pete9012S wrote: One of the best finds ever was the discovery via the cave of the whole collection of the fortnightly Enid Blyton Magazine.
It must have been absolutely wonderful to have received that every couple of weeks!
It certainly was, Pete. My local newsagent delivered my copy every fortnight and I looked forward to it coming through my letterbox.
'Go down to the side-shows by the river this afternoon. I'll meet you somewhere in disguise. Bet you won't know me!' wrote Fatty.
The Blyton books I read as a child was governed by what the library had in stock. I hated it when the only Blytons on the shelves were the ones I had already read. I remember despairing of ever finding Castle Of Adventure until the librarian told me that I could order the book and it would be put aside for me. I must have read every other Adventure book at least twice before I finally caught up with Castle.
I loved it Chrissie, and I still do. My favourite has always been Valley but Castle is high on my list, there's an air of menace about it when the children enter the castle and I'm very envious of Jack's photographs of the eagles. I wonder how much he sold them for?
I didn't read Castle till I was 30 years old. i remember, because I started it when I felt really rough, having had some teeth extracted (including a wisdom tooth). I was feeling miserable, and reading The Castle of Adventure helped me through those first few hours after the anaesthetic began to wear off! It was such an absorbing book, and really did make me feel better!
'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.'
John Pickup wrote:I loved it Chrissie, and I still do. My favourite has always been Valley but Castle is high on my list, there's an air of menace about it when the children enter the castle and I'm very envious of Jack's photographs of the eagles. I wonder how much he sold them for?
I remember from my first reading of "Castle" how amazed I was that grown up men did fit in these knight armours in that hidden room, because people from 400+ years ago were shorter and slimmer. But I liked EB's unique idea and it's still one of my favorite parts when I re-read "Castle".
Chrissie
Society Member
"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
Alfred Hitchcock
I've finished Five Go Down To The Sea and found it very entertaining. I always found the title rather amusing, bearing in mind they've already been to the sea several times together already. But then again, this is the ultimate when it comes to the coast. This is set in CORNWALL!
You have the enigmatic Mr Penruthlan and his bonny wife who can mysteriously decipher sentences from her husband's one syllable grunts. I was always disturbed by the scene where she suddenly erupts into anger and boxes Julian's ears, simply because my grandparents lived in Cornwall and the thought of my grandmother doing something like that upset me.
One thing I did vaguely noticed as a child but never paid much attention to was the fact that the baddies were dealing in drugs. Back then, I thought of drugs as sort of "illegal medicines" but didn't really know what they were for, or why they were on a par with gold ingots. This is actually a very adult book, especially as there are also several references to people who may have been killed by the Wreckers' actions over the years.
Next up is another old favourite, Ring o' Bells Mystery. And I've only just noticed this moment that it's the only Barney mystery not prefixed with "The".
I know some do not take to this book, but I've always enjoyed it.
I marvelled at the size at Eileen Soper's depiction of Ju and Dick in this book. They seemed like giants in the illustrations to me. Almost as tall as the very tall Farmer Penruthlan!
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
I really prefer the 'older' interpretations of the Famous Five' - when they look more adult. I know many don't - but that's about the age I always picture them.
Sea is one of my favourites for all the reasons mentioned - setting and plot - which I agree is very adult and quite surprisingly so.
That's very true about 'Ring O'Bells Mystery' - I had never noticed that before either! Wish I had, because I would have preferred my serial to be called 'Rawlins' Reach Mystery' without the 'The'!
'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.'
That is exactly my thought, Pete. They have the body of giant. The shoulders are broad. Maybe it is in their genes. No wonder many girls have fallen in love with Julian. He looks super macho and most girls find this alluring. I was once in love with him.
I'm not sure too keen on the illustrations of the children in Sea as they look too old to be 'harmless children'. Villains are always put at ease when they realise they're only children but in Sea Julian and Dick especially look old enough for any villain to be uneasy with what they might know and understand and would surely not dismiss them so easily.
Meanwhile, I've finished the Adventure series and have started on the Secret series, which is one of few I have never read before. I'm on Island and so far there is one thing really standing out, the children's lifestyle is totally different to the usual one depicted in EB stories. The aunt and uncle are horrible! They're more Cinderella's wicked stepmother than Aunt Fanny, Miss Pepper, Mrs Mannering or Mrs Trotteville, and instead of lavish picnics and plates of cakes that have so much in them they don't know where to start first, the children in this book are fed like Oliver Twist and treated in much the same way too. Perhaps Enid got the inspiration for this story from Grimms fairy tales!
Society Member
I'm just an old fashioned girl with an old fashioned mind
Not sophisticated, I'm the sweet and simple kind
I want an old fashioned house, with an old fashioned fence
And A̶n̶ ̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶f̶a̶s̶h̶i̶o̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶m̶i̶l̶l̶i̶o̶n̶a̶i̶r̶e̶
