A somewhat dark and scary adventure26 August 2012tI found this one to be a much darker Famous Five adventure than the ones that I have so far read. It seemed that the Five were in a lot more trouble, and facing a lot more danger, than they have had previously. Also, it is the first book that I actually hoped that they would do something to actually kill one of the bad guys (namely by pushing him out of a cave halfway up a cliff) though that was only a fleeting thought because people don't die in any of Blyton's books (that is something that really only happens in adult literature). They also meet an interesting character, Ragamuffin Jo, who starts off bad, but eventually comes good, and once again it is because somebody showed her kindness (in this case it was Dick).tThis one has Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny disappear to Spain after Quentin returns from America and Julian, Dick, and Anne return from France (why don't they ever have an adventure on the continent?). In this book, like the previous one, they don't find adventure, the adventure finds them, and this adventure arrives in the form of Ragamuffin Jo. Once again somebody is after Quentin's work, and this time they will stop at nothing to get it, which involves kidnapping George and drugging Timothy.tFor most of the adventure. George and Timothy are out of the picture. Anne also disappears for a while and Julian, Dick, and Jo leave her and Kirrin Cottage to travel down the coast in an attempt to rescue George. However, the crooks this time are people that you don't mess with. It is very clear from these characters that they will stop at nothing, even murder, to get what they want. However, they did not anticipate the ingenuity of the Five, or that Jo would turn traitor on them simply because Dick showed her kindness.tOnce again, Blyton seems to have stepped away from the formula that she had been using in the previous books, in that they don't stumble onto trouble, but rather trouble comes looking for them. Unlike the previous book it is not because they met up with somebody, but rather that the crooks are coming directly at the Five themselves. As I said, this is a much darker, and in a way scarier, story than the others that I have read, though I suspect that Blyton may back away from this darkness in later books (though we shall see once I get to them).
I've been in an Enid Blyton reading mood all day, so I decided to go with this one again 'Five fall into adventure". I've always thought this book was a little darker than some of the others, from Jo's blatant child abuse at the hands of her father and his friends, to George's kidnapping and the doping of Timmy. The adventures aren't as light hearted as the ones before it, but that doesn't keep me from enjoying it.A bright spark is Jo herself; she's a plucky but downtrodden version of George. She's a bright spark, and joins the five for later adventures, and this is her introduction. I've always loved that these adventures occur when the parentals are out of the picture, and very rarely are police involved until the very end- as is the case in this one.Red Tower is one of the scarier villains in the five books- I've always thought that by the way the men treated him that he is in fact a little bit mad. I'm always glad to see his capture in the end, and the helicopter crashed but no one dies ( a very important point, no one ever dies in these books, even after crashing a helicopter lol) Timmy comes through for the five again- even if Anne is left out at the end, she did get to go to Raven's wood and although it's probably sexist, it's nice to see that her brothers put her comfort above all else, making sure she is warm and reassured.I think I may read another in the series before moving on, but I know I'll always come back to these, my favorite of Enid's books.
What do You think about Five Fall Into Adventure (2015)?
Berbeda dengan liburan sebelumnya, Lima Sekawan tidak melakukan perjalanan (baca: petualangan). Mereka tetap tinggal di Pondok Kirrin karena Paman Quentin dan Bibi Fanny memutuskan untuk berlibur ke Spanyol, mengistirahatkan Paman dari segala pekerjaannya selama ini. Julian, Dick, Anne, George, dan Timmy berencana untuk berenang di pantai setiap hari. Suatu hari, mereka bertemu dengan Jo, gelandangan yang duduk di lubang yang dibuat oleh George. Pertengkaran pun terjadi. Jo dan George tidak akur. Mereka seperti kucing dan tikus saja. Ternyata Jo adalah anak perempuan. Ia mirip sekali dengan George kalau diamati, hanya dalam versi kumal.Suatu malam, rumah kemasukan maling. Padahal Julian sudah mengunci seluruh jendela. Ruang kerja Paman Quentin dibongkar, brankasnya juga. pasti maling itu menginginkan dokumen penting milik Paman. Dan parahnya, George dan Timmy menghilang. Awalnya sepupu- sepupu George mengira ia dan anjingnya berjalan- jalan. Namun saat hari sudah malam dan ia tidak juga kembali, mereka mulai khawatir.Lalu datanglah Jo mengantarkan sebuah surat yang berisi keterangan mengenai George. Dan benar, ia diculik. Sebagai tebusannya, para sepupu George harus menyerahkan catatan Paman Quentin kepada mereka dengan cara yang telah ditentukan dalam surat. Mereka juga tidak boleh melibatkan polisi. Wow, petualangan baru segera dimulai!Benarkah Jo adalah gelandangan jahat yang terlibat dalam penculikan George dan Timmy? Mampukah anak- anak mengalahkan penjahat dan membawa pulang George dan Timmy? Ikuti petualangan seru mereka di seri kesembilan Lima Sekawan.
—Erta Lin
