Enid's rare flash of humour...

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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Courtenay »

One of the funniest episodes I remember in Hidden House is where Fatty writes a very rude "pome" about Mr Goon in Ern's notebook, imitating Ern's handwriting — for which poor Ern gets caned by his uncle (bet that's been bowdlerised out of modern editions :roll: ), but he's left seriously believing he must have written this marvellous "portry" in his sleep! :wink: But I still wouldn't rate it as one of the funniest books in the series, let alone the ONLY humorous thing Enid ever wrote... I really do wonder which other Blyton books that "avid reader" had actually read. :shock:
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Machupicchu14 »

I actually think Enid Blyton books have a lotof humour! Nearly every EB book I've read so far has had me in stitches laughing. There is always one scene that displays her sense of humour and makes the books yet more enjoyable... :D
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Spitfire »

Rob Houghton wrote:
I'm currently re-reading Rilloby Fair and I'd forgotten the scene with Uncle Robert being told off by the woman with the baby - a great example of Enid's humour! :lol:
Oops, sorry Rob - hope I haven't spoiled that bit for you! I love re-reading books and finding parts I'd forgotten! :)
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

It's interesting to see which book was being described but I agree with others that lots of Enid Blyton books contain humorous episodes and quite a few are funny throughout.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by deepeabee »

I agree with everyone here that lots of Enid's books have humour. I too wouldn't have singled out Hidden House!
I just read through this thread having read Spiteful Letters and I'd been chuckling about Fatty dropping his bike so the handlebars scraped Goons shins! Also where he was waiting for his own autograph!! I'm surprised no one mentioned this book when thinking of humour.
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Fiona1986 »

One of the funniest scenes in a Blyton book has to be Julian and Dick getting stuck in the Clopper costume (Five Go Down to the Sea) has me in stitches every time.
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
"Listen to its terrible groans and creaks!" yelled Julian, almost beside himself with impatience.


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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Courtenay »

Oh yes, I've always thought that was hilarious too. And Julian standing up to Pa Stick! :lol: :mrgreen:

Or else there's a scene that for me, combines laugh-out-loud humour with a heartwarming touch of family fun, if you like: at the end of the first chapter of The River of Adventure, where Kiki is yelling "Police!" and making noises like a police whistle — and suddenly there's "a most imperious knock" at the door and a loud voice calls "Who wants the police? They're here. Open in the name of the law!" The children are all startled until it turns out to be none other than Bill, taking Kiki's new trick and running with it! :P :wink:
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Fiona1986 »

Or how about the time that Kiki "falls" from the tower wall in Castle? And the four children panic for a second before remembering she can fly.
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
"Listen to its terrible groans and creaks!" yelled Julian, almost beside himself with impatience.


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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Darrell71 »

Lol yep that is super funny too!.
Seriously, I doubt if this reviewer is really an avid reader of EB as he/she claims to be.
In the modern editions, he isn't caned for that Pome, just locked in his bedroom! :roll: :roll: :roll:
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Courtenay »

Why am I not surprised? :roll: Now in Roald Dahl's book Danny the Champion of the World, first published in 1975, there's a scene where Danny and his friend at school are caned on their hands by their horrible teacher for whispering answers to each other in maths class. It's quite graphically described, much though it isn't an essential part of the plot. Dahl also puts a pretty big emphasis on caning at his own schools in his autobiography Boy, which is also aimed at a young audience. I haven't seen the most recent editions of either book, but I'm guessing none of that has been edited out. And as plenty of people have said before, there are other books for children these days with some quite disturbing scenes and themes, far worse than a character momentarily being slapped or caned. Why does Enid get censored when other children's authors don't??
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by pete9012S »

I thought this little section of Hidden House was quite amusing:
Before the purple Mr. Goon could find his tongue to say what he thought of this, Ern was out of the house and away. He mopped his forehead. Lovaduck - his uncle was a hot-tempered chap all right. Anyway, he hadn’t forbidden him to go; that was something!

