Philosophical Musings of a Book Nerd

Well, here I am sitting in a car driving back to Melbourne (actually, to be precise I am in the passenger seat – my Dad is driving – even though the car has cruise control doesn't mean that I can write a book review and drive at the same time). Anyway, this is the last of the Famous Five books, and the last of the Enid Blyton books that I have slated to read (and no, the Naughtiest School Girl won't be one of those books I end up reading in the future, though knowing my luck I'll probably end up eating my words sometime in the future as I end up writing a review of it down the track).

So, the Five come together for one last adventure (though there is a suggestion at the end of the book that it might not be their last adventure, however we do know that after this one Enid Blyton didn't write any more), and they once again return to Kirin Cottage, which also means a return to Kirin Island. However there is a problem – George's house keeper has come down with scarlet fever, which means the house is under quarantine, so they have to go and stay somewhere else, namely at Tinker's house (the kid that loves going around pretending he is a motor car). Of course they stumble onto an adventure (halfway through the book), and end up solving it (I should have said spoiler alert however I think we all know what to expect from a mystery book).

What I did think about as I was reading this book was what happened to the Famous Five after this. Well since this is the last of their adventures I was contemplating that this was going to be the last time they all got together. First of all Timmy is a dog which means that he is probably getting old and would have to be put down sooner of later (much to George's horror), so my theory is that this is what happens between now and the next set of holidays. Julian, being the oldest, graduates from school and heads off to college (we'll say Oxford for arguments sake) where he graduates with a law degree and then ends up working at Scotland Yard.

As for Dick, well he ends up getting a scholarship at an American Ivy League university where he studies science and becomes a forensic scientist (for the FBI obviously). George ends up following him over, however she takes a different path and ends up getting involved in the social revolution and the sexual liberation movement (due to her desire to be a boy). She doesn't necessarily go off the rails though, as she ends up graduating and becoming a vet. As for Anne, and I know this is going to sound a little sexist, but when we consider the context of the stories this isn't surprising – she marries and becomes a housewife.

I did note that they have a new generation of the Famous Five running around with modern gadgets such as laptops, however I would have to say that they would be more like the grandchildren of the original Famous Five as opposed to their children (the children of the Famous Five would have been children of the 80s). It is also interesting how the new lot seemed to have some specialist skill sets where as the original characters didn't seem to have any specific skill sets. Anyway, that is enough of my theorising and it is probably time now to go and do something else (like have a bit of a snooze).