The final Faraway Tree book
It seems that some of Blyton's books caused a lot of controversy, to the point that some libraries were inclined not to have them on the shelves. One of the issues was her use of vocabulary, or lack of, but these are children's books so I do not understand why people would be so critical of a restricted vocab. In a way children are not expected to understand words like eclectic and in a way having a limited vocabulary, I believe, can be a useful tool in enabling children to begin to read for themselves. I guess a similar criticism has been levelled at the Good News Bible, particularly since the limited vocabulary is said to confuse some of the central theological doctrines. In response to that I simply say rubbish.
Others have suggested that it is her attitude to class and race. In some books the word nigger has been used, and then there are the Gollywogs. Some have suggested that Gollywogs have been changed to teddy bears for fear of upsetting the Negro population. I can understand where they are coming from, but once again this I believe is a little too politically correct. I never knew Blyton and I cannot say what her attitude towards Negroes was, but I won't speculate on this too much. There is also the issue of Noddy and Big Ears, but once again this I believe is reading too much into the story (much the same as suggesting that Bert and Ernie are homosexual because they also sleep in the same bed).
This is the last of the Faraway Tree stories, which is a shame because I really enjoyed the magical world of the Faraway Tree. However it does follow the same formula of the previous two books. A new character, Connie, arrives (Dick having returned home to his mother who has recovered from her illness) and the children all visit the Faraway Tree for some more adventures. Once again the children have five adventures, with three of them visiting lands beyond the Faraway Tree, and getting into trouble; one of them finding the Faraway Tree in danger; and the final one a finale involving a visit to a lovely land where everybody has fun.
Connie is a lot different to the other children, and is a little more developed. Dick was a curious and adventurous boy however Connie is pretty much a stuck-up bitch. We are constantly reminded that she is an only child and a spoilt brat. She initially does not believe in the Faraway Tree, but upon discovering it for herself she becomes quite addicted to it and wants to go and visit it everyday. She is actually a very overbearing and dominating character, wanting the world to revolve around her. This gets her into trouble more than once, particularly when she tries to learn other people's secrets. Dick got himself into trouble because he never thought things through; Connie gets herself into trouble because she is nosey.
There are hints on environmentalism in this book, though it is difficult to say whether that this was Blyton's intention. Personally I do not like reading into an author's intentions as I generally do not read books that way, however sometimes some of the ideas that come out of a book trigger other ideas that may not have originally been the author's. In this book we discover that there are gem filled caverns underneath the Faraway Tree and a group of trolls go down to the caves to mine the gems. However to get at the gems they have to destroy the roots of the Faraway Tree, which is causing it to die. The trolls don't care because they want the gems, and would rather pursue profit over people. While the blighted lands of industrial England had pulled back a lot by this time, there are concerns regarding the effects of mining on the enviroment. All one has to do is look up at the Adelaide Hills to see massive scars in the side where quarries have been dug so as to build the city. These scars have been there since I was a child and really does put an ugly front to what later became known as the Hills Face Zone. The idea was that the hills facing the city should not be developed, and it appears that this came about after the quarries were dug, and other parts of the hills cleared for grazing. This move towards environmentalism, and protecting tracts of land for the enjoyment of nature and protection of endangered species has pretty much developed alongside industrialisation. Abraham Lincoln was the president one who began to establish national parks around the United States (which works against the idea that the Civil War was a war fought between the industrialised North and the agrarian South). However, this is all speculation but is still, in a way, it is fun to think about.
