Excellent. Thanks Pete. What a great story. Even if I didn't know who wrote it I would guess Blyton immediately. And I do agree with Anita; monochrome illustrations would probably have better suited the mood of the story.
"What a lot of trouble one avoids if one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd. To have no job, to devote ones life to literature, is the most wonderful thing in the world. - Cicero
Journal 79 received, thank you Tony! I see it took about 5 weeks, so that's not bad considering how slow the postal service is supposed to be!
Looking forward to reading it over the holiday period.
That's great Lenoir - If it makes you feel any better, with all the strikes etc the UK postal/delivery service takes almost as long here at the moment!
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
I enjoyed the first article on the history of the EB Day. Interesting to read about how it all started.
Such a variety of interesting articles ahead I see.
It appeared that Tony had very little to do with the early EBS Days. However, I know that that is certainly not true. I know Tony likes to keep a low profile, but would have liked to have read more of his involvement. Tony put in hours and hours of work arranging speakers, caterers, hall hire and so on - and never claimed a penny in expenses. He deserves a knighthood.
Yes I thought that myself as I read the otherwise excellent article. Arise Sir Tony.
"What a lot of trouble one avoids if one refuses to have anything to do with the common herd. To have no job, to devote ones life to literature, is the most wonderful thing in the world. - Cicero
I've finished journal 79! Normally I read them end to end straight away but I wanted to save a bit to enjoy over Christmas as both give a warm and cosy homely feel.
Tony's editorial saddened me immensely, it's heartbreaking that Enid Blyton's wonderful work is getting more and more pushed into a fading memory . So many (all!) of her stories are masterpieces and should not be allowed to dissappear under any circumstances. So they're old, so what? Charles Dickens's books are old too but they're still kept available as are countless others. For the thousandth time I ask why is it OK to deride Enid Blyton, to alter her books, to remove her books and generally shoot her down in flames? When I first started collecting I decided to collect as many short stories as possible first then look for the more popular series as they are generally easier to find. I'm so glad I did now and after reading that fewer and fewer will be available I feel like I want to scoop as many up as I can just to protect them and make sure they don't vanish! Seriously if I ever won the lottery I'd buy every one I saw simply to preserve it. It's a crying shame. Everything's got preservation this, protection that and somebody looking out for it except for this wonderful lady's unsurpassable books. If you ask me this world needs more Enid Blyton not less.
Society Member
I'm just an old fashioned girl with an old fashioned mind
Not sophisticated, I'm the sweet and simple kind
I want an old fashioned house, with an old fashioned fence
And A̶n̶ ̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶f̶a̶s̶h̶i̶o̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶m̶i̶l̶l̶i̶o̶n̶a̶i̶r̶e̶
Well said IceMaiden — I reckon things might get better once Enid is out of copyright, which should mean all or most of her works can be reprinted by anyone — maybe then we'll see more of her stories being published again (and with the original wording!) once there are no restrictions. I think she comes under the "life + 70" rule, which means we only have to wait till 2038...
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
What a great story. Even if I didn't know who wrote it I would guess Blyton immediately. And I do agree with Anita; monochrome illustrations would probably have better suited the mood of the story.
. So many (all!) of her stories are masterpieces and should not be allowed to dissappear under any circumstances. So they're old, so what? Charles Dickens's books are old too but they're still kept available as are countless others. For the thousandth time I ask why is it OK to deride Enid Blyton, to alter her books, to remove her books and generally shoot her down in flames? When I first started collecting I decided to collect as many short stories as possible first then look for the more popular series as they are generally easier to find. I'm so glad I did now and after reading that fewer and fewer will be available I feel like I want to scoop as many up as I can just to protect them and make sure they don't vanish! Seriously if I ever won the lottery I'd buy every one I saw simply to preserve it. It's a crying shame. Everything's got preservation this, protection that and somebody looking out for it except for this wonderful lady's unsurpassable books. If you ask me this world needs more Enid Blyton not less.
