The Enid Blyton Society

I am glad to report the publication of my book The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (Infinity Publishing website). 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

Two days ago on the program/programme "All Things Considered" (http://www.npr.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), veteran newscaster Daniel Schorr discussed the merits and demerits of awarding President Obama the Nobel Peace Prize so fast in his short Presidential career and cited Al Gore, the former Vice-President, as having been given the Nobel Prize as a token gesture to the current waves of anti-climate change (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =113803563" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or go to http://www.npr.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and click on the program, All Things Considered). I fired off and e-mail by reminding them that Enid Blyton, through Uncle Quentin (an issue that I put in my Forward to my book, The Famous Five:A Personal Anecdotage) had been looking for alternative sources of energy to oil, coal and coke in Five On Kirrin Island Again (which was first published in 1947), a year before Al Gore was born. Maybe during those days, the gravity of climate change may not have been gauged. In addition, those Nature Lover's books also demonstrated Enid Blyton's credentials as a conscientious environmentalist. Thus, these two attributes should have warranted Enid Blyton receiving a Nobel Peace Prize in the tradition of Dr. Wangari Maathai of Kenya received it a couple of years ago. So Enid Blyton may have known something or two about climate change (though probably not as refined in the current situation).

Stephen Isabirye

This book appears to be very interesting. However, http://www.buybooksontheweb.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; do not ship outside of the U.S.A. Will The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage be available from other sources?

I am glad to announce that my book is now available at http://www.borders.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Unfortunately, my experience with Borders.com is at best minimal. However, from the information I have gathered from the website, it is possible for the book to be ordered from outside North America.

My book is also available at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). it seems it is yet to be available at other Amazon subsites such as http://www.amazon.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; or http://www.amazon.ca" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; As for its being available in PDF/e-book form, my publisher told me that at this time, they are reluctant to have it in pdf/e-book format for fear of its being pirated. However being in that format is not being ruled out at some future date.

My alma mater has acknowledged my book which may be proof that I attended their institution.

http://alumni.nau.edu/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=69" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Stephen Isabirye

Here are direct links to Enikyoga's book. Amazon USA and Amazon UK.

A little expensive perhaps, but that's just my opinion.

Petermax,
The price of my book was the publisher's suggested price, at least on Amazon USA (http://www.amazon.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). Probably, the one on Amazon UK (http://www.amazon.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) may have been purchased on Amazon USA and maybe the seller is trying to make a very big killing in profits for its still-unavailability in the UK and other places or regions, after all that copy is now second-hand (used).

Stephen Isabirye

I think you are probably right there Enikyoga. The guy is trying to cash in on the fact that the book does not seem to be available anywhere else in the UK. At £30 for the book plus postage he is not very likely to sell it I think.

On Thursday, that is tomorrow, it will be Thanksgiving Day in the USA. The holiday falls on the last Thursday of every November. It is a great feast since a lot of turkey and chicken is served. There is no doubt, if Enid Blyton was an American, she could have definitely included the holiday in several or many of her series. As many people can attest, big holiday days or seasons can also reveal many tensions within families. Whenever big holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc, approach, many radio and TV talkshow hosts do not fail to highlight intra-familial and inter-familial tensions during this period. However, she came close in Five Go To Demon's Rocks when during that holiday season Enid Blyton highlighted the convergence of unannounced visitors from two families. In this case, first we have Professor Hayling and his son, Tinker, then his monkey, Mischief, while on the other hand you have the four kids and their dog, Timmy all converging on Kirrin Cottage. Both sides give little or no notice of their impending arrival at the cottage. It appears this scene may have been, according to Barbara Stoney, been based on Dorothy Richards and her family's "impromptu" showing up at Green Hedges unexpectedly during the war. Nonetheless, many families can easily relate to Enid Blyton's dramatization of this scenario in Five Go To Demon's Rocks and this can be very hard on the housewives who have to put up with all these inconveniences. So tomorrow on Thursday, let us hope that in recreating The Thanksgiving holiday in The Famous Five image, Mischief the monkey and Timmy the dog do not come to blows with each other and that the five kids behave themselves....

Stephen Isabirye

I am glad to inform you that the first review of my book has been posted on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).
Let me wish you a happy new year/decade.
Stephen Isabirye

Wow thats is certainly an excellent review. You must be very happy indeed.

I'm going to be a bit of a kill joy here, I'm afraid. Because at the end of the day, Enid Blyton was a good childrens writer, who's numerous books and plots are a credit to her.

Everyone can have their own views and try and disect this author, and the times that she lived in. Even question the way she brought up her own family, and even go as to far as to try and imagine all sorts of questions and answers about the actual books that are so popular. But at the end of the day, no one can prove anything written about her as the lady herself is not here to confirm anything of this. And my own personal opinion is that she wrote the stories that came forward inside her head, with no other reason but to put them onto paper for all children to enjoy.

A simple explanation and one that I personally will stick with.

Julie2owlsdene wrote:And my own personal opinion is that she wrote the stories that came forward inside her head, with no other reason but to put them onto paper for all children to enjoy.

A simple explanation and one that I personally will stick with.

I second that Julie. I think some people are really trying to read a bit too much into her life. I cant help feeling that Enid would be rolling on the floor laughing if she could read some of the things that have been written about her.

I personally found that reveiw a little 'overzealous'. She was a childrens author for goodness sake who has made regular qoutations regarding what inspired her. We don't need to guess or scrutinise this because she has already told us!!!

It must be nice to see a review like that after the amount of work that evidently went into the book, and the uncertainty that goes with publishing a book. I think the title sums up the book well.

One of the sentences in the review puzzled me:- "The minutae into which Dr. Stephen Isabirye goes into, in dissecting "The Famous Five," is beyond belief."

I didn't realise that you were a 'Dr.', Stephen, but obviously the reviewer did. How did he know that, is he a friend of yours?