The Mountain of Adventure

Adventure #5

by Enid Blyton

The Mountain of Adventure

Genres: Adventure, Childrens, Fiction, Mystery, Middle Grade, Classics, Young Adult

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

See also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)

Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.

Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.

Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.

According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.

See also her pen name Mary Pollock

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back at the March Break of 1959, I came down with the Godzilla of all possible colds. I’ve never been so totally congested before or since.

My brother, our friend Ricky and myself had just discovered that Norel Hobbies on the main (unpaved) drag was selling single-prop rubber-band-driven balsa wood model airplanes for a buck a pop! Must have been a March Break gate crasher...

What an absolute BLAST it was to fly Those beauties around! We’d been practicing with one or two of ‘em in the street prior to that break.

And we knew that for such a minor expenditure for our double-income parents (rare back then!), they wouldn’t mind a few fatal crashes, necessitating another dollar or two, just to get us out of their hair for the whole week...

But - and here’s the root of my deep discontent - Fate had very different plans for me that week.

I was suddenly, at the start of that glorious week of childish freedom, invalidated - sneezing, coughing - and very contagious. So my young buddies got their wooden planes... and I?

Well, my mother the librarian had BIGGER ideas for ME.

She wanted to take advantage of my misfortune to make me into an AVID READER - cold or NO cold!

And that she did - with THIS ONE BOOK. It didn’t have any pictures, but, boy oh boy, it had a fabulously eerie plot that gripped my young imagination. You see, she had first dibs on borrowing the books she bought and catalogued at home, back in those unregimented days, so why not teach the kids to learn to love reading too?

WOW, was she right!

This book had everything.

Kids my age as heroes, a would-be world-enslaving villain who prepared me to meet Goldfinger three or four years later - when I was allowed to hop a bus into town ALL BY MYSELF (okay, you kids, laugh!) - and a mysterious thundering mountain that got the young heroes into a lot more trouble than anything life had ever thrown at them before.

And of course it’s a great book... NOT. No, NO teacher would have approved of it back then (but hey, I woulda read it anyway under the sheets with a flashlight)!

But my Mom was the one who recommended it to me... and it may (who knows?) have helped turn me into a university graduate in English Lit, in the end. AND got me addicted to books BIG TIME, that otherwise Awful week.

THREE AND A HALF STARS FOR THE UNBEATABLE MEMORIES, ENID!

You gave me back my technicolor DREAMS, and - know what else?

BOOKS were suddenly AWESOME.

And guess what?

Thanks to my memory of this book -

My young Grand-Nephew now LOVES Blyton's Famous Five!

(AND he'll open a NEW Blyton book from me next week, on his Birthday.

With a copy on Kindle for moi-meme!)

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The children have an adventure in the Welsh countryside in this one. They find a mountain with evil deeds being perpetrated inside it. There are passages and tunnels a plenty. More evil villains and new characters also. Once again Kiki brings comedy and laughs to the story. These books wouldn't be the same without her.
Enid Blyton's marvelous imagination shines through again but this adventure is totally over the top, totally unbelievable with a totally crazy madman. I loved it!!

[Nidhi Jolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My childhood would have been incomplete and bereft of so much joy without Enid Blyton. I'm re-reading some of these series as an adult and finding just as much happiness in them. Such beloved memories and perhaps the very instances where nostalgia revisited is not disappointing. I LOVE the adventure series and all the characters, the food they keep eating and just the unbridled fun of childhood.

[Arie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came across my 2003 school reading log, so figured I should enter these books in too. In the words of my ten-year-old self, this book was: "Really, really good!"

[Val Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a long time to really get going, but when it did, was very exciting as with the rest of the series. wording a bit outdated but a great adventure

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series it was full of adventure, fun and mystery. I would recommend this to any adventure or mystery lovers. It’s a true Enid Blyton classic!

[Aesthetic-Deccie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice farm location and the mystery is amazing the way bill comes in is amazing 4.5/5 Kiki best character

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mountain of Adventure is bonkers, blending a family hiking holiday with sci-fi nonsense and just a dash of light child endangerment.

Even as an Adventure series enthusiast child, I wasn't into this one (bar the donkeys and butterflies). The so-called "King of the Mountain" with his big bulgy forehead (sign of incredible intelligence apparently) was a step too far even for a Blyton scientist No idea what the actual point of the master plan.

