Enid Blyton Appreciation Thread (3 Viewers)

[roxy]

Seriously. Imagine making that kinda contribution to the world. Incredible.

 

[theoootini]

used to get up early in the morning to finish whatever famous five i was reading. loved em so i did

 

[frona]

I got a big Malory Towers anthology for a present once when I was young. I was thinking uh-oh, this is gonna be lame! But I got really, really into it. And I was just old enough to enjoy it ironically while simultaneously genuinely getting into the story. I still have it. .|..|

 

[Hair Iron Madin]

Seriously. Imagine making that kinda contribution to the world. Incredible.

caused a bit of a stir in her day alright...

 

[Corey]

Seriously. Imagine making that kinda contribution to the world. Incredible.

Imagine having your left eyebrow grow through the side of your face.

 

[Mitchum]

Scarily prolific author. Never had the pleasure of The Mallory Towers series but my childhood felt very uneventful compared to those of The Famous Five, The Secret Seven and all the shenanigans of The Magic far-Away Tree.
I think the Adventures Of Pip The Pixie was my favourite. Great crypto-anarchism for the under nines. Noddy was too much of a goody-two shoes.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Secret Seven would kick the Famous Five's ass (ess).

 

[Yurn!]

Famous Five vividly burned into my kid memory. Good when books do that. Roald Dahl had the same effect.

Makes a change from poorly concieved and cheaply made TV, Star Wars figures, Mike Murphy, Advance Vision and being nonced.

Here here!

 

[Squiggle]

Secret Seven would kick the Famous Five's ass (ess).

What about the Five Find Outers and dog? Fatty (no such thing as pc in those days) was such a master of disguise!

 

[dowel]

I don't want to rain on the parade of Blyton appreciation, but she used to lock her children in the wardrobe while she wrote during the day...allegedly. A little bit nasty to her own kids, sadly.
There was a tv documentary on her life a number of years back.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

What about the Five Find Outers and dog? Fatty (no such thing as pc in those days) was such a master of disguise!

Probably her best kids-as-detectives series.
Highlights
- Burnt Cottage, Disappearing Cat and Spiteful Letters.
great supporting roles from Mr Goon and his gormless nephew Ern.

She's one of my favourite authors ever. Have read practically everything of hers.

Underrated works
- Six Bad Boys
- The Put 'Em Rights
- Those Dreadful Children

I'm a member of the Enid Blyton Appreciation Society but have yet to attend a convention.

The censorship of her work (removing references to golliwogs and dodgy foreigners) is an appalling disgrace.

Obviously she was quite racist - why cover it up?
Either way, it doesn't take away from the spellbinding quality of her work, the labyrinthe plots and complex characterisation.

 

[Mitchum]

... the labyrinthe plots and complex characterisation.

Enid Blyton? Are you sure?
Thomas Pynchon she ain't.
The reason she was so prolific was because she was so formulaic, I reckon.
Mind you it's a long, long time since I read any of her books but complex they weren't.

 

[Squiggle]

Probably her best kids-as-detectives series.
Highlights
- Burnt Cottage, Disappearing Cat and Spiteful Letters.
great supporting roles from Mr Goon and his gormless nephew Ern...

Mr Goon and Ern were great characters. My Mum used to read these out loud to us. I loved the one where Fatty was pretending to be Nelson (?) in the waxword museum... must read these again soon.

The censorship of her work (removing references to golliwogs and dodgy foreigners) is an appalling disgrace.

Obviously she was quite racist - why cover it up?
Either way, it doesn't take away from the spellbinding quality of her work, the labyrinthe plots and complex characterisation.

Well, she wasn't any more racist than most people were at the time - and there was a certain innocence about all that type of thing too... it wasn't as dark and malicious as modern racism can be. I had a golliwog at one time - passed down through the family - and never associated it with black people or even considered it connected.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

Enid Blyton? Are you sure?
Thomas Pynchon she ain't.
The reason she was so prolific was because she was so formulaic, I reckon.
Mind you it's a long, long time since I read any of her books but complex they weren't.

George (Georgina by rights)

Now that was complex.

 

[bloopitybloop]

"An estimate puts her total book publication at around 800 titles, not including decades of magazine writing. It is said that at one point in her career she regularly produced 10,000 words a day."

That's incredible.

And sure they were formulaic, but you could never guess the endings.

 

[Squiggle]

George (Georgina by rights)

Now that was complex.

Just a tomboy or one of the first young literary lesbians?

 

[nlgbbbblth]

Well, she wasn't any more racist than most people were at the time - and there was a certain innocence about all that type of thing too... it wasn't as dark and malicious as modern racism can be. I had a golliwog at one time - passed down through the family - and never associated it with black people or even considered it connected.

Yes, she can appear racist now but it wouldn't really have been considered so at the time.

My sister had a golliwog too. Pre-cabbage patch kid days.

Associating golliwogs with black people was somewhat inaccurate.
Golliwogs are black. Black people aren't.

 

[Yurn!]

It is said that at one point in her career she regularly produced 10,000 words a day.

That's a LOT of kids locked in a LOT of wardrobes.

 

[bloopitybloop]

"This response from the publishers to contemporary attitudes on racial stereotypes has itself drawn criticism from those adults who view it as tampering with an important piece of the history of children's literature. The Druce book brings up a single case of a story, The Little Black Doll, which could be interpreted as a racist message (the doll wanted to be pink) and which was turned on its head in a reprint (apparently not considered racist)."

Why would a pink doll want to be black?!!!

 

[Squiggle]

"This response from the publishers to contemporary attitudes on racial stereotypes has itself drawn criticism from those adults who view it as tampering with an important piece of the history of children's literature. The Druce book brings up a single case of a story, The Little Black Doll, which could be interpreted as a racist message (the doll wanted to be pink) and which was turned on its head in a reprint (apparently not considered racist)."

Why would a pink doll want to be black?!!!

Well, if you leave "black" out of it...

I was talking to my Mum yesterday evening. My sister-in-law is Thai and uses a lot of whitening products to lighten her skin colour - very popular in Asia. We were wondering why anyone would want to risk their health to lighten their skin. Then we got on to the subject of excessive tanning... weird huh!