Readathon - The Secret of Moon Castle

[Daisy]

Same here - with the 'coo' rather than a 'cue'.

[Poppy]

I always call him Pill-es-cue.

Me too. Are these (Ranni/ Pilescu) made-up names or are they proper names? If so, what nationality are they?

[Moonraker]

Thanks, guys.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/emil-pilescu/1b/480/535" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranni" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Isn't Google wonderful, Poppy?

[Poppy]

Isn't Google wonderful, Poppy?

You really ought to google that, Nigel!

Thanks!

[Carlotta King]

Regarding the ruined village, I too couldn't wait to explore it with the children, Anita! I could just imagine it - completely silent, with all the old thatched roofs falling to bits, and the cottages dark inside and gloomy, with broken windows. As the girls said, the bushes and ramblers were growing everywhere, and I could imagine intriguing corners where you couldn't get because of the prickly brambles! I felt that it would look very desolate but at the same time, pretty with all the flowers growing on the ramblers and the blackberries and the tall grass; everything had been left to grow without being pruned so it would look beautiful!
And all the while, that strange and beautiful fire was burning away beneath their feet as they walked around! Thrilling!!

I don't think I ever really questioned Paul's ordering of Pilescu and Ranni when I read the books as a child. In fact, I still don't! I just thought of it very simply I guess - well he is a prince, he is royalty, and Ranni and Pilescu are his men, and have sworn to the King to do his bidding.

However, I do get the feeling that they agreed to it because they knew they would be going with him to protect him. If Paul had intended to go off on his own (I know he can't fly the plane but let's say for argument's sake that he wanted to buy tickets for a ship that would sail to Africa rather than going in a plane, and for the children to go all alone) I do feel that the two men would have intervened more and perhaps told the King and asked for his help and for a plane, perhaps. As it was, Paul had a plane and the two men would be able to accompany him and guard him.

I think Peggy does a good job of being the 'eldest' in Secret Island because she knows she has to, whereas in the rest of the books she has her mother back again, they go to school, and don't really have to fend for themselves anymore because they are either with their parents, Dimmy, the King and Queen, or Ranni and Pilescu. I imagine that if she had been down in Killimooin Forest with the others, she would have taken charge of the food there!

[Poppy]

Yes, I seem to remember Peggy being a great comfort to her siblings in Secret Island when times were hard for them all. It must have been especially hard for her dealing with all the worries the others had as well as feeling pressued to do the right thing and care for them in the correct way. It must have been a great relief and massive weight off her shoulders when news of their parents came.

The Old Forgotten Village was indeed a very thrillingly described place. It created such mystery and potential in my mind; anything could have happened there.

[Carlotta King]

Yes, Peggy probably felt that Nora, being the youngest and a girl, was the one that needed the most looking after, but also that Mike (despite being a boy) needed looking after too, as he too was younger than Peggy. Mike himself probably wouldn't have felt that he needed looking after, as he probably felt very grown-up and responsible, being the only 'man' of the trio and having to do man's work on the farm, but Peggy no doubt did!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Peggy probably felt that Nora, being the youngest and a girl, was the one that needed the most looking after...

Mike and Nora are twins as Daisy pointed out earlier in the discussion, though Nora does seem younger in her ways.

[Poppy]

It's funny; I always imagined Mike being the oldest about twelve years old - Peggy being about eleven and Nora being eight or nine. As I said earlier, usually the oldest character is a boy so they can take a lead. I wonder if Jack was older than Peggy?

[Lucky Star]

Mike and Nora are twins as Daisy pointed out earlier in the discussion, though Nora does seem younger in her ways.

I think it was just a sort of "thing" with Enid Blyton that there had to be a leader (Jack), a supporting boy (Mike), a competent girl (Peggy) and a weak little girl (Nora). She had that format quite a bit in her books and seems to have fallen into the same system in this series despite Mike and Nora being nominally the same age.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I think Jack is supposed to be the oldest of the children as he was the natural leader when they were fending for themselves in The Secret Island. In The Secret of Moon Castle we're reminded that he's becoming quite grown up when Enid Blyton writes, "The boys put on coloured cotton shirts and shorts, except for Jack who considered himself too big and wore grey flannel trousers." According to The Secret Island he doesn't know his exact age: "Nobody knew how old Jack was. He didn't know himself. He lived with his grandfather on a tumble-down farm, and worked as hard as a man, although he wasn't much bigger than Mike."

[Carlotta King]

Yes, Peggy probably felt that Nora, being the youngest and a girl, was the one that needed the most looking after...

Mike and Nora are twins as Daisy pointed out earlier in the discussion, though Nora does seem younger in her ways.

Sorry, yes, I should have been a bit clearer there, I know Mike and Nora are the same age, I didn't mean that Nora was younger than Mike, I just meant (and didn't say it very well!) that Nora (and Mike!) were the youngest of the group, but because I was only talking about the girls, I didn't mention Mike.

Yes I had forgotten about Jack's flannel trousers!
I'm not exactly sure at what age boys started to wear trousers like the men did, but I think I assumed that Jack would have been about 15 perhaps when he wore his flannel trousers. In Spiggy Holes, George the farm lad was described as being 'almost grown-up' and yet was still called a 'lad' so I thought of him as being perhaps 17, and Jack was obviously younger than George because they all saw him as almost a grown-up (as children do), and Jack respected him and did what George told him to do, which suggests that he was younger.
I was also reminded of Snubby in Ragamuffin Mystery, when he buys the long trousers from Mrs Jones' shop, and thinks that he looks 'about sixteen'.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Sorry for misunderstanding your comment about Nora, Carlotta!

I too was reminded of Snubby buying long trousers in The Ragamuffin Mystery.

[Carlotta King]

Hehe you don't need to say sorry - it was me not explaining things clearly enough as usual!

I'm trying to remember now if there are any other instances of Jack being described as wearing trousers rather than shorts.

[Carlotta King]

I was having another read of Moon Castle yesterday and I know we've already mentioned this earlier but I was struck again by how well the children get on together.
I particularly noticed this when they are all about to go with Dimmy into the town to get some shopping, and Jack suddenly decides to stay behind to see if he can find out anything about Guy, because he thinks that he might be able to overhear something interesting from Mrs Brimming or the Lots once they think the children and Dimmy are all out of the way.
When Jack says he will stay, the others agree to it quite amiably and go off in the car. Can you imagine George agreeing to this without some sort of argument with Julian?!