Find-Outers Readathon

The books! Over seven hundred of them and still counting...
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Moose
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Post by Moose »

I dunno - I think in families like Fatty's children remained children for much longer than they did in lower class families and so, even at 14, Fatty and the others would not have been seen as adults. Certainly, they would all have stayed at school until age 18.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.




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arky72
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Post by arky72 »

Same series, slight detour to a different book...

Have just read Pantomime Cat and decided that without PC Pippin's help, the Find Outer's would have got nowhere on this mystery!

Back to Hidden House... I can remember as a child, being quite in awe of Ern, staying locked up so the others could get back and get help. That must have been a long, long night for Ern.
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Moose
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Post by Moose »

Slight jump forward ;) I have got BAnshee Towers this morning and started reading it and it starts out in exactly the same way as HH! In fact are there any Find Outers books that don't start with the others waiting for Fatty? Anyway, I hvaen't read this one for ages so will be fun.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.




EF
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Ming
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Post by Ming »

Okay, my comments on Hidden House.

During my first read I rather looked down on Ern. For some reason, I was a bit tired of him, as I read Banshee Towers and Strange Messages first. As Ern appeared in both the books, I sort of felt he always would turn up in the other books, so I was a bit interested to see Ern turn up for the first time. And I was rather tired of him, I felt very like the Find Outers.

However, as the book progressed, my respect for Ern began to grow. Coo, here was a real brave lad! And a bit of a poet too! And so "simple and honest!" ;) I admired his bravery for staying back that night all alone, and I admired the fact that he still stayed with his uncle and took pity on him when the Inspector wanted to read that rude pome. Yes, Ern is worth having in some more of the books.

What I found a bit annoying is that Goon kept on blabbing about the cane. I was bored by that, but still, it was thrilling. And I loved the night he was up on the mill! Flashing lights, cows, hens, babies, what next! :lol: That episode was definitely hilarious!

As for the main plot, I agree it was a bit silly, but I found it interesting all the same. I absolutely loved the whole underground scene, especially the floor part. Coo! Good mechanism! I wonder how it worked? Perhaps there were some gear wheels somewhere under the floor, and a chain was set all the way from the end of the garage to the floor, so when Holland pulls a lever or something the gear wheels move and the chains started going round, and the floor opens! What an idea!

I did find it odd that Mr Trotteville actually bothered to come to Goon to report Frederick's disappearance. Perhaps he's started to think of him after all. ;)
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Moose
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Post by Moose »

Did anyone note that on the night up at the mill, Goon felt sorry for the cow and felt that it should be taken down off the hill because it would be cold or something like that? We don't often see compassion from Goon but that was an example of soon (pity of course that he didn't show any towards Goon).
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.




EF
Jen-Jen
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Post by Jen-Jen »

Yes I too noticed Goon's compassion towards the cow. And at the end his worry and concern for Ern felt very genuine to me. I think he really does like Ern deep down, but has a hard time showing it because he likes to be seen as in control and someone people should fear.

I have the newest edition of Hidden House where the cane is removed from the book and all Goon does is scold Ern and lock him in his room. I also think my edition has a bit missing because in chapter 5 when Ern is in the shed with the others it says that Ern had hurried out of his house that morning and so had left his 'portry' notebook behind, which was described as a grand one with black covers.

And then on the next line Bets says "Mr Goon's got one like that" And then Ern tells them he took it from Goon's drawer and the others tell him to put it back. Yet if you go by the first line of this section you are given the impression that Ern hasn't got his notebook with him. :shock: Is this an error in my edition or in all the editions?
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Anita Bensoussane
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

[Booklover:] In response to Moose's comments, I agree Ern suffers for his friendship with Fatty.
Ern does suffer, because he receives a caning for writing a poem which was really written by Fatty, but he also benefits from the friendship. It is in his eagerness to impress Fatty that he finds out that he has it in him to be brave, whereas he'd previously written himself off as cowardly. That means more to Ern than anything. He deserves his moment of glory after all he has been through and I'm glad the Find-Outers don't disillusion him about the "Dear Uncle" poem. After all, Ern believing himself to be "a poet" is simply the icing on the cake - what really matters is his new-found bravery, and that is genuine.
[Jen-Jen:] Yes I too noticed Goon's compassion towards the cow. And at the end his worry and concern for Ern felt very genuine to me.
Yes, it's hard not to feel sorry for Goon towards the end of the book when he is "in a state of collapse" with worry and guilt about Ern. Nevertheless, one can't forget his "streak of cruelty" as Fatty puts it. Goon almost seems to relish punishing Ern in earlier chapters.

The Find-Outers are themselves unkind when they dismiss Ern as "coarse and lumpish" and "a clod." Goon is nearer the mark when he describes his nephew as "simple and innocent," though as usual he is exaggerating to emphasise to Mrs. Trotteville how vulnerable the boy is. On the whole, Ern is pretty amiable and ingenuous and it's heartwarming to see him discover that he has more in him than he'd ever expected.

