It's funny how things change in 60 years

Five Go Adventuring Again - Enid Blyton

I must say that I still haven't quite made up my mind about this book: is it a captivating mystery or is it incredibly predictable? The problem with me making the claim that it is predictable is because I have read it a long time ago, and as I read it again, I remember a number of the things that happened in the book. First of all I worked out where the secret passage was and secondly I worked out that the tutor was up to no good. However, it is difficult to also claim predictability since it was written a while ago and there have been a number of stories that have had similar plots. However, I did find this novel to be quite captivating in places, despite the fact that I had worked it out a third of the way through.

Now, something that I did not mention in the first novel that I will mention here is George. Now, some have suggested that Blyton's characters are little more than cardboard cutouts, designed to spur the children's imagination. I am not so sure of that though, but first of all let us consider George. When we meet George in the first novel we are told that she is a tom-boy, however the language that Blyton uses made me instantly think that she was a lesbian. Personally, we are talking about a pre-pubescent teen here, so it is difficult to actually say what she is about. However, it is very clear that George hates being a girl and really desires to be a boy. However, back in those days, homosexuality and transgender operations simply did not exist (well, homosexuality did exist but most people pretty much pretended that it didn't).

Some have suggested that in the past women could get away with it where as men could not, namely because there was no possibility of penetration. I am sure lesbians today would violently object to a statement like that. However, once again we see discrimination between the sexes, what was illegal for men was perfectly legal for women. Remember, if men were caught in homosexual acts it was not simply face ridicule but gaol terms. Even today, in some countries, homosexuality carries the death penalty. Now, I am not going to fall into either camp where it comes to homosexuality. I have my own position on it, however I do not believe that I have the right to make judgement on anybody else's position. While I am not a homosexual (men just do not have the same parts that women do), and while I am a Christian with orthodox Christian beliefs, I do not believe that it is my job to pass judgement on a non-Christian that chooses to live a homosexual lifestyle. While it puzzles me in part, and puts me off in others, I hold no grudge or hatred towards those who are.

Now, the other interesting thing I have noticed in these novels is the extensive use of the word queer. It is not used anywhere near the extent that Blyton uses in this book. To me, once again, the work queer conjures up images of homosexuality (and by now you are probably thinking that I am repressing innate desires, but as I said before and as I will say again, men simply do not have the equipment that women have and as such I simply cannot see another man in such a light). It is interesting to see how language has changed over the past sixty or so years and I doubt anybody reading this book when it was released to have the same images that conjured up in my mind.

I now wonder if I give away the plot or not. As I said to me it was predictable, however it partly had to do with me reading it before, and also that it is a children's book. However, I do not think that the book being a children's book justifies predictability in any sense of the word. I believe it is possible to write a children's story and not be predictable, however I guess writing a book and not being predictable can be a challenge in itself. I guess I will leave it here and move on to what I am planning on doing next. Hey, it's a good book and a good story, and that is why I gave it an 8 (4 on Goodreads), but not as captivating as some of the other books that I have read.

 

Source: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/317350580