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What was your favourite Enid Blyton book?

280 replies

Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 14:04

When I was a child (80s) read loads of Enid Blyton books (passed down from siblings, library etc) and in the past few months have read loads of these free online (original/early editions, none with updated texts) - prob way more than when I was a child!

Although dated in many ways I have a fondness for the "family" type EB books - (house on the corner, family at red-roofs, six bad boys) which were less well known than Famous five/secret seven etc.

Also I have read several books about EB (biography, book by her agent and a book by her daughter about her childhood) and found these really interesting, of course like all authors/famous people in general who you think you know their lives are more complex (and interesting!) and different to how one would expect and how they are "presented"

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ChaosRule · 02/08/2023 16:38

What did you think of the biographies?

She was astonishingly prolific at one point - books plus weekly columns, did that coincide with her daughters growing up? They resented her work ?
And did her husband have an affair/ run off so she ended up the bread winner?

Just read Elizabeth Beresford (Wombles) biography - it's really good, her dad & her husband were both awful. It was the women in the family that kept them going financially.

LaMaG · 02/08/2023 16:41

Thanks @Flapjacker48 just googled it and the edition I had popped up, funny how familiar it looks now.

Very good point @KohlaParasaurus She intentionally steered clear of religion.

She was of middle class that was obvious but she did highlight the differences in childhood experiences. The wishing chair kids had a cook and maid and they went off all day playing (no childminder!) but the faraway tree kids were always doing chores, waiting days to be allowed a few hours off. Their mum took in laundry for some extra money and was always busy.

Lentilweaver · 02/08/2023 16:42

I need to read the bios and find out more about her fascinating life and alleged nude tennis! ( as Wiki has it).

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LaMaG · 02/08/2023 16:42

Also the famous five weren't even famous in the books were they? Don't remember that aspect

Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:45

@KohlaParasaurus Yes, there isn't much reference in main EB books to denomination etc or much mention of religion other than the children going to church etc, "House on the corner" has probably the most with the idea of the comfort of going to church to pray when things are going wrong and also the glowing description of the rector!

EB grew up in a strict baptist house before distancing herself from the non-conformist church. Apparantly other than for christenings etc she never went to her local Parish Church. She flirted with Catholicism at times with one of her friends who was Catholic (andwas her daughters nurse for a time) but didn't do more than thinking about in and at attendance at one or two masses.

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Rummikub · 02/08/2023 16:46

I’ve looked at that webpage. How can I read them? Do I need a Kindle? Or can I just read the PDF?

Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:47

@Rummikub I just download the PDF versions and read them on my laptop.

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TenoringBehind · 02/08/2023 16:49

Favourite series - impossible to choose between Malory Towers and the x of adventure series.

favourite book of all - Magic Faraway Tree

I adored and devoured all the Enid Blyton books I could get my hands on

LadyGAgain · 02/08/2023 16:51

I loved the Famous Five but The Secret Necklace is very special.

Runnerduck34 · 02/08/2023 16:53

I loved all the famous five books, just pure escapism really.
Also loved the wishing chair and the faraway tree but famous five books were my favourites

Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:56

@ChaosRule

All three books I've recently read about her are interesting in their own way - I would highly recommend.

1.) Biography by Barbara Stoney
2.) Short book by her agent George Greenfield
3.) Childhood at Green Hedges by her second daughter Imogen Smallwood.

The stoney Biography is more "official" but comprehensive, the book by Greenfield explains alot about her finacial and business afairs in the 1950s (involvement of her second husband etc)

Imogen Smallwood in her experience did certainly not have a childhood as typified in EB's books and found EB not the best mother - however, her first daughter has totally different memories of childhood - it's well worth a read.

Her first marriage failed as both EB and her husband had affairs. EB with the man who became her second husband. EB was clever in that her husband's affair was cited in the divorce papers and her affair (which may have started first) was never mentioned. She also said if he agreed to it then he would have access to his daughters - after the divorce EB never allowed him to see them again.

