Stephen Isabirye

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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by pete9012S »

Regarding the anecdotage's own potential linguistic errors the forward states:
No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Enid Blyton signature logo and Famous Five trade mark is reproduced with the kind permission of Enid Blyton Limited (a Chorion company). All rights reserved Enid Blyton Limited. All rights reserved Front cover illustration by Eileen Soper from Five On A Treasure Island copyright Hodder & Stoughton ISBN 0-7414-5495-5 Paperback ISBN 978-0-7414-9443-6 eBook INFINITY PUBLISHING 1094 New DeHaven Street, Suite 100 West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2713

Stephen Isabirye The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage Infinity Publishing.
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Enikyoga »

Domino wrote:What examples of her 'linguistic errors' do you have in mind, Stephen?

Dave
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Domino »

All those, eh? My, that's a lot!!! :roll:

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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by tix »

It must be around five years ago, when Stephen Isabirye's book hit the Forums causing reverberations that have continued to this day. The 'Anecdotage' as it is known, has been discussed to the tune of about fifty pages on the EBS site, and advertisements for the book have been spotted on numerous web pages - especially when a search has being made with an EB connection.

********
by Enikyoga » 16 Oct 2009, 19:23
"I am glad to report the publication of my book The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage Due to my current internet access and limitations, I cannot get into its details at the moment. Nonetheless, I have left a rather extensive summary on the Blyton Yahoo Group. I will use the discussions on this group to highlight some of the themes I touched upon in the book and I will furnish more details as we tag along." (Stephen Isabirye Enikyoga - Posts: 134 - Joined: 10 Mar 2008)

********

Stephen has a 'BlogSpot' and this contains links to more material that deals with his book so a very comprehensive effort has been made to promote and publicize his 'baby.' Also spotted is a massive 'Kindle' review that goes on for so long I thought it might actually be the whole content, but the word 'preview' appears at the end so there must be more.

Below are just a few of about a thousand references the Fans may have viewed and analyzed in their own way and many that have been posted over the years are quite humorous, with a mix of praise and - less so.

An illustrative example we have received from the author himself -

"In light of the forthcoming British general elections, I have often wondered
what if Enid Blyton had decided to become a politician and run for office, such
as that of Prime Minister, after all she had the credentials and resources to do
so. Yes, it true when she was born and for almost the first 25 years of her
life, women could not vote, and thus as a result of this stigma, grew up
"knowing her place" in gender terms at that time, and may not have wanted to
compete with Winston Churchill (both of whose careers bloosomed to their zenith
roughly at the same time) because of this stigma. Like any politician, we may
not have agreed with some or most of, or all of her policies.

Her credentials for her being a politician, including wanting to run for Prime
minister is to be found in her books and her other writings. For instance, on
the environment front, she staked her claim in this realm when she published
those Nature Study books as well as a couple of Famous Five books such as Five
On Kirrin Island Again when Uncle Quentin partly reveals his plans to replace
key environmental pollutants such as coal, oil and coke with nuclear power (an
idea that is seen to be a bit controversial in some circles); an idea that has
since been embraced by several heads of state. She was also outspoken about
overspeeding. This was evidentially demonstrated in Last Term At Malory Towers,
whne Darrell Rivers' Dad admonishes Josephine's Dad for overspeeding at 90 miles
an hour and narrowly misses hitting their car with catastrophic consequences. We
are well aware of those graphic photos of victims (more painful, if they are
teenagers whose lives have been snuffed out, thus cutting off what would have
been very long productive life) of horrific car accidents. She also described
health conditions, especially affecting children in Britain in the 1940s and
1950s in books such The Famous Five and The Adventure series. In The Naughtiest
Girl series, there was some form of egalitarian message, especially when it came
to collecting pocket money and dispersing it, according to one's needs. In Well
Done, Secret Seven, she highlighted usthe dangers of children being kidnapped
while being in the back of a car that has been temporarily left unattended by a
parent; an aspect that grabs headlines, the world all over nowadays. She also
was also outspoken about the death penalty as evident by a reproduction of her
viewpoits about it in Barbara Stoney's biography on her. However, her best
political activist credentials were demonstrated in The Six Bad Boys in which
she had sat down in juvenile court hearings in collaboration with
Judge/Magistrate Basil Henriques (whose book, The Indiscretions Of A Magistrate,
may have been very inspiratorial in the writing of The Six Bad Boys). It is
issues such as juvenile delinquency that may propelone into an activist
politician. Like Princess Diana, she contributed a lot to worthy charities.

