding school most of the time. All convenient for us, since we can get all the children together having adventures, but rather sad when you stop to think about it.
Anyway, Uncle Quentin's guest arrive, bringing with him his small son... and his son's pet monkey, Mischief. OK, I liked Tinker and Mischief, but Blyton tries too hard sometimes. In order to make Tinker quirky and interesting, he ends up making him tiresome with all his pretending to be a car, no matter how inappropriate the situation. How old are you, Tinker? OK, you're younger than the others, but you are acting like you are five years old!
Blyton herself seems to realize how bothersome it is, and once the children leave Kirrin Cottage Tinker forgets about pretending to be a car, which is something he was doing all the time at the beginning. It's so noticeable that Blyton decides to lampshade it, having the children comment on it and say that maybe Tinker is growing up. I was thankful he grew up so fast, in just a few days!
Anyway, George is a bit snotty about having another pet in the house, but Timmy shows himself to be more sensible and makes peace with the little monkey. Good for you, Timmy!
The two Quentins... I mean, the two scientists can't bear having children in the house making noise, so when Tinker reveals that he owns a lighthouse that happens to be near Kirrin (convenient coincidence!) they all are happy to go there for a short vacation. Julian takes care of hiring a taxi and everything (I hope the adults at least pay for it).
I have to admit that by now I'm very familiar with the quirks and tropes of the series, and reading all this is a bit like joining an old friend, but also it's becoming a bit too familiar, like I wish the stories would not be so similar. To be fair, I'm not in the age group of the target audience (children really enjoy being told a story they love time and time again), and also I have listened to all these books in a short period of time (reading one of this books a year is not the same as reading the whole lot in a couple of months).
Still, we are at book 19 of the series (out of 21) and, while I would have liked Blyton to introduce more new ideas, I think she's still producing worthy entries to the series. The lighthouse is a great new setting able to capture the imagination, even if we also come back to the familiar wreckers. Blyton loved her wreckers and smugglers, didn't she? (And her funny pets, and her undersea tunnels, and her sage old men telling old stories about the setting that turn out to be relevant and...)
The adventure is also adequate, if unoriginal by now. I missed George having more of a role. The series has grown more conventional in that sense, and she seems comfortable being given a "girl's role".
Reading other reviews, I find out that in the original the children do not buy sweets for the old seaman, but tobacco. I guess the powers that be decided that child readers could be perverted if exposed to the idea that an old sailor smokes.
I loved the storm scene. It really got across the fury of the elements and the experience of seeing it from the lighthouse.
To sum up, I enjoyed this story. It has all the familiar, effective elements of the series, and in fact its real problem is that it's too familiar and recycled after reading all the previous ones.
Next up: Five Have a Mystery to Solve (Famous Five, #20)