6 Responses

1. Chelsea

   May 21st, 2007 at 10:04 pm

   1

   I read this first at school and found it very funny, and still do now as an adult - it is very well written and amusing.

2. ayush

   June 23rd, 2008 at 6:26 am

   2

   it’s a vry good book and vry funny too .

3. ayush

   June 23rd, 2008 at 6:26 am

   3

   i loved it

4. ayush

   June 24th, 2008 at 6:10 am

   4

   The Five are on a cycling tour through the countryside, and everything is very pleasant and idyllic, with enjoyable meals by the wayside and swims in pools, until the Five meet Richard Kent, who accompanies them for a short while, but unfortunately leads them into considerable trouble, partly through his own lies and deceit.
   Richard’s wealthy father had had a former bodyguard known as Rooky, who had been dismissed as a result of Richard telling tales to his father, and as a result Rooky is thirsting for revenge. Unfortunately he catches sight of Richard after he parts from the Five, and Richard comes blundering into the forest where the Five are about to set up camp, seeking their help, and two of Rooky’s henchmen come upon Dick and kidnap him, mistaking him for Richard, whom they do not know by sight.
   Exciting adventures follow as a result of the others’ late-night attempt to trace Dick and rescue him (with Richard tagging fearfully along); this leads them, via a moonlight bike ride and a wayside adventure, to Owl’s Dene, a lonely, walled mansion which, as its secrets slowly unfold, turns out to be a veritable nest of assorted rogues. All the children are held there, and there seems no hope of escape until Julian thinks up a plan which will only work if Richard is able finally to prove his bravery
   The plot thickens during the second half of the novel, and when the children are eventually able to send word to the police about what is going on, and the police are closing in, the criminals are getting into a siege mentality, and the danger for the children increases, especially from Rooky, who has seen all his neat plans come unstuck because of the children’s actions, and whose desire for revenge extends to all of them now, not just Richard.
   There are a couple of plot flaws. Given Richard’s cowardice (which is something of a theme followed by the book, culminating in his big opportunity to redeem himself), as well as his entirely reasonable fear of Rooky, it is puzzling why he followed the others into the den of thieves simply because he dreaded being left behind all alone even more. Also, it is difficult to see why the children, especially towards the end, when they are all together, and getting more desperate, don’t even consider trying to escape by climbing over the iron gates to the mansion. (They are outdoors some of the time within the grounds, more or less unsupervised, so the opportunity was there.)
   the children, and the criminals they get tangled up with, too - at least the ones who appear more than occasionally. For instance, Mr. Perton is cool and rational, always evaluating the best thing to do, whereas Rooky’s desire for revenge causes him to act rashly (even from his own point of view), and in fact contributes to his and the others’ final undoing.

5. ayush

   June 25th, 2008 at 6:34 am

   5

   The story begins by introducing the main characters - George, Harris, ‘J’ (Jerome, the narrator) and Montmorency, the dog. The men are spending an evening in J’s room, smoking and idly discussing various illnesses they fancy they are suffering from. They conclude they are suffering from ‘overwork’ and are badly in need of a holiday. The options of a stay in the country and a sea-trip are considered, then rejected (J. describes the bad experiences had by his brother-in-law and another unnamed friend on sea-trips). The three eventually decide upon a boating trip up the Thames, from Kingston to Oxford, during which they’ll camp-out, notwithstanding more anecdotes from J. regarding previous mishaps with tents and camping stoves.

   The next Saturday, they embark. George must go into work that morning (”George goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day, except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two”) so J. and Harris make their way to Kingston by train. Unable to find the correct train at Waterloo Station, they resort to bribing a train driver to take his train to Kingston where they collect their hired boat and start upon their journey. They meet George later in the day, up-river at Weybridge.

   The remainder of the story relates their leisurely journey up the river and the incidents that occur. The book’s original purpose as a guidebook is apparent as the narrator describes the many landmarks and villages they pass by such as Hampton Court Palace, Monkey Island, Magna Carta Island and Marlow, and he muses upon the historical associations of these places. However, he frequently digresses into funny anecdotes that range in subject from the unreliability of barometers for weather forecasting to Harris’ hopeless ineptness at singing Gilbert and Sullivan comic songs (that contrasts with his belief that he has a talent for it). The narrator’s most frequent topics are river pastimes such as fishing and boating and the difficulties they may present to the inexperienced and unwary.

6. Haythem Dawlett

   July 28th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

   6

   i like this book. Its a very funny and quick read. Laughter is the best medicine!