Away Laughing on a Fast Camel -- Louise Rennison

More on Enid Blyton.

In the newest Louise Rennison book, Away Laughing on a Fast Camel (which was wonderful, by the way, and if you like the Bridget Jones books at all you should read them), Georgia talks about Enid Blyton in the glossary:

japes : Enid Blyton wrote children's books about the Famous Five in the 1950s. These five complete wets had lots of "japes" and "jolly wheezes." If, for instance, they hid behind the door and then leapt out to surprise their parents, that would be a "wizard jape." I think you get the picture of what extraordinarily crap books they were.

She's so right. They are totally crap books. Yet, they have this crazy, crazy rabid following. Of course, I should probably admit that whenever I find Blyton books at used bookstores, I buy them. But mostly I do it out of spite, so that the Blyton fanatics can't get them.