What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

The books! Over seven hundred of them and still counting...
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by sixret »

Well done, Maria Esther! :D
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I've enjoyed reading the recent posts in this thread as lots of my favourite books have been mentioned.
Rob Houghton wrote:
Stephen wrote:I think this is the possibly the earliest written Blyton book I've got.
You need to get 'The Book Of Brownies' - one of Enid's first published books, and a very good one! :D
I too highly recommend The Enid Blyton Book of Brownies. It's Enid Blyton's first full-length novel (1926) and is less episodic than most of the Faraway Tree and Wishing-Chair books. It's extremely inventive, sparkles with humour and wonder and has long been a favourite of mine.
Stephen wrote:Adventures Of The Wishing-Chair was a delight from beginning to end... It was so great to relive the old times with the adorable Rene Cloke illustrations where Peter looks like a smartly dressed page boy, Mollie looks like a girl from German folklore, and Chinky resembles an angelic child!
Yes, Rene Cloke has Peter and Mollie dress more conservatively in The Wishing-Chair Again but I love the quaint costumes they wear in the first book. Plotwise, I prefer the second book as it's a better-structured story.
Stephen wrote:And now it's time for The Sea Of Adventure, my most read of the Adventure series (probably because it's my only one in hardback form). Pretty much a plot from James Bond which happens to include children, there's disguises, speed boat chases, gun-running from foreign criminals and gunfire galore (including a regular getting injured by a stray bullet!)!
The Sea of Adventure is sublime! Whenever I hear the name "Enid Blyton" it's the Adventure series that springs to mind first - especially Sea and Valley. Those books touched my heart from the beginning and if I were only allowed to keep one set of Blyton books it would be the Adventure series for sure!
Machupicchu14 wrote:Oh my God!! Guess what I got for the Epiphany??
A collection of three Naughtiest Girl in School books! I'm so happy because those are the books I really wanted to read and now I'll be able to do it!! And honestly this series is totally amazing :D
Another brilliant series, full of drama and emotion.
Rob Houghton wrote:I'm still reading 'Five Go To Smuggler's Top'. Its the first Famous Five I ever read, aged 9, when I received the annual version for my birthday, and its the book that has the most 'iconic' Famous Five ingredients, in my view - flashing lights, loads of secret passages, Block pretending to be deaf, the hump in Block's bed when they go looking to see if he's asleep, the tree crashing through the roof of Kirrin cottage, George being mistaken for a boy, the fact they have to hide Timmy, Uncle Quentin being kidnapped, George spying on Barling through a lighted window when she walks around the city walls, etc. No wonder its such a great Famous Five adventure!

There are some phrases used that have stayed with me since childhood also, such as Anne observing that Block has a 'shut face' and that Mr Lenoir smiles but not with his eyes. :-)
Iconic indeed! I recall shivering with fear at some of the encounters with Block and feeling heartbroken at the thought of the mysterious marshes being drained and the house being sold. The place sounded wonderfully appealing and full of history and I wanted it left just as it was.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Stephen »

The Sea Of Adventure was a truly wonderful book! Although it was my most read of the Adventure series, I don't think I've read it all the way through since before 1987/88 when we did 'Lord of the Flies' at school, because I'd actually forgotten that the children lit a fire to alert passing ships. And while it's obviously not as graphic as Lord of the Flies, there's a huge amount of death-defying action in it.

Some great lines and quotations as well...
"What? Be a gardener, or a tram conductor, or something safe like that, do you mean?" asked Bill, grinning at Lucy-Ann's serious face. "No, Lucy-Ann - this kind of life suits me. I'm on the side of law and order and right - and to my mind they're worth while running any risk for. Evil is strong and powerful, but I'm strong and powerful too, and it's good to try one's strength against bad men and their ways."
"Now this is the greatest adventure of all," said Jack, rather solemnly. "Hiding is an adventure. Escaping is an adventure. But rescuing someone else from the very jaws of the enemy is the greatest adventure of all."
"I don't know what to say," said Bill, in a queer sort of voice. "You're only kids - but you're the finest company of friends anyone could have. You know the meaning of loyalty already, and even if you're scared you don't give up. I'm proud to have you for my friends."
I know that Enid Blyton was such a prolific writer, it's a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Could you really say what's "better" between, say Malory Towers and the Faraway Tree? But from what I've recently read of her books so far, I'd like to say that 'The Sea of Adventure' could be a candidate for her best ever work!

