The Enid Blyton Phenomenon

I realize that, as far as this blog is concerned, my Enid Blyton posts don't get much truck.

Still, I persist, and believe that it is important to spotlight those souls dedicated to keeping the Blyton wagon rolling.

 This handsome quarterly digest is a product of The Enid Blyton Society, and is lovingly edited by Blyton scholar Tony Summerfield, the man who produced the mammoth, four volume Illustrated Bibliography of one of the world's best-selling childrens' authors and most prolific writers of all time.

I started reading Blyton when I was little more than a squirt. I'm still reading her.

It was Mr. Meddle's Muddles that got me hooked.  I was sick and home from school when my mother presented the book to me. I began devouring it immediately and came across a story in which the indefatigable 'Meddle', an elfin-like goofball bearing character traits similar to Rowen Atkinson's 'Mr. Bean' (I smelt plagiarism long ago!), takes a trip to the countryside with his buddy. While sharing a hotel room, Meddle is kept from sleeping by the oppressive heat of the chamber. Fed up, he gets up and stumbles about in pitch darkness until he finds a window. Unable to open it, he smashes it. Moments later, he describes his relief and relishes the cool breeze wafting into the room.

Come morning, a refreshed Meddle notices the room's window strangely intact. Had he dreampt the whole thing? Had the window been repaired in the night? Well, not exactly, mate. Meddle, to his horror, then spots a thousand glass pieces on the floor, fragments of a chest he'd unwittingly destroyed in his effort to cool down.

"What a silly Meddle!" is a statement often applied by Blyton her village idiot character. My favorite, though, is this one: "He always tried his best, but it's such a bad best, isn't it?"

This was the first time I laughed hysterically at something I'd read as a child. I enjoyed Dr. Seuss books and found them fun, but I never laughed out loud.   There was something very endearing about Meddle, as there  is about Mr. Bean, and I felt great sympathy for the chap. Blyton, on the other hand, seemed somewhat unsympathetic towards him, despite devoting three books to his crazy, accidental adventures. I always felt, and still do, that she sort of enjoyed laughing at him.

In the journal's current issue, there is a fascinating item on Blyton's adult stories ('The Eligible Bachelor'), and a rundown on the two recently released "Famous Five" dvd's, Five on a Treasure Island and Five Have a Mystery To Solve; I recently nominated these as two of my favorite dvd releases of 2010.

A loving poem to man's beast friend

Of immense interest in this issue is the third part of Anita Belsoussane's stellar tribute to Blyton's "The Naughtiest Girl" books in which she discusses Elizabeth Allen's ongoing adventures at Whyteleafe, an English boarding school.

For those not familiar with the writer's canon of work, it would be impossible for me to summarize the extraordinary influence it has had on generations of children throughout the world. It would also be a foolhardy task for me to attempt to describe the amazing appeal of her work. So, I will recommend a baker's dozen titles for those of you who are absolutely oblivious to her world but ready to take the plunge.

The Wishing Chair

Mr. Meddles Muddles

The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage

The Naughtiest Girl

The Six Bad Boys

The Magic Faraway Tree

The Twins at St. Claire's

Five on a Treasure Island

The Valley of Adventure

Secret Seven on the Trail

The Rubadub Mystery

Come to the Circus

The Boy Next Door

A perfect example of the stunning cover art Blyton's work inspired

Although the snippy Ms. Blyton was often highly critical of cinema and comics, I love her work deeply. Her attitude towards cinema, in particular, was often quite simplistic, but not unusual for the time. 

"It cannot be said too often," she wrote in the Church of England Newspaper in 1950, "that the cinema is one of the most formidable powers for good or evil in this world, and most especially for children. Its great danger lies in the fact that it can make evil so attractive, so tempting and irresistible...As the twig is bent, so the tree will grow, and the false world portrayed in many adult films must have warped great numbers of developing young minds..."

At face value, this seems to generalize terribly, but, at its core, she is recognizing the incredible power of cinema to do not just evil, but good also.

Personally, I don't believe that children should be exposed to everything, as they (now) potentially are, thanks to the internet and parental indifference, but I do believe that nothing should be censored or restricted to adults.

I can't help feeling that the most restricted of all material provides the greatest catharsis to adults... and, therefore, greater peace for the individual and general public.

 

In response to this blog, I have just received a message from a Blyton scholar named Stephen Isabirye. This gentleman has recently written a book titled The Famous Five - A Personal Anecdotage. 

At 'AssociatedContent.Com', reviewer Jonathan Musere had the following to say:

Stephen Isabirye convincingly delves into the mind of Enid Blyton as he offers his comprehensive and remarkably detailed analysis of Enid Blyton. This is first analysis of Enid Blyton from an international perspective, and the book is a lengthy wealth of details. The perspective goes beyond Blyton's "Famous Five" series, bringing into perspective and comparison other writings by Blyton. Isabirye goes into the social backdrop, the environmental and political aspects of the era of Blytonian writing, the setting of the powerful British Empire and colonial incursions at the time, the ancient and contemporary literature that likely influenced Blyton.

Sounds like heaven to me.

I've ordered it, and will offer a blog post once I've thoroughly devoured it.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

Despite the information tsunami that is the internet, specialist magazines are still being printed.

The Paperback Fanatic, edited by Justin Marriott, is a must-get for anybody seriously interested in pulp fiction.

