If Only My Life Were This Exciting! (The Famous Five: Five Go Adventuring Again - Enid Blyton)

Member Name: GramiWay

Product:	The Famous Five: Five Go Adventuring Again - Enid Blyton
Date:	24/05/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

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Continuing my own little adventure of working through the Famous Five series, I arrive at the second book in the collection 'Five Go Adventuring Again'. What is there I can possibly say about this book and the rest, you may ask that won't just be a rehash of what I said about the series opener?

The magic about the Famous Five collection is that as ancient as the collection is, they still hold a firm place in many people's hearts and children today are still discovering the wonderfully written stories as shown in the sales figures of about 2.5 million that the books rack up every year in the United Kingdom.

The Famous Five came of course from the talented writer Enid Blyton and are a collection of 21 books that follow the adventures of siblings Julian, Dick and Anne Kirrin as well as their cousin Georgina [or as she prefers to be known - George]. They're also joined by George's mongrel dog Timmy. The adventures usually take place during the various holidays scattered around the school year when the five meet up from their respective boarding schools and find themselves on the trail of another mystery.

'Five Go Adventuring Again' is set during the Christmas holidays following the summer events described in 'Five On A Treasure Island'. The children are about ten or eleven years old in this book and once again are gathering at the home of George and her parents Kirrin Cottage where to their dismay they find that they have to endure a personal tutor due to the disappointing grades they received the previous term.

Mr Roland is the tutor assigned to the children and it's not long before George takes a dislike to him ,especially because he supposedly has a phobia of dogs. It's quite refreshing and always adds a great dynamic to the books when George becomes stroppy and sulky and that is played perfectly in parts of this story as she struggles to convince her cousins and her family that the man they're all so taken with is up to no good.

Eventually it's revealed that Mr Roland is actually working undercover to steal valuable papers from George's father, Uncle Quentin who is a world renowned scientist and is in league with two other acomplices who are staying at a house not from far Kirrin Cottage. As the five investigate secret passageways linking the two homes and try to uncover the mystery of some blueprints as well as stop Mr Roland they find themselves thrown head over heels into another thrilling adventure.

The book brims with a vibrant and enthusiastic energy that flows from Blyton's imagination and into her readers. The language is very tame and is quite old fashioned. Some of the words used do make me laugh when I look back at the books now - such as 'gay' still being associated with happy and the children's Aunt Fanny, which is such a point of ridicule amongst children today that her name has been altered to Franny in recent reprints of the series. The books are a lot about stereotypes as each character is moulded into a specific persona and forced to embrace that throughout the story.

What I disliked about this book was that in parts it was extremely slow. The Kirrin Cottage stories are very repetitive and seem to be done far too often. It's not one of the most exciting books in the series but still works its magic and manages to continue building on the foundations laid down in the previous offering.

Summary: The 2nd book in the Famous Five series