Name that book?

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Probably every child in Britain grows up on a staple reading diet of Enid Blyton books - at least they did in my generation . Her creations - "The Famous Five", "The Secret Seven", etc, are part of our culture, they are so well known. Is she really not known in other countries?

She's quite popular in Croatia, actually. I'm pretty sure that I read her books as a child in Canada, as well.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Probably every child in Britain grows up on a staple reading diet of Enid Blyton books - at least they did in my generation . Her creations - "The Famous Five", "The Secret Seven", etc, are part of our culture, they are so well known. Is she really not known in other countries?

I didn't read them, but all my school friends did when we were 9-10 years old. I have no idea why I didn't - perhaps because everyone else did They were probably some of the most worn books in the children's section at the library.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ea

I didn't read them, but all my school friends did when we were 9-10 years old. I have no idea why I didn't - perhaps because everyone else did They were probably some of the most worn books in the children's section at the library.

According to the Wiki Article about her, she is the 5th most translated author in the world, ahead of Lenin and just behind Shakespeare. The "Top 10" are:

1. Disney Productions
2. Agatha Christie
3. Jules Verne
4. William Shakespeare
5. Enid Blyton
6. Vladimir Lenin
7. Barbara Cartland
8. Danielle Steel
9. Hans Christian Andersen
10. Stephen King

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by Shayne Parkinson

She was a staple for my generation in New Zealand, too. "Noddy" for the littlies, then "Famous Five", "Secret Seven", etc. A legacy of the British Empire

Pretty famous here in the Netherlands as well (in translation, of course).

[MelC]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Pretty famous here in the Netherlands as well (in translation, of course).

I certainly read much of her stuff (I was particularly fond of the boarding school series - Mallory Towers and St. Clare). Don't know whether I can speak for all of Canada about this - I suspect not since I always get weird looks for using words like "cross" (Enid Blyton had a teeny bit of influence on my vocabulary...)

Mel

[Georgiegirl2012]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

Possibly, but she's certainly known in Australia. I even remember a late 70's (?) TV series...is that the opening theme running through my head..."We are the faaamous fiiiive..."? I've even seen current references to them in popular culture, by comedians, for instance (though perhaps this is a generational thing...Gen X may laugh, but Gen Y may go, "Huh?").

Cheers,
Marc

That would be "julian, dick and Anne, George and Timmmmmmy the dooooooggggg"

[Bilbo1967]

Originally Posted by Georgiegirl2012

That would be "julian, dick and Anne, George and Timmmmmmy the dooooooggggg"

Why is the phrase "lashings of ginger beer" now running through my head?

I seem to recall preferring the Secret Seven, although the Famous Five certainly seem to have lived longer in the collective memory.

[Georgiegirl2012]

If I'd realised this thread was here I wouldn't have had to spend ages looking for details of a book I read a couple of years ago and lent to to a friend. The friend I think I lent it to denies all knowledge of it and asked me what it was about so it might jog her memory.

My description was "it's about 4 women who work in an office, possibly a magazine or a newspaper"

Not much help I know. Fortunately I also remembered it had something to do with Belgium (turns out it was Denmark and the magazine was in fact the Danish Centre for Investigation of Genocide)

And just to save you the trouble, the book is called The Exception by Christian Jungersen.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Georgiegirl2012

And just to save you the trouble, the book is called The Exception by Christian Jungersen.

Ohhh... I was going to guess Sex in the City.

BOb

[Luke King]

Originally Posted by dmacmart

A man who lives alone and normally keeps to himself, is just about to start his vacation. He receives a letter (first of several I think) which threatens to kill someone in his family - a niece I think , who he was not close to - if he didn't kill himself (I think that's the threat). He lives in NY I think and communicates with the threatener via classified adds in a paper, I think the NY Times. There was a murder in the subway, a major fire, there are some homeless person(s) involved I think.

The book you are looking for may possibly be A Dog's Ransom, by Patricia Highsmith. Some of the details you mention don't sound familiar, but it is about a man, who is living in New York. He begins to receive threatening letters from an anonymous source. I don't remember it particularly well, but it may be the one you mean.

[dmacmart]

Originally Posted by Luke King

The book you are looking for may possibly be A Dog's Ransom, by Patricia Highsmith. Some of the details you mention don't sound familiar, but it is about a man, who is living in New York. He begins to receive threatening letters from an anonymous source. I don't remember it particularly well, but it may be the one you mean.

Thanks, that's not it; I read the description on Amazon. The man in my book doesn't own a dog. (plus I totally didn't remember that title but obviously I have forgotten the title so that's not really an indicator)

[bucsie]

Here's one for you:
I read this when I was very young. It was written by a Russian guy, it was actually a collection of 3 novellas (or novels?). In one of them, this guy went to a space station. I remember vividly a paragraph where he had to go through a decontamination chamber, and then while in the space station he had a discussion about how even a grain-size meteor could kill them.
And in the second one, this maniac was absorbing all the oxygen in the atmosphere and had a plan for selling bottled oxygen to rich people.
Never got to reading the third one, because it was borrowed and I had to return it

[Duiker]

Originally Posted by Slite

Ah, of course, thank you, I have only read the three first in the series, and just saw that there were at least one new book in the series. Time for a re-read me thinks

If you don't know yet, HBO has made it in to a series (A Game fo Thrones). I think it starts in 2011 though since Martin STILL has not written the final book I wonder how they will end it.

[GraceKrispy]

Ok, I have a book I want identified! It's a children's book, somewhere between child and young adult. It was about a Navajo boy who lived in a hogan and was brought to a boarding school and he kept running away. Unfortunately, that's about all I can truly remember, except I really loved that book. Book detectives? I'm guessing it was written in the 60s (based on what I remember of the way the book looked), but I could be off by a decade either way

[Shayne Parkinson]

Grace, could it be this one? http://www.winmarkcom.com/ashkii.htm