It just hit its 10th issue, and, boy!, is it a treat!

There is a great article in this issue about the New English Library sexual manuals of the 60's and 70's. Seems they were inspired by Alex Comfort's bestselling The Joy of Sex.

An amazing tidbit of information is that the pencil illustrations of sexual congress in the book were drawn by Chris Foss, whose incredible paintings of massive starships appeared on the covers of NEL E.E. "Doc" Smith series such as Lensmen and Asimov books like Foundation.

The front and back covers of the issue are by John Holmes (who didn't moonlight as a porn actor). He illustrated dozens of great horror anthologies such as Fontana's Horror Stories and the Horrorscope books by Robert Lory (of Dracula Returns fame).

The interview with Holmes, entitled 'The Incredible Melting Man', provides great insight into this talented chap's approach to his art.

Also of immense interest in this issue is a piece on occult novelist (and legitimate occultist) Gerald Suster, the writer of The Scar, The Force, and The Handyman.

When the latest Paperback Fantatic arrives in the post, I stay up late and read it from cover to cover.

It's the best-researched, most fascinating mag of its type.

Further details are at: http://www.thepaperbackfanatic.com

Arriving on the same day as Paperback Fantatic was the quarterly The Enid Blyton Society Journal (Summer 2009; #39) .

A privately circulated magazine of The Enid Blyton Society, it is a reliable treasure trove of exciting and obscure Blyton ephemera and literary intercourse.

Lovingly edited by Tony Summerfield, whose four-volume Illustrated Biographies are the last word on the subject, it is filled with contributions from professional writers, fans, academics, and those whose lives Enid touched.

In this issue, there is a fascinating piece that asks whether Five on Kirrin Island Again was 'The Famous Five's' most dangerous adventure? Of course, nobody ever died or became a cripple in a Blyton story, but the levels of jeopardy did go up and down. Writer John Lester makes a good case for the book being the best of the series, if not the most jeopardy-filled. That prize he awards to Five Go Off in A Caravan.

I never did trust caravans myself on or off the road. Remember the one in Jose Larraz's Vampyres? The folks camping out in that thing ended up on a sexy vampire's dinner plate.

As is traditional, the centerspread of the journal is a color reproduction of rare Blyton covers and art. As soon as I crack open the envelope and before I start devouring every word, I flip to the center to feast my eyes on magic like this.

William Ferguson's turns in a fascinating article on how he used Blyton's books to teach English in Tajikstan.

And Mr. Pink-Whistle, one of Blyton's strangest creations, earns himself a seven-page literary autopsy by Anita Bensoussane.. Second only to Mr. Meddle for me in popularity, Mr. Pink-Whistle always seemed a rather harsh fellow with his antique disciplinary practices.

Bensoussane points out that modern editions of his stories have been altered. For example, in the original edition of Mr. Pink-Whistle Goes To School , a little girl explains that George and Harry (two bullies) "smack our faces and tramp on our toes". In a later version, she says the boys "pinch our faces and stamp on our toes." In the same story, Pink-Whistle vows to "repay both George and Harry the smacks and slaps and biffs and thuds that they had many a time dealt out to the younger children." In a later reprint, Pink-Whistle vows to "repay both George and Harry for the nasty treatment they had many a time dealt out to the younger children."

To me, it sounds like Pink-Whistle had the wind ripped from his sails. Poor sod.

The sad note of this issue is the official memorial page to Barbara Stoney, Blyton's biographer, who died in March of this year at the age of 84.

On the second last page of this issue, a rare screening of Five Have A Mystery To Solve is announced. It played on August 1st at the National Film Theatre in Southbank, London.

If any reader of this blog attended, please let me know what the film was like. It's never been released on VHS or DVD.

Would have been worth making the trip to London if I'd had more notice.

The six-part series, produced by the Children's Television Foundation in 1964, was combined and released theatrically by Rank Film Distributors.

Fortunately, the August 1 screening has been reviewed on imdb by one "didi-5".

This is what they had to say:

This six-parter, made for the Children's Film Foundation, is a fast-paced, jolly-hockey, and rather fun version of Enid Blyton's novel, 'Five Have A Mystery To Solve'.

Julian, Dick, Anne, their cousin George, Timmy the dog, and for this adventure, Wilfred (who communicates with the animals), find themselves looking after a cottage for the weekend and soon become interested in the mysteries of Whispering Island, a nature reserve owned by the reclusive Sir Hugo.

This being a serial for children it has lots of cliff-hangers, some cartoon bad guys, and several moments for the viewer to cheer or boo. It also has some laughs which will appeal to the adult, but which were perhaps not intended at the time this was filmed.

The five children are generally OK actors, with George and Wilfred being particularly memorable. The serial has its moments of tension which will probably keep young children interested, and the archive print is quite a nice one which is perfectly watchable.

A nice archive print, huh? Hopefully, a DVD release will be considered.

For Blyton fantatics, or those wanting to know much more about her and her fantastic world, The Enid Blyton Society Journal is honey to the eyes and senses.

Website at: http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk

***

Over the next six months, I have two feature films
to finish, a web series to complete, a novel to rewrite, a reality show
to oversee, and too many other creative commitments to list.

As a result, my posts will be reduced to one or two a week.

I hope you folks will still drop in occasionally.

I will still reply to comments and stuff.

You people make this blog worthwhile. Thanks.