The Circus of Adventure

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Carlotta King
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Carlotta King »

I always liked the trapeze bit, it was thrilling!
However I always wished they had been able to get the rope away because I always thought it would be completely obvious what had happened and where they would be hiding, when Count Paritolen saw a tightrope stretched across the two windows and there was a circus camp parked at the bottom of the hill! :lol:
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Courtenay »

Anita Bensoussane wrote: I suppose Philip no longer remarks, "Why don't foreigners bring up their kids properly?" :!:
Probably not — although I suspect Enid put that line in not necessarily because she wanted readers to approve of Philip's sentiment, but because of the irony when they learn that Gussy is actually a prince! :wink:
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Rob Houghton »

very true! I think sometimes people underestimate Enid's sense of humour!

I think the trapeze rescue is one of the most thrilling parts of the book - although I do agree it is spoiled slightly by the fact the wire is kept in place! I can also never imagine how on earth the children manage to lower themselves onto the trapeze. Its below the window, hanging on a wire...how do they manage to climb from the window and get under the wire so they can sit on the trapeze? Sounds very risky!! :lol:
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Carlotta King
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Carlotta King »

Me neither! It says that Toni put his hands under their armpits to lower them down but I could never get my head round how he did it; I can see how they would sit on the window ledge and then he could put his hands under their armpits and pick them up from the ledge, but to let them down onto the swing would mean that Toni would have to pretty much be lying flat on the tightrope to be able to hold them down low enough?
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Wolfgang »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Interesting, Wolfgang. It's a shame the part about the trapeze was altered. The use of trapeze equipment adds colour and novelty to the story of the escape.

I suppose Philip no longer remarks, "Why don't foreigners bring up their kids properly?" :!:
Yes, that part is completely missing, together with Kiki's Fussy Gussy remarks.

They had to leave the rope behind in the French edtion behind as well (referring to other later comments).
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Lucky Star »

Actually Toni carrying them on his shoulders sounds a lot more realistic than the Trapeze seat business. That always struck me as unrealistic although to a child it is quite an exciting image.
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Darrell71 »

I don't remember what exactly has been altered in my modern version, if anything, and I can't currently check, but I definitely remember that whatever the way in which they have been rescued was very thrilling but also very unrealistic, I always thought that it was one of the most unrealistic scenes in an EB book. But highly exciting, and all's fair in EB books, eh? :D
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by pete9012S »

Image

Does the illustration help at all?
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Rob Houghton »

The illustration doesn't help my feelings much, lol! Look how far below the window ledge the trapeze would be when she reached it! She'd pretty much have to stand up on the trapeze in order to climb in the window!! :shock:

Surely if the wire had been somehow attached to the top of the window instead of to the bottom, it would have been easier? After all, the wire-walkers would have been able to get down off the wire easily and into the window wherever it was fixed.
'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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Wolfgang
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Wolfgang »

I suppose it is possible to step on the trapez first, holding the sidebars (in lack for a better word), go to your knees then and sit carefully down. We're talking of supple and more or less light-weighted children and not stiff and over-weighted grown-ups of nowadays ;-).
Last edited by Wolfgang on 29 Apr 2017, 06:25, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by pete9012S »

Yes,to someone supple,lithe and in perfect trim like Nigel it would be a cinch.


(Don't worry,he'll be far too busy to even notice this compliment.)
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Rob Houghton
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Rob Houghton »

hmmm...I'm still not convinced! One slip and you'd be dead or have a broken back! I agree about Nigel though! :wink:
'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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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Poor Lucy-Ann, having to do that. She doesn't even like stepping from one carriage to another on the train!
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Darrell71
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Darrell71 »

Whoa that looks scary! :shock: I still think it'd be fun as long as you don't fall though.

[Edited to remove a word that may be considered offensive]
Last edited by Darrell71 on 06 Jun 2017, 07:02, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Circus of Adventure

Post by Moonraker »

Thank you Pete and Rob! :D

Sunskriti - mind your language! :wink:
Last edited by Moonraker on 29 Apr 2017, 16:18, edited 1 time in total.
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