Readathon - The Rockingdown Mystery

[Rob Houghton]

Those are the parts of Rockingdown that do stay in the memory - Barney's 'back-story' is fascinating and definitely elevates the series to a higher level - which is why, for me, the last two books are so poor. It was clearly Enid's plan to have Barney as a strong major character and he's made all the stronger by having 'history' - which very few of Enid's child characters do. The 'social' aspect of each book right through to Rubadub is probably the most important part of the story - the mystery seems to come second.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm not so keen on Green Meadows...but need to give it another read!

The Children at Green Meadows isn't strong on individual characterisation. Nevertheless it's a moving and surprisingly forward-looking portrait of a family and community coming to terms with post-war social change, and Green Meadows resembles Green Hedges in some respects. I like the way the characters work to overcome setbacks, help one another and face the future with optimism. The overall message is very different from the message of The Put-Em-Rights, which Enid Blyton wrote nine years earlier.

Back to The Rockingdown Mystery!:

Of the characters, Roger's a bit nondescript, Diana reminds me of a sort of Dinah Mannering with her scornful approach to people, and Snubby reminds me of a sort of immature version of Fatty. Charming, intelligent and witty, and yet unlike Fatty prone to deliberately irritating people. But I get the impression Enid Blyton intended for the reader to like him. As for Barney, I can recall that he came from Circus Folk/Traveller heritage and was looking for his father, but he's pretty much introduced as a homeless person sleeping rough which slipped right past me before. Quite a bit different from the usual Blyton children.

Yes, the children are a real mixture. I'm particularly fond of the irrepressible Snubby, who is an extremely likeable pest, and I love his headmaster's description of him - "A bad boy with a lot of good in him." His story tugs at my heartstrings even more than Barney's. Barney grew up in the travelling community with a mother who loved him - and his father would no doubt have loved him too if only father and son had been aware of each other's existence. He even received an education which has left him with the ability, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, to pick up Shakespeare's plays and read them to himself with understanding and enjoyment! Although he currently has no family, he has the skills to fend for himself and hopes to track down the father he has never seen.

Snubby, on the other hand, has no parents and none of his relatives are willing to offer him a permanent home so he "gets kicked about from one aunt to another" when he's not at boarding school. Apologising to Roger and Diana for their wasted journey to meet him at the station, he says, "Sorry to upset you, cousins. Honestly, I didn't know you were going to meet me. I'm not used to kind attentions of that sort from you. Are we, Loony?" He befriends cooks and porters throughout the series, no doubt enjoying the unaccustomed attention and affection they give him. His spaniel Loony is his most constant companion and it's telling that, when Snubby explores the grounds of Rockingdown Manor for the first time, what's uppermost in his mind is the games he can play with his dog: "He could make plenty of good hidey-holes in the grounds for Loony and himself. They could play pirates, wrecked sailors, and Red Indians to their hearts' content under the thick bushes and up in the tall trees - because Loony didn't at all mind being dragged up trees by the scruff of his neck."

Bearing all this in mind, I find it poignant that it's Snubby who says to Barney on their first meeting, "Well, where's your real home? You must have a home!"

As for Diana, she seems reminiscent of a 1920s "Bright Young Thing" when she moans about being "poked down in the country somewhere with Miss Pepper" where she'll have to "moulder all the hols" and will "feel buried alive - no tennis, no parties - and I suppose that horrid little Snubby is coming too." But in later books she's just as keen as the others on visiting remote places like Ring O' Bells Village and Rat-a-Tat House.

[Chrissie777]

I've read the book twice before but I'd forgotten these various aspects - and also the fact that Enid explains to the reader the purpose of the 'Dower House':
"It was a house set aside for the Mistress of the big mansion when her husband died and her son and his wife came to take over the mansion."

In "Coming Home" by R. Pilcher the Dower House plays an important part when Judith Dunbar moves there.

[Anita Bensoussane]

In Downton Abbey, Violet (Dowager Countess of Grantham) lives at the Dower House.

[Anita Bensoussane]

The feelings of holiday and sunshine and long warm summers, or deep snow, or seaside holidays, mysterious woods and olde worlde cottages all take precedence over the plot, and have always been the main reasons I enjoy the books.

You have a good point there, Robert!
I have to admit that I used to read the suspenseful EB books & series for the adventure only (even though Kirrin Bay and Kirrin Island inspired my imagination very much).
But after having read many other forumites opinions on how nice the build up in EB books is done and that it takes precedence over the plot, I tend to look at it that way myself now.

I also think Enid's description is very skilled in this book too, regarding how she describes the surrounding nature and the state of Rockingdown House. It isn't the best book in the series but it sets the scene nicely, I think, for a series of adventure and excitement.

