The Enid Blyton Society

I'm sorry to hear about your arm, Tony. I know from personal experience how painful strain and muscular problems can be and so I sympathise with you. I hope it's better very soon. The latest journal looks as interesting as ever and I'm really looking forward to receiving my copy.

I suppose Tony is lucky in having Barney to help him, at least Barney can run the website. Not sure if Tony has trained him to put Journals into envelopes though...

That reminds me of the first Secret Seven book. Peter and Janet are writing letters to the others and Janet says to Scamper: "Yes, I know you'd love to write one, too, if you could. You can carry one in your mouth to deliver. That can be your job, Scamper."

A little later, we are told:

Peter finished first. He let Scamper lick the envelopes. He was good at that; he had such a nice big wet tongue.

"You're a very licky dog," said Peter, "so you must be pleased when you have things like this to lick. It's a pity we're not putting stamps on the letters, then you could lick those, too."

Anita

The birds have at last flown the nest! I took them to my local Post Office yesterday, and when I went in this morning they told me that they were all on the way. A number went out yesterday and my ultra efficient post master finished off the rest at 5.00 this morning!!

Tony Summerfield wrote:The birds have at last flown the nest! I took them to my local Post Office yesterday, and when I went in this morning they told me that they were all on the way. A number went out yesterday and my ultra efficient post master finished off the rest at 5.00 this morning!!

At least your local post office won't be in any danger of being closed down! Sounds like you're keeping them afloat!

My journal arrived this morning, and I just had to read some chapters before going out. Read Tony's article, very interesting, then went on to read about Jo the gypsy girl, by John Lester. I always found Jo a very interesting character, and I always thought that Enid herself had a soft spot for the ragamuffin Jo. Look forward to reading the complete journal this evening

How different my jigsaw puzzle looks in black and white Tony. I'm so used to seeing the large original watercolour sitting in my art room. Thanks for including it.

My copy of Journal 37 has just arrived in the post. It looks as sumptuous as ever and I look forward to reading it thoroughly this evening - if Chick doesn't get her hands on it first. Many thanks, Tony. My cheque for two Enid Blyton Day tickets will be in the post later today.

You will be amused to hear that I had an email from Portugal yesterday, to tell me that Journal 37 had arrived safely - as they were all posted at the same time, I guess it doesn't say too much for our postal service!

Tony Summerfield wrote:You will be amused to hear that I had an email from Portugal yesterday, to tell me that Journal 37 had arrived safely - as they were all posted at the same time, I guess it doesn't say too much for our postal service!

I was thinking that: mine arrived yesterday (Wednesday) as did another of my friends, Angela Cook, but another friend, Colin, who lives about 1/2 mile away, didnt receive his until today! So much for our postal service!

Just finished reading the chapter by Anita The Troublesome Three. This chapter was so intriguing, Anita, that I had to take a look through the cave of books to see if I could find the book and the pictures you so lovingly described. I found the book, but only the one picture where the boy is riding his bicycle backwards. This book looks a good read, so I went onto EBAY but they didn't have any. I'll keep my eyes open for it. Almost finished reading the journal now, its just as good as every

I wouldn't expect this to come up on ebay very often, if at all. If ever you're desperate for something the place to look is abebooks which always has thousands of Blyton books for sale and you can normally find a book you want.

Thanks, Julie. The pictures in The Troublesome Three have a quirkiness that I find appealing, and evoke a bygone world. Hope you find a copy of the book. I've seen two at past Enid Blyton Days, priced £5 and £10.

Anita

Thanks for that link Tony, there were a few priced in dollars, and the cheapest being around £10. I think I will wait until the EB Day and have a look and see if any are for sale on the many stalls, I may be lucky and spot a few as Anita has done in past EB Days.

I have yet to fully read my copy of Journal 37, I prefer to savour it slowly in the company of a quality bottled real ale.

I have however, read The Mysterious Car on page 61, and what a revelation. Here is a story written approximately 80 years ago that deals with an issue that affects us all today, namely police speed traps. It also reminds us that serious robberies involving stolen getaway cars took place well before the era of mass car ownership.

In a way it is comforting to know that certain aspects of life have not changed, it is important to have some continuity.

Journal 37 has really motored to New Zealand. It was posted, what, two or three days ago? And I got my copy today!

I'm pleased to see a quite large number of stories and articles by Enid herself, such as the adult story, the article about poetry and the "Mysterious Car" story. But of course, there are lots of great contributions by Society members too. I think my favourite article so far is John Lester's piece about Jo the gipsy girl. And even though I don't have any of the Malory Towers books, I found the article about that series to be quite thought-provoking.

The "Proper Knight" story was somewhat marred by a larger number of typos than usual. I don't know if these typos were in the original version, but they were a bit distracting. The story itself sort of started like a children's story, but had a rather odd, sad ending that made it more "adult". But the main theme seemed to be somewhat "child-centred", in that it had to do with a sort of contrast between childhood imagination and reality. There also seemed to be a lack of communication between the parents and the child that may have cleared up the subsequent ill feeling. (Mind you, in much of Enid Blyton's writing, there is a sort of impassable gulf between the world of children and the world of grown-ups, not dissimilar to the one that purportedly exists between Heaven and Hell, and that is shown again here.) To be honest, this probably wasn't one of my most favourite Enid Blyton pieces ever, but it was still interesting to get a glimpse of her more "grown-up" writing.

I enjoyed her article on poetry rather more, especially the example(s) of her childhood poetry! I myself am not a poet, but perhaps if I had read this article as a child, I might have had a better chance of becoming one.

Haven't read "The Mysterious Car" yet. I'm mostly reading the Journal through from beginning to end, although I must admit I started off with Robert Houghton's review of The Famous Five Survival Guide, which is right at the very end. I still haven't read the Survival Guide properly, but from my brief perusual of it to date, I really can't disagree with Robert's sentiments about it.

So those are some of my initial thoughts on the Journal. Off now to read the article about The Mystery of the Invisible Thief. Well done to the Royal Mail and NZ Post for such speedy delivery!