Five Get Into Trouble – The Book that Got Me Back into Cycling
Audiobook Narrated by: Jan Francis
Duration: 4 hours | Genre: Children’s Mystery
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Author: Enid Blyton
Rating: 5⭐️
No. In Series: 8
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Release Date: 1949
Synopsis
The Five are enjoying their Easter Holidays at Kirrin Cottage and embark on a cycling and camping holiday after their aunt and uncle depart for a conference. But on their journey, they encounter a boy named Richard Kent wants to come cycling with them. But where Richard goes, trouble follows and soon Dick is mistaken for Richard and snatched. The group must come together to rescue him before the worst happens.
Own Opinion
This was another book that I had forgotten about in the years that have passed since I read it. But again, something about the calming atmosphere invites me back. On the other hand, I’d forgotten that Richard was not only a wet blanket and a pest but also a coward that gets the Five into more trouble with his constant need for others to protect him. Thankfully, the rest of the Five save the book from being unbearable. Though most of them are barely in their teens, they act more like adults and that makes them aa group of admirable children. I was partly inspired by this book to get my hands on my own bike recently, having not ridden one for years and I’ve been falling back in love with the feeling of pedalling across roads and pavements, going fast or slow as need be.
Character
As I mentioned before, Richard is a pain in the neck. Julian describes him as being more trouble than he’s worth and he always whining and wailing about situations that he’s gotten himself into! After Dick is taken, his position amongst the group is taken by Richard, but he doesn’t have a fraction of his courage and when he’s not mentioned in a while, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that he was even there. He’s the source of the book’s conflict, but personally speaking, it might have been better if he had been the one who was taken and the Five go after him out of the goodness of their character. But as he is presented, I might not have bothered with rescuing him.
The Five are as good as ever, and because of Richard mistaking her for a boy from their first interaction, George is far more friendly to him than to some of the other one-book characters, until she is separated from Timmy and loses her temper completely with Richard, as it is his fault. On the other side, there is the group who snatch Dick and the poor woman, Aggie, that they have working for them. I’m unsure if she’s there willingly or unwillingly, but she’s clearly not happy to be where she is. It’s possible that she may have started as a willing participant, but was gradually beaten down by extended abuse, but she’s simply too afraid to try and get away.
Storytelling
Blyton’s description never fails, sliding from easing you into a relaxed journey that you would have been content just to let be a bike tour across the countryside. The descriptions of food are as on point as they ever were and so is the layout of the vivid countryside, making you wish that you could join along with them. On a side note, I have to wonder if Blyton understood what remote-controlled gates were when she wrote this or if she was writing this from the point of view of a child who didn’t know what or how they worked. But there is something strange in the way that she describes them and the way that they move. Partway through the book, it turns from a simple, relaxing tale of a group of kids going over the countryside on bikes into a game of spying and sneaking around, breaking into windows and sending signals to each other without being caught.
Final Thoughts
If you are looking for a book that will soothe you into the tension of the plot of secrets and sneaking around, this is a good start. You don’t expect the book to take you into such a direction but by the time it does, you are simply too intrigued to stop and that’s the charm of Blyton’s writing. She can throw just about anything at you and you’re simply too curious by what will happen next to turn your attention away.
Next time, it’ll be another adventure for the Five as George and Timmy go missing and there’s a break in at Kirrin Cottage!
