“I always wanted to slide down Moon-Face’s slippery dip” was what a friend said to me one day. I didn’t know what to make of it. I had no idea what she was talking about and it sounded a bit sexy. Then the light bulb flicked on: The Magic Faraway Tree. And with that, I totally agreed. Seriously. Who wouldn’t?
It was a love affair that started many many moons ago. I was first introduced to Jo, Bessie and Fanny (heh) at a time when fairy tales were exciting, where you would dream of going up to Party Land with friends from the Faraway Tree, and it was definitely before some stupid prat from school asked if I knew what a fanny was.
Oh. Those were the days.
There are still many critics who bandy terms like ‘ grammatically incorrect’ around when speaking of Enid Blyton, generally accusing her of guiding a whole generation of children into grammatical retardation. It is probably true, but I don’t see anyone complaining about J.K. Rowling (actually… we do. Maybe if we turned all of Blyton’s characters into a movie franchise…. hmmm). The thing is that this badly written world that Blyton had created for us (as in the children of the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s) was a wonderful world to grow up in. I don’t know anyone my age who does not reminisce of the Faraway Tree fondly. And laugh at all the sexual connotations that you could take from it.
In fact, the unknowing (or maybe knowing…) masochistic nature of Blyton’s writing and the sexy time that the kids (not the human children, but the crazy elf kids) had up the Faraway Tree makes for quite entertaining reading as an adult.
But as a child, we were only concerned with Blyton’s world of tea parties and fairies and naughty elves who got punished by being deprived of honey on their bread. I personally think that critics of such genuinely innocent stories are not only HEARTLESS BASTARDS, but also seem to forget that, like Rowling, these stories are damn good stories.
Seriously. Just forget the grammar. Pull up a cushion and slide along for the ride!
Tags: Blyton, Books, elves, Enid, Faraway Tree, grammar, Moon Face, slippery slide
May 13, 2008 at 12:58 pm
hey…I’ve never heard of the faraway tree, but didn’t she write the books about the “five”? About children out of school for the summer, having all kinds of adventures? I read these in the 70’s back in Holland where I grew up.
Thanks for bringing that back; I’m going to look her up on Amazon.
May 15, 2008 at 10:13 am
haha yup. The Fantastic Five. I’m glad I have brought a big of childhood back into your life!
January 26, 2009 at 2:10 am
It’s The Famous Five, and The Secret Seven, not The Fantastic Five.
The Fantastic Four are a comic book series (not written by Enid Blyton)