What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

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

Post by Courtenay »

Moonraker wrote:Tearing us away from computer/IT issues, i thought this would make a great caption comp picture!

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Or a nice new avatar for Anita. :twisted: :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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Wolfgang
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Wolfgang »

Chrissie777 wrote:Wolfgang, thanks for trying to help me. :)
I believe you have a MAC computer, don't you?
Mine is a simple Energy Star Windows 7. I refuse to change to Windows 10 as many of my friends complained about the changes between Windows 7 and Windows 10.
My husband assumes it's the fact that I still have Windows 7 and even though he switched this auto-correction program off so many times on my PC, somehow it always sneaks back up on my computer (we assume it happens when the computer needs to be turned off for his many updates which used to come 2 or 3 times a year and now come 2 or 3 times a month :roll: ).
Nope, I'm not living that healthy consuming Apple products.

My Internet-PC, my gaming-and-workhorse-PC and my laptop are all using Windows 10. The laptop was delivered with Windows 8, later upgraded to Win 10, the others I installed from scratch with Windows 7. Even back then I didn't have any problems with auto-correction.
If your PC had software pre-installed by the seller, it's possible you'll find the source of your annoyance there.

I'm not that happy with Windows 10, I miss many features from Windows XP and Windows 7, but most of the times I can work with it and find solutions for the missing features by running virtual machines with Windows 7 or XP.
Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.
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Chrissie777
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Chrissie777 »

Wolfgang wrote:If your PC had software pre-installed by the seller, it's possible you'll find the source of your annoyance there.
I'll ask André if he can do anything about it.
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IceMaiden
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by IceMaiden »

sixret wrote:I agree. The browsers in PC or laptop do not have autocorrect option.
I don't really use my desktop computer for writing emails or forum posts with so I didn't realise that. My mistake, I presumed that as tablets and smartphones have autocorrect built in, it made sense for the actual computer to have as well. If it can be left out of that though, I wonder why they can't leave it off tablets? :|
Rob Houghton wrote:I agree the Find Outer books are some of Enid's most comical. Also agree about Binkle and Flip. I always found Amelia Jane comical as a child, too.

I have to agree with Anita about Rilloby Fair - in fact, this qualifies as by far the most comical book Enid ever wrote in my opinion! The humour is so natural, and grows out of the characters and what they say and do. Definitely the funniest book!
Mr Twiddle I find funny and Amelia Jane, though she's more amusing through her antics than Twiddle, who like Mr Goon, is funny due to his ill-fated hapless bumbling about. I've always found Brer Rabbit comical too.

Humour is subjective though. What might make one person cry with laughter won't even raise a smile off another, such as whenever there's an advert for an american sitcom, their always in uproarious laughter but I look totally blank wondering what is so funny about it. Fawlty Towers or a Carry On film on the other hand will have me in stitches. Likewise I wouldn't put Rilloby Fair as particularly funny, out of the Barney books it would be Rubadub for Snubby's chewing gum episode but I'm sure many would disagree. Very difficult to write humour.
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Wolfgang
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Wolfgang »

I started to listen to the German Europa Famous Five audiobooks, the CD version though while cutting papers. I used to listen to the same stories as a child, but then these were on records (or later stories on audio cassettes). That what's getting on my nerves is that the artificial chapter ends on CDs doesn't fade well, sometimes parts of the words are missing. I have to check out if this is a problem of the CD-player I bought for that purpose or bad editing on behalf of Europa (Sony) :-(.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by centcat »

I just finished reading The Very Big Secret, for the first time.
I used to spend a lot of time, playing with stuffed toys, but I found Penny's reactions, rather extreme.
I am guessing that the book is out of print now, as I really can't think of any way of making the bizarre story politically correct :twisted:
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Courtenay
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Courtenay »

Oh yes, I remember reading that one years ago when I was quite little and thinking it a really strange story. So strange, in fact, that when I couldn't find the book again (I'm not sure what happened to our copy; maybe we gave it away) I occasionally wondered if I'd merely dreamed that Enid wrote a story about two children finding and caring for a real live baby, but I remembered it in far too much detail (including the title) to believe it could have been a dream. Then when I found this website, I looked it up and there it was indeed. :shock:

As I recall we've discussed in other threads, there was a modern version of The Very Big Secret published some years ago, bowdlerised to the point where it was a completely different story (though still published with Enid's name on it) — the children find and secretly care for a puppy instead!!! But I gather even that is out of print now.
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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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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Fiona1986 »

I can't remember if I already said but I'm reading the Zoo Book. I'm not the biggest animal lover in the world but even I'm finding some of the attitudes rather galling and hard to reconcile with Blyton's usual themes of taking great care of pets/circus animals etc.
"It's the ash! It's falling!" yelled Julian, almost startling Dick out of his wits...
"Listen to its terrible groans and creaks!" yelled Julian, almost beside himself with impatience.


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

Post by IceMaiden »

I've just started on Mystery of the Strange Message, one of only two FO books I've only ever read once before and can't remember it. In the first couple of chapters Mr Goon goes accusing Fatty of sending him anonymous letters and Bets asks what they are. Surely though she remembers from asking what 'nonimous' letters are in Spiteful Letters? In fact all the Find Outers (and Mr Goon!) seem to have forgotten as none of them make a comment or remark about then having dealt with such letters before, unless poison pen letters and anoynous letters not the same thing? :?
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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
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Daisy
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Daisy »

They are the same thing, but as each book could possibly be the first one of the series that a child reads, Enid puts in explanations like that just in case it is the first time a reader comes across it.
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Rob Houghton
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Mystery of the Strange Messages is one of my top three or four favourite Find Outer books. I think its extremely well plotted, and for me its probably the last of Enid's great novels before her dementia started its cruel destruction of her creativity. I also love the fact that the mystery starts straight away without any false clues, disguising or messing around, and that the book begins with a focus on Goon rather than the Find Outers.
'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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pete9012S
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by pete9012S »

I agree Rob.
Strange messages is a great book.Ern really shines as a generous,kind and helpful lad.

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http://seriesbookart.co.uk/blyton/messages91.php?id=5" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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John Pickup
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by John Pickup »

I love the artwork on the cover of Strange Messages, one of the few FO books illustrated by Lilian Buchanan.
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Rob Houghton
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Me too. It's one of my favourite dust jackets in the series, along with Missing Man. :-)
'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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Chrissie777
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Chrissie777 »

"Missing Man" is one of the funniest sequels with Fatty trying to escape Eunice. EB at her best! 8)
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