Anyway, my next book is Five Go Off In A Caravan which used to delight and puzzle me in equal measure. There's no way I would have been allowed to do something like that as a child!
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Five Go Off In A Caravan was one which took me a while to appreciate. When I first read it, aged about 25, I didn't thin much of it at all, and found it slow to start, but rereading it again a couple of years ago I suddenly realised that its the slow start that is the book's strength.

I like the dreamy holiday atmosphere - the descriptions of the countryside, and the real 'olden day' (well - 1940's/50's!) feel it has. It zoomed up in my estimation, and in fact I was inspired to write 'Five Go Off In A Narrowboat' by it! My Narrowboat story is very closely based on Five Go Off In A Caravan in many ways! :lol:
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I love Five Go Off in a Caravan for some of the same reasons I love The Sea of Adventure . Both involve days of dreamy drifting through idyllic scenery, followed by truly dangerous, hair-raising happenings. There's also a strong sense of camaraderie in both, making me long to be part of the group.
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:There's also a strong sense of camaraderie in both, making me long to be part of the group.
I agree. Especially in 'Caravan' there's something intangible I can't quite put into words - that feeling of being there...of experiencing something I haven't experienced in an era I was never a part of with a group of friends who didn't exist! Somehow it seems more real than other books, and its easy to project yourself into the action, lazing by the caravan looking out across the lake and the views below.
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Darrell71 »

Stephen wrote:[..] I'd like to say that 'The Sea of Adventure' could be a candidate for her best ever work!
If this was a tweet I'd break the retweet button right now. Absolutely my favorite book. I can never describe how much I love it. I may cease to read Blyton books altogether one day, (although i hope I don't), but I will never, never forget 'The Sea of Adventure'. Iconic, IMHO.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Stephen »

I've just finished Five Go Off In A Caravan. I remember thinking this book was slightly unusual the first time around because it features Julian's, Dick's and Anne's parents as opposed to Quentin and Fanny for a change. I said before I always felt the idea of children going off in horse-pulled caravans was a little unrealistic, but they do address this at the start. The Five themselves don't know whether they'll be allowed to go, the parents seem a little unsure at first, and once it's agreed strict instructions are given such as Julian being in charge, boiling water before drinking it, and them being given a list of farms where they would be welcome. It was as if Enid had come up with this original scenario for a Five adventure, then realized it might have been rather far-fetched - but with a few explanations went ahead and did it regardless! And to be honest, Julian is a substitute adult in most of the books anyway!

There's a lovely, slow, idyllic feel, at least in the first third of the book, and it does feel firmly set in a past, more innocent time. It probably helps that I was reading a Third Impression 1949 hardback in reasonably good condition. The thought of these exotic, performing animals such as a chimpanzee and elephant in Britain is so quaintly old fashioned, and the bit where the farm girl said she heard lions roaring one year is quite surreal!

But as well as the archaic beauty, this book is very violent. The villains regularly beat a child, poison a dog, injure a chimpanzee by throwing a stone at his head, and carry guns. The bit when George thinks Timmy has been shot is pretty heart wrenching. We the reader know he'll be all right, but what must have been going through a child's head to think her beloved dog has been killed like this?

My next book is Five On A Secret Trail. I don't remember the plot all that well, but I certainly remember the bit about 'Guy' seemingly acting friendly one moment and unfriendly the next. I know people say the explanation is obvious - but I was utterly amazed the first time I read it!
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

I agree that Five Go Off In A Caravan is quite violent - and I think it works well, as the beginning is so idyllic. I also agree that from an adult point of view it seems a bit far-fetched to have the children going off in a caravan alone...but then again, this is what makes the Five books so popular, and what gave them such enduring appeal - the wish-fulfilment is the most attractive aspect of the books for children. Of course, as a writer its also pretty useful to be able to dispose of the restrictions placed on the children by the adults!

:-D
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by IceMaiden »

I have just finished The Secret Mountain. What a thrilling book, and quite menacing for an EB story! The weird savage cult capturing and throwing people mercilessly off the mountainside as sacrifices to their God, chanting ominously as they do so puts me more in mind of Indiana Jones than Enid Blyton!

This is the third book I have read in the Secret series, a series I've never read at all before, and I'm finding them quite different to Enid's other books in that so far none of them have gone in the direction I was expecting them to go in. The Secret Island I felt sure they were going to either find treasure or stumble upon some crook's hiden hideout. Spiggy-Holes I thought they would find it being used for smuggling goods. Now with Mountain I thought to begin with the yellow people were using their sun worshipping as a cover for what they were really doing, then on reading more that it was a base for some powerful device they were secretly creating, but no, I got that wrong too.

