Enid Blyton, Five Go Mad in Dorset and a gnome called Pinkity

Ava is turning into a nascent literary critic.  She has been complaining in recent weeks at the paucity of choice in the 'dark pink' reading category at school (a reference to some kind of colour coding for reading levels which is, quite frankly, beyond me). To be fair, all the stories do seem to involve either boys playing football or some kind of island community reminiscent of Castaway - the BBC one documentary rather than theOliver Reed film, in case you were confused.

Anyway, last night she went on strike and refused to pick up the latest offering from her school bag, so instead she chose to read me a chapter from Enid Blyton's A Book of Fairies.

I'm not sure where I stand on Enid Blyton.  Of course it's not absolutely essential to hold opinions on deceased children's authors, but the thing is, when it comes to Ms Blyton, I always have done. 

As a child I was a massive fan of her books, particularly The Famous Five and Faraway Tree series.  In fact, it was probably these stories which instilled in me the 1950s language I have never quite outgrown - 'crikey', 'gosh' and 'good heavens' being just the tip of my weird linguistic iceberg.

Then, in the early 80s, there was that Comic Strip Presents... episode Five Go Mad in Dorset which, let's face it, spoilt some of the magic of the books - I have never been able to view Uncle Quentin or a tub of vaseline in quite the same light again.

Plus, there's the casual racism, snobbery and rather mediocre writing to contend with.  To top it all, the Beeb's drama Enid a couple of weeks ago, revealed that Ms Blyton might have been, well, a bit of a bad egg.

However, as my daughter read a typically Blyton-esque story about a small ribbon-rolling gnome called Pinkity, it became a tale of bracken, ferns, fronds and the effects of frost.  Cripes!  By the end, I had nearly revised my opinion of Enid... again.  Still not sure about vaseline though.

Toodle pip!

Comments

[Mark D]

Secret Island is probably the book i remember most clearly of any book Ive ever read, but Im not sure that says as much about Enid B as it does about me unfortunately

[Karen - An Artist's Garden]

:)

Way back in the day - Enid Blyton (together with Agatha Christie) were banned at the boarding school I was at. Of course this resulted me in reading every book I could get my hands on by the two authors - and spending the school holidays carefully covering the novels with brown paper and making up mad titles and authors.

Another enjoyable post Dawn ...
(I wonder if I will have a grandchild to read Enid Blyton too - and will my children let me read Enid Blyton to proposed granddaughter - or shall I just go straight to Agatha Christie?)

[Arabella Sock]

I read nearly all the Enid Blyton books I'm afraid. I used to like the Malory Towers series where all the good boarding school girls grew up to be musicians and scientists and poor Gwendolyn (who was a lazy, blonde, bimbo) had to make do with being a mere secretary.

I wonder if this was why they were banned at your boarding school Karen - or maybe it was the encouragement to have midnight feasts and other jolly japes.

[Eni Kyoga]

My profound childhood memories and fondness of Enid Blyton and her literary works led me to publish a book on her titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.bbotw.com).

Stephen Isabirye

[TheMadHouse]

I loved Enid Blyton and will remain oblivious to all the political correctness. They are a sign of my childhood

[JamesA-S]

I was always a bit of a Secret Seven chap, myself.
There was a dog called Scamper and secret passwords and such.Dunno why but the Famous Five didn't quite hit the spot.
Or vaseline the spot if you absolutely must.

[elizabethm]

I loved the Famous Five and yearned for the Secret Island. I could gobble them up in a sitting. I agree with every one of your reservations but I wouldn't stop anyone reading them. Fabulous blog title today btw.

[Karen - An Artist's Garden]

(Giggle) - Arabella - I suspect you are probably right - My Mother got a letter from the headmistress after my first term which said

"Karen must learn that boarding school is not all fun and games as depicted in Mallory Towers"

We did have some cracking "middies" at school
K

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

Mark - Have not read 'Secret Island' - will right that wrong ASAP.

Karen - they've 'cleaned up' a lot of Blyton books so you may be allowed to read them, but I would start making some innocuous brown paper covers now - just in case.

Arabella - I'm a little disappointed that I never read the Malory Towers series - especially as I was at a boarding school. They sound wholly inaccurate though - especially as the Gwendolyns I knew all appeared to do annoyingly well and never got their come-uppance - the rotters!

TMH - I did spot a title in a second-hand bookshop in Stamford last year called 'The Golliwogs go Fox Hunting'. In non-PC terms, this must knock Enid into a cocked hat!

James - I knew you'd buck the trend with your talk of Secret Seven supremacy. Bet they fenced too!

Elizabeth - thanks! And yes, whatever my reservations these are still page-turners for the under-10s which I guess is pretty impressive after 80 years.

[A Modern Mother]

Our whole village must have read these books as everyone says Crikey. Now I know!

[Bensgarden]

My mother used to read me extracts from Enid’s sconey oeuvre when I was young. She would censor the famous five as she went along,replacing Julian’s name for Anne’s. To this day I still think that the proper way to spend a weekend in the country for the girls to go out and shadow a smuggler while the boys make scrummy picnics.

[Jo]

I used to love the Enid Blyton books when I was young. The 'lashings' of ginger beer always sounded so grand, and it was a bit of a disappointment when I eventually tasted ginger beer and discovered that I didn't actually like it.

[Dawn/LittleGreenFingers]

AMM - Crikey is the most underused expression and is ripe for a revival. All hail your village I say.

Ben - I love the sound of you mother - how right on is that. And yes, smuggler shadowing is a perfect weekend activity.

Jo - I'm with you on the GB question. Disgusting stuff!