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Review - Famous Five, Animorphs
Dec. 29th, 2009 02:08 amFive on a Treasure Island
(Read a while ago, didn't post the review.)
Ah, the Famous Five. I've been meaning to reread these for nostalgia's sake -- or at least a couple of them. I used to practically inhale them when I was eight or nine years old or so. I was a little apprehensive about a reread now -- especially because of all the talk about how inappropriate Enid Blyton's writing is now, in terms of feminism and racism... I thought I wouldn't be able to read it.
Fortunately, at least with the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia, this book remained fun...more Ah, the Famous Five. I've been meaning to reread these for nostalgia's sake -- or at least a couple of them. I used to practically inhale them when I was eight or nine years old or so. I was a little apprehensive about a reread now -- especially because of all the talk about how inappropriate Enid Blyton's writing is now, in terms of feminism and racism... I thought I wouldn't be able to read it.
Fortunately, at least with the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia, this book remained fun to read. It obviously didn't take me long, but I enjoyed it. I always loved to imagine having an island of my own, like George does, and Timmy was basically my dream dog. My favourite part is Kirrin Island, really -- ruins and dungeons and so on. I don't even mind about the ingots. Just the existence of the island itself would have been enough for me, aged eight. George was probably my favourite character -- I was a lonely kid, too.
Five Go Adventuring Again
I wrote a reasonably long nostalgic review about this, and then I got a weird blue screen of death, so I lost it. Maybe I'll tell the story someday, but for now, I'll just do a quick review. As an adult reading this, it isn't so convincing at all. I mean, there's the sheer unlikelihood of so many adventures happening to the same four children within the same year and in the same place. But there are things I found more believable, too -- like the way Mr Roland isn't all bad, he's also quite good at teaching and at making the kids (other than George) like him.
I felt sorry for George. She's clearly meant to be a good kid, and even her tantrums aren't completely unjustified, though she does seem to get herself into hot water a lot. With the family life that's described for her, it's not really surprising. I mostly felt sorry for the way her father was so easily manipulated into treating her wrongly, even though he knew it was wrong in his heart of hearts. That rang true for me, too.
It's easy to see why I loved it as a kid. The kids get to have adventures, and they turn out smarter than the adults -- but it's not so unrealistic, because they still have restrictions, like weather and bedtimes. Ah, wish fulfillment.
Animorphs: The Invasion
Animorphs! I remember being so obsessed with these books when I was about eleven or twelve. This first book scared me quite a bit, actually: I found it so creepy because of the little kinda authenticating details, the way the narrators of the books claim they're not able to tell you their real names, etc. It's a really creepy idea, the slow invisible takeover, the idea that without these five kids nothing would stop them (unless the Andalites arrive in time). I always meant to come back to these books and read them all, because I dropped out about book eighteen and never got to know how it ended.
The first book is narrated by Jake, who was not really my favourite character. I didn't like him or dislike him, I guess. I liked Rachel best, for her confidence and her conviction and all of that, but also because she was kind to Tobias, who I felt very sorry for. Marco was definitely my least favourite character -- his idea of humour got on my nerves, and he's so resistant to doing the right thing, wanting to bury his head in the sand. It's all very well to say you're protecting your father, that if something happens to you he'll kill himself, but if the alternative is you both eventually getting controlled by an evil alien...
I found it interesting the way the characters are quite varied. Cassie and Jake have happy homes, mostly, but Marco, Tobias and Rachel (if I remember rightly) are all in different ways from dysfunctional families: Marco because of the death of his mother (or assumed death, anyway), Tobias because of his lack of family, Rachel because of the divorce. It's interesting, just having read Famous Five (another blast from the past...) with the relatively functional, knowledgeable and in control parents. More realism comes in, I guess. I think that's probably partially because of the target audience (older than Famous Five, obviously) as well as the publishing date (considerably more recent). The wish fulfillment is still there (five kids take on the world), but it's less... safe. There are now real consequences, like being trapped in a body not your own, like being killed, like your own brother being one of the enemy...
One thing that bothered me, this time through, and I can't remember if it's ever addressed... the people/creatures they kill, they're innocent. The Yeerk in their heads is the problem, and what the Animorphs do doesn't actually (necessarily) do anything about that. They're killing real people, people who should have been saved. I'm sure it must come into it somewhere, because of Jake's brother -- it would be an odd blind spot to have -- and maybe it's more realistic that these kids don't think of it much (at least at first). They're inexperienced and they don't really know what they're up against or what they're really doing: realism, again.