Oftentimes, her politics has been likened to that of Winston Churchill and more
so, Margaret Thatcher. However, such eclectic comparison can turn out to be a
misnomer since her environmental and egalitarian policies would not comport very
well with Conservative Party philiosophy. In my opinion, due to her outlook on
life as refected in her books and other writings, she would have been better off
running as either an Independent or a "neutral" entity or organization such as
the Green Party.From reading and re-reading several of her books, I would
describe her as having been a writer-politician, as opposed to being a
writer-turned career politician, after all, you do have to run for elected
office to be politician. There were or are "natural-born" politicians like Enid
Blyton. In fact, I was brought up to believe that teachers (as Enid Blyton was)
make politicians because of their talking a lot in fron of pupils/students as
well as their moralizing as well as story-telling philosophy, as evident in much
of Enid Blyton's literary works. Most children writers, before (such as Nesbit)
or after Blyton (such as J.K. Rowling) have been as forcibly expressive as Enid
Blyton." (Fans of Enid Blyton - May, 2010)

********

"Took a lot of effort and persistence to get hold of this book,(my cousin Bryan who lives in Hong Kong tracked it down for me!) Was it worth it....well yes and no....I didnt really know what to expect,but without giving too much away,if you are a true fan of Enid Blyton I really think you need to read this mans work......Without spoiling anything for you the whole idea of his worldwide promotion and publication of this mans anecdotage is simply as audacious and stunning as the 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'! In the second chapter I feel impelled to warn you that it is very technical in its approach in analyzing Enid Blyton,and will in my humble opinion be very unlike any other book ever written about her that you have ever read.(or indeed will ever read)." (June, 2010)

********

Reviewer: Teddy 'T Bone' Muir (jnr) - "I could tell you that he’s a brilliant writer. You would already know that if you read his blog or, better yet, devoured his debut novel." (June, 2010)

********

"You may also consult my book, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage, where in my first chapter-introduction, I put the lighthouse in its historical perspective. In Five Go To Demon's Rocks, Enid Blyton alluded to this historical perspective with regard to the lighthouse(s). I made a comparative analogy between the fictional lighthouse in the Five Go To Demon's Rocks and actual events that took place in the USA pertaining to lighthouses in the 1860s in that country. I also discuss the allegorical religious symbolism of the lighthouse that hasn't been lit for six decades and all of a sudden lights up in the middle of the night and how people react to it. There are some religious symbolisms attributed to this aspect as well as the usage of a lot of biblical names such as Jeremiah, Ebenezer, etc. You only have to read Five Go To Demon's Rocks and my book in order to gauge these symbolisms." (Isabirye/Enikyoga - Dec, 2010)

********

"In the Blue Corner , The Curse of Wiltshire. Weighing in at 220lbs of 'relaxed' real ale muscle, the one and only the lovely 'NIGEL ROWE'. Versus The One Man Enid Blyton Biographer Extraordinaire, confidante of Elvis,Huck Finn and Ancient Maritime Shipwrecks, weighing in at a mighty 300lbs and standing 6 feet 5 inches tall,the international houswives favourite and reluctant sex god the one and only Stephen Isabirye!! Ding ding round one. Lets have a good clean fight, and no punches or paunches below the belt. (1st Aid and refreshments provided by St John Ambulance and the letter 'F'.)" (Dec, 2010)

********

"For the past few months I've been reading the messages of Stephen Isabirye and also the comments that came against his book. I always felt that some comments were a bit harsh and I felt sorry for him. After all, this site is a place for Enid Blyton lovers and I think Stephen's book shouldn't have been criticized to this extent. I just see him as a very enthusiastic EB fan and I like him for being such a great fan." (Dec, 2010)

********

"I am exhilarated to learn that Enid Blyton's books inspired you to become a well-known journalist in Pakistan, especially in Karachi. I too was very much inspired by Enid Blyton's books. My attempts at becoming a novelist fell through, very much early in my childhood when I first attempted to write a novel at that time, but which, as expected, was not accepted for publication by my then local publisher. Nonetheless, much later on in my life, I was able to successfully write and publish a book on Enid Blyton by the title of "The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage". I first begun the book by summarizing all the 21 books before I added on several chapters analyzing Enid Blyton, The Famous Five plus other noted book series of hers." (Isabirye/Enikyoga - 2011)