Overall a disappointment still. Though naturally even while trapped in a mountain, the children still find time for multiple feasts. Who of course, because they are such terribly polite and proper children, announced Bill could send money for the food they helped themselves to. (Well polite children unless they are patronising adults - we assume deservedly so because they have a regional accent or are just lesser for whatever reason. i'm not even going to comment on the way the Welsh people and how they apparently speak. 😲)

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review from my adult perspective is that the book was rather slow, and the story rather unbelievable. Review from my 8 year old's perspective is that the story was super-exciting and the characters wonderful (especially Kiki the parrot).

[A.R. Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all the series so far (and, I expect, to come), this book has some exceptional moments - but I find I can't now recall the specific bits that really gripped me, so they obviously weren't that memorable! It was definitely all in the section where the children were trapped inside the mountain. The claustrophobic environment is something Enid does very well, and something I have come to associate with this series. There's also a very sinister aspect to the story that I thought was highly effective. I do remember the children's meeting with 'the king', not so much gripping as unnerving. I also found myself mentally applauding Lucy-Ann on two separate occasions; she's always been braver than she seems, but this time she surpassed herself.

Unfortunately there's too much wrong with this book for me to score it as highly as its predecessors. It's slow to get started, and while it's getting there, the Welsh stereotyping is somewhat unpalatable. Even Kiki thinks it's funny to make fun of the Welsh! There's plenty of racism to come in this one, all intact in my copy, which is a first edition - and indeed I don't approve of the extensive editing in more recent editions; a disclaimer about old attitudes would be more appropriate. But then you'd have to make it clear that Enid had more outdated, more extreme attitudes than was usual at the time. There's also some irritating use of animals in this one - although Snowy the kid did redeem himself by proving useful to the adventure - and I discovered very early in the book that this is where Philip's animal-charming abilities just get silly. As soon as he starts attracting them with his 'curious little noises', I find it very annoying.

[Fiona Wilkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remembered the descriptions in the book especially the tunnels in the mountain, but didn't remember the plot at all. It must be about 47 years since I first read this Adventure book and still really enjoyed it. Although I didn't remember that the girls hardly do or say anything so I must have not really minded when I first read it. The Ship of Adventure next!

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Petualangan kali ini mendebarkan. Proper review nyusul.

[Jitendra Mulay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent adventure, filled with mystery, magic, courage and unmatched friendship

[Andreas]

Probably read sometime between 2001-2005

[Deity World · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow this was brutal with the wolves a good adventure just not one of my favourites

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fifth book in the classic series sees the children on school holidays in the Welsh mountains where they become immersed in another adventure. There do seem to be a lot of school holidays for these kids because they never seem to get any older. This series continues to amuse me long after I first read them as a child. It works so well because of how much freedom the kids have to be on their own. My childhood dream was to have an adventure like one of these, unfortunately it never happened. The mystery here is a little unbelievable relative to the other books, but still enjoyable to read. I had to laugh at the continuous meals of tongue; it sounds so gross by today’s standards.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another romp for the 4 children and Kiki, set in the Welsh mountains. They are very of their time these books, with talk of pluck and the language used, but enjoyable.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mountain of Adventure is a story I read and loved as a kid, but unfortunately I forgot both the title and author. I have only just tracked these down thanks to the good folk at What's The Name of That Book group.
I have given it four stars based on my enjoyment of it as a child. Its an amazing adventure story, filled with intrigue, excitement and humour.
As an adult reader I can appreciate these elements and enjoy the story, but its hard to overlook the overt racism and sexism. I'm sure Enid Blyton was in step with her times when she wrote Mountain of Adventure in the 1940's. However it makes me feel a little sad that these features were part of what is a great adventure story, and that as a kid I accepted and believed them.
I would be interested to know if the sexist and racist issues have been edited out in more recent editions. If so, the result would be an almost perfect adventure story for young readers.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fifth in the Adventure series as the title suggests it has a mountain setting in picturesque Wales as they holiday on a farm which delights Philip with so many animals around including Snowy, the kid, a slow worm and donkeys. This time both Bill and their mother Allie Mannering accompanies the 4 children Philip, Dinah, Jack, Lucy-Ann and not forgetting Kiki but this, of course, doesn't prevent them from finding Adventure.

I like the fact that the mystery is slowly unravelled bit by bit not quickly. I love the way that the unexpected happens Enid Blyton is never lazy or predictable. My only quibble is the sexist attitude that often occurs in the books "the girls only half understanding what was going on"! But this is obviously a sign of the times they were written but I can't reduce the star rating for this as it wouldn't be fair. These are just really good ripping reads.

[Katie Grainger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is probably my least favourite in the series so far, it all seemed really bizarre and far fetched even for an Enid Blyton adventure story. I wasn’t keen on it at all, the story was quite slow going and when it did finally get going the whole King of the Mountain thing was also not brilliant. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series though as they others in the series are so good.

