Enid Blyton

[Udayana]

"Stalked"? I've never come across this word in this sense before, and neither has google! Is it an auto-correct mistake for "stilted"?

Didn't really get "stalked" but can go along with "stilted" or even "stinked" .. but although we can say that as adults looking back, or even notice style/flow from 9 or so up, not sure that it matters to infants and early juniors.

I don't like JK Rowling's style - or plots for that matter - but the Harry Potter books worked wonders for my younger son ... He finished the reading scheme before he was 4 .. but by 6 had no interest in books until finding HP.

Typing this on a android tablet - really difficult to type without having to go back and correct silly errors.

[ProfessorDavey]

"Stalked"? I've never come across this word in this sense before, and neither has google! Is it an auto-correct mistake for "stilted"?

Oops - yes, an autocorrect, should have been stilted.

That said, perhaps stalked is appropriate, as when I was a kid Blyton books seemed to be everywhere - you couldn't look at a shelf of the school or public library or children's section in a bookshop without a Blyton book leering down at you!!

[ProfessorDavey]

Didn't really get "stalked" but can go along with "stilted" or even "stinked" .. but although we can say that as adults looking back, or even notice style/flow from 9 or so up, not sure that it matters to infants and early juniors.

I don't like JK Rowling's style - or plots for that matter - but the Harry Potter books worked wonders for my younger son ... He finished the reading scheme before he was 4 .. but by 6 had no interest in books until finding HP.

I agree that we may see things very differently when re-reading (or even reading for the first time) children's books as an adult compared to reading them as a child.

But my dislike of Blyton isn't an adult thing - no I really never took to them as a child as I found them pretty boring and actually weirdly difficult to read, because of the writing style - which is why I said I found them stilted (not stalked!!) and was surprised to learn that they were perhaps just 15-20 years old when I was reading them in the 70s.

There are other books I really enjoyed as a kid (e.g. the Narnia books) that I have re-read as an adult and have seen all sorts of things that I never noticed as a child. Some deliberate (the christian allegory), some a symptom of the time and place they were written (the assumed and casual racism and sexism).

[Udayana]

I agree that we may see things very differently when re-reading (or even reading for the first time) children's books as an adult compared to reading them as a child.

But my dislike of Blyton isn't an adult thing - no I really never took to them as a child as I found them pretty boring and actually weirdly difficult to read, because of the writing style - which is why I said I found them stilted (not stalked!!) and was surprised to learn that they were perhaps just 15-20 years old when I was reading them in the 70s.

There are other books I really enjoyed as a kid (e.g. the Narnia books) that I have re-read as an adult and have seen all sorts of things that I never noticed as a child. Some deliberate (the christian allegory), some a symptom of the time and place they were written (the assumed and casual racism and sexism).

Well the CS Lewis books are good stories, well-written, I also enjoyed them at an early age despite being well aware of the Christian base, sexism and some racism (as an Indian boy). Similarly. was fine with Tolkien.. despite seeing obvious racial stereotyping in his work.

And, disdaining all her other books. I did enjoy the Faraway Tree series, though again her basic stereotyping was apparent ... In fact in some ways the fantasy and silly logic set me up for SF and other fantasy.

[ProfessorDavey]

Well the CS Lewis books are good stories, well-written, I also enjoyed them at an early age despite being well aware of the Christian base, sexism and some racism (as an Indian boy). Similarly. was fine with Tolkien.. despite seeing obvious racial stereotyping in his work.

I think there is a difference between the racism and sexism in Lewis and Tolkien and the christianity in the former. Sexism and racism was pretty well baked into society of the 50s (and earlier) so it is unlikely that writers would have done anything other that (possible thoughtlessly) written that into their books. The christianity in the Narnia books is different - this was clearly a deliberate element of Lewis' approach - not thoughtless, but thoughtful and actually quite cleverly done - clunky and obvious when reading as an adult, but far less apparent (and therefore more insidious) as a child.

There is another thing about the Naria books in my opinion, and here there are analogies (again in my opinion) with J K Rowling. In both cases there is a kind of arc of enjoyment. The first books written are a little timid and simplistic (albeit fun and fine), but about 3 to 4 books in the series gets into their stride (my favourite book from Narian are Dawn Treader and Silver Chair, from Harry Potter it is Prisoner of Azkhaban). But thereafter things get more convoluted and a case of diminishing returns. The final Harry Potter books just don't cut it as far as I'm concerned, too long, too many things suddenly thrown in that didn't appear previously and ultimately a bit boring. Likewise with Narnia - the last two written (although not chronologically) - Magician's Nephew and Last Battle are pretty unreadable - too much allegory, trying to hard to shoehorn Genesis and Revelation into what should be fundamentally an enjoyable fantasy yarn.

[Udayana]

Lewis's scheme was obvious from the first book .. when he gets to the pretend first book (The Magicians Nephew) to make it all add up - he can't help but get lost in a multiverse - where most attempts at mythology and philosophy usually end.