********

"Finally, a year and a half after I began reading it, I've managed to finish Dr Stephen's tome. And what a ride it's been! My cat died of neglect, the mortgage on my home expired, they shot Osama, my poor old mother was run over by a charabanc while crossing Oxford Street, my husband ran off with the housemaid... but WOOHOO - I FINISHED THE BOOK!!!!!" (July, 2012)

********
"My book is the first of its kind written on Enid Blyton, that does not dwell too much on her personal life, but instead looks at the political, historical, social (sociological) and to some extent, economic forces that may have shaped her writings." (Isabirye/Enikyoga - May 2011)

********

Admittedly positive or even negative comments pertaining to books (or anything) can be forged, but a degree of mental sifting may ascertain their legitimacy, and it probably goes without saying that one might congratulate Stephen on his skills at publicizing, not to mention his ability at creating one of the largest EBS Forum threads. I believe he resides in the U.S, but if there's another Enid Blyton Day I'm sure he'd be welcomed as a speaker should he choose to make the trip.

"You have obviously done a great deal of research and must now surely rank as one of the greatest experts on Enid Blyton and her work. What a pity that there is such a distance between you and the UK as we have been talking about the need for a keynote speaker at the Enid Blyton Day" (Dec, 2009)

Praise indeed.

********

Although Stephen has been described as Dr. Isabirye to the EBS Fans on the odd occasion, I think he's earned the right to be regarded as 'Stephen' and long may he continue with the his spasmodic interjections. Reviews for 'The Famous Five - A personal Anecdotage' have been printed on the Amazon and Infinity Publishing sites, amongst others if one cares to search around.

Over the years a fair number of negative remarks have been voiced regarding the book but any responses have, almost invariably, been 'good-natured' rather than in a 'taking offence' mode, so ... congratulations to Dr. Stephen Isabirye.
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Daisy »

Thanks for reproducing these Tix. Oh to be a "neutral entity"! Well, I have had a good few moments amusement reading these. There are times when I am reminded of Mrs Malaprop. :?
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Moonraker »

Almost an epitaph! Well done, Tix.
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Enikyoga »

Enikyoga wrote:
Domino wrote:What examples of her 'linguistic errors' do you have in mind, Stephen?

Dave
Sorry my fingers flipped and reproduced your quotation verbatim. My apologies!!!

In fact, during my research for this book, I was sent an Enid Blyton novel, I have forgotten its name, I guess it must have been either an Adventure or Mystery book. The beginning of a sentence did not appear to have been right; even I whose first language isn't English, could detect that, that sentence was wrong. In The Island Of [/i]Adventure in the 1966 edition, I came across a typo or two. I am still going over it to locate where the typos were. Incidentally, the American edition of that book, Mystery Island appears to have been flawless, at least in linguistic expression.

In the other Enid Blyton.Net website, on March 19, 2014, in the messages forum (http://enidblyton.net/messages.html?Showall=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), a person calling herself/himself talitha tulloch and certainly English appearing not to be her/his first language from the sentence below said:

My favourite book of the (sic) Enid Blyton is the one were (sic) ragamuffin jo comes into the story were (sic) George is kidnapped instead of Berta...I have noticed there are a few mistakes and wrong grammar in the books..."

In George Greenfield's short biography on Enid Blyton, the latter would from time to time call him for advice pertaining to whether commas had to be or not be included in some of the sentences in her books.

Stephen L. Carter, a proment Law Professor at Yale University who has written a couple of best selling books, including some novels, has from time to time, been cited for some typos and a couple of grammatical errors. It is noteworthy that both Stephen Carter and Enid Blyton's first language of expression is and was English, respectively.

Thus, despite the above-mentioned examples of flaws, they did not prevent the two writers from selling best selling books. in fact Enid Blyton is still ahead of J.K. Rowling in book sales.

Even my publisher told us that a couple of typos and grammatical inconsistencies will not prevent a book from either selling or being widely accepted by their respective constituencies.

just as the saying goes one person's meat is another person's poison, some of those so-called "linguistic errors" could be well understood by another constituency.

