The Enid Blyton Society

Fatty wrote: Incidentally, I got the idea that Tauri-Hessia is a small principality in Eastern Europe, close to Bulgaria or one of the Balkan states.

That was always my impression too. It bears a striking resemblance to many of the states of ex-Yugoslavia and those areas have also traditionally been home to a lot of circus folk. I know others have considered it to be based on Spain or Portugal; I guess we will never really know for sure now.

The book falls into the lower rank of my favourite Adventure series titles. I think it is indeed the rather fake setting that spoils it a little as it is actually a fine story with all the familiar Adventure elements. I also found the rescue from the tower to be a bit far fetched. I know that the guys performing it were experienced circus acrobats but the chilkdren being rescued would not have been and circus performers have to pracrice for ages to ensure that every little thing is perfect. The way the kids sat on the swings would surely have had a major and negative effect on the whole balance thing.

Never having ventured abroad as a child my geography was pretty lousy, but I think I probably assumed it was somewhere around Czechoslovakia.

I'm not that fluent in 'Circus' and I haven't read it for many years. I remember thinking that Tauri-Hessia was around Spain. Not because they seemed particularly Spanish or anything, but simply where that was where I imagined it to be on the map.

Some random thing I remember was that there was a sword swallower, and the secret to his art was that the sword blades shrunk up into the hilt. Well I was always wondering if that was how all sword swallowers did it. If so, was Enid Blyton giving away a great trade secret? And when I realised they put the swords down their throats for real, I was wondering whether she was in fact belittling the great skill they need?

Oh yes, and something else! Even though the books themselves said that this came before 'River', I wouldn't accept that! Whenever I was reading the series in order, I would always read River before Circus. I thought that anyone could find an old temple - but to actually meet the King of a country had to be the pinnacle of a child's adventures! And I'm sure there's a bit at the end where Kiki gets her lines mixed up and Jack says "Sign of old age." Almost as if to say Kiki's not going to be around for ever, and we've reached the end of our childhood. We'll soon be adults and these adventures will be coming to an end.

Even when I did accept that River came last, it felt like such an anticlimax compared with Circus!

Circus was one of my top Adventures. I loved every bit of it! I never really bothered wondering where Tauri Hessia was, I knew it was made up and that was it. I loved how Jack shone all by himself almost throughout the story, and I loved the description of circus life. I have no idea how true that was, but I still found it captivating. As for the sword swallowing trick, I didn't find the explanation belittling at all! I thought it was a very nifty trick.

And Philip calming the bears was frightening!

I like Circus. I like watching Jack operate on his own and I genuinely feel for him when he realizes he's all alone in this strange country with no idea how to find his family or how to get out. I like the tension when the guards search the camp and Gus has to pretend to be a girl, and I like Bill's sudden appearance on the scene. I think it is different to the other Adventure books, but I think it works. The children have been lost on a mountain, sea, valley and island; I think the circus is a clever format for them to be lost in Tauri Hessia.

My only complaint is that the rescue is too similar to "Five Have a Wonderful Time" with the throwing of the rope through the window. (Although if I hadn't read these two practically back to back, I probably wouldn't have noticed....)

Good point,and both books were published in 1952....just a coincidence??

Ming wrote:Circus was one of my top Adventures. I loved every bit of it! I never really bothered wondering where Tauri Hessia was... As for the sword swallowing trick, I didn't find the explanation belittling at all! I thought it was a very nifty trick.

One of my favourites as well! It never ceases to amaze me how some of you put every plot line under the microscope -- no wonder Enid said she wouldn't accept criticism from anyone over the age of twelve!

When I first read this book - long, long ago, far, far away -it used to be my favorite adventure book too. I found the story fast paced, and like Zaidi said, thrilling. I swallowed every implausible detail of it, hook, line, and sinker. So what happened? Well, I grew up, and reading it decades later, I do feel it is less stellar than the others in the series. It is not my least favorite though - that spot is reserved for mountain, but there are much better books in this series.

zaidi wrote:I hope I didn't repeat a thread as i am sure that i searched about it but no topic was named this way.

There is the Adventure series readathon thread, but that is a ginormous thread.

zaidi wrote:I felt immensely sorry for Gussy. I think the others were little mean to him they could've tried helping him .

