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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
emotional
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Easing myself back into (trying to get back to) regular reading by revisiting this series of books from childhood. Enid Blyton has, often justifiably, a reputation for awful snobbishness, casual racism and so on and, if I'm honest, these books do not do anything to dissuade me from that opinion: Americans are brash and have no sense of decorum, French people have no sense of what is acceptable and not where British ideals from the era are concerned, people from a back-ground of self-made money are comically common and need a reminder of where they came from to slap them down. These books are an excellent indication of middle-class attitudes in the 40s and 50s.
However, Blyton makes these stories very, very entertaining. There's never a dull moment and there are good studies in the development of the main characters as they age over time. Some are redeemed. some are not. By using the device of bringing in different supporting characters for each book she is able to throw in new stories to stop things stagnating. And, to my surprise, there are several quite obviously lesbian characters amongst both the staff and the pupils - obvious in that things about them are massive cliches, such as short hair, having lots of brothers, liking horses, having a penchant for striding heartily about in trousers. Indeed, this is followed-up in the sequels where two of the horsey girls live together in a horse-riding establishment which they have set up having left school at 18. (Although it is mentioned that they have separate bedrooms. Hmm.)
Anyway, to sum up: draw a veil over the cliches, the dated morals and just enjoy the rompling good fun. Get stuck in, make sure you make your bed every day and don't be silly enough to darn grey socks with red or blue thread because Matron will be after you!
However, Blyton makes these stories very, very entertaining. There's never a dull moment and there are good studies in the development of the main characters as they age over time. Some are redeemed. some are not. By using the device of bringing in different supporting characters for each book she is able to throw in new stories to stop things stagnating. And, to my surprise, there are several quite obviously lesbian characters amongst both the staff and the pupils - obvious in that things about them are massive cliches, such as short hair, having lots of brothers, liking horses, having a penchant for striding heartily about in trousers. Indeed, this is followed-up in the sequels where two of the horsey girls live together in a horse-riding establishment which they have set up having left school at 18. (Although it is mentioned that they have separate bedrooms. Hmm.)
Anyway, to sum up: draw a veil over the cliches, the dated morals and just enjoy the rompling good fun. Get stuck in, make sure you make your bed every day and don't be silly enough to darn grey socks with red or blue thread because Matron will be after you!
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Malory Towers and Back to Malory Towers, by Enid Blyton. This was the full 6 books in the series published in 2 volumes so I'm counting it as 2 instead because they were so quick to read. I spotted them second hand and knew they'd be coming up on the Children's Book Challenge at some point, so got them while I could. I was sorting out some stuff on my bookshelves yesterday, and suddenly decided to just read a few pages, in preference to the books I was already part way through (I realised this morning that a friend mentioned them in passing when we went out to a lecture last week, which explains it!) and the next thing I knew, I'd read both of them in one day. So, they're fast paced, engaging, and lively then! I last read them about 25 years ago, and remember once asking my parents if I could go to a boarding school as a result, because she made it sound so much fun. I know others are going to end up reading them at some point for the CBC, so I don't want to give away too much - for those who don't know the books, each one takes place during one term of the school year at a girls' boarding school down in Cornwall, and follows Darrell and her friends from 12-18. As I got to the last few chapters, I had to go back and check the publication date. The series originally came out between 1946 and 1951, which surprised me. Maybe it's a hangover from having recently read about extraordinary career women in the 50s, but I was really struck by the student's future plans. Cambridge only counted women as full members of the university in 1948 (and yes, I did just google that to write this review), but you had 4 heading off to university, someone training as a nurse, several heading for glittering careers in the arts, one planning to compete in the Olympics and two going into business together. It had even been suggested earlier in the series that the main character could consider becoming a surgeon like her father. None of this was treated in the book as though it was groundbreaking and new. One of the most common criticisms of Enid Blyton's books is that they were old fashioned, even as she wrote them, and in most of her adventure ones, the girls make the tea and keep out of danger, which annoyed me even as a kid. This felt refreshingly different, and I'm sorry I hadn't read them in so long.
I read these as a kid and fancied a re-read after a conversation with a friend. These have been edited to make them more palatable to the modern minds which sometimes makes it clunky (Darrel slapping Gwen in the first year turned into her giving a darn good scolding, which obviously makes the class reaction seem a little OTT).
It was fun to go down memory lane but yikes Enid Blyton had some serious issues.
It was fun to go down memory lane but yikes Enid Blyton had some serious issues.