What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

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

Post by Rob Houghton »

Connie's Curious Candle is sort of iconic in my memory! One of the Enid Blyton stories that has always remained with me through the years! :-D
'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 Moonraker »

I wonder what a psychologist would make of that...
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Stephen »

Now I've started to read Five On Kirrin Island Again. I read it quite often as a child, and was intrigued about being able to walk to Kirrin Island from the mainland beneath the sea. But in a way, it was rather disappointing that it wasn't nearly so dramatic as 'The Island of Adventure'. It would have been quite fun to have had the sea pour into the caves!

And I seem to remember George being a right pain in this one!
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by IceMaiden »

I'm on the last of my Adventure series re-read, with River. I'm really enjoying it so far but I've just read a part that really annoyed me, where Philip gets given a poison-free snake. I feel sorry for Dinah here. I think it's incredibly mean of Philip to accept and keep that snake when he knows how scared his sister is of them, and even worse, that Bill lets him! :x . If I was stuck on a boat on holiday with someone who knows how frightened of spiders and snakes I am, and they then got one on the boat, I would be extremely angry and upset, even more so if someone then basically told me to shut up and forget about it . If you're afraid of something you can't just 'forget about it'. It doesn't matter if the person said they'd keep it out of sight, just knowing it was there would be enough, I'd never relax. You can't help having a fear of something, but someone can help not make it worse by not getting hold of what you're scared of and keeping it near you. Both Philip and Bill come across as mean, he could have got a different animal that Dinah wasn't so afraid of, not the one she hated most.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Daisy »

I see your point, IceMaiden, but actually the snake is a necessary part of the plot as you will see when you reach the end of the book.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Courtenay »

And Dinah's fear of all kinds of animals has hardly stopped Philip in all the previous books in the series... it does come across sometimes that, along with his own genuine love of animals, there's a certain element of deliberately upsetting his sister as well. :wink:
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

I think Philip's attitude is probably a typical brotherly reaction, especially since his love of animals is so great that he can't really understand anyone not liking snakes etc! ;-)
'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 »

Good point Rob.
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

I think the way Philip reacts to Diana would have been exactly how Enid Blyton was herself. Her attitude was apparently very condescending towards people who were afraid of spiders or snakes or other insects, or were scared of dogs, or didn't have what she called 'a backbone'. She was also scornful of those who weren't very sporty and couldn't swim. This often made me feel uncomfortable as a child, as I was more bookish than sporty, and Enid often made it quite clear that this was 'wrong'! :(
'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 Chrissie777 »

Last night I started re-reading "The Adventurous Four" before falling asleep.
Each time I enjoy reading it as it reminds me a bit of "The Sea of Adventure".
Before that I finished reading "Hollow Tree House" which was very nice. In parts it resembles "The Secret Island" (nasty aunt, running away etc).
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Chrissie777 »

Rob Houghton wrote:I think the way Philip reacts to Diana would have been exactly how Enid Blyton was herself. Her attitude was apparently very condescending towards people who were afraid of spiders or snakes or other insects, or were scared of dogs, or didn't have what she called 'a backbone'. She was also scornful of those who weren't very sporty and couldn't swim. This often made me feel uncomfortable as a child, as I was more bookish than sporty, and Enid often made it quite clear that this was 'wrong'! :(
Rob, I loved cats and dogs from childhood on, I hated flies, bees and spiders and especially mosquitos, but I rather spent time with reading books or meeting friends than doing sports. We were forced to have sports 4 times a week at school from 5th grade on plus my dad took me swimming every Friday morning and on long hikes on Sundays in the mountains.

At school I was good at running, but bad at any kind of ball games (I was rather afraid to get hit by the ball and tried not to be "in the line of fire". :roll:
Of course my sports teacher didn't like that at all and kept nagging. :evil:

But that didn't make me feel uncomfortable when I read EB books. I just thought that not every child enjoys sports, some are book worms like me. :D
Actually while reading EB books I kind of slipped into a different personality where I liked sports, I felt as if I was George, Julian or Jack from the Adventure series. But in real life I didn't care for sport and had to force myself (I still have to force myself to go on that eliptical trainer and stationary bike every single day :cry: ).
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Chrissie777 »

Courtenay wrote:And Dinah's fear of all kinds of animals...there's a certain element of deliberately upsetting his sister as well. :wink:
Which is normal at Philip's age I guess. :D
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Chrissie777 »

Stephen wrote:Now I've started to read Five On Kirrin Island Again. I read it quite often as a child, and was intrigued about being able to walk to Kirrin Island from the mainland beneath the sea. But in a way, it was rather disappointing that it wasn't nearly so dramatic as 'The Island of Adventure'. It would have been quite fun to have had the sea pour into the caves!
It's one of my favorite FF sequels...I love all the Kirrin Island books.
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Rob Houghton
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Re: What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

Post by Rob Houghton »

Yes - I didn't really feel 'uncomfortable' for long - just while I read that part of the book or story...and sometimes a bit resentful of Enid, like she was more or less condoning bullying children into being sporty! It wasn't a feeling that lasted long, but I did wonder why Enid seemed to have little faith in children who weren't strong swimmers, good at sports and team games, and who might be scared of animals or insects.

As a child, I enjoyed running and jumping and rounders and other activities, but not very keen on football etc. I was a fairly good swimmer, but never swam in the sea, as I didn't like the idea of jelly fish or crabs etc, and although I was okay with insects and spiders and mice and frogs and snails etc, I was always afraid of dogs, as I was bitten on the wrist by one when I was about 4. That meant Enid would probably have frowned on me as being a bit of a wimp! :-(
'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 Chrissie777 »

Rob Houghton wrote: I was always afraid of dogs, as I was bitten on the wrist by one when I was about 4. That meant Enid would probably have frowned on me as being a bit of a wimp! :-(
I finally got a female Wiener dachshound (the long-haired kind) on my 10th birthday as I had urged my parents for a long time to get a dog.
One day I took her to the playground in the park and took her up on the slide to slide down. When we reached the ground, a white poodle came running at us and bit me in my hand.
Since then I don't like poodles at all. But I still do love dogs.

Later in 2002, when I lived in Maine, I tamed a husky whom my second former husband had attached to a chain (he slept in a dog house next to the barn). It took me many weeks to get him used to me and to become friends. He bit me a few times. Once we were friends he never ever attempted to bite me or to even growl at me, after all it was me who fed him and exchanged his water. But it took a lot of patience and time (which I had, :roll: because I was waiting for my green card).
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