The Mountain of Adventure - Review

The fifth book of the series, even the name has a very pleasant air to it. This time Jack, Phillip, Dinah and Lucy Ann go to the Welsh mountains. We are back to the slow relaxed beginning. A jolly vacation feeling prevails. We wonder if we are back to the cozy atmosphere of the first two books. For a third of the book nothing adventurous happens. Phillip acquires two pets – interesting ones though not that exotic. There is lot of descriptions of food and eating. There is fun with Kiki and their Welsh hosts. They are safe and sound with their friend Bill and the mother of Phillip and Dinah – Mrs. Mannering. They look all set to go to a place called Vale of Butterflies on Donkeys. What can possibly go wrong, right? Wrong. In fact, after a slow start, we land ourselves the darkest story of the series.

First signs of mystery show with appearance of wolf like animals. What could they be. As Blyton takes pains to explain in most of her books, there are no such dangerous animals in Britain. Where could they have come from? This is followed by tremors in the ground. What is causing them? Then their Welsh guide starts developing strange incomprehensible fears. “Black”, “Black” – he utters. There has never been such mystery build up in an Enid Blyton book. The mystery is solved in the next few pages, but the answer is not one easy to digest. The men they encounter are no ordinary criminals trying to steal treasures. They are in a different league after. And for the first time, lives are in peril. As I had mentioned earlier, Blyton generally steers away from death in most of her book. Here she dangles the fear of death in front of the reader and how! At one point one can really feel a sense of tragedy though one knows this is a Blyton book and not some story of Genji where the author is going to kill of protagonist in the end of the story. People even had fears that J K Rowling may go that route. But not one will even think such things of Blyton.

For the people enjoying the cozy travelogue kind of feelings, this is not the best book once we got past the first third of the book. If we see, she has been increasing the danger levels from valley of adventure onwards. In valley of adventure, they are all alone in vast unsheltered landscape with burnt houses without even sufficient food. Nobody even knows where this valley is located. This kind of builds a sense of fear arising out of vast emptiness. However, there is not direct imminent danger. In Sea of Adventure, there is direct threat from the elements. Out exposed on an island with no adult company during a sea storm. And after that lost in an array of uninhabited islands with no hope of rescue. Here, humans are the main danger. The dark scary kind of humans you generally don’t see in Blyton’s books. I mean by Blyton’s standards. Nothing compared to Voldemort or some of the villains seen in some of the modern children’s fantasy to say nothing of adult thrillers.

Sometimes when things are cozy, people characters are not brought to fore. Only when things get tough, true characters emerges. Phillip comes out a true hero here showing grit and courage in the face of adversity. Also, his skill with animals almost reaches magical proportions here and that turns out to be the final fame changer. Lucy Ann is another who comes out in good light. She is always the scared little baby who never wanted any adventures. Here, even reader feels, this is a bit too much for children to be involved in. But she manages to show courage when her near and dear are threatened. A generally timid sweet child turning fiercely protective and ready to put herself at peril for her friends.

Other than the exotic settings compared to her other books, one thing about this book is that the children are thrown into situations where they are forced into adventures against their will. In others, the children from the safety of their homes, go investigating and poke around to apprehend criminals. Here the children are just going about their business and adventures seizes them and gives them no escape route. That way this is also the most dangerous series.

Another aspect we see as the series progresses is how relationship between children and Bill evolves. He is a stranger in the first book. In the second, he is just an acquaintance, who will pay them a visit when in the vicinity. In the third, he is taking them on short holidays. In the fourth he is close enough to visit their mother to leave official documents in her safe keeping and to take children on a longer vacation. In this one, he is taking them on a family vacation. This is nicely setting the stage for the sixth book.

So, Mountain of the Book is not the coziest of book. And one wonders how much more dangerous the story is going to get from here. And if they, will they truly remain Enid Blyton books? This was the last one I had read many years after I finished the series. I picked it up at a time when I was under stress and looking for something warmer. So, this did not meet my expectation. But on subsequent readings, I see how this book is special in its own way. It has the travelogue feeling, Philip’s way with animals, children showing character, danger, adventure, mystery.