(Read a while ago, didn't post the review.)
Ah, the Famous Five. I've been meaning to reread these for nostalgia's sake -- or at least a couple of them. I used to practically inhale them when I was eight or nine years old or so. I was a little apprehensive about a reread now -- especially because of all the talk about how inappropriate Enid Blyton's writing is now, in terms of feminism and racism... I thought I wouldn't be able to read it.
Fortunately, at least with the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia, this book remained fun...more Ah, the Famous Five. I've been meaning to reread these for nostalgia's sake -- or at least a couple of them. I used to practically inhale them when I was eight or nine years old or so. I was a little apprehensive about a reread now -- especially because of all the talk about how inappropriate Enid Blyton's writing is now, in terms of feminism and racism... I thought I wouldn't be able to read it.
Fortunately, at least with the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia, this book remained fun to read. It obviously didn't take me long, but I enjoyed it. I always loved to imagine having an island of my own, like George does, and Timmy was basically my dream dog. My favourite part is Kirrin Island, really -- ruins and dungeons and so on. I don't even mind about the ingots. Just the existence of the island itself would have been enough for me, aged eight. George was probably my favourite character -- I was a lonely kid, too.
Five Go Adventuring Again
I wrote a reasonably long nostalgic review about this, and then I got a weird blue screen of death, so I lost it. Maybe I'll tell the story someday, but for now, I'll just do a quick review. As an adult reading this, it isn't so convincing at all. I mean, there's the sheer unlikelihood of so many adventures happening to the same four children within the same year and in the same place. But there are things I found more believable, too -- like the way Mr Roland isn't all bad, he's also quite good at teaching and at making the kids (other than George) like him.
I felt sorry for George. She's clearly meant to be a good kid, and even her tantrums aren't completely unjustified, though she does seem to get herself into hot water a lot. With the family life that's described for her, it's not really surprising. I mostly felt sorry for the way her father was so easily manipulated into treating her wrongly, even though he knew it was wrong in his heart of hearts. That rang true for me, too.
It's easy to see why I loved it as a kid. The kids get to have adventures, and they turn out smarter than the adults -- but it's not so unrealistic, because they still have restrictions, like weather and bedtimes. Ah, wish fulfillment.
Animorphs: The Invasion
Animorphs! I remember being so obsessed with these books when I was about eleven or twelve. This first book scared me quite a bit, actually: I found it so creepy because of the little kinda authenticating details, the way the narrators of the books claim they're not able to tell you their real names, etc. It's a really creepy idea, the slow invisible takeover, the idea that without these five kids nothing would stop them (unless the Andalites arrive in time). I always meant to come back to these books and read them all, because I dropped out about book eighteen and never got to know how it ended.
The first book is narrated by Jake, who was not really my favourite character. I didn't like him or dislike him, I guess. I liked Rachel best, for her confidence and her conviction and all of that, but also because she was kind to Tobias, who I felt very sorry for. Marco was definitely my least favourite character -- his idea of humour got on my nerves, and he's so resistant to doing the right thing, wanting to bury his head in the sand. It's all very well to say you're protecting your father, that if something happens to you he'll kill himself, but if the alternative is you both eventually getting controlled by an evil alien...
I found it interesting the way the characters are quite varied. Cassie and Jake have happy homes, mostly, but Marco, Tobias and Rachel (if I remember rightly) are all in different ways from dysfunctional families: Marco because of the death of his mother (or assumed death, anyway), Tobias because of his lack of family, Rachel because of the divorce. It's interesting, just having read Famous Five (another blast from the past...) with the relatively functional, knowledgeable and in control parents. More realism comes in, I guess. I think that's probably partially because of the target audience (older than Famous Five, obviously) as well as the publishing date (considerably more recent). The wish fulfillment is still there (five kids take on the world), but it's less... safe. There are now real consequences, like being trapped in a body not your own, like being killed, like your own brother being one of the enemy...
One thing that bothered me, this time through, and I can't remember if it's ever addressed... the people/creatures they kill, they're innocent. The Yeerk in their heads is the problem, and what the Animorphs do doesn't actually (necessarily) do anything about that. They're killing real people, people who should have been saved. I'm sure it must come into it somewhere, because of Jake's brother -- it would be an odd blind spot to have -- and maybe it's more realistic that these kids don't think of it much (at least at first). They're inexperienced and they don't really know what they're up against or what they're really doing: realism, again.