[Bunga Mawar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minggu terakhir Agustus ini kena reading slump. Perlu semingguan baca buku ini, salah satu seri Petualangan yang belum sempat saya baca zaman SD dulu.

(Ngomong-ngomong, gambar sampulnya, kok saya yang lulus SD udah puluhan tahun lalu nggak nyaman ya lihat ekspresi wajah para tokohnya? Tapi mungkin anak zaman sekarang lebih nyaman dan terbiasa lihat muka petualang nan merenggut begitu?)

[Araaaa ➹ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baru pertama kali membaca karya milik Enid Blyton dan selepas membaca ini rasanya seru sekali! Petualangan yang disajikan sangat menegangkan. Rasanya gak mau berhenti buat baca karena penasaran apa yang terjadi selanjutnya. Setelah ini aku bakal coba karya Enid Blyton yang lainnya!

[K Stott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second Enid Blyton I’ve read this year and this one, like the Adventurous Four, is a nostalgic throwback but with some things that have not aged well.

The 1949 novel features a different set of four children than in Adventurous Four, but still follows the same pattern: unsupervised children ‘having an adventure’. These particular four children are two sets of siblings- Philip and his sister Dinah and Lucy-Ann and her brother Jack. The four are on a summer vacation in rural Wales, initially with two supervising adults, Philip and Dinah’s mother, Mrs. Mannering, and their family friend, Bill. The group plan to take an overnight camping trip, led by a local guide, David, and his donkeys. When Mrs. Mannering injures her hand, the children are left under David’s supervision and adventure breaks out.



Spoilers below...


The mystery the children discover once they are alone in the woods involves a mountain that puffs crimson smoke, a mad scientist lab hidden in said mountain and some evil Germans (naturally). The mystery itself is fine, and some of this about what I was expecting for a novel from this era- the evil Germans and the outdated gender stereotypes are similar to the Adventurous Four and par for the course for a 1949 novel. The part that was not what I was expecting were the uncomfortable race connotations (big spoiler here): African American parachutists being held against their will, making run for it only to be treed by Alsatian (German Shepherd) dogs? And all in service of a plot where white English kids save the day? All kinds of ick.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bu Mannering sudah bertekad akan terus mengamati anak-anak selama liburan ini, apabila sahabat karib mereka, Bill, sedang tidak bersama anak-anak. Dengan begitu, anak-anak tak mungkin lagi terlibat dalam petualangan yang menyeramkan. Akan tetapi, Jack, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann, ditemani dengan Kiki tentunya, selalu terjerumus kedalam petualangan baru yang menyeramkan.

Kali ini mereka hendak bepergian ke Lembah Kupu-Kupu, Bill dan bu Mannering batal ikut, sebab tangan bu Mannering cedera. Dalam perjalanannya menuju lembah tersebut, mereka ditemani Pak David sebagai pemandu yang membawa keledai-keledainya. Sayangnya, kabut tebal 🌫️ datang menghampiri. Akhirnya mereka semua tersesat dan terpaksa berkemah di suatu lembah. Entah apa yang dilihat Pak David, yang langsung membuatnya ketakutan dan membawa keledai-keledainya lari meninggalkan lembah tersebut. Di lembah tersebut pun terdapat banyak kejadian misterius mengenai gunungnya ⛰️.

Latar tempatnya dijelaskan dengan terperinci, sehingga kita harus banyak memainkan imajinasi agar dapat membayangi visualnya dengan baik.

Kiki, si burung konyol, dengan tingkahnya yang begitu jenaka 😂, membuat suasana buku ini semakin hidup. Gak kebayang deh kalau punya burung seperti Kiki, pasti bakal kocak banget 🤩.

Untuk endingnya, aku pribadi masih kurang puas, sebab tidak memenuhi ekspektasiku yang mengira akan diberikan penjelasan dengan terperinci. Tapi secara kesuluruhan, buku ini seru untuk diikuti, apalagi kalau kalian seorang penggemar buku misteri dan buku anak!

Rate ⭐ : 4.3/5

[Mr Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 5 in the series.

Its ok. I enjoyed Sea of Adventure more. This one seems to take a while to get going, although when it does its quite an action packed tale, with all manner of crazy scientists and crazy science, all set in and around the Welsh mountains.

We meet some stereotypical Welsh characters, all of whom speak in a very peculiar way. David in particular is portrayed as being a bit of an oddball and there are some scenes where the children are quite unpleasant to him.

Talking of the children, they’re a faceless bunch. The two lads are the animal lovers and are surrounded by parakeets, goats and slow worms, as well as donkeys and Alsatian dogs. They are both interchangeable and if you asked me to describe their personalities I would be stuck.