He arrived at the bottom of Fatty’s garden and heard voices in the shed there. It was Fatty’s work-room and playroom. He had made it very comfortable indeed. On this cold winter’s day he had an oil-stove burning brightly and the inside of the shed was warm and cosy. A tiger-skin was on the floor, old and moth-eaten, but looking very grand, and a crocodile skin was stretched along one side of the shed-wall. The Five Find-Outers were trying to roast chestnuts on top of the oil-stove. They had a tin of condensed milk and were each having a dip in it with a spoon as they talked.

Ern looked in at the window. Ha! They were all there. Good! He knocked at the door.
“Come in!”called Fatty, and Ern went in. An icy draught at once came in with him.
“Shut the door,”said Daisy. “Oooh! What a draught. Hallo, Ern. Did you enjoy your egg for breakfast?”
Ern looked surprised. “Yes. But how did you know I had egg for breakfast?”
“Oh - we’re doing a bit of detecting for practice this morning,”said Daisy. The others tried not to laugh. Ern had spilt a good bit of his egg down the front of his jacket at breakfast, so it was not a difficult bit of detecting!

“Sorry you had to leave in such a hurry to come here,”said Fatty, solemnly.
Ern looked even more surprised. “Lovaduck! Is that another bit of detecting? How’d you know I left in a hurry?”
Ern had no hat and no coat, so that wasn’t a very difficult bit of detecting either. Nobody explained to Ern how they knew about his breakfast or his hurry, and he sat down feeling rather puzzled.
“Perhaps you’d like to tell me what I had for breakfast,”said Fatty to Ern. “Go on - do a bit of detecting too.”


Ern looked at Fatty’s solemn face, but no ideas about breakfast came into his mind. He shook his head. “No. I can see this sort of thing wants a lot of practice. Coo, I wasn’t half excited when I got your note this morning. My uncle saw me reading it.”
“Did he really?”said Fatty with interest. “Did he say anything?”
“Oh, he got into a rage, you know, but I soon settled that,”said Ern. “I just told him what I thought of him. ‘Uncle,’I said, ‘this is a private note. It’s none of your business, so keep out of it.’Just like that.”
Everyone looked at him admiringly but disbelievingly, “And what did he say to that?”asked Pip.
“He began to go purple,”said Ern, “and I said ‘Now calm yourself, Uncle, or you’ll go pop. And don’t go poking your nose into what I do with my friends. It’s private.’And then I walked out and came here.”


“Most admirable!”said Fatty. “Sit down on the tiger-skin rug, Ern. Don’t be afraid of the head and the teeth. He’s not as fierce now as he was when I shot him in the Tippylooloo Plain.”
Ern’s eyes nearly fell out of his head. “Lovaduck! You been tiger-shooting? What about that thing up on the wall? Did you shoot that too?”
“That’s a crocodile skin,”said Bets, enjoying herself. “Let me see, Fatty - was that the third or fourth crocodile you shot?”

Ern’s repect for Fatty went up a hundredfold. He gazed at him with the greatest awe. He looked at the fierce head of the tiger-rug, and felt a bit scared of it, even though it was no longer alive. He moved a little way from the snarling teeth.

“You said in your note there were developments,”said Ern, eagerly. “Are you going to tell us anything today?”
“Yes. The time has come for us to ask you to do something,”said Fatty, in a solemn voice that sent a thrill down Ern’s spine. “I am uncovering a very mysterious mystery.”
“Coo,”said Ern, in a hushed voice. “Do the others know?”
“Not yet,”said Fatty. “Now listen all of you. There are strange lights flashing at night over on Christmas Hill!”
“Oooh,”said Ern. “Have you seen them?”
“There are rival gangs there,”said Fatty, in a grave voice. “One is a kidnapping gang. One is a gang of robbers. Soon they will get busy.”

