Interesting the Scouts have badges for Hikes (rather than walks) which may have something to do with the increase in the use of the word. The number of Hikes is counted up across the 3 sections of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts
Also, for what it's worth, I absolutely loved Enid Blyton when I was growing up (especially the Adventure series) but my children don't like them at all, and when I tried to read her books to my kids, I quickly realised how awful they were (the books not the children). It was possibly a mistake to start with Mr Pinkwhistle. However, she's not entirely out of fashion - there's a film of the Magic Faraway Tree coming out soon. Another great children's author who probably deserved to be more popular was Malcolm Saville.
Hiking is more vigorous than walking surely? Did Enid Blyton not also have liberal recourse to gin and tonic in order to lubricate the writing process? That would explain some of the plots...
well well, Enid Blyton! I have read at least one of hers from our village Library - maybe borrowed by my younger sister :) and today whilst sorting out book shelves (long overdue) I came across another book of that era, if not that ilk - Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson, awarded for good attendance at our village Sunday School in 1948. Happy days!
Oh don't compare! The adventure so much more adventurous and Long John Silver has more going for him than all Blyton added together. Not to mention Stevenson being a serious long distance man.
There was always adventure in an Enid Blyton book, and goodies and baddies, and I loved them all as a child. I'd spend my pocket money and fill a shelf in my.bedroom bookcase. Enid Blyton helped me develop a hunger for reading. We might not recommend these books today, but back then I couldn't get enough.
I loved the Enid Blyton books as a child. Famous Five, Secret Seven and one or two with several different stories in them. As a child, I filled in the gaps myself; all the characters were fully formed in my head, so not sure I noticed any gaps in the characterisation. They were certainly of their time and probably don't read well now but I've good memories of them.
For another walker/writer, check out Verlaine. Everytime his mother would ask him to be a bit more sensible he would head off on foot to Paris from Charleville. It's a fair trek...
240km. (Google maps cycling roughly matches walking route on 19th C roads). How long did he take do you know? 5 days would be good going. Could sleep in barns but need money for food.
You are right of course, for an actual walking writer, Rousseau or Wittgenstein are better examples. Verlaine walked because he never had any cash and was as stubborn as a mule! He was like something out of Withnail and I. I don't think he did write about his journeys.
Well it does seem to be more Rimbaud than Verlaine; walked because he couldn't afford the train fare, but became a very serious longdistance hiker, eg Paris to Brussels through the battle lines of the Franco Prussian War. Also a long tough trip from Aden to African hinterland. somewhere. He walked so much he walked one of his legs off and died. That's just an evening's research, but there's a poem 'Swensation' "Par les soirs bleus d’été, j’irai dans les sentiers," and a prose poem 'Aube' that I've found so far. Both seem good though my French isn't.
Yes, you’ve activated my Rimbaud (and hyena) hunting urges. There’ll be a post about him, next time I need to lose a few subscribers by another poetry-themed posting. And in French! I feel a little cliff edge in my follower-graph coming up. (Let’s hope I can turn up some detail on the hyenas.)
Like Agatha Christie, I never think of Enid Blyton's books as having real settings - they are Agatha Christie/Enid Blyton world. I read a while ago that The Secret Island (one of her best) is meant to be set in The Lake District, but I don't think it maps. I think Christie and Blyton are both writers whose weaknesses are also their strengths.
Or to put it another way, their strengths are also their weaknesses! In Enid Blyton's case her extreme facility and readability. Despite which, I don't think I'm going to be reading any more Blyton... The location in five go for a hike is very recognisable Dartmoor. Though come to think of it, it could equally be the Dartmoor of hound of the baskervilles rather than that of real life.
Blyton's brilliant when you are a certain age, and for that reason I think there's some unfair sniffiness about her. First chapter book I ever read was Five on a Treasure Island, and I yearned for the Faraway Tree. That said, being forced to read Wishing Chair stories aloud as an adult was a unique torture.
