Byatt's attack on us

[ER]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Anne" <anneu53714 at y...> 
wrote:
> 
> LOL Jennifer, I didn't read Enid Blyton or Billy Bunter books 
either. 
> In fact I never heard of them until I joined this group. Perhaps 
> that's because I am :::cough:::older:::cough than the "typical" 
adult 
> HP fan (whoever that is). I did read a lot of Hardy Boys ...

Ah, you don't know what you're missing! Who could forget The Fat Owl 
of the Remove or the Famous Five. As Dumbledad said, Brits of a 
certain age (and we oldsters must stick together :) were brought up 
on them one way or another!

I recommend reading one of the Famous Five books (there were lots) if 
you enjoy a good laugh. They were written in the 40s and the 50s (and 
maybe the 60s, not sure) and reflect a time when Britain still had a 
Navy and an Empire (more or less) and all was right with the world. 
They are about 4 children and a dog - the Famous Five - who get into 
all sorts of spiffing adventures, generally before the end of Chapter-
1.

Julian is the oldest and is somewhat of a Percy - he likes rules and 
he likes to abide by them and is terribly serious about serious 
things. I think he scolded the others for riding three-abreast on 
their bicycles, when the Highway Code expressly forbids such cavalier 
behaviour. Dick, the next eldest, is a Ron. Nuff said :) The youngest 
is Anne, who is also the cleverest academically, so a budding 
Hermione there. Except her main ambitions in life are to make the 
beds, wash the pots, prepare meals for the others and generally be a 
good little housewife. Naturally! The joker in the pack is Georgina, 
who is a tomboy. She even thinks she is every bit as good as a boy, 
but Julian or Dick frequently put her right on this score, while Anne 
looks anxiously on :)

Exclamation marks abound! Everywhere! To make it more exciting! And 
it is!

Parents don't figure that much. Our intrepid chums are all at good 
schools (i.e. boarding schools, though these don't play any part in 
the stories), but as soon as they come home for the hols ("wizard, no 
more prep or Greek or algebra for four whole weeks!") mysterious 
calamities befall the parental household - Fathers (who are brilliant 
scientists) have to zoom off to conferences taking Mothers with them, 
trees fall on houses rendering them uninhabitable for (phew) four 
weeks, scarlet fever strikes just before the children are due home 
and the whole household is in quarantine. And so, the Five are packed 
off to mysterious cottages, deserted lighthouses, mysterious deserted 
moors etc etc. Let the adventure begin! I doubt that they see their 
parents for more than two or three weeks a year - so, a bit like 
Hermione then ;)

The villains are cardboard cut-outs and obvious - anybody scruffy, 
gypsies (apart from loveable ragamuffin orphans who are utterly loyal 
to the Five who finally get them into "a good home") and foreigners. 
Especially foreigners! In the early books I think they mostly came 
across as Germanic, but in the later books Eastern Europeans seem to 
creep in. There are even occasional seemingly-decent Englishmen who 
turn out to be villains, which appals Julian!

If you can find them on Amazon or in the bargain bins of your local 
second-hand bookshop then I recommend trying one for a good laugh or, 
if you're a Brit, to wallow in the land that time forgot :) The Fat 
Owl will have to wait for another day. Too much reminiscing in one 
day is not good for you. Sigh.

Now, who the heck are the Hardy Boys? Cousins of the Five? :)

ER