Stephen I.
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by pete9012S »

Enikyoga wrote: Even Enid Blyton made several linguistic errors in some of her articles and books despite English having been her first language!!!
Stephen I.
Enikyoga wrote: ..just as the saying goes one person's meat is another person's poison, some of those so-called "linguistic errors" could be well understood by another constituency.

Stephen I.
Well you you seem to have all the bases covered and both sides of the argument evenly represented with this one Stephen!
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

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Stephen I. wrote:

just as the saying goes one person's meat is another person's poison, some of those so-called "linguistic errors" could be well understood by another constituency.

I thought the saying was 'one man's fish is another man's poisson'. :D

I suppose if the constituency was won by UKIP, that might be expected.

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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Hmm - you don't seem to have found much except a sentence that begins oddly and a typo or two, Stephen (none of them cited). I spotted more errors than that on most pages of the Anecdotage!
Enikyoga wrote:In George Greenfield's short biography on Enid Blyton, the latter would from time to time call him for advice pertaining to whether commas had to be or not be included in some of the sentences in her books.
Are you sure George Greenfield said that, Stephen? I've read his book and I don't remember that part.
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Enikyoga »

Domino wrote:Stephen I. wrote:

just as the saying goes one person's meat is another person's poison, some of those so-called "linguistic errors" could be well understood by another constituency.

I thought the saying was 'one man's fish is another man's poisson'. :D

I suppose if the constituency was won by UKIP, that might be expected.

Dave
My apologies. Actually, the saying should be "One Man's Meat is Another Man's Poison."
In our primary/elementary school, the teachers told us or rather taught us the saying which would become very popular in this region. Maybe the saying may vary from one cultural constituency to another.
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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Domino »

No, Stephen. We learn it the same way as you were taught it. (Maybe you should teach yourself a bit of French, then perhaps you'll see the joke.)
If only the sole mistakes in your book were the misplacing of punctuation (which can sometimes be quite problematical). Typos should not appear in a book if it has been properly proof-read. (Authors are advised not to do the proof-reading themselves, as it is all too easy to miss the errors that would jump out at someone else.)
But when we talk about linguistic errors, we mean using the language in entirely the wrong way. If you were merely a visitor from Uganda, that would be forgiveable. But you have studied at the University of Southern Colorado and obtained a Doctorate. (I know it wasn't in English, but good English would still be necessary to obtain it.) You have purported to have written 'a serious academic study', though you have since sought to distance yourself from having made such a claim. The real tragedy is that whatever points you intended to make (whether thay be valid or not), have got lost because your book is barely readable.
Furthermore, it reflects badly on the USC, which I am sure is not what you intended.

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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

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Lucky Star wrote:I see that more reviews have now been added to the book's entry on BBOTW. Even disgraced French footballer Nicolas Anelka has added his tuppence worth. :? As have Chris P Bacon and Captain Pugwash!!! :shock: I would really love to know what these reviewers are thinking of.

http://www.buybooksontheweb.com/product ... 414-5495-5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Well, anyone can call himself/herself anything. My impression is that we have a lot of ventriloquists (citing the Zulu ventriloquist in The Mystery of The Strange Bundle) that post on the http://www.bbotw.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; under assumed names and post on this forum, including this thread, under other assumed names!!!
Stephen I.
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Re: The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage

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Anita Bensoussane wrote:Five on a Hike Together - "Anne sleeps in a back room while Dick passes out in the barn."

.


Well Anita, I am wondering what is wrong with the above sentence after all, as I have gone over Five On A Hike Together, Anne first fell asleep in the room, presumably the back room, and shortly later Dick entered the barn and bolted its door and shortly afterwards as Enid Blyton tells us:

flung himself on the straw and immediately fell asleep.

During the time Enid wrote this book, the sentence, "passed/passes out" was very uncommon. In fact one Facebook correspondent, Wong Hon Long, on the Merriam-Webster website says:

Pass Out: To fall asleep from exhaustion (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pass%20out" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

Certainly Dick was very exhausted and literally passed out on that straw in the barn.

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Re: Stephen Isabirye

Post by Daisy »

It's a pity you took no notice of the dictionary definition Stephen. The one you found was from an ordinary member of the public and is not how the majority of English speaking people would interpret it. Wong Hon Long does not use it as the dictionary states.
Your sentence gives the impression that Dick fainted, that is lost consciousness. This is the kind of mistake which makes we, who know the books, smile when we read your interpretation.
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