Comments on: Crappy reading…

By: Simon Haynes

Simon Haynes — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:48:00 +0000

Jason - I read all the Famous Fives as a young lad, and quite a few of the other books too. (Including some of the Mallory Towers & whatever the other girls' school series was.)

Those plus the (x) of Adventure series, Moon Castle, etc etc. Devoured them all, looked around for more.

One of the shelves in my special bookcase has a complete set of Famous Fives in the original hardbacks - some of them first editions. I also have quite a few paperbacks which the kids use as reading copies.

By: Glenda Larke

Glenda Larke — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:15:00 +0000

Hear, hear, Silver Fox. With you on all of that. Although I do think it is time we spent more time teaching young consumers to be more discerning, and to care less about fashion and what everyone else has...

Loved Biggles too, I must admit, Jo. And George over Anne.

Jason, surely Blyton was also for boys?

Imagine me - yeah, I remember marbles were for boys, although as I recall it was the boys, not the teachers, who enforced that rule!!

By: Silver Fox

Silver Fox — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:49:00 +0000

I too loved the Enid Blyton books... but back then I didn't know about sexism, racism or anything like that... it was a story.. it was made up and it was fun...

as to YA and tie in merchandise, what isn't a tie in these days? Look at children's works. TV, books, clothing ranges etc... why should YA be any different? they have to train the next wave of consumers and this is the way to do it.

One can only hope that as neil said some seeds fall on fertile ground to encourage the next generation of readers and more importantly writers... because withoout writers we have no new stories and that would be a shame...

and why does everything have to be educational for the children? Is it because as a society alot of parents are too busy with work and such to educate their children and therefore expect someone else do it, therefore everything must be educational? Let children be children, they will have long enough being an adult...

let them dream of bears stuffed with fluff and magical trees and wardrobes....

By: Jo

Jo — Fri, 16 May 2008 07:19:00 +0000

I remember getting into horrendous trouble at an English boarding school when I was around 9, for having American comics sent to me, they had the Superman series in them. I remember being asked if I thought blue hair was artistic (highlights in garish colours). A distant relative used to send them and I always figured if my parents didn’t disapprove, the school should have backed off.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 15 May 2008 21:11:00 +0000

God save me from literary elitists.

By: Helen V.

Helen V. — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:42:00 +0000

I loved Biggles and the Enid Blyton books as a child. Having two brothers, I much preferred so-called boys’ games like marbles and riding my bike so I identified to some extent with George instead of wet Anne. As an example of attitudes to girls in those times, after a short time girls were banned from playing marbles at school because it was not “ladylike”.

By: Glenda Larke

Glenda Larke — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:02:00 +0000

All mixed together, Cat? Now that explains a lot...

I think the initial speaker may have had some valid points though - about say, YA books that are aimed at girls within tie-in products available - sounds rather like a marketing con, rather than a reading experience, aimed more at their competitive peer group 'look what I got' mentality rather than intellectual stimulation or even entertainment.

Biggles, ah yes, Jo, Loved them!

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:40:00 +0000

I just re-read what you said cat sparks, sardines, condensed milk and ginger beer. How exactly did you consume this? It sounds a very odd mix.

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:38:00 +0000

I did read Enid Blyton but not with as much enthusiasm as the Biggles books which were actually written a bit before my time, but which I found really exciting. My main comment though, many good children’s books can still be enjoyed when one is adult, the Narnia books are a case in point. I didn’t read them until I was an adult. Winnie the Pooh has many features which cannot really be appreciated by a child and have given me many a chuckle. I also read a Paddington Bear book with much amusement although I only ever read one. I have never read books to be educated and nor do I think it necessary for children’s books to be just educational, although I have picked up a stack of information over the years which I wouldn’t have gained if I hadn’t read books since a young child. I remember one series about the Lone Pine Club (Malcolm Saville I think) which led me to form our own local branch of the club.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 14 May 2008 23:04:00 +0000

Perhaps inappropriately for a male, I also enjoyed Blyton's books. In fact, probably among the first books I read were from her Magic Faraway Tree series. I loved them, and re-read them many, many times. I only had access to a few Famous Five books, but very much liked those, too (though I remember thinking that there was something embarrassing about my enjoyment). Great stuff! Looking back on those books, and others that I read, I wonder how much my character was shaped by those stories. More than I would have guessed, I suspect.

Regarding literary snobbery: meh. What a load. Stories can be for pure entertainment, as well as teaching. If they're both, that's great, but it's hardly mandatory. It's not like there's some absolutist rules that books must conform with! Consider that books have only existed as a mass medium for a couple of centuries, and it's obvious that any "tradition" has fairly weak foundations.