The Valley of Adventure

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Francis
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Francis »

o'malley wrote:Having recently re-read (first time since childhood!) books 1-7 in this series (onto River, now), I've found these stories as new to me and even as an adult reader finding myself whizzing through them I've found any narrative questions in my mind answered quite well, including the old couple in Valley and their supplies, perhaps I'm too easily pleased!

I'd have Valley and Sea in joint first place with Castle, Island, Circus, Ship and in last place, Mountain in that order. Though, saying that, they've all been very entertaining, well, mostly!
Wouldn't disagree with a lot of your choices but I have a very soft spot for 'Mountain' which will always be special for me as it was my first one.
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Chrissie777 »

Same here, Francis. :)
Even though "Valley" and "Castle" ("Sea" is my # 3) are my favorites, I will always love "Circus" as it was my first Adventure series book in ca. 1966.
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Francis
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Francis »

First love is always special - at least when it comes to books! :)
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Chrissie777 »

Couldn't agree more, Francis! 8) 8) 8)
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Darrell71 »

I believe Island was my first, but Sea is by far my fave Enid book ever.
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Catbury
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The Valley of Adventure

Post by Catbury »

Merged with an older topic.


I remember I love the book as a child - up to the point where the children discovered the treasure where it become somewhat too abstract for me. I just re-read it and while I still love the atmosphere, there are a few too many things in there that don't make sense. I'm aware that the books live off coincidences - the ship of adventure conveniently being stuck in the Greek isles for example - but Valley is a bit over the top imo.

1. Jack always wears a rope around his waist? Seriously?

2. Bill has 2 guest rooms but no blankets for the many guests who visit apparently?

3. The food, all the food. There is so much food in the hut that the men don't even notice when two sacks full are gone? And the old people have a storage of food for many years? In war-time Austria? Seriously, Enid?

4. There is a sturdy door in the caves that 7 men don't manage to break down?

5. Why did the men even come back without the machinery to remove the rocks blocking what they thought was the entrance to the treasure?

6. How convenient the suitcases fall from the tree in the very right moment and hit the right person.

7. Noone went to the valley after the war was over, with a helicopter for example, to evacuate the old couple? They could be sick, one could have died, one could have fallen and broken something etc.

8. Hadn't the men come back the children would have starved sooner or later - considering the amount of food probably later, but still they don't seem to make any plans for that case, like consider to try to have the boys climb over the pass.

9. So the treasure was hidden in Austria... in WWII... from the enemy. So the English WERE the enemy, still Otto as well as the old couple are acting very positive towards the children.
Last edited by Catbury on 13 Dec 2020, 21:12, edited 3 times in total.
Katharine
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Katharine »

Interesting observations. :D

I loved this book as a child, and don't think I picked up on any of these apart from the old couple's food. I did wonder how they could have managed for so many years.

Reading it again as an adult, I think the only other thought point I noticed was Jack wearing a rope round his waist. Must have been hot, itchy and made moving very difficult I would have though. :lol:
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db105
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by db105 »

Regarding point 9, I'm sure the English were not the enemy Enid was referring to. I'm going by memory here, but I think she doesn't give much details about what war she is talking about. I think she usually went for a "timeless" feel, and did not want to clearly set the stories in a certain year. But WWII is the obvious war. However, in that case the treasures may have been hidden from the nazis (take into account that the Nazis taking Austria without resistance does not mean that everyone in Austria was thrilled about it).

Point 7: I think the idea was that they had been forgotten? As in the people who knew they were there died or were displaced. I might be wrong, though. It's been some time since I read it.
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Lucky Star
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Lucky Star »

As regards point 9 the historical evidence points to the Russians being the enemy referred to.

Point 7? Helicopters were still somewhat a rarity at that time and would have been primarily military.

Most of the other points may be put down to artistic license. It’s an extremely exciting story and some suspension of disbelief is necessary. After all many of the James Bond books are not that realistic either.
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by John Pickup »

I believe Valley to be Enid's greatest adventure story but as I pointed out in a recent journal, the book was first published in 1947 (in March) so point 3 isn't so unbelievable at all. It would have been written in late 1946 and as we know the book was set in August, then it follows that the old couple had only been guarding the treasure for a year since the war ended. Not so long for their food supply to last.
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Moonraker »

I'm glad I didn't know you, Catbury, when I was twelve! I can agree now with most of your logic, apart from #9. Obviously it was the Germans/Nazis that were the enemy.
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Barnard »

Although the Famous Five books are great to read and the Find-Outers books are really funny, the only word to describe The Valley of Adventure is Masterpiece.
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Boodi 2 »

With regard to point 9 above, I am also certain that it was the Germans/Nazis who were the enemy, as not all Austrians were in favour of the so-called "Anschluss" in 1938 (think of "The Sound of Music"!!!).
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Catbury
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by Catbury »

After googling, I think Lucky Star is right and the Russians were the enemy referred to.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_theft ... rld_War_II" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/ ... 23311.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (sorry, only available in German)

Interestingly, the nazis themselves hid a treasure in a mine in Austria - probably Enid read about it and based the story on it? Most of that treasure was stolen from other countries but of course this would have gone too far to address in a children's book. "The mines held some 6,577 paintings, 230 sketches and watercolors, 954 illustrations, 173 statues, 1,200 cases of books, baskets filled with arts and crafts, and tapestries -- all of which had been stolen from European museums and private collections and were being stored for the Führermuseum, a museum complex Hitler had planned to open in Linz, Austria."
https://www.salzwelten.at/en/altaussee/mine/history/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.spiegel.de/international/eu ... 37456.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: The Valley of Adventure

Post by dsr »

Catbury wrote:Merged with an older topic.
4. There is a sturdy door in the caves that 7 men don't manage to break down?
Interesting points - I like searching for internal logic inconsistencies myself, and even when the world is a fantasy world it ought to at least be consistent.

So I quote this point 4 not in a spirit of criticism, but just to say that it's quite possible to put an unbreakable door in a cave. If it's really solid wood (and it could perhaps be one of the old church doors with iron bands as well) - and if there is not a lot of room to swing a battering ram - and, crucially, if the doorway is carved out of the rock (deliberately or naturally) so that the door is inset into a frame with overlapping rock behind it - then it would be unbreakable. Or more or less.

(I'm not sure how best to describe the "overlapping rock". It's a sort of chamfering. Look at a normal door from the side that opens inwards - there is usually a lip of wood on the frame that stops the door from opening the wrong way. Imagine that lip made of solid rock, and then imaging trying to force the door back through it.)
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