I discovered Blyton's Adventure series nearly 70 years ago in the little town of Bozeman, Montana USA. There were a some of them in several of the 4th and 5th grade classroom book collections, and I and friends were soon devouring them. Sea of Adventure, Mountain of Adventure, etc. And our first exposure to British kids and American vs. British spelling and style. I've always remembered Kiki the Parrot. They were books of that day. In spite of growing up with Donald Duck comics, Little Golden Books and popular fiction such as Nancy Drew and Blyton, I studied literature in college. I have no desire to reread one. That is reserved for a different "junk" book that inspired me as a 10 year old to love the red rock canyon country of the desert Southwest: "Treasure Beyond Red Mesa."
Well, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that I was a fan of her books as a child. I’m not sure I’d want to read one again now, hearing what I do about how they haven’t stood the test of time.
Ditto. My first book read all the way through was 'The Sea Of Adventure' but my recollection of it is a vague - cliff tops and puffins. When I went to read a Noddy book for my daughter I was unimpressed with his attitude. Maybe I was just being a censorious dad?
Well there’s so much really good stuff for that age group nowadays. ‘Each Peach Pear Plum’ ‘Very Hungry Caterpillar’ ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ though my grandson age 4 really prefers Paw Patrol which I do find very tough, especially on the 7th readthrough.
I read all of the Blyton books as a child and kicked them. I was aware that they were set in a different time and place and the characters did not have a life like mine but that only added to the appeal. I was inspired by children who were left to their own devices to roam the countryside, demanding food from farmhouses and sleeping wherever they could. The Sea of Adventure and Island of Adventure were my favourites. I'm a climber now and can take myself off for an Adventure whenever I want and regularly do. My favourite type of adventure is to take a boat to an island and climb up the sea cliffs and I'm convinced it comes from those Adventure books!
Interesting the Scouts have badges for Hikes (rather than walks) which may have something to do with the increase in the use of the word. The number of Hikes is counted up across the 3 sections of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts
Enid Blyton is out of favour, as are the Brownies!
Also, for what it's worth, I absolutely loved Enid Blyton when I was growing up (especially the Adventure series) but my children don't like them at all, and when I tried to read her books to my kids, I quickly realised how awful they were (the books not the children). It was possibly a mistake to start with Mr Pinkwhistle. However, she's not entirely out of fashion - there's a film of the Magic Faraway Tree coming out soon. Another great children's author who probably deserved to be more popular was Malcolm Saville.
Yes, me too. My favourite series were the Famous Five and the Secret Seven.
I think he was probably banned from libraries too along with the Biggles books. My son liked him, I think he may be more 1980s.
Hiking is more vigorous than walking surely? Did Enid Blyton not also have liberal recourse to gin and tonic in order to lubricate the writing process? That would explain some of the plots...
I like the idea of being ginned up to write another book in a week!
Yes Blyton probably more a walker than a hiker - but 'Blyton hikes' I was seduced by the euphony.
well well, Enid Blyton! I have read at least one of hers from our village Library - maybe borrowed by my younger sister :) and today whilst sorting out book shelves (long overdue) I came across another book of that era, if not that ilk - Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson, awarded for good attendance at our village Sunday School in 1948. Happy days!
Oh don't compare! The adventure so much more adventurous and Long John Silver has more going for him than all Blyton added together. Not to mention Stevenson being a serious long distance man.
There was always adventure in an Enid Blyton book, and goodies and baddies, and I loved them all as a child. I'd spend my pocket money and fill a shelf in my.bedroom bookcase. Enid Blyton helped me develop a hunger for reading. We might not recommend these books today, but back then I couldn't get enough.
Thank for the memories Ronald!
I loved the Enid Blyton books as a child. Famous Five, Secret Seven and one or two with several different stories in them. As a child, I filled in the gaps myself; all the characters were fully formed in my head, so not sure I noticed any gaps in the characterisation. They were certainly of their time and probably don't read well now but I've good memories of them.
She had the neck of being extremely easy to read.... Shared, more recently, by JK Rowling.
For another walker/writer, check out Verlaine. Everytime his mother would ask him to be a bit more sensible he would head off on foot to Paris from Charleville. It's a fair trek...
Thanks. I'll follow that up. Any Verlaine hiking poem? Or journal etc? But the primary walker-writer was J-J Rousseau.
