Enid Blyton and the 50p piece...

[Nearly Sane]

Or rather not. Yet again the question of the politics of an individual and how much that affects our view of them is raised.




https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/richard-madeley-says-branding-enid-16820552

[Aruntraveller]

Or rather not. Yet again the question of the politics of an individual and how much that affects our view of them is raised.




https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/tv/richard-madeley-says-branding-enid-16820552

No idea whether she was, or was not those things. She was a product of her times however, and as such it is difficult to judge people's views then against prevailing views now.

The more pertinent question to my mind is that she was a bloody awful writer, why commemorate her?

[jeremyp]

No idea whether she was, or was not those things. She was a product of her times however, and as such it is difficult to judge people's views then against prevailing views now.

The more pertinent question to my mind is that she was a bloody awful writer, why commemorate her?

A lot of children of my generation and before (including me and my brother) were introduced to reading via her books. I think her literacy contribution outweighs her literary deficit.

[jeremyp]

A lot of children of my generation and before (including me and my brother) were introduced to reading via her books. I think her literacy contribution outweighs her literary deficit.

Still don't think I'd bother with a 50p for her though.

[Outrider]

The more pertinent question to my mind is that she was a bloody awful writer, why commemorate her?

I'm not sure you can really justify saying that someone who has entertained that many children for that long is a 'bloody awful writer' - she obviously had something that not only appealed to people of her time, but to generations that followed.  I remember reading the Wishing Chair books as a young child, and graduating through the Secret Seven and Famous Five books as I grew a little older, and thoroughly enjoyed them.

O.

[Aruntraveller]

I take your points about her entertaining children
 At least some children.

Jeffrey Archer I understand entertains many adults.

[Outrider]

I take your points about her entertaining children
 At least some children.

Jeffrey Archer I understand entertains many adults.

I couldn't care less to listen to the Spice Girls, personally, but they sold phenomenally well - it's art, and if someone likes it then it's doing what it was put out there to do. I'm not sure there's any grounds for trying to say that any art is objectively 'good' or 'bad', just that it either is or isn't for us personally.

Jeffrey Archer's work appeals to some, not to others.  Jeffrey Archer, objectively, is a cock-womble, but his literature has to stand on its own merits.

O.

[Aruntraveller]

Well if that's your pitch to get the Spice girls on the back of a coin.......

[jeremyp]

I take your points about her entertaining children
 At least some children.

Jeffrey Archer I understand entertains many adults.

My point wasn't about entertaining children, it was about introducing them to reading.

[Robbie]

I have never read a book by Enid Blyton but was aware of her, Noddy & 'lashings of lemonade',etc. I once saw a book at a friend's house about three golliwogs and was horrified!

At school we were discouraged, told she used poor English and displayed prejudices. That wouldn't have put me off, quite the opposite, but I can't say her books interested me.

However she was obviously successful and quite influential. There was a TV drama about her a few years back (I think Helena Bonham Carter played Blyton), which was very interesting. She was portrayed as a bit of a bitch! Don't know how true that was but the programme was good.

If I come across a 'Famous Five' book in a charity shop I might be tempted. Without a bit of Blyton my education cannot be complete  .

[Udayana]

I enjoyed the Faraway Tree series as a young child ... couldn't care less about the standard of English.

[jeremyp]

I have never read a book by Enid Blyton but was aware of her, Noddy & 'lashings of lemonade',etc.

Ginger beer actually. But that might be more The Comic Strip Presents than Enid Blyton.

I once saw a book at a friend's house about three golliwogs and was horrified!

How old were you? I can't remember when exactly I found out that golliwogs were meant to be offensive. As a child, I just thought of them as soft toys like other soft toys.

If I come across a 'Famous Five' book in a charity shop I might be tempted. Without a bit of Blyton my education cannot be complete  .

I think they are probably more of interest nowadays as an indicator of attitudes in a bygone era. I wouldn't recommend reading them for entertainment.

