School stories

On Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:49:21 +1000, Peter Moylan <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On 23/07/26 07:12, J. J. Lodder wrote:
>> Hibou <[email protected]> wrote:

>>> Public-school stories were popular. Billy Bunter was never my thing, but
>>> I had a volume of Jennings stories that I remember fondly, and I recall
>>> reading others, though the names of the characters escape me.
>>
>> It may surprise you, but Billy Bunter (translated as Billie Turf)
>> was hugely popular in the Netherlands and Belgium in comic format.
>> There are even three Belgian movies featuring him. (~1980)
>>
>> This despite the fact that the whole Greyfriars universe
>> was completely foreign to late 20th century Dutch/Belgian kiddies.
>>
>> But I was thinking of Enid Blyton in particular as boring,
>
>They appealed to different age groups. I liked the Secret Seven and the
>Famous Five when I was about seven years old. (I was already too old for
>Noddie and Bigears.) Billie Bunter was aimed at a much older readership.
>And Harry Potter, I submit, is more sophisticated than Billie Bunter, so
>is suitable for those who have already passed through the school system.
>For some reason, perhaps the magic, it also managed to appeal to a
>younger group who wouldn't have known such things as the spells being
>based on Latin.

If school stories are a genre, than perhaps "Tom Brown's Schooldays"
started it.

Enid Blyton also wrote school stories, her "Mallory Towers" series,
for example, though I haven't read any of them. As a child I enjoyed
her "Secret" (not Seven) series, and the "Adventure" series. They were
badly written and full of food porn, but I still enjoyed them and they
gave me a love of reading.

Here's my review of the first Enid Blyton book I read, after rereading
it as an adult:

<https://ondermynende.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/the-secret-of-killimooin/>

There is also Kipling's "Stalky & Co," which reveals something of an
anarchist streak.

Rowling combined hers with magic/fantasy in a sort of genre crossover.

I think we have previously discussed some of the puzzling terminology
of the Billy Bunter books (like "Remove") here in aue. 






-- 
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
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