Updating Jane? Perish the thought…oh, wait
The Enid Blyton folks are up in arms over the modernization of her work, and all in all we can’t blame them; we know what it is like to defend your literary heroine from those who would use her for their own evil devices. *glares at assorted filmmakers, who know who they are* But we could not help being amused by this bit:
I just wonder where it will stop. Do we start updating Jane Austen next, or Dickens?
Oh, no, perish the thought! 
(But yes, anyone tampering with the actual text would face the wrath and Cluebat not only of the Editrix, but Janeites worldwide.)
June 26th, 2006 at 12:12 am
God. Enid Blyton. I used to love her work so much–the Secret Seven and Famous Five series, but most of all, The Secret Island.
Of course, I am certain if you looked hard enough, you could find certain conventions to quibble over–as I suspect you could in someone like, let’s say, Agatha Christie–but there remains so much good in the books, I think it’s a shame to dismiss them out of hand. The Stoney woman is spot on: “I just don’t see why people can’t accept that they were written in a particular period and are a product of that.”