The Enid Blyton Society

I think if Enid thought about these things at all, she probably (rightly!) guessed that her readers wouldn't even notice the occasional narrative faux pas, as they were so caught up in the exciting story!

Good points - far too many to quote! I loved the books as a child, but have read them so many times now that I am probably Snubbied-out!

Robert Houghton wrote:I think it all comes down to a matter of choice. For example, I wouldn't even rate 'Valley of Adventure' as one of the best adventure books - to me, it's 'Sea' or 'Circus', with Valley as my third choice. I think in the end it's just down to individual taste regards which book is 'a masterpiece' - as we all have very different ideas on this - which is as it should be!

Sometimes the fact we read things as a child does have a bearing - for example, I think this is why I like The Rilloby Fair Mystery and also why I have a soft spot for The Mystery of the Pantomime Cat and Missing Necklace - but I actually read 'The Rubadub Mystery' for the first time as an adult, and so that theory doesn't always apply.

Good point about reading a book as a child versus as an adult - it's a similar experience for me as well. I have a soft spot for The Mystery of the Spiteful Letters, and the Faraway tree stories for that reason, I think.

I wouldn't say that what books one might prefer is 100% a matter of personal taste - some books are clearly better than others - but obviously personal taste is a very large factor.

walter raleigh wrote:I think if Enid thought about these things at all, she probably (rightly!) guessed that her readers wouldn't even notice the occasional narrative faux pas, as they were so caught up in the exciting story!

And very right she would have been too. I never noticed most of them as a child. It is only now as an adult that I begin to see them. And many of them still had to be pointed out to me on these forums.

The Rubadub Mystery is a compelling read and I too would class it as one of Enid Blyton's masterpieces (along with The Ring O' Bells Mystery, The Valley of Adventure, The Sea of Adventure, the Six Cousins books and several other titles), though there are quite a few slip-ups in it. For example:

Diana refers to Miss Hannah as Miss Pepper's sister, when she's actually her cousin.

The conjurer is called 'Mr. Marvel' in some places but 'Mr. Marvels' in others.

Dummy is introduced as "A grown-up not as tall as Roger, the head rather big for the body, and the face an odd mixture of child and grown-up." These physical characteristics suggest that Dummy has been disabled since birth, yet we later find out that he was brain-damaged following a fall from a tight-rope.

Dummy remembers Miranda from the days when Tessie was alive and well, and he's upset to learn of Tessie's death. Yet we were told in The Rockingdown Mystery that Barney named his monkey after Miranda in The Tempest. He had started reading Shakespeare only after learning that his father had acted in Shakespeare's plays - and Barney had always believed his father was dead until his mother (Tessie) told him just before she died that his father might still be alive.

None of these quibbles spoil the story for me at all though - I'm completely caught up in the veritable whirlpool of events and emotions!

I agree. None of the slight mistakes or inconsistencies in any of Enid's books ever interfere enough to spoil the story, and let's face it her strength was rattling off a good yarn rather than writing literary fiction. I think Enid's books could be likened to a favourite TV soap or series - highly entertaining, popular, devoured by millions, but not really able to stand up to close scrutiny.

I think when we call 'Rubadub Mystery' (or any other Blyton book) a 'Masterpiece' we are looking at the story as a whole - the feelings it gives us as readers, the style of the writing, the emotions, adventure, mystery, characters etc, rather than intimating that the 'Masterpiece' we have chosen has nothing wrong with it and is the best ever written. Most of us have also read these books again and again, with ever-critical adult eyes - not the audience for which they were intended - and so holes in the stories are bound to be spotted - but it's the overall feelings these books give us that really counts.

I don't know how many times I've read Rubadub but one thing is certain, I'll be reading it again some day. As Anita and Nigel have pointed out, there are inconsistences but, even as an adult, I miss most of them because the story is such a rollocking good read.

I've just finished re-reading "The Rubadub Mystery" (and indeed this thread), and have mixed feelings about it. While I agree with the opinion of most here that it's an excellent book and probably one of Enid's best, I personally didn't enjoy it as much as I did the first three in the series.

It is brilliantly written and the plot is cleverly constructed, and what the villain does to poor Barney is heartbreaking to read. There are some great incidental characters, from Miss Twitt and The Funny Man, to Professor Marvel and Miss Nightingale, and of course Dummy. I really like the scenes where Snubby wins the talent competition, and the ending while a little deus ex machina is satisfyingly heartwarming.

Nonetheless I still find it to be a little lacking in something compared to the first three books in the sequence. It doesn't evoke that same sense of times gone by that "Ring O' Bells" or "Rockingdown" do, although the inn is suitably 'Olde Worlde' I suppose. There also isn't the same sense of sadness and loss that I felt in the earlier novels, apart from the poignant scenes with Barney, which are anyway undercut somewhat by the ending.

One distinction between "Rubadub" and the other three for me though, is that I didn't read "Rubadub" until I was a grown up, whereas "Rockingdown", "Rilloby Fair", and "Ring O' Bells" were childhood favourites that I've re-read more frequently. It might just be that the first three stories have aquired a patina of nostalgia, that "Rubadub" never has. I also have only read "Rat-A-Tat" as an adult and was mildy disappointed by it, while "Ragamuffin" I think I only read once or twice as a child and never since. It'll be interesting to see how well they fare once I get to them.

I'm going to give this book another read. Trevor Bolton told me that Enid loved Dorset very much, (she told him in her letters to him) and that Lulworth Cove gave her the inspiration for Rubadub, and she added a pier and a little seaside town.

So I think I'll be enjoying this book even more now as I love Lulworth as Enid did too.

Very interesting. It shows that Enid took single aspects of places and then built up and embellished them until they became the settings for her books. This should teach us that the long debated setting of Kirrin probably never existed in real life as it did in the books.

I've always thought Enid took aspects of different areas and mixed them up. People seem very hung up on what place was set where, but I think, apart from Whispering Island, golf course, etc, most places were made firmly in her imagination.

What Trevor says backs up my theory that Rubadub was Swanage (at least, the pier etc) but placed in Lulworth Cove. She took the pier she knew so well and placed it in Lulworth, and added a submarine base.

Yes, Enid did take inspiration from certain settings, and added her own bits and pieces, and so therefore it is hard to know exactly what place she is referring too.

We all know that her inspiration of Whispering Island is Brownsea, as I have a copy of one of Enid's letters and this is explained. Also her own farm, in Dorset was the inspiration for Finniston which is well known too, as is Kirrin Island, a small island off the coast of Jersey, which housed a fort, but Enid turned the fort into Kirrin Castle, this is also in a letter, which I think has been published by Tony for the Journal.

I love Rubadub Mystery, always have, and so as I said I will certainly read this book with added interest now.

That's very interesting, Julie. I've always loved this book and having been to Lulworth Cove, I'm wondering how I will picture the scene, the next time I read Rubadub.

As many know, Rubadub is one of my favourite of all Enid's books! Lulworth is a lovely place also...and I find it even more interesting, because Malory Towers is very much like Lulworth Castle, so presumably Enid was very inspired by that area of Dorset.

That's interesting, Julie! I've never been to Lulworth Cove though - or Swanage.