Readathon - Smuggler Ben and Cliff Castle

[Liam]

Does Hilary have "no love of books"? Although she says at first that she doesn't fancy dipping into Professor Rondel's old books, she's the one who suggests that they consult them to see what they can find out about smuggling in the area. We learn that she has even taken a look at one of the books by herself: "I looked into one of the books the other day, and it seemed to be all about this district in the old days." Also, one evening she chooses to read a book of her own on the cliff-top rather than going for a walk with Alec and Frances. She tells Ben that it's "terribly exciting" and offers to lend it to him. He is grateful, saying, "I can't get enough books."

My quick run through of the book for character traits shows.

But the fact that she does indeed love books adds to my seeing her as the Dick character. Dick loved to read. So thanks for strengthening my argument, Anita!

[Rob Houghton]

In Chapter 7 Alec cries out, "I say, I say, I say!" I half wondered if he was beginning to tell a joke!

Yes, I thought that too! It sounded a bit odd in a way!

I also love the sayings such as 'I vote' and 'You're a brick' etc. They make the books for me.

As I've just started Cliff Castle, although I have read it before of course, I can't say much about it yet - but it did make me smile near the beginning when Brock asks his mother about the castle and who lived there and she 'just happens' to mention that there are 'meant to be secret passages there, but I think it is just a story' - lol - not the most subtle of Enid's stories then!

It's maybe worth mentioning that 'Smuggler Ben' was the last Mary Pollock book to be published - in 1943 - by which time Enid was actually divorced from Hugh Pollock. As I said in my Journal article in 2011, maybe it was the fact that she was now divorced that forced the last three books to be published all in a row - along with Mischief of St Rollo's and Cliff Castle.

Reading my quite lengthy Journal article, I also see that I made the suggestion that actually the three children who are supposedly the 'main characters' aren't really needed, except to ease the reader into the story and give them characters they can identify with. Ben is the main character - the book is named after him, he dominates the story with his presence and acts heroically when push comes to shove.

[Liam]

I must admit I didn't think of the similarities between Smuggler Ben and George, though I see them now. Perhaps Enid was putting a fair bit of herself into both? I also agree that Hilary was the most interesting of the other children — I particularly enjoyed the plot twist where she sees Ben injure himself and ties up his cut hand for him, which of course leads to him becoming friends with her and the others. I felt a bit sorry for Frances, though, that she didn't get much of a look-in and we learned very little about her as a character. The story could easily have been about just a brother and sister, Alec and Hilary, and their friendship with Ben.

The character of Frances was underdeveloped. Conversely, the character of Hilary was overdeveloped. We can see that Hilary - who had the Dick character type - also possessed Anne-type traits, which deprived the Frances character of natural growth. Hilary uttered the quote about the morning being washed, selected the food in the shop, expressed the sentiment that she prefers deserted vacation spots, and had a desire to identify with other creatures. These are all Anne-type characteristics, and explain why the Frances character was undeveloped. The Hilary character was overloaded, she seemed all over the place, and gave me the feeling she was hyperactive. So even Enid can bungle her characters!

Some might think that mixing up the traits in this unpredictable way creates difference in character. Yet characters must have consistency to them. I don’t think the Anne-type traits given to Hilary added anything substantial to her personality. They were too incongruous to her more substantial traits. They make her seem hyperactive rather than irrepressible. They would have served Frances much better by rounding out her character along the lines of Anne of the FF.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I like Hilary just as she is but it is a pity that Frances doesn't get much of a look in. Perhaps Frances might have stood out more if she'd had a specific interest, ability or position - e.g. being artistic, athletic, mad about nature or simply quite a bit younger and in need of encouragement and protection. Details of that kind can contribute to the plot - e.g. an artistic character spotting something odd while sketching a scene, or an athletic character being able to gain access to a cave or building because of his/her exceptional agility.

[Courtenay]

Yes, I agree — I really liked Hilary as the most well-rounded and interesting of the child characters, other than Ben himself who is indeed rather the "George" of the plot, but poor Frances seems extraneous. We might assume she's younger than Alec and Hilary, but we really don't learn much about her at all and the plot would have worked just as well without her.

I guess I had better hurry up and get on with reading Cliff Castle, since we seem to be getting close to the discussion of that and I haven't started it yet!

[Rob Houghton]

I have a theory that, actually, George was created after Smuggler Ben, which would mean that by the time of Smuggler Ben Enid had not created her first strong female character, despite Five On A Treasure Island being published in 1942.

As I discussed in my articles in The Journal, my theory is that all the Mary Pollock books were written in 1940/41 (when the first were published) and they were released at the publishers leisure through the years that followed. The last three were all suddenly published within a short space of time, which is what gave me this theory - though I could be wrong.

As Enid was no longer 'Mrs Pollock' by 1942, I would presume that she actually wrote the Mary Pollock books before her divorce, which would mean all the characters in the Pollock books came before The Famous Five etc. Because of this, I see the Pollock books as being 'blueprints' for some of Enid's later books. Much of what appears in the books written under the name Mary Pollock were 'first time plots' for Enid, as she had written very few adventure and mystery stories by 1940/41.