I learnt from David Cook's article in Journal 32 that Enid Blyton originally intended to end the Find-Outers series with this book. Perhaps that's why all ends happily even for Goon, with him rejoicing at Ern's safe return and cooking him a meal of bacon and eggs, while Ern even volunteers to tear up the precious "Dear Uncle" poem.

By the way, Goon doesn't appear to have a housekeeper in Hidden House (unless I've missed something.) We often see him cooking his own meals and getting Ern to do odd jobs in the house and garden.

Anita
Last edited by Anita Bensoussane on 28 Mar 2007, 12:06, edited 1 time in total.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Post by Anita Bensoussane »

[Jen-Jen:] I also think my edition has a bit missing because in chapter 5 when Ern is in the shed with the others it says that Ern had hurried out of his house that morning and so had left his 'portry' notebook behind, which was described as a grand one with black covers.

And then on the next line Bets says "Mr Goon's got one like that" And then Ern tells them he took it from Goon's drawer and the others tell him to put it back. Yet if you go by the first line of this section you are given the impression that Ern hasn't got his notebook with him. :shock: Is this an error in my edition or in all the editions?
That's odd. It would appear to be an error in your edition, Jen-Jen. Ern does indeed leave his "portry" notebook behind but he brings with him another notebook - a grand one with black covers which he took from his uncle's office without permission. He intends to use that book for detective work, saying: "I wouldn't have taken it for my portry - but for detecting, well, somehow I thought that was different." The others soon "put him right," of course, and Fatty gives him an old notebook to use instead, telling him to put back the black one when he gets home.

Did anyone else notice that Fatty is going through a "Great Explorer" phase? The others talk about a game he invented, called "Elephant Hunting," and he has a tiger-skin and a crocodile-skin in his shed. Bets jokes that Fatty has shot several crocodiles, while Fatty claims to have shot the tiger "in the Tippylooloo Plain" (Tippylooloo having been mentioned previously in Spiteful Letters.) All this is extremely un-PC and I wonder whether these references (mainly in Chapters 2 and 5) have survived in modern editions?

Pip's thoughts about mothers being like dogs are funny: "Mothers were much too sharp. They were like dogs. Buster always sensed when anything was out of the ordinary, and so did mothers."

Another line that made me laugh was Blyton's comment that Goon, having been made to look a fool in front of the Inspector, "wanted to sink down through the floor, but he couldn't." It struck me that he could do exactly that, if only he were at Harry's Folly! :lol:

Anita
"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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Moose
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Post by Moose »

doesn't Ern have separate notebooks for poetry and detecting? So it could be that he left his poetry one behind but brought the detecting one with him :).

Yeah interesting comment about Fatty's explorer phase. Seems a very teenage boy thing really :D
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.




EF
katinka1969
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Post by katinka1969 »

hy @all,

Anita invited me to take part of the discussion :D

but first I have to ask about the names, as they are different in the German version

Dicki -> Fatty 12 years old and new in Peterswood (Peterswalde)
Purzel -> Buster his dog

Rolf -> Larry 13 years old and the first "front man" of the five
Gina -> ? his sister

Betty -> Bets with her 8 years the youngest of them, she adors Fatty
Flip -> ? her brother

Hr. Grimm -> Mr Goon the silly policeman on its bicycle

As I was a child I wondered that all the children can leave their homes at night for tracing - I was jealous of them all :?

Please excuse my English - I have no expirience in private communication :D
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Moonraker
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Post by Moonraker »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
[Jen-Jen:] I also think my edition has a bit missing
All this is extremely un-PC and I wonder whether these references (mainly in Chapters 2 and 5) have survived in modern editions?

Yes, Jen-Jen, there is certainly some text missing. I have a first edition Methuen and a 2002 Dean omnibus - the Dean edition is just as you describe. The missing text which should immediately follow left his portry note-book- is:

behind. However he produced another note-book - and continues, a very grand one....

That missing text alters the whole note-book concept.

As for the elephant-hunt and the killed animals, they are stiil described as in the original.
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Ming
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Post by Ming »

My edition contains almost all the original text, as far as I know, but the notebook mistake is there. The elephant hunting and killing animals is still there too.
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Lenoir
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Post by Lenoir »

katinka1969 wrote:I have to ask about the names, as they are different in the German version

Rolf -> Larry 13 years old and the first "front man" of the five
Gina -> ? his sister

Betty -> Bets with her 8 years the youngest of them,
Flip -> ? her brother
In the English version
Gina is Daisy
Flip is Pip

I'm going to start reading this sixth book soon! I haven't read it for some time.
Moose
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Post by Moose »

I do not know why they would change the names in that way .. surely Gina is not a German name? (I mainly associated it with Bon Jovi songs from the eighties to be honest ;)).
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.




EF
Jen-Jen
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Post by Jen-Jen »

Thanks Moonraker for the missing text - how strange that the edition should be just missing that tiny bit. :shock: Don't the publishers read over all the text before it goes to print to ensure that it is correct?
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