Five Get into Trouble

A ver.
Me ha gustado mucho la trama. Es interesante, intrigante, aventuresca... Pero no soporto lo socialmente outdated que está. El mensaje de este libro es «si eres un cobarde, no sirves para nada. No seas como Ricardo». Por supuesto, al final del libro el niño hace algo «valeroso» y ya no lo consideran una lacra social. Al menos no del todo.
No puedo, no puedo con algunas cosas de esta saga aunque sea porque es víctima de su tiempo. Al menos aquí no ha habido sexismo... (la barra, también he de decir, está muy baja; otros libros de la saga están llenos).

One of my favorite Famous Five books!! I've read this many times over the years (and even borrowed elements as a child during a school story). Owl's Dene, Aggie, Hunchy - the book has so many elements of action and adventure that have stuck with me to this day. Highly recommended!

Brief Summary by Poppy Hutchinson (from http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk, quoted since the actual book blurb is not very informative): On their peaceful camping and cycling tour of the English countryside, the Five come across Richard Kent – the son of one of the richest men in the country! When Dick is mistaken for him and kidnapped, by Rooky, a dangerous criminal who had been a bodyguard in the Kent household, the children know they have two leads: Owls Dene on Owls Hill, and a Black Bently – KMF 102. The children's search for Dick leads them on a moonlit bicycle ride to the eerie mansion: Owls Dene. What will they find there? And most importantly, will they be able to rescue Dick?

Random thoughts:

By now (book 8 in the series) show more the beginnings of the books are settling into a formula. These books are formulaic by design, but we are all right with it. We want more of a good thing, and we know we are in the hands of a master storyteller. So, standard Famous Five book beginning: Uncle Quentin, forgetting the children were coming, made another commitment and has to leave with Aunt Fanny. Joanna the cook is ill (of course). What a problem! Fortunately the children suggest a solution: they want to go on a cycling holiday. I'm very happy with the idea the children come up with this time. That's bound to be fun! I love it when they go on their own!

And yes, we are treated to another glorious pre-adventure story, full of joyful freedom. The children cycle from one small countryside village to another, enjoying the natural scenery and the freedom, having great meals and drinking ginger-beer.

Then they meet Richard Kent, the somewhat spoiled son of a millionaire, who joins them using some lies, and after that the adventure soon starts.

They meet Richard at a lake belonging to his father. The lake is called "Green Pool". In the previous book the children were also at a different lake with the same name. A weird coincidence that a watchful editor probably would have changed.

Richard lied to the children about having permission to go with them. A disgruntled former bodyguard of his father sees him and his accomplices end up kidnapping Dick by mistake, thinking he is Richard Kent and that they'll be able to get a large ransom from his father.

While that is happening, Julian and George were buying food from a small farm, owned by a very nasty fellow. I immediately assumed that this farmer would play a role in the story as a villain, because that's how EB's stories work, but surprisingly we never hear of him again. He was just a regular nasty farmer, no connection with the criminal plot that the children uncover. I'm glad of it, by the way. A little misdirection is necessary from time to time or the plots just become too obvious.

After Dick's kidnapping, one would expect the children to go to the closest village and call the police, sharing the information they have. However, these being the Famous Five, they decide to look for Dick themselves, taking the scared Richard with them. It's true that they are in a desolate area, far from the closest village, but still it's kind of a strange decision, considering how eager Julian is about keeping Anne out of danger. Besides, having Richard with them complicates things, because there is the possibility that the rogues will free Dick when they realize they got the wrong boy, but if the others show up with Richard they might all be in worse trouble.

Sure enough, the children are captured. They are kept prisoners in Owl's Dene, another atmospheric location. It's a creepy old manor with high walls around it. They villains are a colorful lot (Hunchy, Rooky...), but they don't know quite what to make of the children, and they keep them prisoner but allow them to roam the property to a certain extent. Julian takes advantage of that to find secret passages and even locate Dick.

It's funny how surprised the children are by the automatic gates of the manor. It sounds perfectly normal now, but such a mechanism would be unexpected and eery in the 40s. Blyton's storytelling is so timeless that details like this dating the story catch my attention.

Soon Rooky, Richard's father former bodyguard, arrives and realizes that Dick is not the boy he wanted. They are going to leave the children free but, frustratingly, when they are almost through the gates he realizes that one of the other children is Richard Kent. They are prisoners again! Their captors feed them very poorly (the beasts!), but fortunately the kindly but scared maid feeds them large meals on the sly, and warns them of the attempt to poison Timmy.

Speaking of Richard, from the beginning Julian is quite harsh with him. Perhaps a bit too harsh. It's clear that the boy is spoiled and too used to getting his way when he really shouldn't, and perhaps a little bit cowardly (although under the circumstances I can't really blame him for being scared... not every twelve-year-old boy is used to fighting criminals and kidnappers, Ju!).

However, the scorn from Julian and the others actually have a good effect on Richard. The fact that these children think so little of him actually pushes him to grow beyond his spoiled ways and try hard to earn their respect. It's a plot that reminded me of Captains Courageous.

So Richard volunteers to hide in the boot of the car and try to escape. Big mistake on the bad guys' part, leaving the children freedom to roam the property. It's scary and dangerous, but Richard is determined and finally manages to get to a police station, after a thrilling chase.

Then the police gets to Owl's Dene. The bad guys try to play it cool, but to their dismay Julian thwarts them by telling the police every little bit of the criminals' devious plot, since the children had found all the relevant clues during the adventure.

The story ends with Richard's parents inviting the children to their home. Richard's father says his son acted very foolishly, and Julian agrees but then says that he redeemed himself by his bravery and determination during the escape. Everything ends well!

Apart from Richard Kent, the big hero of the book is Julian. He is the one who continually confronts the bad guys (with Timmy's help!) and finds the secret passages and everything.

All in all, a very enjoyable installment in the series. The beginning reminded me of Five Go off in a Caravan, because the children get to go on their own for their holidays. Then the adventure itself was quite original when compared to other books in the series. Instead of going to a desolate location and finding clues of strange going ons, the children get plunged into the adventure when Dick is kidnapped without warning. Also, Richard Kent's character arc is quite interesting, and I cheered for him when he succeeded, since the others had been quite harsh on him.


Next up: Five Fall Into Adventure (Famous Five, #9) show less

i remember dark, a house, stuck outside the gate, then inside the gate.
And an amazing comment of 'George is better than most boys'.
Wait
what
'most boys??'

Read in Slovene undter the title Pet prijateljev: S kolesi na pot.

One of the more far-fetched Famous Five books from what I remember.

Book 8

Novels/novelettes