The Adventurous Four - Enid Blyton

Not much like Blyton's other series. I get the distinct feeling that this first book was a one-off brought back By popular demand. Apparently the second book wasn't as good as the first, but I don't know, I haven't read it yet. This adventure is good. A family is down at the sea, a mother with her twin daughters Mary and Jill and an older (presumably) son called Tom. They become good friends with Andy, a local and older fisher boy who is obviously their leader, but all this is established in the first chapter. They go off on a trip in Andy's fishing boat very early on, planning to stay 2 days on an island but miss their way in a storm and are shipwrecked on a different small island.

They soon set up a very comfortable 'house' for themselves from the leftover huts of people who used to farm there. One day exploring, they go to the next island in the chain (there are 3) and discover a cave full of food supplies, from which they take a few things. (One of the unbelievable but really fun parts of this book is how despite being shipwrecked on some deserted island Blyton finds all these ways to furnish them with really nice food just like in her other books). But they find a seaplane there from "the Enemy" and quickly realise the second island is being used as a storage point for supplies. Tom has a handy camera in a waterproof case and he snaps a few shots.

On the third island, they find a deep harbour that houses about a dozen enemy submarines! Things have gotten much bigger! They want to set back to inform the authorities, especially as Tom has filled his camera roll with a few more snaps as evidence. So they lug more food from the second island and steal a boat, one of many stored there, and plan to sail away.

Alas, Tom leaves his camera in the cave with food! Feeling like an idiot, he sets off to retrieve it which is even more idiotic, and promptly gets caught. The 'Enemies' question him and search the islands to see if there's anyone else. Andy and the girls have a brainwave and disguise themselves under sand and seaweed as rocks, and are not discovered. This bit was realistic, but something seemed a bit off about it. I don't believe it could be done in real life. But I made special efforts to suspend my disbelief in acknowledgement that this was a kid's book. Andy goes at night to the second island and discovers a hole in the roof of the cave where they're holding Tom. Not as incredible as it sounds, since there must be some way of getting fresh air. They escape later, by enlarging the hole and...wait for it...setting their gramophone into the cave so it sounds like Tom's singing! They rush back, repair their shipwrecked boat (which they've pulled off the rocks and found the damage isn't quite so bad) and are ready to set off ---! when it turns out they've been watched all along. So the boat is confiscated, and they're all stuck on the island, but with a lot of good food.

They're not defeated. Andy thinks up the idea of a raft, built from the hut they're staying in. They make it look like it's collapsed in the storm, get a tent from the enemy, live in that while they stealthily pull the hut apart and make a raft complete with a sail. Tom and Andy get onto that and float away and Jill and Mary stay behind because it's none too big.

Tom and Andy are floating round in the sea, making good way. On the second day, a sea plane comes so they hang in the water from the sides, hoping it doesn't see them. It does, but it turns out to be British! And Tom's dad (pilot in the war) is on it! They tell the big story, the adults are suitably impressed. They go to pick up the girls.

Meanwhile, the 'Enemy' has realised they're gone upon a raft, because only the twins are on the island. They threaten to bring the twins back to their country so they run and hide on the second island in the cave of food in a big box. This is luckily where the rescue plane lands and they're all reunited! They fly away and the islands and submarines are blown up.

All in all, it's quite a thrilling adventure. Blyton carries all the plot twists off well, and the ideas are quite ingenious. I doubt I'd have been able to get off the island at all. The adventure is so good you don't really think about the characters so much, which is best because they're not so distinct, except for Andy who's quite brilliant and skilled with his hands. However, the use of 'the Enemy' did disturb me a bit. I know it wasn't written during war time so it wasn't targeted against any country at all, and Blyton was very careful not to name any whatsoever, but there's a speech at the end:

It's something to cry about, to think that we have to fight so much evil and wickedness. It is right against wrong and we have to be strong and courageous when we fight suhc a powerful and evil enemy as ours. But dry your eyes - you are on the right side and that is something to be proud of!

We know in real life things are never that clear cut. World War II was awful, there were clear victims then, and Hitler was evil but just reading a little bit of All's Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque will show you the tragedy of World War I from Germany's side. Even Hitler's troops, cruel as they were, had been brainwashed. There will never be a war where there are no innocent deaths. It's devastating to think, that as educated as we are now, there will still be a third and final World War where the world comes against Israel that God tells us about in His Word. But I know Blyton didn't mean to say Britain was always right in everything they did, so I'll leave it at that. But another thing is the treatment of children during war. I kept thinking that the 'Enemy' would have just shot them all, it would've been easier. I've heard of Nazis ripping children bodily apart. They would have hardly fed them and given them tents when their soldiers were starving. But surely, if children were to accidently stumble in on something like this, soldiers must remember their own and take pity on them for that? I'd like to think so, but it's something I hope I shall never know.

