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Famous Five: 4: Five Go To Smuggler's Top: 70th Anniversary Edition: Book 4 (Famous Five 70th Anniversary)

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Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's. This is the 4th book in the series. The first 3 are much better. I rate them thus :- 2nd, 1st, 3rd. Then we have this one, which is a marked departure from the usualness of the series. The adventure fails on all fronts. Having witnessed signalling from the tower, the boys investigate. But then a figure comes down the stairs!

Dat laatste heeft voor mij in dit verhaal altijd geprimeerd, en het is publiek geheim dat Enid Blyton de moeite heeft genomen om alles zo realistisch mogelijk te maken. Ze heeft zich namelijk gebaseerd op het stadje Rye, dat in het graafschap Kent ligt, vlak aan zee, op een heuvel die vroeger volledig omringd werd door moerassen - en nu nog voor een klein deel eraan grenst (het hele gebied daar, van Rye tot aan de Romney Marshes, was vroeger allemaal verraderlijk gebied). Rye stond ook bekend als smokkelaarsstadje. Ik ben er een paar keer geweest - de laatste keer een jaar of acht geleden, volgens mij - en ondertussen is de mist er allang weggetrokken, maar de situering als heuvel is natuurlijk nog altijd goed te zien. De hele sfeer die Blyton creëert, met mist, grotten en mysterieuze seinen, zit geweldig goed ineen. Million-Word Reading Project, MWRP)是專門為將英語作為外語的學習者(EFL learners)設計的英語閱讀提高計劃,讀者對象為已掌握1500基本英語詞彙的讀者(相當於初級英語水準),通過2年、每天約15分鐘的閱讀能達到中級英語水準,掌握3500多單詞和大量的短語,熟練掌握英語的各種句子結構,並能閱讀一般英語原著。 Google "Enid Blyton racism" and you find lots of articles. Her home town is very divided as some regard her as an icon and others actually remember her as a "nasty piece of work" - a sexist, racist, antisemitic, snob. The sexism is flagrant in her books too. The girls are always "helping mother to cook the dinner" or doing some other little domestic task. Not the boys, of course. Now Uncle Quentin, who in book one was writing formulas in his secret books and brewing stuff in test tubes, seems to have morphed into a civil engineer and is collaborating with their new host, Mr Lenoir, to drain the swamp, in a literal rather than Trumpian, sense. Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.20 Ocr_module_version 0.0.17 Old_pallet IA19212 Openlibrary_editionFive Go to Smuggler's Top is the fourth book in the Famous Five series by the British author Enid Blyton. Who reads Enid Blyton nowadays? I have a feeling that she is read mostly by adults, in a spirit of nostalgia. I doubt very much whether many of today's children choose to read about the Famous Five. Most will have the discernment to read exactly what they choose. Younger children of course will have their books chosen for them by adults. Some of these picture books may well be by Enid Blyton, who will be fondly remembered by their parents. After all, she wrote dozens of books and there are probably some in there which are free of this damaging potential influence. Your children love her? They are enthralled by her magic? Fine. But what I would say is PLEASE read the book yourself before letting your child read it. If it's inappropriate then discuss why. Put it in its historical context - discuss prejudice of all types, class distinctions etc. But here the solitariness of the book is dull as grain. I have no idea why I am writing so much about a book that I disdain, but sometimes muses have minds of their own. Do not read this book without preparing for it. Do not expect all Famous Five books to be created equal, for some are moreso than others. This book ought not to have seen the light of the day. Still, they are highly entertaining and useful cultural history lesson (of a certain set of people). It’s weird reading them out loud with my American accent (but my son won’t even let me try to affect a British one), especially when they use British slang or manner of speaking. But I’m entertained by the dichotomy, even if my son doesn’t notice.

Despite the nonsensical nature of some of it, I did actually really enjoy this book. It's very exciting and will surely go down very well with children and those who are still children at heart. It's full of moments that will make you go 'What?! No!!! Surely not...' The cheap and unsurprising ploy to conjure up mystery falls flat on its factualless face. This book has no sword to fall on it, but it manages to impale itself on the sharp demands of reason that ought to underpin any venture in writing. Much excitement is generated with the concealment of Timmy and it's just as well there's a secret panel in Sooty's bedroom behind which the dog can be hidden. To help things along even further, a concealed trapdoor in Marybelle's room allows anyone whose game enough, to climb down a hole and end up in a tunnel which eventually comes out within the city precincts. That's very convenient because Timmy will need exercise but how will he get down the hole? That could be a problem; however the children never shy at any attempt to overcome the Odds. There's a really good dose of secret passages in the vicinity which according to Sooty are actually catacombs inside the hill where Smuggler's Top is situated. If you cannot open a .mobi file on your mobile device, please use .epub with an appropriate eReader. The adventure starts off with the Five heading off to Kirrin Island for their much-loved, idyllic vacation. But a terrible gale puts a damper in plans when it uproots a massive ash tree straight onto Kirrin Cottage. A house badly in need of repairs, a guilty but easily irritable Uncle Quentin, four active children and one big, excitable dog…..poor Aunt Fanny is in a right mess.

