Owing to 80-an latest entry -- another good job, Q -- I started Wiki-ing and stumbling upon interesting websites such as this. I had expected some fond memories to return and I was right, no surprises there.

Yet, nothing had prepared me for the amount of emotions that flooded back along.

Back in the day, I didn't think that highly of Enid Blyton's books. Sure, they were good and excited a pre-teen like me, but after a while the recycled themes and maddening coincidences tired even this pre-teen. That was when I switched to Trio Detektif, the Blytons left collecting dust.

Well, they didn't. Not when you have a mother like mine. But that's beside the point.

Anyway, I now miss my old Blytons terribly, still somewhere in my parents', I am sure. It's good that I have here with me some of them -- albeit the English version. I am re-reading them now.

And thus conceived was a personal project: Blytons Revisited.

Here's the deal. I'll pick an Enid Blyton, read it, and write an entry about it. Then I'll move on to another book and another entry. And so on. Until I finish all I have here -- I'm looking at them right now, there have got to be at least twenty of them -- or until -- let's be real here -- I'm sick of them.

But now, I'll quickly go through certain series that I read as a kid. See how much I can recall from each book. In a few months or so, we'll know whether my memory is a good servant.

Without further ado...

The Secret Series / Empat Serangkai
I keep mistaking this series for The Adventurous Four / Empat Petualang. Initially, I thought this was The Adventurous Four, as I recalled (incorrectly) that there was a Jack there. Anyway, Empat Serangkai are Jack, Peggy, Nora, and Mike. The last three are sisters and brother, children of a pilot couple. Yup, both dad and mom are pilots -- not just pilots, aces.

1) The Secret Island (1938) / Pulau Rahasia
The four run away from home and try to live by themselves on some kind of island. I remember regarding this book as one of Enid's best, but curiously can't recall too many details. Other than the hut made of willow trees -- which supposedly continue growing after being chopped -- and the cow that Jack somehow manages to drag through the water all the way to the island.

2) The Secret of Spiggy Holes (1940) / Rahasia Lorong Spiggy
One of those Blytons where several houses (or towers or caves) are connected by endless secret tunnels. Ah, I remember now. This is the one where the four meet Prince Paul for the first time. The prince has been kidnapped and the kids save him.

3) The Secret Mountain (1941) / Gunung Rahasia
I remember this one well, for all the wrong reasons. An Allan Quatermain-esque adventure with a weird tribe cut off from the rest of the world, living inside a mountain. And I (11 or 12 then) literally grimaced over the conflict resolution in the end that is so Tintin-esque. But, you see, the difference is that I'm fine with Tintin getting away with it... because he's a cartoon character! Gosh.

4) The Secret of Killimooin (1943) / Rahasia Pegunungan Killimooin
I also remember this one well, this time for the right reasons. There's this blind shepherd that shows tons of courage. Another Allan Quatermain-esque adventure.

5) The Secret of Moon Castle (1953) / Rahasia Kastil Bulan
Drew a total blank on this one *shrugs*. There has got to be a castle. But that's like, doh!

Empat Serangkai is one of Enid's earlier work and predated Lima Sekawan. But I think Gramedia published the latter first. That's why when I began reading this series, the recycled themes became too apparent and I remember thinking the stories were lifted from those of Lima Sekawan.

The Famous Five / Lima Sekawan
Whoa, where do I begin? It's Lima Sekawan we're talking about! The world's most famous five! Well, at least until the boyband era.

1) Five On a Treasure Island (1942) / Di Pulau Harta
The first time Julian, Dick, and Anne meet their irritating cousin Georgina. This was not the first Famous Five book I read. Which, in retrospect, I am thankful for. Had this been the first one, I might have ended up not reading the rest of the series, so much annoyed I was by this gal trying to be a boy. It's interesting to note, though, that George's parents are shown in need of money in the beginning, only for the five to find lots of treasure in the end to make them well off. But -- again in retrospect -- dude, they own an island! How in need of money could they have got, anyway?

2) Five Go Adventuring Again (1943) / Beraksi Kembali
Well, so rich the Kirrins have become from the previous book that they suddenly own a few properties, all named Kirrin. But the highlight is of course that Teacher Roland, who readers immediately know must be a villain -- because annoying George doesn't like him. Oh, and lotsa secret passages.

3) Five Run Away Together (1944) / Minggat
This is the book that first elevated Julian to hero status in my eyes. The way he handles the Stick family is so beyond cool. Nothing much otherwise leaps from memory. If I'm not wrong, there's a small gal being kidnapped and hidden on Kirrin Island.

4) Five Go To Smuggler's Top (1945) / Ke Sarang Penyelundup
My fav in the series by far. It was one of the Famous Five books that I first read. It starts with a big bang -- literally -- and doesn't let up until the very end. I (8 or 9 then) knew the word penyelundup from this book and thought it was a very cool profession even though I didn't quite get what it was actually that a smuggler did. Oh, the era of innocence, where art thou now?

5) Five Go Off in a Caravan (1946) / Berkelana
Pongo the chimp is the highlight in this one. Otherwise, nothing much. I liked the TV series' dramatization of this episode better. Oh, and I remember thinking how uncomfortable it had to be, living in one of those caravans. Yeah, such a city wimp.

