Hello dear readers! This is Miss A. Misra here after quite a while. (I really need to change that intro) I have read a good number of books while I was offline, and one of them includes The Midnight Gang by David Walliams. (please note that I did not buy this book though I have read it. How? I borrowed it from a friend)
I started reading it yesterday and it ended today.
Basically, I had just finished watching the first of “Attack on Titans” and decided that, well. Since I have nothing else to do, I’ll just finish the book real quick.
Firstly, the book is illustrated almost every few pages, which makes it easier to read and more fun for children. The drawings are quite decent and given in just the right places.
Second of all, the plot is very wholesome and sweet. It’s about a gang of children who are admitted in the children’s ward in Lord Funt’s hospital. They set about, fulfilling each other’s dreams in the most creative methods possible. For example. one boy wanted to fly. The children took all the helium balloons in the hospital and tied it to him so that he could float safely up the stairs and after popping a few balloons, float down again. There’s George, who loves eating and had his tonsils removed. Amber, who broke all her limbs because she fell off her bunk (don’t ask me how, I don’t know how.) Then there’s sarcastic Robin, who got some operation on his eyes and has to wear a bandage around them and can’t see. There’s Sally, who is so ill she almost always sleeps and has the tiniest amount of hair left. (I’m serious, almost all the hair on her head has fallen off) Then the new patient, Tom, who got hit by a cricket ball on the head. Together they form the midnight gang who set about at midnight (which is why they are called the midnight gang, as you probably have guessed by this time, it’s pretty obvious to me, but anyway-) And there is also last but not the least Porter, whose real name is unknown, who helps the children in their work. He has a lopsided face and one leg which is shorter than the other, however is very kind and generous even though he has no home of his own. Of course, there HAS to be an evil antagonist in a plot like this, who in this case is the matron, who hates children but takes care of the children’s ward. (???, I’m sorry, that makes no sense to me either, but it is what it is.)
Well, Tom’s parents live abroad and he feels lonely and unwanted because they hardly ever write to him in boarding school. He settles in the children’s ward quite well and even gets entry to the midnight gang (on the condition that he should always push Amber around on her wheelchair because no one else wanted to do so, on account of her being so terribly bossy. But that’s hardly the point, is it?) They have three main missions left to accomplish, Ambers’ (visiting the South Pole) George’s (flying) and Sally’s (living a wonderful life because she feels that since she’s always so ill, it would be a change for her to finally experience something else rather than lying in bed all day). The mean matron keeps trying to spoil their fun, so George puts a sleeping pill in the chocolates she eats at night, causing her to sleep all the time. That leaves the three children free to do whatever.
But they don’t include Sally in these adventures, since she is too ill and fragile. Tom, however, has no major problem with him, so he could join, as I mentioned before. The whole book is basically run on this whole plot.
The third thing I really liked about this story is that there is a whole lot of humour. Sarcasm, irony, simple jokes, or just random circumstances that appear funny to me for no reason,the full deal is packed into the book. However, the ending was rather too sudden, and I felt sad that (spoiler here) Tom just had to leave all his new friends .The reason you will find out when you read the book.Its unfair that everything just ends right when it was getting interesting. But if you think about it, no one can stay in a hospital forever and ever, no matter how ill you are.Atleast it’s not a good thing then.But since I am not discussing serious issues here this book review ends here.
Well, that was “The Midnight Gang” By David Walliams. I hope you liked this article. See you in the next one! Goodbye, signing off~
Books
Enid Blyton The Biography by Barbara Stoney Book Review
Name of the Book:Enid Blyton The Biography. Its an interesting biography. But I felt it’s not a full one because it doesn’t answer the question about the writing process behind Enid Blyton’s success .Saying that it still is the most lucid,interesting and fast paced book I have read on an author’s life and work.
There appears to be,no end to controversies about Enids work .While we thought children’s books were supposed to be simple and feel good ,her critiques feel they are too simple and dumb down kids literature.