The girls fare even worse. Both are portrayed as being helpless, liable to faint at the sight of a worm. Dinah in particular comes across as being a bit unpleasant at times: snappy, sulky and rude, especially to David, the old Welshman.

The actual story is, for Blyton, quite tense, with mad scientists, evil foreign henchmen and bizarre science. Thinking about it, the peril that the children are faced with is quite strong and, if this were real, would have been a terrifying experience. I wonder where EB got the inspiration for the scientific parts of the story ? When she describes the laboratory and the concept of the “wings”, although we know the science is flaky, it does feel as though she is confident with what she is writing about.

Of course, theres always a happy ending, even if it does feel a tad rushed.
So, not bad but not a book I would read again in a hurry. Its the weakest in the series so far. I’m looking forward to the last three books as I never read those when I was a kid. Hopefully, they will surprise me !

[Farseer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The weakest entry in the Adventure series so far.

The children travel to the Welsh mountains with Bill and Mrs. Mannering. The portrait of life at the Welsh inn was amusing, although perhaps a bit too caricature-like. Then the children depart on a donkey trek, and Blyton separates them from the adults with a couple of flimsy excuses.

At their best, Blyton's books get across the joy of the freedom the children feel when they go on holiday on their own. Some of that was present here, but perhaps not as much as in her best books.

Then the adventure was... weird. It was one of those science-fiction kind of adventure, like in the otherwise superior Five Get into a Fix, also set in the Welsh mountains. What's with Blyton and her weird idea of the Welsh mountains?

Anyway, the adventure itself was not bad once you get over your incredulity at the science-fiction component. The baddies' plot was silly and needlessly intricate, like always, but that never bothered me as a child so I don't let bother me now.

Enjoyable but flawed entry in the series.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son’s first Enid Blyton book and he loved it! I was scared that he might not like her books as I heard many parents say their kids found Blyton’s books pretty dated. I decided to read this book to him as he wasn’t that interested in picking it on his own. It was his first big book too as he had never read a book bigger than 100 pages long so was intimidated to read on his own.
What he loved the most in the book were Kiki (the talking parrot) and snowy(the goat kid). He found them funny and cute and whenever they appeared in the story, he giggled and enjoyed those bits. The adventure also made him interested in the story as this was his first mystery book too. He had mostly read fantasy books with dragons and magical creatures (other than required reading in school) so I was glad that he liked this book.
Now it’s time to make him read more books by Blyton. He has already started reading Sea of Adventure and is liking it too. I hear him laughing whenever Kiki makes an appearance so yay!

[MRS DIANE E CASSIDY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great fun.........BUT please remember that it was written 75 years ago!

I have grown up reading Enid Blyton books, especially the adventure ones, the Famous Five and Secret Seven, St Claires and Mallory Gowers and have loved them all and still do. I am now in my sixties and still enjoy them as much as I did when I was a child. I would recommend this book to anyone ........young or o!d who has a sense of fun and adventure but who can clearly differentiate between the ways and customs of a very different life to that lived now. What may have been acceptable in 1949 very likely wouldn't be at all acceptable now for any number of reasons, a whole lot of them to do with Health and Safety.
So enjoy but please remember these were first and foremost Children's stories and need no political corrections if read as such.

[Ipeh Alena · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Tunggu saja sampai aku sudah memakai sayap antigravitasi. Itu baru benar-benar ajaib." ~ Phil

Petualangan di setiap buku pada seri khusus ini memang berbeda. Ada yang menyenangkan ada pula yang membosankan. Kalau buku ini bagi saya menyenangkan, apalagi membayangkan Ladang Kupu-kupu dengan anak kambing yang patuh. Sepertinya sangat lucu sekali. Belum hal-hal yang entah kenapa selalu membawa mereka terjerumus dalam kondisi genting, tanpa disadari. Ah, kalau saya jadi Bu Manning, sepertinya saya bakalan terkena kejang terus-terusan mendengar berita anak-anak ini terjebak di sebuah tempat yang mengerikan.

[K.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The family go off to Wales - look you, whateffer! Aunt Allie is injured and the children go off in search of the Vale of Butterflies with a very vapid guide. Of course they soon fall prisoner to the King of the Mountain- a mad scientist determined to defeat the effects of gravity with his *wings*. Very touching part where Lucy-Ann offers to try the wings out in place of Philip as she is smaller and will have more of a chance of survival. Also, we get our first real glimpse into Aunt Allie and Bills relationship... also.... they come down to brekkie together, way after the children 😜😜