Five Go to Smuggler's Top
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 5/31/2022
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 5/31/2022 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I got this softcover at a local Savers thrift shop. It's from Blyton's popular series of the 1940s and 50s about kids-on-adventures. (I don't think I've read any of the original books before, but have been enjoying Bruno Vincent's parody series in which the Five, now adults, go about their lives as if still engaging in adventures (more or less); see Five Lose Dad in the Garden Centre.) The stories inspired a 1970s TV series,
Later: This was quite fun, though as I've been reading so many of the parodies I sometimes had to remind myself that this was... not that. (It did make me appreciate how dead-on Vincent's parodies are, though; he took the characters' in-story traits and pushed them a couple of decades up the line, to amusing effect.) Here, there's a distinct gee-whiz atmosphere, with some surprisingly dark elements - the bad guys don't hesitate to put rough hands on the kids, whether capturing them or outright hitting them.
The plot itself involves (surprise!) smugglers - even though the days of Romney Marsh and hooded figures sneaking French brandy through the mists are long past (this is called out in-story, mind you) - with a more modern twist involving a monomaniacal villain facing down rezoning issues. (Rezoning? Yup - though don't worry; most of the story involves the Five and their visitor, young Sooty Lenoir (a student who attends the same school as Dick and Julian), as they explore Smuggler's Top - and eventually fall foul of the mysterious individuals who are lurking about. Secret tunnels abound, and in this story at least, Timmy the dog is not only the major hero several times over - including saving his beloved mistress George from the bad guys - but helps apprehend the baddies in the end. Go, Timmy! ("Woof!")
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]
Later: This was quite fun, though as I've been reading so many of the parodies I sometimes had to remind myself that this was... not that. (It did make me appreciate how dead-on Vincent's parodies are, though; he took the characters' in-story traits and pushed them a couple of decades up the line, to amusing effect.) Here, there's a distinct gee-whiz atmosphere, with some surprisingly dark elements - the bad guys don't hesitate to put rough hands on the kids, whether capturing them or outright hitting them.
The plot itself involves (surprise!) smugglers - even though the days of Romney Marsh and hooded figures sneaking French brandy through the mists are long past (this is called out in-story, mind you) - with a more modern twist involving a monomaniacal villain facing down rezoning issues. (Rezoning? Yup - though don't worry; most of the story involves the Five and their visitor, young Sooty Lenoir (a student who attends the same school as Dick and Julian), as they explore Smuggler's Top - and eventually fall foul of the mysterious individuals who are lurking about. Secret tunnels abound, and in this story at least, Timmy the dog is not only the major hero several times over - including saving his beloved mistress George from the bad guys - but helps apprehend the baddies in the end. Go, Timmy! ("Woof!")
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at LFL - Ferry Rd #24 (Humane Society) in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, March 29, 2023
GoryDetails at LFL - Ferry Rd #24 (Humane Society) in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Released 1 yr ago (3/29/2023 UTC) at LFL - Ferry Rd #24 (Humane Society) in Nashua, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the Little Free Library on this sunny day; hope someone enjoys it![See other recent releases in NH here.]
** Released for the 2023 Oh, the Places We Can Go challenge. **
** Released for the 2023 TV Series challenge. **