For someone like me whose mother tongue wasn’t English ,I thank God her language was that simple .It helped me fall in love with reading and made me a life long booklover .Her popularity and book sales have few competitions.I feel the only thing that’s keeping her down nowadays (somewhat) are the sanitized new version of her work and the new illustrations which don’t do justice to her vision and that of her original illustrators.But every day her fans keep on increasing as kids who grew up reading her books introduce their kids to those treasures, like I did.
Why I picked up the book?
I was looking for a book to know more about how Enid Blyton wrote.Her books have been the greatest inspiration for me , both as a reader and an author.
My daughter too inaugurated her bookworm life,during COVID lockdown with a stash of Famous Five the complete series which I had gifted her two years back.That marked the beginning of re-reading repeatedly those Enid Blyton stories.
When someone has influenced your life so deeply ,it’s a call of the gut to find out more about her.Someone wise once said -you will find your best teachers in the libraries.People who are no longer there continue to inspire from the world beyond and Enid Blyton continues to make children grow up better,stronger,kinder and more willing to make friends with the world.
The book is about Enid Blyton’s childhood,adult life ,author life and the relationships and influences which shaped her writings .
While it’s difficult to write about authors who are as famous as Enid Blyton, it’s even more difficult to write it in a balanced way.
Barbara Stoney does justice to this while retaining the magic of Enids work.While humans are all shades of black, white and other colors. Some influences are the strongest.That of childhood, seems to determine our course in life.
Will the book give an idea about how Enid wrote?
Not in step by step manner but an overview.She was a visual thinker,interested in children and teaching them.She was sincere with keeping a diary ,her ability to draw and her love for nature, all were behind her famous creativity .She was also an extremely hard worker.
Will the book give an idea about Enid Blyton the person?
Yes .Again to some extent as I haven’t found any other Enid Blyton biography, as kind and empathetic to compare against.It’s a well researched and nonsense free look at the life ,work and inspiration behind Enid Blyton the person,author,entrepreneur,and a woman before her time who was self-made before that word became trending.
Who will love the book?
An Enid Blyton fan who grew up reading her books and remembers the happy days curled up with a Famous Five and wants to know more about her.
Enid Blyton’s childhood,her father’s influence,encouragement,complex relationship with her mother,her friends,estrangements,and the lies she had to tell in her childhood were all part of the great magic known as Enid Blyton.She did more in her time than many people do in 100 life times.A woman before her time and a timeless children’s author .Her influence has shaped and saved many a child’s life ,including my own.
But it doesn’t answer the question about the writing process behind Enid Blyton’s success .Why is that?To know the reason behind that you must pick up the book.
Are you holding a grudge?
Are you holding a grudge? About?
Before I write about that,here’s the book free for download and forever free on Kindle unlimited
Maths, languages, physics, chemistry, history, geography are essential.But knowing what’s happening inside your own body is crucial for keeping it healthy and happy . #KindleDeal
#KindleUnlimited
Human Body for Kids: A Look Inside You (#Science for Kids)
Things I am holding a grudge about
Yes I am holding a grudge against the system and the enablers who made it possible to kill the young doctor at RGKar brutally.
On my part I left a job where the work was brutal .The doctors are treated like slaves .No toilets,rest rooms, inadequate support staff many of whom are part of a racket where no-work only-pay is the norm.
I have worked and lived in Delhi in a Central Government hospital.Have experience of using loos at Lady Hardinge,MAMC,GTB ,AIIMS ,Safdarjung. No where is it as bad as in West Bengal .It’s sad I have to say it but that’s the horrible truth.
The central government is approaching Supreme Court for the lack of basic facilities for CISF posted at RG Kar.Imagine that’s where doctors are working too.
How is it possible to be healthy if there’s no cleanliness?
Justice for #Tilottoma
Also treat the disease not just the symptoms. 🙏
It’s never easy to stand up to the system.But if you don’t stand up ,you WILL be trampled.
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.
G. Michael Hopf, Those Who Remain (The New World #7)
#rgkarmedicalcollegedoctordeath
Writing this on a WordPress prompt with #BlogchatterHalfMarathan