A seven year old could see his sneaky plan to tie the tale to the Christian mindset:  Certainly myself and my kids!

[Nearly Sane]

Lewis's scheme was obvious from the first book .. when he gets to the pretend first book (The Magicians Nephew) to make it all add up - he can't help but get lost in a multiverse - where most attempts at mythology and philosophy usually end.

A seven year old could see his sneaky plan to tie the tale to the Christian mindset:  Certainly myself and my kids!

The Magician's Nephew is my favourite of the Narnia books. I would say it breaks out of the restrictions because of the problems you mention. The Last Battle is a desperate attempt to corral them back.

[Gordon]

Enid Blyton passed me by, which for a child born in 1952 surprises me - however, my late uncle insisted on inflicting 'Just William' stories on me.

[Udayana]

Enid Blyton passed me by, which for a child born in 1952 surprises me - however, my late uncle insisted on inflicting 'Just William' stories on me.

For some reason never appealed to me, though later I had a school friend who I thought must been that sort of character .. whatever it might have been .. smug?

[Nearly Sane]

I quite liked the Jennings and Darbishire books, also Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators, and Anne of Green Gables

[Aruntraveller]

Beat me to it NS. I was just going to post about Anthony Buckeridge's school series.

[ProfessorDavey]

I quite liked the Jennings and Darbishire books

Ah yes - enjoyed them too.

I also loved the 'Adventure' series books by Willard Price, involving brothers who went round the world collecting animals for zoos - probably rather less unacceptable topic these days!

[jeremyp]

Yes and often her use of the English language was appalling. I never got into Blyton when I was a child. 

The Famous Five taught both me and my brother to read and not be afraid of books that seemed quite big and grown up (to a five year old). I wouldn't knock anything that gets children to read books.

[Nearly Sane]

The Famous Five taught both me and my brother to read and not be afraid of books that seemed quite big and grown up (to a five year old). I wouldn't knock anything that gets children to read books.

And her sheer spread of books worked with many different children.

[Harrowby Hall]

Although I had acquired the appropriate technique at an earlier age, I did not start reading until I was about eight. I was hit by a succession of childhood illnesses and was off school for several weeks. My father began reading Tom Sawyer to me and part way though the book I took it from him and started to read it for myself.

At first, I was reading aloud but then was told to be quiet and I found that reading silently enabled me to progress through the book much more quickly. I moved onto Huckleberry Finn but did not find it as enjoyable as Tom Sawyer. I then read Pinocchio (I hadn't seen the film) and loved it.

Blyton books followed (Famous 5 and Secret 7) but my great literary discovery was Arthur Ransome, I did not read them in sequence, my first was Pigeon Post with Dick and Dorothea becoming my favourite characters.

[Nearly Sane]

Didn't like Ransome, but the first book I ever gave up on was Swiss Family Robinson. I would have thrown it across the room had I not been stupefied with boredom.

[The Accountant, OBE, KC]

Ah yes - enjoyed them too.

I also loved the 'Adventure' series books by Willard Price, involving brothers who went round the world collecting animals for zoos - probably rather less unacceptable topic these days!

Yes I enjoyed those books too - except Volcano Adventure was boring. I remember the first one I read was Cannibal Adventure when I was 7. I learnt a lot of interesting facts about animals and the history of the countries Hal and Roger Price visited to collect animals.

And also agree about Jennings - really funny and enjoyable. And the Narnia books. All read about that same period of age 7-10.

I read Enid Blyton too around that age and enjoyed it. But am also thankful to my form tutor for making me try Antonia Forest's series of books about the Marlow sisters set in a girls' school, as she disapproved of seeing me with Enid Blyton's Malory Towers books aged 10. She also told my mother I should be reading better books than Enid Blyton. WHSmith was selling classic paperbacks for 50p each so I ended up with my mother bringing home a book a day after work - so if it wasn't for reading so many Enid Blyton books at school, I might never have been introduced to and enjoyed reading White Fang and Call of The Wild and the Prince & the Pauper (and other Mark Twain classics) and Heidi, Aesop's Fables. I found Treasure Island boring though and couldn't finish it.

[Nearly Sane]

It's funny, as I read through comments here, books people mention remind me of others. I read quite a few though by no means all of Malcolm Saville's Lone Pine series. I found tge detail of places and atmosphere in England fascinating. I was deeply intrigued by the Cinque Ports.


Similarly Alderley Edge because of Alan Garner's Weirdstone of Brinsingamen/Moon of Gomrath pair which became a trilogy of sorts many many years later with Boneland, which I read but could not resurrect the fascination with. Amongst Garner's other books was the stonkingly weird and quite disturbing The Owl Service which became a weird TV series. At the time, I was too young to get the story being so involved with developing sexualities of the characters. Ot's also a fabulous gateway into Welsh myths.


Then, of course, there was Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea books which has a brilliant concentration on the idea of balance which has hints of ecological concerns and Eastern thought.