The Tower Treasure (Book Club Discussion)

[hardygirl847]

It's March 15th which means we can start discussing The Tower Treasure now. Whether you just read it over the past two weeks or have read it before, please feel free to participate! If you are still waiting for it to come in the mail, then feel free to discuss with us or after you are able to read it. 

For anyone who is reading this topic and has NOT read the book...Beware of Spoilers. Anything about the book goes in this thread so you are warned.

To start us off, what was one of your favorite moments?

One of my favorite moments was when Fenton agreed to be in the search party and the boys seemed shocked and honored. Frank, of course, called dibs on him as his partner. I thought that was a good father/son moment.

[SDLagent]

I meat have to read the revised text again, because I haven't got my Applewood edition of the original text, yet.

[MacGyver]

Joe falling off the stairway was always an exciting and suspenseful moment for me.
(I know this is in the revised version. Not sure about the original text-yet.)
This is also funny to me because Frank kids him about it in "The Secret of the Island Treasure" (#100 in the Digests- particularly for big fans of the original series- this is a must read. Very cool book- and very hard to find for a decent price.)

[hardygirl847]

I meat have to read the revised text again, because I haven't got my Applewood edition of the original text, yet.

I know. Hopefully it comes in soon! But you are more than welcome to participate with what you remember or after rereading.

Joe falling off the stairway was always an exciting and suspenseful moment for me.
(I know this is in the revised version. Not sure about the original text-yet.)
This is also funny to me because Frank kids him about it in "The Secret of the Island Treasure" (#100 in the Digests- particularly for big fans of the original series- this is a must read. Very cool book- and very hard to find for a decent price.)

Lol Now I will have to read #100 to see the reference of this. It's a nice tie in for sure.

I've noticed that the language is quite telling of the time period. I wonder what the Originals would "sound" like if they were written nowadays. Any thoughts?

[MacGyver]

I've noticed that the language is quite telling of the time period. I wonder what the Originals would "sound" like if they were written nowadays. Any thoughts?

This is quite true. And this is generally going to be true of most any book. Outside of books specifically set in certain time periods, where the language is going to reflect the time the book is set in, for books written to be set in the present day the language will generally be reflective of certain popular phrases or references that are only current to that time period. Generally a lot of writers try to avoid these things in order to help make their works more timeless. This is true of many of the classic works of literature that have continued to endure through time. (Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" come to mind for me.) I've also noticed this in C.S. Lewis' non-fiction works like "Mere Christianity" and others. They generally don't sound too grounded in '40s and '50s jargon or anything- just obviously British. ;-)
        But as to The Hardy Boys original books being written in more modern-day language- "The Secret of the Island Treasure" is probably the closest and best example you would find.
You might also be interested in Benjamin Hoff's "The House on the Point" - a rewrite of "The House on the Cliff" set in 1947.http://www.amazon.com/House-Point-Tribute-Franklin-Dixon/dp/0312301081/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268836638&sr=8-1

[tomswift2002]

Very cool book- and very hard to find for a decent price.)

Well The Secret Of The Island Treasure only went through 3 printings before being discontinued.  As far as I know it wasn't from low sales, but mostly from Simon & Schuster doing it as a way to promote the fact that it was the Hardy's 100th case in the Original continuity, and to make it a scarce story.  The first 2 printings were released by themselves, and then the 3rd printing was released in a box set with, I believe, #'s 99, 101 and 102.

[MacGyver]

Yep- they did a similar thing with Nancy Drew's 100th. case in "A Secret in Time"- this book has Nancy revisiting some of the events in her first book "The Secret of the Old Clock".
And I don't have many of the Nancy Drew books, but I do have this one out of my small collection. After checking on Amazon.com, I guess both this book and "The Secret of the Island Treasure" are not as hard to find anymore back from when I got them. I saw them both available for 1 cent each. (Of course, I also saw a brand new copy of "The Secret of the Island Treasure" listed at $281.80 - wow! Good luck in selling that.)

[hardygirl847]

This is quite true. And this is generally going to be true of most any book. Outside of books specifically set in certain time periods, where the language is going to reflect the time the book is set in, for books written to be set in the present day the language will generally be reflective of certain popular phrases or references that are only current to that time period. Generally a lot of writers try to avoid these things in order to help make their works more timeless. This is true of many of the classic works of literature that have continued to endure through time. (Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" come to mind for me.) I've also noticed this in C.S. Lewis' non-fiction works like "Mere Christianity" and others. They generally don't sound too grounded in '40s and '50s jargon or anything- just obviously British. ;-)
        But as to The Hardy Boys original books being written in more modern-day language- "The Secret of the Island Treasure" is probably the closest and best example you would find.
You might also be interested in Benjamin Hoff's "The House on the Point" - a rewrite of "The House on the Cliff" set in 1947.http://www.amazon.com/House-Point-Tribute-Franklin-Dixon/dp/0312301081/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268836638&sr=8-1

Well of course it is natural for a book to be dated but I thought it was interesting when comparing the Originals to say the Casefiles. Very different lingo. I would say even some of the digests differ quite a bit too.