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Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 17:02

@LaMaG

So EB only books with "good" working class children and parents I can think of:

1.) Faraway Tree Series
2.) One of the families in Six Bad Boys
3.) Andy in the Adventurous four books.
4.) Jimmy's family in the circus books
5.) Boy who wanted a dog (prob more middle class but not upper middle like other EB books)

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KohlaParasaurus · 02/08/2023 17:04

Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 16:14

@KohlaParasaurus The Taggerty children are noisy and ill-behaved (in EB's eyes) but are descirbed as "rough" as in the boisterous sense - both the Taggerty and Charlton family are upper middle class (large houses and gardens, have hired help, both boys go the local day school etc)

Thanks! I think I need to do some re-reading with adult eyes. In my memory the Taggertys and Charltons were Morlocks and Eloi except that nobody got eaten.

Topseyt123 · 02/08/2023 17:04

I began with the Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair books before moving on to the Famous Five (I collected all of them over time), the Malory Towers and the St. Clare's books.

I must say that I now actually look back at the Malory Towers and St. Clare's books and cringe at some of the behaviour that was allowed. It was bullying, and at Malory Towers the usual victim was Gwendoline, even though she was not portrayed as the victim by Blyton. She was though.

Lentilweaver · 02/08/2023 17:15

Gwendoline was bullied relentlessly for being bad at sports, plump and spotty. I really loved the characterisation in the Malory Towers books though.
The sporty ones: Darrell, Alicia, June, Sally
The musical ones: Irene
The horsy ones: Bill and Clarissa
The "mad"hot tempered ones: Alicia and Betty
The ones good at sewing: Janet
The ones good at singing and drama: Forgot the names...

It's deceptively simple, and reminds me of the way Agatha Christie plotted her books ( another very interesting and complex woman with an unhappy marriage). If I were to reread it now, I think I would find Darrell and Sally unbearably "pi" .

patchysmum · 02/08/2023 17:37

The wishing chair is the first book I remember the teacher was reading it to the class and I asked to take it home,later I loved the famous five books

MargaretThursday · 02/08/2023 17:39

On religion she wrote a few religious books. The one I particularly remember is "The Land of Far Beyond" based on Pilgrim's Progress".

I think my favourite series was the Adventure series. My ds wanted a parrot for ages after reading those-we've compromised on budgies.
There's a lot to those books if you reread them as adults that you don't pick up as a child. I remember one where they're fleeing from terrorists and Bill says "Don't worry, Lucy-Ann, they won't hurt children". As a child I took that as read. As an adult you feel the desperate attempt to comfort her, knowing that if they'd caught them probably the best outcome for the children would be killing quickly rather than torturing them to make Bill spill the beans.

Individual stories:
"Five go off in a Caravan" I wanted to do the same. Unfortunately Mum wouldn't consider letting me hire a caravan and go off...
"Rat a tat mystery" Love the snowy scenery.
"Valley of Adventure" beautifully written.
"The Adventurous Four" one of her few obvious WWII stories. Andy was such a good leader.
"The Secret Island" who wouldn't want to live on an island on their own, build a willow house etc...

I find it odd how much she is hated for what a lot of authors of similar era had as well. The huge backlash when Roald Dahl's books were adapted recently-hers were adapted, and often badly, in the 90s.
And the accusations of sexism I do find odd. She had one of the least sexist girls of that era in literature in George. I also, as a girlie-girl found it a bit upsetting. I'd have enjoyed the making up home in the caravan more than the adventure too. So why is it deemed so bad that Anne did? It felt like my likes were seen as inferior.
George is an interesting character, but not necessarily always likable. In that era it would have been unusual for a girl to have a male hair cut and wear boys' clothes, so people will have made assumptions from that rather than particularly how she looked overall.