LITERARY MERIT: ***1/2 ENJOYMENT: ****3/4

#27: The Bobbsey Twins Solve a Mystery - Laura Lee Hope

A sturdy hardcover I picked up at a second hand book store at the end of last year. A librarian I knew had grown up with them, and we share a love for childrens' books, so when I saw it, I bought it though I'd never read any. And I don't regret it. It's a lovely, wholesome series full of good, old-fashioned fun when everything kids did, no matter how mundane, was interesting and vital. Kind of like Trixie Belden - they have lovely family times. Anyways, my book looks just like that, only it's brown (blechh) and has a different picture and no title or author, just a brown dog in the corner. The story had the most coincidences and unbelievable and understated events ever. I havent' been a kid in a long time, so it was difficult suspending my disbelief but younger kids I know have loved it. The story runs along these lines: the Bobbsey twins (Nan and Bert, the older set, and Freddie and Flossie, the younger set. No one thinks about how much pain it must have been to carry these 4 to life.)comes with their family to Storm Haven, a seaside holiday area. Early on, they meet a Captain Van Pelt, who takes a particular liking to fat, fair-headed Flossie. We later find out it is because of his "secret" ie. he's looking for his wife and daughter who moved away whilst he was shipwrecked on an island, thinking he was dead. And he's spent the rest of his life looking for them, particularly in Storm Haven. Well, maybe people didn't move away so far in those days? If you were to lose someone now, they would probably end up from Africa to Russia or something. Anyways, the Bobbsey twins really want to help him find them. They go aboard his ship for a day-voyage and get caught in a storm. There, they meet an accidental stowaway, a school teacher called Miss Perkin who's down for the summer to earn some money, only she can't get employed. In the storm, Miss Perkin falls overboard in about 2 sudden sentences and is fished out just as quickly, safe. (There is a lot of falling into water in this book). They return after the storm has blown over. Later, the Captain decides to show them his treasure box on the beach, but a humungous (coincidental) wave sweeps it away. He is heartbroken, because it was full of treasure he was saving for his family. The Captain sails away for a while, and the kids go picking huckleberries (which I've never had before) in a bog. There, they meet a bear O_O and he's chasing after them until a dog chases him away. Go figure. They don't seem very frightened either. Then they're lost, get rescued by a muskrat hunter who they tell the Captain's story to. He suggests go see the guestbook in the Old Church and takes them there. Voila. The Captain's wife and daughter, Hannah and Debby Van Pelt, have signed it, with their town name. They can't wait to tell the Captain when he comes back.
Meanwhile, Bert sells his huckleberries to buy cushions for his new catboat in which he is learning to sail. I don't know about prices in those times, but that sounds like a mighty expensive holiday present though they're supposed to get it cheap. He's selling them to the hotel, and similtaneously recommends Miss Perkins as a piano entertainer so she gets her chance to earn some money. The family goes fishing, and Freddie, little chap that he is, fishes up this huge fish just about as big as him. I wish I had a superbrother like that. When the cook guts it, she finds a locket inside that (coincidentally) has the Captain's daughter and wife's photo! They can't wait to give that back either. Flossie meets a prize diver around her age called Marion, who has a close shave from hitting a hard raft when diving in the pool. But like everyone else in this book, she is unperturbed by danger. I don't think she even realises she almost split her head open. They become good friends. The family goes fishing again, and (even more coincidentally) this time Bert fishes up the Captain's treasure chest! The Bobbsey twins are handy to have around, aren't they? So now they've got a whole heap of things to return to the Captain.
Sometime before this, the Captain's come back and heard about his Debby and gone off to look for her in New York, and found out she could be the wife of a man working in insurance. Small world, that New York. Now he comes back and gets a lapful of treasure. The rest of the world, meanwhile, is preparing for a masquerade ball at the hotel where the Captain's staying. On the night, Nan goes dressed as Mary Bo Peep, Bert as a pirate, Freddie as a sailor and Flossie as a fat little fairy. There, they see Marion who's in one of her mother's childhood dresses. She's the spitting image of the girl in the locket, and the Bobbsey twins get excited and call the Captain down, who takes one look and gives Marion a great big hug. The mother comes along and is all "What are you doing with my daughter?!" This is the only part of the book where propriety makes an entrance. There's nothing strange about the Captain's First Mate stripping off his shirt to show the kids his tattoos, of course. But voila, it's a family reunion where everyone is very very happy. Marion is Debby's daughter, the Captain's granddaughter, but his wife has since passeed away. The Captain gives Bert sailing tricks for helping him find his family and Bert (coincidentally) wins the boat race at the hotel. And everyone's happily ever after.
I may wax sarcastic, but it's quite a cute little book. Sure, i didn't believe any of it but that didn't stop me enjoying it all, and guessing who the Captain's daughter was because of course, I knew she would be found. Good for kids. LITERARY MERIT: ** ENJOYMENT: ***