[Liam]

That makes a lot of sense to me, Rob. The character types would have had a little more time to become well-defined in her mind. And it’s probably more reasonable to assume that Enid’s skill improved in that time, rather than lapsed.

I remember, after looking at the publication date, thinking it odd that Enid should write what seemed to me in Smuggler Ben a lesser quality book after the perfection of Five on a Treasure Island.

When we look at the two Secret Series books published before, we see that the two girl characters - Peggy and Nora - are not too well differentiated. At least I had some difficulty differentiating them in my mind at first. Even after reading the series a few times, I have to search my mind for their difference. Peggy cooks and sews. She is blonde while Nora has black curls and is prone to lose her temper - George-like traits. On the other hand, Mike was always differentiated in my mind from Jack. Ultimately, Enid’s so-called creation of a strong female character in George may just have been a literary device to differentiate the two girl characters. No one will confuse George with Anne!

[Rob Houghton]

Thanks Liam. Yes - I think its more interesting when we assume that the Mary Pollock books were actually 'trial runs' for some of her better known series' later on. George was one of the strongest girl characters Enid created of course, but as you say before Treasure Island the girls were often pretty difficult to differentiate.

If we look at the 'holiday adventures' Enid wrote before, say, 1941, then there are very few. Most of the books we associate with her were written after the Mary Pollock books - except the Secret Series. Even 'The Adventurous Four' which shares a few similarities with 'the Children of kidillin' was written after 'Kidillin' was published. Thus, Kidillin is actually the first of Enid's 'holiday adventures' to mention the war.

[Courtenay]

Thus, Kidillin is actually the first of Enid's 'holiday adventures' to mention the war.

... And I think she got away with it all right.

[Tony Summerfield]

If we look at the 'holiday adventures' Enid wrote before, say, 1941, then there are very few. Most of the books we associate with her were written after the Mary Pollock books - except the Secret Series. Even 'The Adventurous Four' which shares a few similarities with 'the Children of kidillin' was written after 'Kidillin' was published. Thus, Kidillin is actually the first of Enid's 'holiday adventures' to mention the war.

I am not sure that I am going to agree with this, Rob. I don't think we can speculate as to which book was written first, but we can say which one first appeared in print and that was The Adventurous Four. This was serialised in Sunny Stories before it was published as a book, starting on September 6th 1940. Kidillin was first published in November 1940.

[Rob Houghton]

I'm still not totally convinced! I was all ready to admit defeat...but September to November 1940 isn't that long a gap. Kidillin may well have been written before The Adventurous Four and not released in book form until after Adventurous Four began serialising in Sunny Stories...especially if my other theory is true and all the Pollock books were written one after the other over a relatively short space of time. However, we will never know for certain.


I've always felt The Adventurous Four stuck out amongst Enid's books as it has a wartime setting and a real enemy, and I've always rated it as one of her best early books. Its interesting that all her Holiday books up until Five On A Treasure Island featured strong male characters who were older or more capable than the other characters - Jack in the Secret Series, Andy in The Adventurous Four, and then characters like Sandy (and his sister) in The Children of Kidillin, or Ben in Smuggler Ben, or Brock in Cliff Castle. This, in my view, lends weight to the theory that Five On A Treasure Island followed the Mary Pollock books, despite being published before some of them.

[Rob Houghton]

Anyway - so far I'm enjoying Cliff Castle, but I've finally come to the conclusion its not half such a good book as Smuggler Ben. Its enjoyable, but I rated it much higher in the past, so I was a bit surprised to read it now and get a totally different impression!

In many ways it reminds me of a 'cut-price version' of The Castle of Adventure. Even the way they enter the castle is similar.

[Liam]

I am not sure that I am going to agree with this, Rob. I don't think we can speculate as to which book was written first, but we can say which one first appeared in print and that was The Adventurous Four. This was serialised in Sunny Stories before it was published as a book, starting on September 6th 1940. Kidillin was first published in November 1940.

But isn’t there a shorter time lapse between writing and serialization, than between writing and publication? I might have read somewhere that the FF books were usually written in the middle of the year and published at the end of the year. Wouldn’t this be reasonable to assume for other books?

[Liam]

The beginning of Cliff Castle slipped by without me noticing. That was strange since this is a new book for me. so I can agree that there was something unmemorable about the first two chapters or so. Looking back now I think I may have been spoiled by Smuggler Ben which started with tension and conflict. But after the start of Cliff Castle, I felt the story was thrilling and suspenseful, a real page-turner, even more so than Smuggler Ben. It seems these are two very different styles in Enid’s writing. Smuggler Ben centered around relationships. Cliff Castle focused on narrative flow. It reminded me of the two Adventurous Four books where the plot sequence overshadows the relationships between the characters.

[Rob Houghton]

Yes - Cliff Castle has a much longer 'build-up' for such a short book. The real secret/mystery part of the book doesn't begin until chapter 5 - almost halfway through the book. As you say, there's not any conflict between the characters as in Smuggler Ben, and so this is probably why the book seems a bit slow to begin with. I'm still enjoying it though, just as with any Enid Blyton book, and it contains a lot of typical Bytonian elements which later on would become staples - the train journey, the mysterious lights, footsteps in the dust, etc.