I'm really enjoying the "setting the scene" aspect of The Rockingdown Mystery (which I still haven't quite finished reading).

A few little details from the opening chapters jumped out at me, for example Miss Pepper saying, "I don't like dogs, as you know, and I like Loony even less than most dogs." I was aware that Miss Pepper found Loony (and Snubby!) trying but I'd forgotten (or had never noticed) that she had a general dislike of dogs.

Another remark stands out to me every time I read the book because I just love the bizarre image it conjures up. Miss Pepper looks with horror at the rents and tears in most of Diana's school things and Enid Blyton writes, "Anyone would think that the girl spent all her time climbing thorny trees, judging by the state of her clothes." I have a vision of Diana swinging like a monkey across a zany forest of thorny trees and bushes which resembles (in my mind, anyway) something drawn by Dr. Seuss!

Then there's the casual comment about Snubby's trunk which makes me stop and read the sentence again and think about the mayhem that must have ensued: "Except that Snubby found an outsize stag-beetle in the garden, which he insisted on displaying at the tea-table, and that he had arrived with another boy's trunk instead of his own, things passed peacefully the first day." Poor Miss Pepper!

We know Roger and Diana are able to put away ice-creams with ease as they devour four each at a tea-room just outside the station at the start of the story, washed down with ginger-beer (it must have cost a small fortune!) However, I didn't realise how fast they eat until Chapter 2, when they allow themselves half an hour to walk two miles to the station at/near Rockingdown yet still find time to sit and eat an ice-cream at the general store en route!

I realise Snubby is aggrieved at having to be tutored in the summer holidays, but I'm dumfounded when he says in Chapter 13, "I call these hols too dull for words." Crumbs - he has made friends with a circus boy who has a pet monkey, had the run of an old mansion and its grounds, enjoyed all kinds of delicious food prepared by Mrs. Round and been horse-riding, boating, swimming and exploring with his cousins. Sounds like a fantastic holiday to me!

With Enid Blyton weaving warmth, humour, wistfulness and a touch of creepiness into the first few chapters, I always find myself thoroughly entertained while waiting for the mystery proper to begin.

[Nicko]

Then there's the casual comment about Snubby's trunk which makes me stop and read the sentence again and think about the mayhem that must have ensued: "Except that Snubby found an outsize stag-beetle in the garden, which he insisted on displaying at the tea-table, and that he had arrived with another boy's trunk instead of his own, things passed peacefully the first day." Poor Miss Pepper!

This is my favourite line from the book so far. A nice touch of humour from EB.

I didn`t read this book as a child so it will never be one of my absolute favourites but it is enjoyable enough.

[Anita Bensoussane]

The mystery, such as it is, takes far too long to get going. Nothing really strange goes on, apart from the mysterious noises somewhere under the abandoned house in the night, until we're more than halfway through. It's all very vague and uninteresting somehow, until Barney finds the secret passage along the underground river - and then all of a sudden we're introduced to a smuggling operation that's fairly absurd in its complexity and improbability (how could the smugglers land a plane regularly in the nearby field, even by night, without anyone noticing? Why would they bother to set up all that elaborate equipment for winching the crates upstream into the hidden cave, only to then have to send them out again from there? It doesn't make much sense...).

I've finished the book now and I must admit I always enjoy the underground goings-on. The criminals' complicated system involving planes, boats, rafts, winches, tunnels and caverns is thrilling to read about even if it's somewhat far-fetched!

If only we can get the map showing how the geographical condition between Rockingdown cottage and the mansion and the stream. I got hard time visualize it and it is important to story line.

I agree that a map would be useful and fascinating to look at.

...interesting mentioned of Shakespeare lines in the book.

Yes, the Shakespeare references are interesting. When I was about ten I tried reading The Tempest because of Barney but I didn't get very far with it at that age. I couldn't understand Snubby's remark about Shakespeare writing "in such a funny way - you know, all the lines the same length." They didn't look the same length to me, but I had yet to learn about iambic pentameter!

On the subject of literature, the mansion itself reminds me of the house in Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Fall of the House of Usher' while the nursery with the table set for a meal makes me think of Miss Havisham and her wedding-cake in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It's unnerving to think of the sadness of the past lingering and casting shadows over the present.

