I purchased all 6 of these books from Amazon.com and the last 3 arrived months before the first ones. I finally cancelled the Amazon.com order for books 1, 2, and 3 and ordered them from Amazon.co.uk. They arrived from there promptly. I do not understand why Amazon.com couldn't get the books from their sister company and mail them to me, but evidently that is beyond their capabilities. I waited for MONTHS to get the books through the original order. Since I had read books 4 - 6 already, I was quite interested in getting the first three. This isn't the first time this has happened. I really don't understand Amazon's methods.
But, to the books: I just finished book 1 (First Term at Malory Towers) and I enjoyed it. As I have mentioned before, it is very interesting to me to read about some of the basic assumptions of the schooling "in those days". First of all, the girls readily accept that they are at school, not only to learn, but also to become better people. The overall emphasis on building good character, along with gaining academic knowledge is accepted by the GIRLS as important - not just the adults. The basic struggles that the girls go through in the books are those of mastering their characters. The books are a bit preachy in this respect - as are many older books - but I wonder if that isn't a good thing rather than a bad one. Kids nowadays would find it too old fashioned - but I think a good dose of character building would help a lot of kids. Rather than blaming all of their problems on the system, the girls take responsibility for them themselves. OK - one of the girls doesn't. She blames everyone else for all of her difficulties, but that stands out so much that it is a big point of the story.
Darrell, the main character, is intelligent, although certainly not the top student in the form. In order for her to get the grades and the standing she wants, she has to work a bit - not excessively, but she can't be a slacker like the brightest girl. She starts out trying to be like the very smart, but also somewhat sassy Alicia - but she gradually learns that she has to be herself - and to work to better herself as she is.
Another point of interest is the differences in the girls' characters. Ms. Blyton seems especially adept at making each girl seem unique: from Darrell's temper to Gwendoline's petty nastiness to the cool-headed Katherine. The girls seem to be so accepting of the differences. They are even accepting of the academic differences. The girls are constantly informed about not only their current grades, but also about their standings in the class. It is common knowledge who is top in what class - and who is at the bottom. This kind of openness would be anathema nowadays - it would damage too many kids' self esteem. But, for all that, the kids nowadays DO know. They probably couldn't tell the exact rankings of kids, but they know who are the best students, who are the worst, who are the best/worst artists, who are the best/worst at sports. We may be protecting some egos by hiding the exact numbers and rankings, but we are also giving up the motivation that comes from trying to do a bit better. And I sometimes wonder if that system didn't work better. It would be interesting to try it out in a modern school. I wonder if it would be considered ethical to experiment with it.
edited 11/11/2006 for spelling of Malory
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