She's also accused of simplistic language, which I don't think is particularly fair either. She often has the youngest asking, Anne, Bets, Lucy-Anne to explain words and certainly I learnt words reading her books, as well as information I still remember-like how to tell a stalactite from a stalagmite, or a stoat from a weasel.
Her characters are generally 3D, yes, some of her plots are similar, but realistically, how many authors' of 21 book series (Famous Five) don't reuse some aspects? And she wrote over 700 books.

And for sheer emotional writing try "The Rub a Dub Mystery" when Barney thinks he is going to meet his father for the first time and is tricked. The writing is just phenomenal.

My dc all enjoyed her books too, although they read them more as historical fiction than I did.

RuthW · 02/08/2023 17:41

I think I read them all and then read with with dd.

My favourite is the St Clairs series and the Naughtiest Girl series.

gingerguineapig · 02/08/2023 17:43

Dasisr · 02/08/2023 14:35

Did anyone else read mistletoe farm? The one where the city cousins house burnt down and they had to go live with their country cousins. I loved that one too

Yes I liked those too.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 02/08/2023 17:47

Apart from the Faraway Tree books, I have a soft spot for The Secret of Moon Castle. It has everything - a glamorous but sinister location, a locked tower, surly locals, a music box that plays itself, books flying off shelves, nerve damage from radiation poisoning, a whole village glowing in the dark, villains mining or storing radioactive materials in the old mines... perfect.

gingerguineapig · 02/08/2023 17:51

Also there were non-fiction books (or mixed) - there was a book about British animals which is probably very sad to read now as so many are endangered.

And there was also her Book of the Year which went through the seasons with various articles to fit the months and the exploits of the pupils of a very tiny school. If anyone knows the answer to the riddle of the chickens in that book let me know!

Andante57 · 02/08/2023 17:58

I loved all the famous five books, just pure escapism really.

Yes, I remember reading one and being so engrossed that I didn’t hear someone speaking to me until my mother snapped ‘Andante! Don’t be so rude! Auntie Sue is talking to you’.

Does anyone remember one of her books - or it may have been a short story - when kitchen utensils and possibly food come alive at night? It was quite scary.

MargaretThursday · 02/08/2023 18:00

Flapjacker48 · 02/08/2023 17:02

@LaMaG

So EB only books with "good" working class children and parents I can think of:

1.) Faraway Tree Series
2.) One of the families in Six Bad Boys
3.) Andy in the Adventurous four books.
4.) Jimmy's family in the circus books
5.) Boy who wanted a dog (prob more middle class but not upper middle like other EB books)

Ern in the Find outers-he proves himself by his bravery to join what is an already close established group and is very much one of them after the first book he's in.
Nobby/Jo/Alf the fisher boy etc in Famous Five. Lots of characters that are important for a book or two.
Jack in Secret series-very much the leader all the way through.
Barney in the R mysteries-again the leader of the group that they all look up to.
There's plenty in Mr Pink Whistle too.
I'd also say that the children in "Six cousins" -at least the "nice" 3 cousins anyway are working class. The posher 3 cousins are definitely considered inferior.
Not sure about the children in Cherry Tree farm etc. I can't remember too much about their background.

All sympathetic characters and often are the leader of the group. Andy in the Adventurous Four has to be one of the best characters-depicted as honest, responsible and brave.
EB tended to be far harsher on the children she deemed to be middle/upper class spoilt brats than otherwise.

Pinkjacket22 · 02/08/2023 18:00

listsandbudgets · 02/08/2023 14:07

I loved The Adventurous Four, all the Adventure ones - Island of Adventure, Sea of Adventure etc. All the schools ones were good.

However, my soft spot was always for the Faraway Tree books.

To be honest I must have read hundreds of them when I was little she may be abhorred by the politically correct crew now but she really was a very talented and diverse author.

Same here. Really felt the magic when I read them. Although my kids didn't seem interested when I read them to them

FrivolousTreeDuck · 02/08/2023 18:02

Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm and its sequel.