Top 10 adventure stories (for girls) in the Guardian

[Hannah]

There's an article about the top 10 adventure stories in the Guardian with the question "what adventures can a woman lead? Where are our stories?"

Five Run Away Together made the list thanks to George.

7. Five Run Away Together by Enid Blyton (1944)
While much of the Famous Five books reflect the narrow-minded views of its time, the character of George was revolutionary and remained so for me as a girl with short hair who dressed in “boys’ clothes” and wanted nothing to do with Anne making house! Here, we get Kirrin Island, suspected smugglers and a kidnapping.

[Anita Bensoussane]

It's good that Five Run Away Together gets a mention, though the sentence beginning "While much of the Famous Five books..." could do with some reworking!

There are some strong female adventurers in various titles by Julia Golding, Emma Carroll and Judith Eagle.

[Moonraker]

While much of the Famous Five books reflect the narrow-minded views of its time

Doesn't that apply to all classics/historical fiction? Typical Grauniad.

[Courtenay]

An interesting list and I'm glad an Enid Blyton title is on it (despite the obligatory reference to "the narrow-minded views of its time" — and, yes, the interestingly non-standard grammar of that sentence ), but what puzzles me is that the writer is purportedly looking for adventures that a woman can lead, and yet quite a number of the stories on that list don't seem to feature women as main characters at all. So isn't that defeating the supposed point of the article?? And while we're at it, where are the Arthur Ransome books, in which the girls (especially Nancy Blackett) are better sailors and gutsier adventurers than the boys and they know it? And I'm sure there are plenty of other adventure stories, old and new, where female characters take active roles, including ones that aren't so famous.

Mind you, when I was little, even though I was sensitive to portrayals of girls as weak or unadventurous and the old-fashioned attitude that girls should stay home and not get involved in anything dangerous, if I liked a book I didn't really care whether it had strong female characters or not. I just devoured good writing!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Narrow-mindedness still exists, of course. There are frequent stories in the news of people bullying or "cancelling" those whose views don't chime with their own.

...what puzzles me is that the writer is purportedly looking for adventures that a woman can lead, and yet quite a number of the stories on that list don't seem to feature women as main characters at all. So isn't that defeating the supposed point of the article??

I noticed that as well. The writer of the article (Kim Sherwood) is keen to stress that there are excellent adventure stories featuring prominent female characters, and that those stories don't necessarily get the recognition they deserve. However, maybe she also wants to make the point that male-dominated adventure stories shouldn't simply be cast aside, and that some of those are among her favourites too.

[John Pickup]

While much of the Famous Five books reflect the narrow-minded views of its time

Doesn't that apply to all classics/historical fiction? Typical Grauniad.

Sounds like another opportunity to criticise Enid. Which you would expect from this politically correct rag.

[Courtenay]

Narrow-mindedness still exists, of course. There are frequent stories in the news of people bullying or "cancelling" those whose views don't chime with their own.

Yes, exactly — it happens on both sides of politics. But I do find it sad that this particular writer just has to take a cheap shot at Enid Blyton, implicitly because, you know, if she didn't add that (badly-worded) caveat about "the narrow-mindedness of its time", that might suggest that she herself (Kim Sherwood) actually likes Enid Blyton books and isn't aware that they're Not Politically Correct, and we couldn't have that, could we?

And meanwhile, as for narrow-mindedness, whenever I hear or read someone in today's world criticising people of previous generations for how they thought and acted, I just think that in 50 or 80 or 100 years' time, people will be looking back at our time and almost certainly criticising us in the same lofty way...

The writer of the article (Kim Sherwood) is keen to stress that there are excellent adventure stories featuring prominent female characters, and that those stories don't necessarily get the recognition they deserve. However, maybe she also wants to make the point that male-dominated adventure stories shouldn't simply be cast aside, and that some of those are among her favourites too.

Could be. It just struck me as really strange that the writer is asking "What adventures can a woman lead? Where are our stories?" — and then half of the adventure stories she lists as her favourites are ones that are not led by women and don't tell women's "stories" at all!!

[Anita Bensoussane]

I agree that it's rather muddling!

And yes, it does make me roll my eyes that "narrow-minded views" simply have to be mentioned in association with Enid Blyton, even in the process of recommending one of her books! As Nigel pointed out, couldn't the same be said of the other historical books listed (and historical fiction in general)? It may also be true of the more modern titles, of course!

[Debbie]

That's got me thinking:

Arthur Ransome, I think you could argue that his female characters are stronger than his male ones for the most parts.
The Amazons, have Nancy who is definitely the leader, and Peggy is her second in command.
But even the Swallows, John is the leader, but wouldn't stand up to Nancy, and also most of the time would consult Susan. I think the only time he really takes the lead is in "We didn't mean to go to sea" when Susan is seasick. The stories are far more Titty focused than John focused. There's not many points we see John on his own-even when he goes to speak to Captain Flint we watch him and he says what happened when he comes back rather than the reader "going with him".
And Dot is definitely the heroine, although the only girl, in "The Big Six".

But for Famous Five, which is the character that could probably have been removed easiest? Dick, I'd reckon. Julian is the leader. George is the tomboy who could have been Julian's backup in place of Dick and Anne keeps the things running smoothly in the background (like Susan in "Swallows and Amazons"), and also gives Julian someone to protect.
<just thinking> I think maybe that's true of EB as a whole. The boys tend to be the leaders in her story, but have less distinction in personality, other than one being "the leader", than the girls. In the Adventure series, if you take out the bits about birds/animals, Jack and Philip are far more similar than Diana and Lucy Ann; Same with The Find Outers, except for Fatty, and the Secret Series etc.

I think sometimes people confuse "the leader of the group" with "the hero of the stories". Look at "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". The leader is definitely Peter. he's the oldest and in charge. But the character that is most sympathetic is Lucy.

[dsr]

I wonder if part of the reason John was less assertive than the average fictional older brother, was because the child he was based on was a girl? The Altounyan family had the 5 children of almost the same names as the Walkers, but the eldest was a girl called Taqui. She had to change sex to balance up the stories!

I remember one woman (can't remember who, unfortunately) saying that Swallows and Amazons was her favourite series as a child, because it was possibly the only series of that era where the girls wanted to and were able to do all the adventurous things boys do, without actually wanting to be a boy.