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THURSDAY TRAILBLAZER: Enid Blyton
Way before there were such terms as tweenage, crossover fiction or young adult novel, Enid Blyton was cementing her place in the British literary firmament as one of the most loved (and most prolific) children's novelists of all time.
With her Mallory Towers and St Clare's series she made many generations of girls long to go to boarding school and her Secret Seven and Famous Five series of books made us all yearn for huge slabs of chocolate cake to eat at secret midnight picnics around a fire.
I don't think I've read anything as evocative since and Blyton no doubt inspired many children's authors, and still does - even if Madonna said she had never heard of her!
There is some controversy around Enid, though - her characterisations could be seen as conforming to outdated class stereotypes as well as racist and sexist (are golliwogs a crude depiction of black people? It seems likely, unfortunately - I used to love them and had no idea of any sinister connotations!) Her work has also been criticised by librarians and teachers for being limited in vocabulary and outlook. And one of Blyton's daughters has also spoken out about Enid being a bad mother, more interested in entertaining other people's children than her own. (Ouch).
But whatever she was like as a person, Enid truly understood what makes kids tick, and that's why so many of her approximately 600 books are still in print to this day, having sold over 400 million copies. According to the Index Translationum (which measures the volume of translations of writers' works), in 2007, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world - after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare. And for what it's worth, she was one of the most influential authors ever for me personally.
What do you think - and who's your favourite Trailblazer?
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Posted by DIANE SHIPLEY on May 31, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
I wonder what else I would have read if I hadn't grown up with Enid Blyton.
Posted by: Ms Mac | May 31, 2007 3:30:16 PM
I truly can't imagine... but I don't think I would have liked reading as much tbh.
Posted by: DIANE SHIPLEY | May 31, 2007 3:31:36 PM
I almost did go to boarding school because of her books! I also loved the Faraway Tree books, I must have read them all 100 times
Posted by: Frances | Jun 2, 2007 12:03:43 AM
Enid Blyton was THE most famous childrens book writer of her era.
What most people, conveniently forget is, her era wa 30', 40 and 50's and therefore were written with that time periods perspective. I t wasn't science fiction (future), It was the present and in her case, her life's present until the books were originally published. As such, there is a lot of innocence that seems strange now.
But despite the USA having effectively banned the books in the 60's (I have lived in the States for 15 years and have never seen one and people here don't even recognize her name, even people in their 60's who should, lot's of hardy boys and nancy drew though) and UK libraries later in the 60's and 70's, her books are still immensely popular with the 5-11 age group, even now in 2007.
Posted by: martin | Dec 26, 2007 6:55:36 PM