As I wrote in my review of The Rockingdown Mystery for the Journal some years ago, Enid Blyton's use of language and imagery throughout the book is striking. When Barney is trapped underground, Blyton conjures up images of Hell which serve to underline the nightmarish qualities of the Underworld in which Barney is imprisoned. We have descriptions of dark caverns and passages, and an underground stream, "black and gleaming." A man holding a pitchfork guides crates of goods along the stream. In Tales of Long Ago Blyton Enid re-tells ancient Greek myths, including the story of 'Proserpina and the King of the Underworld'. In that story she describes the Underworld, or Kingdom of the Dead, as consisting of "dark caverns underground." It is ruled by Pluto, a "dark and gloomy monarch", who carries a "two-pronged spear" resembling a pitchfork. The same book contains 'The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice', in which Orpheus is ferried across "the black river Styx" to the "long, dark passages" of the Underworld. All these elements are to be found in the underground world beneath Rockingdown Manor. The mention of the man with the pitchfork also makes me think of depictions of the Devil in Christianity as a creature with horns, a tail and a pitchfork. Such images heighten the sense that Barney is surrounded by evil and is in real danger. When the boy finds his way of escape blocked by an iron-barred gate, we are reminded of the barred nursery window at the mansion, intensifying the atmosphere of imprisonment and gloom which pervades this book.

Whenever I read an Enid Blyton book these days I tend to notice the vocabulary she uses, as some critics have claimed that her choice of words is banal and doesn't challenge readers. In The Rockingdown Mystery we have words like "impudence", "dowager", "uproarious", "festooned", "forlornness", "subdued", "irrepressible", "indisposition", "guttural", "stolidly" and "puerile". Several of those would have been new or unusual to me when I first read the book.

Another thing I like about this story is that board games are mentioned several times, with Barney joining in and savouring for a short time the fun and jollity of being part of a family. We play a lot of board games and I'm just about to log off and play Scrabble now!

[Poppy]

I have only got a couple more pages until I reach the end of The Rockingdown Mystery and I have enjoyed it a lot. Although it isn't the very best mystery book Enid ever wrote, it sets the scene brilliantly for a great series. I was also impressed at the range of vocabulary Enid uses in this book. In her autobiography (as we have mentioned a few times) this was the series that she recommended for more advanced readers, and I agree with this. I think she uses some very powerful and adventurous description in this book, as I said earlier.

The setting of Rockingdown was a really interesting location, in my opinion. Rockingdown House itself, with it's eerie passageways and neglected nursery evokes some sadness for me; especially after reading about the old possessions of the children and imagining what the house would have been like when it was occupied.

[Chrissie777]

If only we can get the map showing how the geographical condition between Rockingdown cottage and the mansion and the stream. I got hard time visualize it and it is important to story line.

I agree that a map would be useful and fascinating to look at.

...The same book contains 'The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice', in which Orpheus is ferried across "the black river Styx" to the "long, dark passages" of the Underworld. All these elements are to be found in the underground world beneath Rockingdown Manor.

Yes, that's what I thought as well: a map would be great.

Anita, I don't know if the UK also has the TV channel TCM, but in case you get a chance, try to catch the French movie with Jean Marais called "Orphée". It was realized a few years after WW II and tells the Orpheus & Eurydice story in a modern version.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041719/combined" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks, Chrissie. We don't subscribe to any TV services so we only get the free channels, but I may get the chance to see it one of these days.

[jubei]

Whenever I read an Enid Blyton book these days I tend to notice the vocabulary she uses, as some critics have claimed that her choice of words is banal and doesn't challenge readers. In The Rockingdown Mystery we have words like "impudence", "dowager", "uproarious", "festooned", "forlornness", "subdued", "irrepressible", "indisposition", "guttural", "stolidly" and "puerile". Several of those would have been new or unusual to me when I first read the book.

and to imagine somebody who English is his third language to read this. In true honestly, I also amazed at how deep of thesaurus Enid Blyton had. I keep imagine how high the reading skill can be for children of 10 years ago if they all proficient in Enid Blyton books.

One thing,..
I am reading the sixth Enid Blyton book now since my "return", and still not finding out the expression most of my British (actually, Australian) fellow heavily used:

"Bloody xxxx..."

which many can be found in JK Rowling.

[Courtenay]

One thing,..
I am reading the sixth Enid Blyton book now since my "return", and still not finding out the expression most of my British (actually, Australian) fellow heavily used:

"Bloody xxxx..."

which many can be found in JK Rowling.

Jubei, "bloody hell" (which I assume you mean) is quite rude in English even nowadays, and would have been even ruder in Enid Blyton's time - she would never have used it in any of her books. It's more commonly used by Australians than Brits, but it's still not polite (though common) even in Australia!

[Rob Houghton]

Enid didn't even use 'damn' or 'flipping' or even 'blooming' so I'm positive she never used 'bloody hell'!

[jubei]

I apologize... just out of curiosity in bringing that topic. Good to know then.

[pete9012S]

Got me wondering what the strongest terms she did use are now.Perhaps 'beast' or 'prig'...anyone??