240km. (Google maps cycling roughly matches walking route on 19th C roads). How long did he take do you know? 5 days would be good going. Could sleep in barns but need money for food.
You are right of course, for an actual walking writer, Rousseau or Wittgenstein are better examples. Verlaine walked because he never had any cash and was as stubborn as a mule! He was like something out of Withnail and I. I don't think he did write about his journeys.
Well it does seem to be more Rimbaud than Verlaine; walked because he couldn't afford the train fare, but became a very serious longdistance hiker, eg Paris to Brussels through the battle lines of the Franco Prussian War. Also a long tough trip from Aden to African hinterland. somewhere. He walked so much he walked one of his legs off and died. That's just an evening's research, but there's a poem 'Swensation' "Par les soirs bleus d’été, j’irai dans les sentiers," and a prose poem 'Aube' that I've found so far. Both seem good though my French isn't.
Rimbaud is the more interesting character. For awhile he sold arms in that Ethiopian town where they fed/feed hyenas.
Yes, you’ve activated my Rimbaud (and hyena) hunting urges. There’ll be a post about him, next time I need to lose a few subscribers by another poetry-themed posting. And in French! I feel a little cliff edge in my follower-graph coming up. (Let’s hope I can turn up some detail on the hyenas.)
The mountain and poetry Venn intersection may be a bit sparse these days, I can imagine!
Like Agatha Christie, I never think of Enid Blyton's books as having real settings - they are Agatha Christie/Enid Blyton world. I read a while ago that The Secret Island (one of her best) is meant to be set in The Lake District, but I don't think it maps. I think Christie and Blyton are both writers whose weaknesses are also their strengths.
Or to put it another way, their strengths are also their weaknesses! In Enid Blyton's case her extreme facility and readability. Despite which, I don't think I'm going to be reading any more Blyton... The location in five go for a hike is very recognisable Dartmoor. Though come to think of it, it could equally be the Dartmoor of hound of the baskervilles rather than that of real life.
Blyton's brilliant when you are a certain age, and for that reason I think there's some unfair sniffiness about her. First chapter book I ever read was Five on a Treasure Island, and I yearned for the Faraway Tree. That said, being forced to read Wishing Chair stories aloud as an adult was a unique torture.
I discovered Blyton's Adventure series nearly 70 years ago in the little town of Bozeman, Montana USA. There were a some of them in several of the 4th and 5th grade classroom book collections, and I and friends were soon devouring them. Sea of Adventure, Mountain of Adventure, etc. And our first exposure to British kids and American vs. British spelling and style. I've always remembered Kiki the Parrot. They were books of that day. In spite of growing up with Donald Duck comics, Little Golden Books and popular fiction such as Nancy Drew and Blyton, I studied literature in college. I have no desire to reread one. That is reserved for a different "junk" book that inspired me as a 10 year old to love the red rock canyon country of the desert Southwest: "Treasure Beyond Red Mesa."
Well, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that I was a fan of her books as a child. I’m not sure I’d want to read one again now, hearing what I do about how they haven’t stood the test of time.
Ditto. My first book read all the way through was 'The Sea Of Adventure' but my recollection of it is a vague - cliff tops and puffins. When I went to read a Noddy book for my daughter I was unimpressed with his attitude. Maybe I was just being a censorious dad?
Well there’s so much really good stuff for that age group nowadays. ‘Each Peach Pear Plum’ ‘Very Hungry Caterpillar’ ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ though my grandson age 4 really prefers Paw Patrol which I do find very tough, especially on the 7th readthrough.
I read all of the Blyton books as a child and kicked them. I was aware that they were set in a different time and place and the characters did not have a life like mine but that only added to the appeal. I was inspired by children who were left to their own devices to roam the countryside, demanding food from farmhouses and sleeping wherever they could. The Sea of Adventure and Island of Adventure were my favourites. I'm a climber now and can take myself off for an Adventure whenever I want and regularly do. My favourite type of adventure is to take a boat to an island and climb up the sea cliffs and I'm convinced it comes from those Adventure books!
I’ve a feeling you might be doing it anyway…