Journal 83

[Bertie]

I was sat in the shed,
Beauty on my knee,
Reading about other people's journals arriving,
And wondering if my subscription was due up,
When I heard the postman walking down the path.

It took me a few lines to realise that wasn't the beginning of a wonderful 'pome'!

Mine still hasn't arrived.

Hope your copy arrives soon, Pete.

[Kate Mary]

Mine hasn’t arrived either. I’ve emailed Tony to see if I’ve forgotten to renew my subscription. Perish the thought.

[Bertie]

Yes, I was beginning to wonder the same as I knew my subscription must be up soon. Fortunately my copy arrived today, but with a subscription renewal note so I've just renewed it for another year.

[Kate Mary]

Tony very kindly replied to my email and said that as far as he knew nobody with a surname at the beginning of the alphabet has said that they have received a Journal. Very odd! So if you haven’t got your copy yet and your name begins with a letter at the beginning of the alphabet hang on in there, Royal Mail must be working backwards.

[pete9012S]

Thanks Kate Mary.
I assumed I was on Tony's 'naughty list' as usual!

[Anita Bensoussane]

All five boxes of Journals were taken to the Post Office on Friday, the UK ones sorted alphabetically by surname and the abroad ones in a box of their own. The Post Office stick the postage labels on the envelopes as time allows (it's not a big Post Office), so some Journals may be sent out before others. They're usually dealt with pretty quickly though, so those who haven't had their Journals already should receive them soon.

[John Pickup]

Very odd about the Journals not arriving at some member's homes. Mine arrived on Monday (March 18th).

[Courtenay]

I haven't seen mine yet, and my surname starts with R, so I don't know what's going on... Tony, if I have inadvertently forgotten to pay my membership again (as happened a couple of years ago), my apologies!! If that's the case, I will renew it.

[Kate Mary]

The postman has come and gone, and still nothing, *sigh*. Better luck tomorrow maybe?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Sorry you haven't yet received your Journal, Kate (or Pete and Courtenay, if you haven't received yours today).

Some letters of the alphabet might be in more than one box for space reasons, e.g. one box might finish with Robbins while the next starts with Robertson (just a made-up example!)

[pete9012S]

The Eagle has just landed (on my doormat)!

[timv]

My Journal also hasn't arrived, as of the Saturday post; I'll keep a look-out for it on Monday, but there is occasionally a problem in Lymington as a local block of flats has an address nearly identical to my close, some mail has been known to end up there, and if an occupant is on holiday mail delivered there may not be spotted and redirected for a week or two.

[Bertie]

I've finished the journal and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thought the defence of any criticism of the films in the editorial - that Enid's work is just for children and the opinions of people over 12 don't matter - was a tad ironic in the context of a prelude to 83 pages of people (well) over the age of 12 critiquing Enid's books!

Fortunately, I've found the previous journals, and the EBS forums, proof of the fact that actually people over the age of 12 can make very interesting and perfectly legitimate critiques of Enid's books. And this journal proved that once again!

I mainly know, and love, the half dozen or so Mystery and Adventure series - so they're always my favourite sections. And in this edition almost all the articles discuss them in one way or another, so it was a great read throughout and is probably my favourite of all the wonderful journals since I joined up.

I also read both of the Six Cousins books for the first time in the last 12 months and so thoroughly enjoyed that article about books very fresh in my memory. I actually much preferred the first one, as I prefer 'lighter' works to 'darker' ones, and while they both have their share of each, the second book definitely has a heavier, more downbeat tone with less lighter moments to balance that out.

Thanks to all the contributors for a very interesting and entertaining read.

[Bertie]

Just as an addition to my last post, I should have mentioned the article about the Ragamuffin Mystery. Very enjoyable, and I agree with much of it.

I certainly don't remember Mr Lynton being much fun! And the first four books are obviously much superior, and I much prefer the Barney in those rather than the one he becomes. I agree about the way he suddenly 'turns' on Snubby - who'd never been critical or judgemental of Barney or his attire when he was a circus boy. All of a sudden he starts treating him like Roger and Diana always have, which seems unfair - the old Barney was more understanding than that.

I feel sorry for Snubby. Considering his plight in life - no parents, relatives who only seem to 'put up with him' at best - he seems to have come through it all as a likeable and quite well adjusted boy who has kept his sense of fun in a pretty poor scenario.

I also think he's unfairly called / portrayed as a 'coward' at times. As one of the FF articles in the journal says, Anne is so often called 'brave' because she does things despite being afraid. Yet Snubby also does plenty of things despite sometimes being afraid - such as going into the cellars of Rockingdown Hall, going alone at night to the grounds of Rilloby Fair, etc - and gets taunted for being scared and a coward rather than for his 'bravery' of still doing it.

I also prefer Ragamuffin to Rat-A-Tat. Though, as the article says, both are way below the standard set by the initial four. The mystery is rather slow to get going, and that's not so good in a book that's shorter than normal, but there's some decent humour and light heartedness to the initial part that still makes it a fun read, and once the mystery starts it's a very good one.

[timv]

My Journal has now arrived; thanks to Tony and Anita. I will respond to the various items in due course. For a start I agree that the Ragamuffin Mystery has its good points despite the appearance of yet another 'smugglers cave and mysterious noises in a secret passage' episode, like a spin-off of Spiggy Holes! Miss Pepper is at her 'peppery' best again, refusing to be evicted from her chosen hotel room on a weak excuse. The sub-plot of the presumably somewhat underfunded and desperate chef Mr Jones being backed to buy his 'dream business' by a crook who wanted to use him and it as a 'cover', as with the farm in Five Go Off To Camp, is a nice feature . It is sympathetically presented by Enid, along with his encouraging and enthusiastic but over-garrulous mother and wife ; the plot is also wrapped up better than occurs in the Rat-a-Tat Mystery. And the moment when Snubby is grabbed by the fake 'celebrity' and threatened with being thrown down the inn/ hotel stairs for annoying him and hiding the secret message is a moment of genuine menace.