Blytonfan wrote: ↑14 Jun 2023, 22:25
I loved the description of "Cine City".
Yes, it was interesting, and possibly had even more impact on the readers when it was first published, as many of them might not have been familiar with the idea of scenery. Nowadays with places such as MGM Studio tours etc., perhaps more people are aware of how film sets operate.
Bertie, I feel that probably some series/characters are more suited to 'exotic' adventures than others. I think Julian and Dick go to France on a school trip at the beginning of one of the books, but I can't imagine them having adventures abroad - unless staying in Wales counts.
And I certainly can't picture the Secret Seven going any further than a few miles from their homes.
Of course any books in magical settings such as the Faraway Tree have the advantage of being able to combine the every day with almost anywhere in the world, and mixing up locations, without having to make any pretence of it relating to a real place. Although I think the visit to the land of the snowman was supposed to be the the North Pole?
As I'm sure I've said before, one of Enid Blyton's strong points is that she catered for such a wide variety of readers, both in age range, but in settings, so there should be something to appeal to most people. Even within in any particular series, such as the Adventure series, there is plenty of variety, so hopefully we can all find at least one book that we enjoy.
Also, with a series like the Adventure books, I don't think they would have worked if they'd been set in roughly the same kind of setting. For something like the SS or FFO, it worked well to have groups of children having adventures close to their homes, and much as I enjoyed the setting of Kirrin, I don't think I'd have wanted to read 21 books based just around the island the surrounding area. Given the nature of Bill's job, I definitely don't think it would have been very realistic if all the adventures had been set in one location.
Plus of course these forums would be rather boring if everyone liked the same books equally - we'd have nothing much to discuss.