Maybe Enid Blyton or one of her countless ghostwriters thought to borrow somewhat from gothic tales. Maybe she wanted to imitate Poe among all people. We will never know. Good. The less we know about the intricacies of this book the better. Which is why you see me not rehashing any part of the stories. I'm merely here to warn off would be readers to either avoid this book, or to lower their expectations to ankle level. Timmy has caused many problems for his mistress in the past and yet another springs up: She's not allowed to have him at Smuggler's Top because Mr Lenoir despises dogs but that doesn't put George off. Typically, she decides to take him anyway but with the firm resolve that Timmy will be kept hidden from Mr Lenoir's view. The title Smuggler's Top indicates that it was named after only one smuggler. But somehow Smugglers' Top doesn't look right, even though it's grammatically correct for a place named after many smugglers of the past. But that's just semantics; I think the title works fine as it is. It reminds me a little of wasps' nest—I'd seen it written as wasp's nest and thought, "My, that must have been a big wasp!" Timmy is not allowed at Smuggler's Top, so the children have to smuggle him in and out via a trapdoor that leads to passages below. The mystery unfolds with many strange happenings and the Five are plunged into adventure yet again!

I enjoyed this book mainly for the atmosphere created by Enid Blyton. It was also filled with many interesting and dubious characters right from the cold Mr.Lenoir to the slightly eccentric smuggler, Mr.Barling. As a child, I kept second-guessing the motives of the supposed anatagonists. Smuggler’s Top is an ancient house steeped in mystery. There are hidden passages behind panels, deep pits under ordinary floors that lead into a honeycomb of passages, some known and others where a clueless person could get lost in…forever.

Villagers come to gawk at the great tree lying across the roof of Kirrin Cottage. The children must spend the hols somewhere else! Het zal wel niemand echt verwonderen dat dit boek ook echt over - jawel - smokkelaars gaat en dat ook het hele mysterie daarom draait. Maar op het einde word je als lezer toch nog verrast en blijkt het net iets meer te zijn dan dat - en blijkt oom Quentin er voor iets tussen te zitten. Daarnaast gaat dit boek wel iets sneller van start dan anders - en het verhaal zelf begint trouwens ook met een ferme knal, een die je misschien niet meteen ziet aankomen. According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.

Enid", a recent award-winning film about the life of Enid Blyton, showed that her home life was very different from her public image. She was the queen of PR - and very driven. Her children hardly got to see her except in the company of a group of local children when she did public readings. Everyone's favourite auntie - including mine I have to say. I was a proud member of the "Famous Five Club"! The original conflict is over the taking of Timmy. Mr Lenoir hates dogs. This is generally an unfailing indicator of villainy!This entry in the Famous Five series is really quite dark. The book starts with the top floor of George's house being completely destroyed by storm damage. George's parents, feeling that the house is a dangerous place for George and the rest of the gang (who were staying with George at the time of the storm) to be around (fair enough) decide to send the kids to stay with a complete stranger who George's father has received a letter from concerning his scientific research. This guy turns out to be a drooling psychopath who swiftly murders the four children and their little dog too! Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2020-09-11 09:02:30 Boxid IA1928310 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier The wider conflict concerns the local smuggler who uses the marshes, and rather unbelievably ends up kidnapping Uncle Quentin in some implausible plan to thwart the draining by buying then burning his plans, thus stopping ... the swamp ... from being drained? Also, the smuggler is very rich and only smuggles for fun. P.S. - Bizarrely, this is the only book in the Famous Five series (which is twenty two books long) that doesn't have an unabridged version available on Audible. The book is on Audible, but only in the dreaded abridged format. I mean, seriously, who wants to read an abridged version of a book? I'm kind of disgusted that abridging books is even a thing, to be honest. But Mr Lenoir, though outwardly polite, is even more short-tempered than Uncle Quentin. And he hates dogs. So the rule from the outset is that Timmy will not be allowed to go with them to Smuggler's Top. Well! It wouldn't be a Famous Five book without Timmy, so George naturally arranges to smuggle him into the big old rambling house, if Sooty will help. And of course Sooty, after a moment's hesitation, kindly agrees to hide Timmy away in the tunnels that run alongside and beneath the house—tunnels, he says, that were once used by smugglers!

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