[ad_orientem]

I used to like reading The Famous Five books when I was a kid. I was a keen reader then and liked going to the library. To be honest, I can't remember much about them anymore.

[Robbie]

jeremy - Ginger beer actually. But that might be more The Comic Strip Presents than Enid Blyton.

Very likely! I remember the Comic Strip well, Dawn French saying she wanted to be, "as good as a boy'.

Dunno how old I was when I saw the golliwog book but I wasn't small, a young teenagerI think. It was in a friend's bookcase, had been passed on to her by older relatives when she was little& forgot about it. Their names were Nigger Woggy& Wiggy? Not sure but something like that. The pictures of them were awful.

Never heard of the Farway Tree but the title is magical. I'm all for a bit of fantasy, enchanted woods and talking animals.

Jeremy -I think they are probably more of interest nowadays as an indicator of attitudes in a bygone era. I wouldn't recommend reading them for entertainment.

Agree with that. I've read books by other authors concerning unkind stereotypes and language.The thing about E Blyton is that her books were for kids and you can imagine them acting out bits of her books, using the words quite innocently but loudly in school playground in our multicultural society. I thought that when I was delving into 'Little House on the Prairie' stories &TV shows a while back (prompted by discussion on here).

Right now I'm fancying some ginger beer but have none. Can't remember when I last tasted it.

[jeremyp]

Agree with that. I've read books by other authors concerning unkind stereotypes and language.

I don't think her language was considered unkind in the context of the times. The term "golliwog" was just a soft toy.

[Roses]

Blyton lived and wrote in very different times and her books reflect that. I enjoyed them as a child, as did my children, I also had a golly as did they. However, one see things very differently these days and rightly so.

[Robbie]

What you say is true, there were loads of authors and dramas containing much that later came to be  considered unacceptable. Thinking back to the 1970s at school, Enid Blyton was frowned upon though no doubt there was a lot of her writing which was innocent and enjoyable. She is part of our literary history.

We can't airbrush any of the past just because attitudes have softened, to do so would be false (Earl Hamner said that before I did).

It's good to talk!

[jeremyp]

What you say is true, there were loads of authors and dramas containing much that later came to be  considered unacceptable.

Absolutely agree. Last year I read some early Agatha Christie and while it's mostly fairly innocuous stuff, every now and again she writes something pretty anti semitic.

[Robbie]

That doesn't surprise me at all, I've detected all sorts of prejudices in authors over the years.  I'm surprised about the acceptance of golliwogs in more recent times though, I'd have thought from the 1970s onwards they'd have been considered unacceptable. Influences from school, parents and companions were, and are, relevant. I'm 59 and never had a golliwog (or golly badge) but do remember seeing golly badges from jars of jam. All seems pretty weird now.

[Nearly Sane]

That doesn't surprise me at all, I've detected all sorts of prejudices in authors over the years.  I'm surprised about the acceptance of golliwogs in more recent times though, I'd have thought from the 1970s onwards they'd have been considered unacceptable. Influences from school, parents and companions were, and are, relevant. I'm 59 and never had a golliwog (or golly badge) but do remember seeing golly badges from jars of jam. All seems pretty weird now.

  I'm 55 and had a badge given to me  i wouldn't have said the real reaction came till very late 70s early 80s. After all we still had the Black and White Minstrel Show till 1978

[Robbie]

You're probably right, late seventies onwards. I'd forgotten about the 'Black & White Minstrels'. I never saw them on TV but I know Lenny Henry was a member for a while when he was not much more than a boy  .

I never knew you wuz so young NearlyS! My sister is 56 and I always used to think of her as a lot more than three years younger than me (didn't say it to her) tho' once we got past a certain age the gap seemed to close. Her eldest and my two children are close in age. I'll ask them all what they remember about golliwogs and Blyton!

 The Famous Five on a Treasure Island film is on Amazon. I might watch to see what I missed.