Ern’s mouth fell open. The others, although they knew it was all Fatty’s make-up, couldn’t help feeling a bit thrilled too. Ern swallowed once or twice. Talk about a mystery! This was a whacker!
“Now the thing is - can we get going, and find out who they are and their plans, before they start their robbing and kidnapping?”said Fatty.
“We can’t,”said Bets, in a dismal voice. “We’ve been forbidden to get mixed up in any mystery these hols.”
“So have we,”said Larry and Daisy together.
“Yes, it’s bad luck,”said Fatty. “I’m the only one who can do anything - but I can’t do it alone. That’s why I’ve got you here this morning, Ern. You must help me.”

Ern took in all this rather slowly, but with the utmost excitement and delight. He swelled out his chest proudly.
“You can count on me,”he said, and made his voice deep and solemn. “Ern’s with you! Coo! I feel all funny-like. I bet I’d write a good pome with this sort of feeling inside me!”
“Yes. It could begin like this,”said Fatty, who could reel off silly verse by the mile.

“There’s a mystery a-moving
Away on Christmas Hill,
Where kidnappers and robbers
Are waiting for the kill.
But when kidnappers are napping
And robbers are asleep,
We’ll pounce on them together
And knock them in a heap!”


Everyone laughed. No one could reel off verse like Fatty. Ern gaped and couldn’t find a word to say. Why, that was wonderful portry! To think Fatty could say it all off like that!
He found his voice at last. “Lovaduck! Did you make all that up out of your head just this minute? It takes me hours to think of a pome - and even when I do, it won’t rhyme for ages. You must be one of them queer things - a genius.”

“Well - you never know,”said Fatty, trying to look modest. “I remember having to write a poem - er, I mean pome - for class one day, and forgetting all about it till the master pounced on me and asked for mine. I looked in my desk, but of course it wasn’t there because I had forgotten to write one. So I just said ‘Sorry, sir, it seems to be mislaid - but I’ll recite it if you like.’And I stood up and recited six verses straight off out of my head. What’s more, I got top marks for it.”
“I don’t believe you,”said Pip.
“Well, I’ll recite it for you now if you like,”said Fatty, indignantly, but the others wouldn’t let him.
“Stop boasting,”said Larry. “Let’s get down to work. How did we get on to this poem-business anyway? You’ll have Ern wanting to recite next!”
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane -

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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Darrell71 »

Courtenay wrote:. And as plenty of people have said before, there are other books for children these days with some quite disturbing scenes and themes, far worse than a character momentarily being slapped or caned. Why does Enid get censored when other children's authors don't??
Game of Thrones, Hunger Games, even, dare I say it, Harry Potter, are just a few examples. Explicit content, torture, cannibalism, and much more are in these books, their films/tv shows, etc, so it really doesn't make sense to edit Enid's work, irrespective of whether we consider such editing right or wrong in the first place.
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Rob Houghton »

Growing up, I always found Dame Slap very amusing and exciting. I used to love the strange questions she set, such as 'Why does a blackboard?' or 'If six black birds are in a bush how many strawberries had they eaten that morning?' etc (these are just my made up versions - can't recall the real ones!). I also loved the fact that Dame Slap would cane anyone for almost any misdemeanor - it was risky to even ask for a pencil or a piece of paper without being punished! I wasn't traumatised for life after reading about things like that - I just found them amusing.

I also found it amusing when Dame Washalot emptied her water down the tree, or when someone ate a Toffee Shock or Hot and Cold Goodies etc, or when Curious Connie got ink thrown all over her and tore her best dress. There are many scenes in the Faraway tree books that I considered funny as a child. 8)
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by IceMaiden »

Personally I think all of Enid's stories have humour and amusement woven right through them, and I find it is impossible to read them without smiling your way through every page. One that always makes me laugh is in the Rubadub Mystery, where Roger and Diana swap Snubby's gum with plasticine :lol: :lol: . I also found Enid's tales of Brer Rabbit very funny, and even though their not technically her stories, their still firm favourites with me simply because of the way she wrote them. I truly believe she could have written out the dictionary and made it a captivating, engaging and humourous read from start to finish :D .
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Re: Enid's rare flash of humour...

Post by Machupicchu14 »

Exactly what happens to me when reading one of her books.. My mother often asks me what is so funny about her books, because I'm always laughing with them!! :lol:
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