Thursday, March 11, 2010

A Very Tight Corner with a Lynx-Eyed Man

I found this very rare children's novel yesterday:

It's pure "Boy's Own": lots of "I say chaps! This is jolly unfair. I vote we give the rotter a taste of his own medicine."

Best of all are the chapter headings:

A Queer Arrival
A Little Scrap
Tony Gets Busy
Tony Takes a Chance
A Midnight Adventure
The Manacled Ghost
A Radio Thrill
The Super-Tuck Shop
A Very Tight Corner
Not a Joke
The 'Phone Message
The Curio Shop
A Lynx-Eyed Man
A Stern Chase
The Rescue
Chums

I'd love to visit the "Super-Tuck" shop and as for stern chases, I know all about those from Sheerness.

What struck me about the chapter headings was that although the book is probably complete rubbish, it has a pace and melodrama that many of the worthier children's novels of the post-war era lack. I've no doubt that the success of the Harry Potter books is partly down to the fact that they are old-fashioned, plot-driven novels.

Last year I read the complete Five Find-Outers series to my oldest son and even though I knew that Enid Blyton was no Michael Morpurgo, I had forgotten just how badly written her books were. However, in spite of myself, I had to find out who the shadowy figure in the window of the deserted cottage was.

Why one two-dimensional, cliche-ridden children's novel should be out of print while another is a classic, is a mystery. Many of the books I deal with by forgotten novelists went through several reprints in their own time. I'm sure that if some of them were reissueed today, they would find a new audience.

However, in spite of its racy chapter headings, I don't think we'll be seeing a new Puffin edition of "The Lion's Whelp at School".

4 comments:

  1. i think it sounds ripping. I'm absolutely mad about a series of books about a boy called Bunkle: I inherited them from my father and am saving them for Trefusis Minor. Fidra books have been reprinting them, thankfully - the originals are quite hard to get hold of.
    I had to read The Magic Faraway Tree to TM the other week and it nearly killed me: I remember enjoying Enid Blyton as a child but really, I can't bear to read it aloud. [shudder]. We seem to be going through the collected works of Roald Dahl at the moment - Trefusis Minor looked at me last night after another chapter of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and said, gravely, 'I think Roald Dahl is an excellent writer.'

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  2. The Magic Faraway Tree is a huge disappointment when you revisit it, although I still have a soft spot for the Book of Brownies.

    I sell the occasional Bunkle book and they fetch ridiculous prices - I'll have to try them on my progenies.

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  3. Mmmm, talking of Enid Blyton's books having been badly written, well that depends on one's opinion. For us that grew up learning English as a second language, Enid Blyton's simplicity in language and prose was bliss. Thus, this explains why I later decided to write and publish a book on her, titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.bbotw.com).
    Stephen Isabirye

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  4. I loved The Faraway Tree as a boy - not because of the book itself - I was more interested in writing my own chapters in my head, I think that was the appeal.

    Does the boy on the cover have a stump?

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