Five on Kirrin Island Again by Enid Blyton, a book review

The recent article in the Guardian, "Enid Blyton's Famous Five get 21st-century Makeover" and the subsequent discussion at Charlotte's Library left me feeling somewhat nostalgic for Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven.

They're a little hard to get hold of at local libraries, but I did find a copy of Five on Kirrin Island Again at the local library sale (for the grand total of 25 cents. Have I mentioned lately that I love libraries?) and happily settled down to enjoy it.

It's a straightforward adventure with clearly delineated good guys and bad guys, a sketchily detailed scientific invention that is impressively full of glass and wire, and a brisk pace that keeps the pages turning. Someone is threatening George's father, trying to steal his inventions. It is up to the Five to find out who, even though they are not supposed to go near the Island and the mysterious tower George's father has built.

Even though it has been years, the characters were still familiar: There is "Little Anne" hanging back timidly, George wishing she were a boy, Julian taking the lead, and Dick being the slightly hotheaded one. Actually, Anne was more adventurous than I recalled--I remember being irritated because George always had to wait behind with Anne; here, she is as involved as anyone.

I found the same qualities in the two books in the Adventure Series--The Island of Adventure and The Castle of Adventure I was able to put on hold at the library: There was a tomboy, a more "typical" girl (though Lucy-Ann seems more determined to get involved than Anne), two boys (Phillip and Jack; Phillip is the animal-lover, Jack's the one with a bird), and an engaging animal, Kiki the Cockatoo. There was also a briskly moving plot, just enough threat to keep the tension going, and a satisfactory happy ending.

There were moments of alienation, but these came neither through the language nor the gender, class, or race differences. They came from being an adult and stumbling over the casual way the Adventure kids were dumped with tutors, left their assigned guardian, and showed up elsewhere without anyone worrying. Suddenly, I was wanting to jump in and tell everyone to start paying attention to the kids. Ah well. No departure, no adventure. See also Vladamir Propp on the fairy tale. See any fairy tale. See most of Diana Wynne Jones. Having seen that, I tell myself, get back to the adventure.

I picked up an Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train, at the same sale, and read it immediately afterward. The two share a distinct kinship: Just enough characterization to keep the plot going, and a heavy reliance on "types"(1)  (Christie makes a point of this in the Marple books). Both authors are light on their feet, moving quickly from point to point and relying on plot rather than character. Both also reflect their time period in their choice of word and, yes, gender relations. And, both are fun in small doses.


(1) The Unicorn and the Wasp may be one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes, and Christie may be an author I quite regularly return to, but I am not sure quite what the Doctor was thinking when he praised Christie's great and blinding insight into human nature. Perhaps she was deeply insightful, but if so, she kept it for her real life, not her books.

An Agatha Christie Assortment

I've been on one of my periodic Christie binges lately, so here's a scattering of comments on various books:

The Man in the Brown Suit: I really enjoyed this one, which is unusual with an amateur-detective Christie (her amateurs usually bumble so much it gets irritating!). Anne is likable & fun-loving & makes mistakes out of zest rather than stupidity. The romance is a touch unrealistic, but Christie's always are, and this one is lighthearted enough to be fun.

The Unexpected Guest: I know, I already commented on this earlier. It's disappointing--not a new Christie or even a new novel, just a play written out.

Parker Pyne Investigates: I like the premise of the Parker Pyne stories--he's not a detective, he's a retired statistician in the business of selling happiness. The stories themselves vary, from the enjoyably light to the so-so predictable.

They Came to Baghdad: Another amusing non-professional detective. Really, this one is more spy stuff. It's light & fun to read without being a big puzzle.

Murder is Easy: Fantastic title and overall a fun read, though it sags a bit in the middle and is an example of the less-succesful non-professional. Luke is supposed to be a retired policeman, yet he makes all kinds of basic, irritating errors in his investigation.

The Hollow: One of my favorite Christies. It has an elegant puzzle & there's a good reason everyone falls for the red herrings. Poirot shows well, too.

The Labors of Hercules: A good collection of mysteries, spanning a whole range of types, including dognapping, which makes a nice change from a steady diet of murders.

Elephants Can Remember: Not one of my favorites. Ariadne Oliver just doesn't fit as a friend of Poirot's and is rather too stereotypically scatty to be much fun on her own. Sure, there are biographical reasons for that, but if you have to look to the author's life to enjoy a story, well, it just isn't as much fun. Also, by the time you've read a few Christies, there are patterns that emerge, and this one fits squarely in the pattern.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas aka A Murder for Christmas aka A Holiday for Murder: This one features entirely familiar Christie family situation + murder, andI had the distinct feeling of being cheated at the end. It is possible that one might have noticed the clues leading up to the killer's ID, but only just. Poirot can literally see something we can't.

Cat Among the Pigeons: Yeah, Hercule cheats a bit here, too, but not so badly, and it is, overall, an enjoyable read & a departure from many of her standard patterns. I like it!

The Pale Horse: The Amateur is middling-annoying, the mystery fun, the red herrings amusing and suitably misleading. I liked it.

After the Funeral: Good, solid Christie.

***
And now, off to ride a carousel!





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The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie and Charles Osborne

This is, theoretically, a novelization of a play by Agatha Christie.

The problem is Osborne hasn't really novelized the play, he's simply rewritten it in novel form. There are no thoughts, emotions, or ideas, only descriptions of actions.

Anyone who's read much Christie will be able to figure out what's going on well before the end, too.