I love the way the second book has bought in bits of the first and the third has done the same with the second, I can't recall other series doing that beyond a quick mention, and I also love how you can see where ideas for later series came from in them. I can see a lot of Mountain of Adventure and hints of Valley in it too.
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Not sophisticated, I'm the sweet and simple kind
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

I love The Secret Mountain - its my favourite 'Secret' book. The one scene that has always impressed me, stuck in my memory, and also gave me shivers the first time I read it, is where the two boys swim along a flooded passage into the mountain - so tense and claustrophobic, and even though I knew they'd be alright, its very suspenseful - will they be able to come up for breath, or be drowned in the tunnel? Its a great scene, and shows how brilliant Enid was at creating a situation she had (probably!) never experienced herself!
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

The Secret Mountain is a favourite for me too. Laden with danger, menace, emotion and surprising events, it keeps the reader hooked from beginning to end. Mafumu is a great supporting character. He's friendly and warm, with a bright outlook on life, not to mention brave and resourceful. His presence provides reassurance and some much-needed light relief, and I'm always sorry when the Arnolds have to say goodbye to him (after showering him with presents and predicting a promising future for him in his tribe).
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.


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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Of course, its also got the distinction of being the only Blyton book from a major series to be taken out of print! :-(
'Oh voice of Spring of Youth
hearts mad delight,
Sing on, sing on, and when the sun is gone
I'll warm me with your echoes
through the night.'

(E. Blyton, Sunday Times, 1951)



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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by pete9012S »

IceMaiden wrote:I have just finished The Secret Mountain. What a thrilling book, and quite menacing for an EB story! The weird savage cult capturing and throwing people mercilessly off the mountainside as sacrifices to their God, chanting ominously as they do so puts me more in mind of Indiana Jones than Enid Blyton!

This is the third book I have read in the Secret series, a series I've never read at all before, and I'm finding them quite different to Enid's other books in that so far none of them have gone in the direction I was expecting them to go in. The Secret Island I felt sure they were going to either find treasure or stumble upon some crook's hiden hideout. Spiggy-Holes I thought they would find it being used for smuggling goods. Now with Mountain I thought to begin with the yellow people were using their sun worshipping as a cover for what they were really doing, then on reading more that it was a base for some powerful device they were secretly creating, but no, I got that wrong too.

I love the way the second book has bought in bits of the first and the third has done the same with the second, I can't recall other series doing that beyond a quick mention, and I also love how you can see where ideas for later series came from in them. I can see a lot of Mountain of Adventure and hints of Valley in it too.
Image

Liam's well researched book may be of interest to you:
The Enid Blyton Secret Series Enigma: The Twin Books Kindle Edition
Tracing the Stream of Consciousness in Enid Blyton’s Secret Series: Two Essays on Free Association in Art

The Parallels in The Secret Mountain AND The Secret of Killimooin

AND

The Parallels in The Secret of Spiggy Holes AND The Secret of Moon Castle
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LYUIEDJ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Regards

Pete
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Courtenay »

Back at my childhood home spending time with my parents, I've just had a look through some of our still-pretty-extensive Enid Blyton collection and dug out one of my favourite short story books, Stories for You:

Image

I'd forgotten that the first story in it, The Quiet Little Boy, is — rather like the last one, A Noise in the Night — a story in praise of a boy who prefers quiet pastimes to rough, noisy games. In this instance, Barry (hmmm, very Aussie-sounding name! 8) ) is bullied by the other boys because he'd rather sit and fish than go rowing — but they end up being very grateful for him before the day is over!

The next story, The Very Fierce Carpenter, is one I definitely do remember — a really heart-warming story about a bad-tempered carpenter and a boy who chooses to do the right thing when the carpenter's dog is injured. Highly recommended to any Blyton fans who love dogs and/or tales of unpleasant characters redeemed by kindness. :D

The third one, The Bit of Barley-Sugar, is a very simple anti-greed tale set in the playroom... reading it as a (sort of) grown-up, mind you, I'm a little baffled as to why none of the toys (including those with hands, like the doll) were able to pull the barley-sugar out of the mousehole. But then there wouldn't have been any story, I guess... :wink:
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It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
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