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 Darrell71 »

The bus illustration looks like a really bad photoshopping fail! :lol: :lol:
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Courtenay »

:lol: And there we were thinking Photoshop wasn't invented till the 1990s! :mrgreen:
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Darrell71 »

Wonders will never cease! :lol: :lol:
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Stephen »

I'm off to Wales this week, so this morning I got some essential holiday reading material from the library...

Five Go Off In A Caravan
Five On A Secret Trail
Five Go To Billycock Hill
Five Have A Mystery To Solve

I have read the lot over the years, but it's only Caravan I can remember in great detail.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Lenoir »

You could also add "Five get into a fix", as it is set in Wales. But the snow and tobogganing might seem out of place this time of the year.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Katharine »

I've just finished reading The Ragamuffin Mystery. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the Rockingdown and Rub-a-dub which were also in the omnibus. I can't quite put my finger on why though.

I felt it started really well, but then once they reached the inn, it seemed to go a bit flat. For example, little Daffyd was a bit naughty, but his character didn't really develop much, I felt Miss Pepper's suggestion that he should have a few slaps was a bit uncalled for after only one or two examples of his behaviour. I also thought Miss Pepper's behaviour over the room was shocking. They'd turned up unannounced and then wandered around the place deciding which room to have, and I think it said something like Miss Pepper put Mrs. Jones in her place!!! The check of the woman. I know they were the paying guests, but I didn't feel it gave her the right to behave in that way.

I also thought it strange that Loony gave the show away. Maybe it's because I'm not a dog lover, but I'm afraid I'd probably think one black Labrador looked pretty much like another!
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by IceMaiden »

I've just finished The Mystery of the Missing Necklace, which I enjoyed as much as ever, however I noticed something this time that's never occurred to me before on reading it. Fatty and co give Mr Goon the 'shopping list' out of the cigar because they think he won't know to test it for a hidden message. But in Secret Room a couple of books before, they almost get into hot water after realising that Goon is aware of invisible writing and knows how to check for it, so you'd think they wouldn't want to give him the list in Necklace at all as he'll know how to read it :lol: .
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Daisy »

Good point IceMaiden. It makes you wonder if Enid forgets the contents of her books once they're written. Certainly these anomalies do occur from time to time.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Katharine wrote:I also thought it strange that Loony gave the show away. Maybe it's because I'm not a dog lover, but I'm afraid I'd probably think one black Labrador looked pretty much like another!
Are there Labradors in the story? I remember that Snubby is mistaken for the ragamuffin boy because of his black dog (and scruffy clothes) but Loony is a Spaniel and the other dog is described as a Mongrel Poodle.

I like the setting but I agree that The Ragamuffin Mystery is not a particularly exciting adventure.

Good point about The Mystery of the Missing Necklace, IceMaiden.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Katharine wrote:I also thought it strange that Loony gave the show away. Maybe it's because I'm not a dog lover, but I'm afraid I'd probably think one black Labrador looked pretty much like another!
Are there Labradors in the story? I remember that Snubby is mistaken for the ragamuffin boy because of his black dog (and scruffy clothes) but Loony is a Spaniel and the other dog is described as a Mongrel Poodle.
:lol: I can tell Katherine isn't a dog lover! ;-) :twisted:

Seriously - I still find it odd that loony would be mistaken for a Poodle, let alone a Labrador! ;-)

I always liked Ragamuffin Mystery as a child but although I still enjoyed it when I read it recently, I agree the mystery isn't very strong. The other aspects - such as Snubby dressing in old clothes etc, were what attracted me as a child, but now the whole episode came across as strained and unlikely.
'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 Daisy »

I always thought the mistaken identity of both dog and boy was a little unlikely, but I suppose if the description was just 'fisherboy with black dog', it is credible.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by IceMaiden »

Anita Bensoussane wrote:
Katharine wrote:I also thought it strange that Loony gave the show away. Maybe it's because I'm not a dog lover, but I'm afraid I'd probably think one black Labrador looked pretty much like another!
Are there Labradors in the story? I remember that Snubby is mistaken for the ragamuffin boy because of his black dog (and scruffy clothes) but Loony is a Spaniel and the other dog is described as a Mongrel Poodle.
I think Katherine has mixed up a Labrador and a spaniel in the same way a Ford would be no different to a Nissan to me as I don't much about them :lol: . A car is a car and a dog is a dog if it's something you've no knowledge of!

I get Katherine's point though, two plain black spaniels look almost identical, there's no reason to suspect it was Loony unless the men knew nobody else in the village had a black spaniel and then he would stand out immediately as being the same dog.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Katharine »

As I typed it I wondered if I'd got the right breed of dog, but forgot to check before posting. :oops: My lack of knowledge of dogs isn't quite so bad that I'd mix up those breeds if I saw them. I just meant that surely one black spaniel would look very much like another one unless the person knew the dog very well, or it had some particular marking.

I thought the man just had to look for a scruffy boy with a black dog, so the breed didn't matter. I'd have thought that a glimpse of Snubby's red hair would be more of a giveaway, but presumably the hat covered it completely?
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Currently reading 'The Secret Island' - not one of my top favourites (I know - I'm a philistine!) :wink: - but always enjoyable, like any EB book.

I found it quite amusing though that when the children first arrived at the island they lit a fire, then Jack stamped it out before they went to bed 'in case someone sees the spire of smoke' (at night!) and guesses the runaways are on the island...but the next day Enid describes how Jack tells the children to keep the fire burning to save having to keep lighting it! :? :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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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Wolfgang »

Rob Houghton wrote:I found it quite amusing though that when the children first arrived at the island they lit a fire, then Jack stamped it out before they went to bed 'in case someone sees the spire of smoke' (at night!) and guesses the runaways are on the island...but the next day Enid describes how Jack tells the children to keep the fire burning to save having to keep lighting it! :? :wink:
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