6) Five On Kirrin Island Again (1947) / Rahasia di Pulau Kirrin
I also liked the TV episode better. Uncle Quentin was not as I had pictured him, though. Wait. This is the one where he lives on his own on Kirrin Island, isn't it? I think so. So many stories take place on the island, it's hard to keep track.

7) Five Go Off to Camp (1948) / Memburu Kereta Api Hantu
A silly teacher who likes insects, a farm boy whose name I can't recall -- wait, it's Jock -- and a ghost train that to my child eyes looked very impressive on TV.

8) Five Get Into Trouble (1949) / Nyaris Terjebak
I read this book at the school library and finished it there and then. Not bad for a 9-year-old. I remember the mysterious house and the gates that open by themselves. I don't recall anything about Dick being mistaken for another boy, though.

9) Five Fall Into Adventure (1950) / Jo Anak Gelandangan
And Jo is introduced to us. Another tomboy. I disliked her less than I did George, but only because she could totally kick George's behind. Nothing else comes to mind other than Jo's Dick worship and Red Tower that is not a place but a man.

10) Five On a Hike Together (1951) / Rahasia Harta Karun
I was sick and excused from school when someone (could be my mom, could be someone else, can't remember) gave me this book. One of my favs in the series. The bad guys are so bad they don't know what's going on. I enjoyed it as a kid, maybe not so much now. After all, only against 'good' bad guys can you prove your worth. Two Trees, Gloomy Water, Saucy Jane, and Maggie knows. Eternal words.

11) Five Have a Wonderful Time (1952) / Sarjana Misterius
Like this one. Mainly because of the people from the fair and especially Bufflo the whip master. Oh, Jo is here, too. Oh, oh, and who could forget the fire eater -- depicted on the cover of the Indonesian version. Then, I believed someone could actually swallow fire. The sequence with a passage inside the tower wall or something was a blur to me. But the rescue acts by the rubber man and Bufflo I still remember clearly.

12) Five Go Down to the Sea (1953) / Dalam Lorong Pencoleng
This one opens with Dick getting a flat tire, I still remember. I also remember reading this book on a train to Semarang. My dad -- having his birthday today, happy b'day, Dad -- had bought me six Lima Sekawan books. To last until the end of your holiday, he had said. I had finished half of them before the train journey even completed. The stars of the book, BTW, are Mr Penruthlan and Clopper the Horse. Hmm, I also remember a kid named Yan, but not what he does to affect the storyline.

13) Five Go to Mystery Moor (1954) / Rawa Rahasia
Totally blank on this. Except that I never read the book and only watched the TV episode. A lot of horses and dogs if I'm not wrong.

14) Five Have Plenty of Fun (1955) / Menyamarkan Teman
One of the six books (supposedly) for my one-month school break. George is kidnapped yet again. I remember being taken in by how Julian and Dick worked out where she had been brought to -- the big American car, Gringo, Spiky. Looking back, I now see only Blyton's overused conveniences and coincidences.

15) Five On a Secret Trail (1956) / Melacak Jejak Rahasia
There's Timmy with a silly collar and George is upset and runs away -- surprise, surprise. You know, for a girl trying hard to be a boy, she surely doesn't do her best. Then, there's something about finding a stone with the correct dimension and twins that cause confusions all around.

16) Five Go to Billycock Hill (1957) / Ke Bukit Billycock
A butterfly farm, a funny friend named Toby, and a piglet. And something about a new plane being stolen. That's about it.

17) Five Get Into a Fix (1958) / Rahasia Logam Ajaib
One of the three Lima Sekawan books that I never read. I don't remember watching the TV episode, either.

18) Five on Finniston Farm (1960) / Memperjuangkan Harta Finniston
Blank, blank, and blank.

19) Five Go to Demon's Rocks (1961) / Karang Setan
I like the lighthouse. And Enid's description of the rocks is great. Tinker / Utik is annoying but his monkey Mischief / Iseng is cool. Then there's this old man named Jeremiah Something who likes tobacco.

20) Five Have a Mystery to Solve (1962) / Di Pulau Seram
The last of the three books that I did not read. I did have the Sanggar Cerita audio cassette, though. There's a small kid that loves and is loved by animals, much like Philip from The Adventures. The island theme had gotten tired by then and the story kinda came and went.

21) Five Are Together Again (1963) / Sirkus Misterius
Utik and Iseng again, this time at home. Circus again, this time very close to Utik's home. A scientist again -- really, Blytons are so full of these scientist clones, each behaving similarly. Stolen documents, a chimp did it. Oh, and a few scenes on Kirrin Island towards the end. How neat, the series begins and ends with Kirrin Island.

Whoa, look at the time! And I'm not even halfway through *sighs*, where's time when you need it? (In front of me, of course; didn't I just tell you to look at it?) All right, the palm reader from that Bloomberg Summer Party warned me not to abuse my good health, so I won't. Let's continue the list tomorrow, shall we?

BTW, it is surprisingly difficult to find the list of titles in Bahasa Indonesia. Even Gramedia does not have them listed on their site -- so much for calling yourself a toko buku online. So, a lot of the Indonesian titles above were purely from my memory and corrections are most welcome. It doesn't help that Enid seemed to fancy generic titles such as Five Have a Wonderful Time -- WTH?

Happy Friday, guys!

Current music: Vanilla Ice - Go Ill
Current mood: happy