I agree with you completely on this. I remember discussing this on another thread about Lucian in the Ship of Adventure. The the four kids were really mean to him too. For some reason the four adventurers seem to think it perfectly ok to bully kids whom they don't like. But kids that age are often nasty to each other - as I am sure you are aware Zaidi. Aren't kids your age, in your school, like that too? Disliking some kids for no apparent reason, and teasing them, and often giving them hell? I find the behavior of the adults more unforgivable though. I think both Bill and Allie should have been more welcoming and more understanding of a child in Gussy's circumstances, and should have got the four pests to fall in line. Unfortunately, they acted more like the children themselves.

zaidi wrote:One thing I was very astonished at was when Gussy was being disguised as a girl , Pedro's mum slapped him . She should have a great deal of respect for him, isn't it? He was a prince.

Perhaps she was one of the socialist revolutionaries from the days of the Russian revolution, who helped shoot the Tsar of Russia. But your point is well taken. In reality, I doubt if most people would treat an heir to a throne like dirt, whatever their politics; and especially not if you are earning a living on the lands of the aforementioned heir! In real life, I expect Pedro's mother would have cut a deal with the Prince - a comfortable existence for herself in exchange for his life.

Slightly off beam,but who was the bigger drip Gussy or Lucian?

Hmmmm, that's tough. Lucian is pretty drippy, but his uncle is a really nasty piece of work, and it can be very hard for children (and adults!) to stand up to their family, especially authority figures. He's clearly not as tough as Jack and Co., but I can excuse some of his behaviour. Plus, his life is thrown into further tumult when Eppy is arrested, and that's got to be hard on most 14-year-olds.

I don't know if Gus is that drippy, either. I can't decide if his belief that he, the newcomer, can rule the roost in the Cunningham/Mannering/Trent househole is guts and cheek or a dangerous lack of self-awareness. He's under a lot of pressure, too. And when push comes to shove, he does what he has to do, plus is big enough to be gracious to Jack, Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann at the very end.

So ... I don't know!

I would go along with much that dumbnuts says about Lucian, but with Gussy I think he has been treated from birth as someone of importance and was probably not disciplined, but given in to every time he demanded something, so coming to England must have been a double culture shock, where he is expected to conform and fit in with his peers. No wonder he has difficulties! A lack of self-awareness? I'm not sure. From being treated as the centre of the universe, to being someone of no greater importance than anyone else is a lot for a young child to understand and adjust to.

Circus was for me one of the best - after Sea and Island, and like Ming, it didn't matter that Tauri-Hessia was a fictional country (Eastern Europe, I always thought) and I loved it from beginning to end. I remember when I read it for the first time as a child, I couldn't believe how action packed it was - lovely intro to the holiday in the country (Sugar Loaf Hill - therefore in the Black Mountains), the kidnap, Jack's adventure and his resourcefulness, the characters in the circus (EB always did circuses brilliantly in my opinion and they added a touch of romanticism), the adventure in the castle, the dramatic rescue, meeting Bill as the pedlar, Philip's saving of the bears and the rescue of the King, avoiding a major coup in the country. All then topped up with a happy ending inc the arrival of Aunt Allie and the holiday at the Palace. Fantastic stuff, and I recall looking back at the beginning of the book and thinking how long ago it seemed since the holiday in Little Brockleton! Then again, everyone has their own view, and I have never been a great fan of Valley.......

In my fan fics, I imagined that the children's relationship with Gussy would have continued and that he would have grown up well following an English education. Lucian, on the other hand, was weak in character and had the influence of his uncle to contend.

I would rather have a fictional location than a real one. Imagine if Kirrin was based on a real English village, imagine visiting it today to find out that it has been totally commercialised and ruined. The Kirrin (other locations too) in our minds will never change.

I half believed that Kirrin was somewhere round Corfe but you're right if
Kirrin existed it would probably become a tourist trap. Her house would be
National Trust and lots of small shops would have grown up. Imagine Timmy's
Pet Shop, Anne's Tea Rooms, George's Swimming Pool, Julian's Book Shop,
Dick's Sandwich Bar, Uncle Quentin's Hidey Hole.

Circus was traditionally my second favourite behind Valley, though I haven't read it for years so now it might not be. I tended to assume the country was much more Eastern, perhaps Burma/Thailand type of country. Though that's no doubt based on my then lack of knowledge of those countries. Certainly I never had any impression it was European - too close.

As for English speaking, it wasn't all that common in Eastern Europe in 1952. (Don't know about Burma or Thailand, but I'm sure it was less common than it is now.) Until World War 2 (1939-1945) the second language in many eastern European countries, and also Scandinavia, was German; after the war, Scandinavia switched to English but Eastern Europe were made to learn Russian.

One thing I'm sure of - Tauri-Hessia wasn't politically set in Europe, east or west, in 1952. It was either pre-war or somewhere else. Or, of course, entirely fictional and set, like Kirren, nowhere in the real world at all.