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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I gave this 4 stars instead of 3 BECAUSE I READ IT IN FRENCH - so proud.
I've finished some books in French (like the first Harry Potter) but never finished a French text this long and difficult. It's meant for kids from 8 to 12.. but still.. PROGRESS! Progress is good.
I've finished some books in French (like the first Harry Potter) but never finished a French text this long and difficult. It's meant for kids from 8 to 12.. but still.. PROGRESS! Progress is good.
I just finished reading this to my boys. It was fun and I appreciated the independence of the children but it didn't compare to any of my favorite children's lit. Reminded me a bit of E. Nesbit, but doesn't even compare in the quality of the writing. However, my boys loved it and that is what matters. And it was a lot better than much of the current stuff.
Read as part of a children's book reading group. We read Malory Towers a month or 2 earlier, and I found this much more old fashioned. The adventure part was fairly fast paced, and I was pleasantly surprised at how believable her depiction of an lonely only child gradually thawing out and becoming friends with her cousins was, but in general I found the characterisation weak. I think I must have read the later books in the series more than this first one, because I was expecting the children to be slightly older (looking it up, it sounds as though she allowed them to age another year or 2 over the first few books, setting one in each school holiday until Julian was 13 or 14, but then she froze them in time. If they'd continued to age as the chronology of the books would suggest, someone has calculated that they should have been 21-23 in the final books, which casts a very different light on things!) I managed to track down an older, unbowdlerised copy second hand so had the original wording but if you're trying to work out what you've got, someone had explained that just after their arrival at their uncle and aunt's house, in the original version, Uncle Quentin says George needs a good spanking for not being there to meet them, and just a good talking to in the edited one. Personally, I'd rather not try to pretend they're modern stories - even in the updated texts, girls are treated as lesser and should be doing domestic stuff and not anything dangerous, so if I were giving them to a child to read, I'd rather not pretend they're newer and more pc than they are! One minor niggle that bugged me as an archaeologist, but most people can probably ignore (unless of course they've just read my review), was when they found a wooden chest that had been underwater and contained a tin-lined box. Enid Blyton kept describing the tin as rusted and I kept arguing with her in my head because tin doesn't rust. Corrode, sure, but it would have to be iron to be rusty, and while I could suspend disbelief on the somewhat implausible adventure, being expected to suspend my disbelief on chemistry just wasn't happening! Overall, I'm pleased to have re-read it, but I doubt I'll seek out the next 20 books, whereas as soon as I'd finished book 1 of Malory Towers, I had to read the remaining 5 books immediately.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This series was my childhood. I remember a summer holiday, just sitting in my room and reading three of these in a day. I read the really old editions that were translated into Indonesian, which were copies from my mom, and they are so nostalgic. I reread them in 2020 and was surprised with how much I still remembered. Mostly I was also very fascinated with the language - I cannot say how it is in English, but the Indonesian translations felt a bit old to me, which makes sense because it was pubilshed before I was born, but it was a very interesting way for me, when I was young, to learn new word.
In terms of characters, I loved all of them. Timmy is a delight. George was slightly annoying but I think the most well-written of them all. Meanwhile the plot itself isn't anything amazing. It feels simple and of course there are plotholes everywhere, but it's definitely not something you would have a problem with as a child.
This brings me back so many memories and I was glad to give it a reread.
In terms of characters, I loved all of them. Timmy is a delight. George was slightly annoying but I think the most well-written of them all. Meanwhile the plot itself isn't anything amazing. It feels simple and of course there are plotholes everywhere, but it's definitely not something you would have a problem with as a child.
This brings me back so many memories and I was glad to give it a reread.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I only recently discovered this series, and I wish I’d known about it as a child. I quite enjoyed it! In this first book, you are introduced to siblings Julian, Dick, and Anne, their cousin George (the ultimate tomboy), and her dog Timmy. I wasn’t expecting the fifth of the five to be a dog, but he turns out to be a pretty important part of the team. I thought this was a great little adventure story with some twists I didn’t expect, and it holds up well nearly 70 years after it was written. I’ll have no problem listening to/reading more of these.
*** Sebenarnya punyaku gambar covernya bukan yang ini, tapi yang jaman kuna itu lo... ***
The first of the adventures of the siblings Julian, Dick and Anne along with their cousin George and her dog Tim. (Did you count - there's FIVE of them.) Written in 1942, the details feel dated, but I imagine it's just the sort of adventure story that young kids would love to read about and imagine themselves taking part in.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Famous Five series was one of my favourite Enid Blyton series growing up, and re-reading this book brought me back to my childhood. I’d forgotten so many little details, such as how much it focusses on George’s character development. It was also a lot scarier than I remember, with bad guys, guns, and hostages! But Uncle Quentin is still super scary, and age does not change that. Of course, Five on a Treasure Island, much like all of Enid Blyton’s work, is of its time. If I didn’t have nostalgic attachment to the story and characters, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed my reading experience nearly as much. It plays into very tired gender stereotypes, but it’s interesting to see a little girl character who wants to be called by a boy’s name, look like a boy, and be treated like a boy. I look forward to researching any scholarship, criticism, or queer readings that have been written on this text.