The Girl from Purple Mountain - May-Lee Chai and Winberg Chai

I usually comment on books I've just read, but this seems a precarious situation. After all these people have lived, with faults and with virtues, how can I comment on their story? I can't offer judgments because this isn't an imaginative creation but a piece of raw history.

Still, I have my feelings towards this piece of work. It was sparked by Winberg's mother's mysterious burial plans, in a plot completely surrounded by other graves where her husband could not be buried with her. They went through their ancestors' history and focused on the story of Winberg's mum, or May-Lee's grandmother. It's a turbulent story, spanning the most tumultous years of Chinese history. From a cultural point of view, it's fascinating, a little square of China in its warlord, civil war and then communist era, to their immigration to America. My knowledge of Chinese history is hazy at best, but I could tell they had suffered. The grandmother, Ruth, was something of a pioneer in her time. Her mother refused to have bound feet, saved by Christian missionaries. Ruth was one of the first ladies to go to university, one of the eight chinese female prodigies, who memorised the entire Bible. For someone like me, who struggles over single verses, this is nothing short of phenomenal. Ruth is quick-sighted, she has survival instincts. She chooses her own husband because he had "an honest face", in a split second decision that carries her through the rest of her life. So she must be a good judge of character. She escapes with her family to America soon after the Communists came into power, and missed the whole Cultural Revolution. There's foresight for you. She and her husband had studied overseas previously anyways. I stick to bald facts because I cannot hazzard a response to this interwoven web of character.

If Ruth is a strict mother, did she not also save her family? If she has survived whilst others died, was it not for her family? Chinese biographies, memoirs (China is my hobby from an intellectual perspective) show one thing strongly - the Chinese mentality. The rat-pack existence. Because as a Chinese, who make up about a fifth of the worlds population, you are more insignificant than a drop in the bucket. Ruth was extroadinary, and you have to be extroadinary to survive. You cannot care about everyone. These are not God's ways, but even as a Christian, I cannot see any viable alternative.

Ruth was decisive, snappy, sharp, brilliant, intelligent, dominant. She is easily a more powerful person than her husband, Charles, who is less clear-sighted but has a softer heart. He would be welcome in some shelter, early 20th C rural existence, but hopeless in his own. It's all a matter of context. Winberg and May-lee have done well to piece this story together. It is truth, and I can't interfere with that.

In the end, they recognise her surprise burial plans as her way of making sure her story was never forgotten. After all the family had been through, she did not want her sacrifices to be lost. She wanted her descendents to understand, and to do this, she had to shock them into remembering the past. Who can say if this is wise or not? My parents immigrated from China also so we could escape from that oppressive atmosphere. They have suffered as immigrants, not nearly to the extent of this memoir, but more than I will ever know. Do I want to forget this? No, I want to realise and recognise what they experienced. Only recently have I started hearing stories, true stories of our past, and I can hardly recognise that time where everything was so precious. There is something behind the Chinese mindset, shaped by their history. Cheap, even stingy, but for a reason. Success-driven, family-motivated, endurers, workers. I have a root in all this. LITERARY MERIT: **** ENJOYMENT: ****

Mistress Pat - L M. Montgomery

I'm crazy about Montgomery's books, but I've realised lately that it's more than enjoying them. I grew up with Montgomery. As a kid, my best friend and I would meet at the library and devour them and share "chummy" laughs over them, and so now I have this psychological dependence on them because she was my childhood favourite author. That being said, it's kind of disillusioning rereading them and finding all these things to criticise. After Anne and Emily, I'm beginning to see a formula going on. With Anne and Emily, it was successful but after those really vibrant girl characters, Pat is very bland. During the first book (there's only two in this series, Pat of Silver Bush and this one) she was so insipid that when she started having those outrageous boyfriends at the end (which was a really stupid addition to the story) I wondered what they saw in her. She doesn't do anything well except for love things, but Montgomery somehow doesn't make that characteristic work in this book.

Back to the formulas, Pat was a bit of a washed out Emily. Whereas Anne and Emily have almost exactly the same story but are as different as night and day, Pat and Emily have almost nothing in common but somehow Pat contrives to be a foil to Emily. Also, the character of David, the shell-shocked widow, is strongly reminiscent of that creep, Dean Priest in Emily. Someone who's intellectual and stimulating but also cynical and bitter and twisted. Pat's story is very much a home story, which I did enjoy. It's got that wholesome family feel within it, where all the stories centre around the family unit. But unlike Anne and Emily, nothing much seems to happy. It's very insular, and I guess that's in character with Pat who absolutely adores her home, but it doesn't add much for interest. A couple of silly 'love affairs' as Montgomery calls them, within that warm family backdrop, but I really don't like Montgomery's 'love affairs'. They're trashy. She's a great writer and has great pathos with nature and I always think Canada is one of the most beautiful places in the world though I haven't been there, but those silly, shallow little flirtations (which, in Anne, were recognised as flirtations) downgrade her. Sometimes when I'm exasperated, I think she might almost have been a precursor of Mills and Boons. But the story: Pat Gardiner is as much in love with her home as she ever was, so nothing suits her better than staying home and being the homemaker now her mother is an invalid. They get a new hired man (Tillytuck, who's a pretty cool character, bold as brass and quite suits the ambience) her sister "Cuddles" grows up and becomes the beautiful Rae (more on her later) and boys hang around with their tongues out over the Gardiner girls but thankfully, Montgomery squeezes them into small, insignificant paragraphs. Not much happens, just the patterns of town life, except at the end, Pat and David get engaged, break the engagement and the house burns down and she marries another man named Hilary. My nitpicks? Cuddles is a horrible character. I don't know what Montgomery was trying to get with her, but she's shallow and vain and all she thinks about is beaus. Kind of another Ruby Gillis, but Montgomery never tried to pass her off as anything but a social butterfly, unlike Cuddles who's supposed to be quite intelligent but just doesn't pass muster. Cuddles, or Rae, as she grows up to be, only calms down and learns to be sensible after she gets engaged, and after that she becomes a great sister. Secondly, David and Pat? Hello, Dean and Emily much? Only muted down, like everything else. Thankfully we don't see too much of him. But Montgomery is wayy too obvious about Jingle (or Hilary), the one Pat really ends up with in the last chapter or so of the book. Her childhood friend (with the most ridiculous name in history) who's a brilliant architect and has been her rejected suitor for years because of course, she's too clueless to realise she will end up with him even though the readers have known it for years and believe me, you don't hold your breath waiting for it. Her house burns down and everything she loves is gone, and her life is a living hell and Jingle pops up and wants to whisk her away to the house he's built especially for her in goodness knows where, I think it was Vancouver, and everyone's happy ever after. I kind of expected something like a fire to happen because I knew somehow she'd have to stop worshipping it and start worshipping Jingle instead. You may think all this criticism means I don't like it, but I don't despise it. It's okay for a nice, quiet, calm read if you're not looking for literature and can ignore all those 'romantic' contrivances. There were some really effective bits, like Judy's death that touched some chord deep, deep inside you that you doubted this book would reach. Much like Bet's death in the first book, who was Pat's childhood best friend, and that made me cry, but I couldn't cry over Judy, it was different. Also, the deviation from the normal 'happily ever after', because Sid, Pat's favourite brother is entrapped into marrying her worst enemy, snipey May Binnie, who is like Anne's Josie Pye. It's a sobering thought that he'll never get out of it, and to see the family living in one house and all the ruckus because of his petty, selfish wife... It really stood out for me. Apparently Montgomery put more of herself into this book than Anne or Emily (in which case her imagination is better than her life, or she's more boring than her characters, or both) and it makes you wonder... Lastly, I really love Hilary the architect. Ever since I've read all that stuff about the mood of houses, I've had a great appreciation for the way houses are built and how they look, because they really have a personality to them. I live on a really hodge-podge street in terms of architecture, and there's some boring stuff and there's some really beautiful homes that look so at one with their surroundings. But the Lonely House here is just the Disappointed House in Emily recycled and done up less pleasingly. LITERARY MERIT: *** 1/2 ENJOYMENT: ****