I will definitely have to check out the book you mentioned. I found it on Amazon (although with The Secret Of The Island Treasure) and it's pretty cheap. Should make a good addition to my collection.

Thanks!

Yep- they did a similar thing with Nancy Drew's 100th. case in "A Secret in Time"- this book has Nancy revisiting some of the events in her first book "The Secret of the Old Clock".
And I don't have many of the Nancy Drew books, but I do have this one out of my small collection. After checking on Amazon.com, I guess both this book and "The Secret of the Island Treasure" are not as hard to find anymore back from when I got them. I saw them both available for 1 cent each. (Of course, I also saw a brand new copy of "The Secret of the Island Treasure" listed at $281.80 - wow! Good luck in selling that.)

Yeah! Good luck indeed!

[tomswift2002]

Yep- they did a similar thing with Nancy Drew's 100th. case in "A Secret in Time"- this book has Nancy revisiting some of the events in her first book "The Secret of the Old Clock".
And I don't have many of the Nancy Drew books, but I do have this one out of my small collection. After checking on Amazon.com, I guess both this book and "The Secret of the Island Treasure" are not as hard to find anymore back from when I got them. I saw them both available for 1 cent each. (Of course, I also saw a brand new copy of "The Secret of the Island Treasure" listed at $281.80 - wow! Good luck in selling that.)

Yeah I've also got a copy of Nancy's 100th book in near-mint condition that I only paid about $5 for 4 or 5 years ago at a used bookstore in North Bay.

[MacGyver]

Cool, dude.
One of these days I'm going to get around to reading "The Secret of the Old Clock" and "A Secret in Time" back to back for comparison.

[hardygirl847]

Cool, dude.
One of these days I'm going to get around to reading "The Secret of the Old Clock" and "A Secret in Time" back to back for comparison.

That would be cool!

Now back to the thread topic...


Finish this sentence....

In The Tower Treasure, I wish.....

[MacGyver]

In The Tower Treasure, I wish I could have read the original book back in 1927. It is interesting to read it now in 2010. I haven't noticed anything too incredibly different yet (the first chapter is pretty much the same as the revised one- same chapter title and everything.) But I did notice that Frank and Joe and the narrator refer to Saturday as a holiday, which is of course technically correct- but generally people today probably wouldn't think of it as a holiday from school so much- more like a given that you don't have to go to school on Saturdays. Although, come to think of it again- it is in good keeping with kids' language because as a kid Saturday was definitely always my biggest holiday from school during the week! :-) So I guess maybe I can see that usage in that sense.

[hardygirl847]

In The Tower Treasure, I wish I could have read the original book back in 1927. It is interesting to read it now in 2010. I haven't noticed anything too incredibly different yet (the first chapter is pretty much the same as the revised one- same chapter title and everything.) But I did notice that Frank and Joe and the narrator refer to Saturday as a holiday, which is of course technically correct- but generally people today probably wouldn't think of it as a holiday from school so much- more like a given that you don't have to go to school on Saturdays. Although, come to think of it again- it is in good keeping with kids' language because as a kid Saturday was definitely always my biggest holiday from school during the week! :-) So I guess maybe I can see that usage in that sense.

Yeah it would have had different meanings if we were to read it at the time it was written. The world around us would have been very different than it is now which would influence how we read it etc. "Holidays" are also used instead of saying "vacation" so that is interesting that you picked up on that. I see where they are coming from on that one but we don't really say that anymore.

In the Tower Treasure, I wish it had set up their backgrounds a little bit more. Truthfully I guess it doesn't really matter but it is the first book so you would think there would be a little more background in there. I guess the powers that be thought there was enough and didn't need to go into more detail. It's just that this is such a significant book...being the first and all. It sets up the next 83 years of Hardy Boys....

I also wish I had read this before reading any other book. I constantly have to fight against the HB world of Casefiles and fan fiction to get through this book. I liked it and all...don't get me wrong. It just made it harder to see it in my brain and read it as it is without allowing my already built  HB world in my mind interfere... And some of the lingo was funny. Helter-skelter, fellows, chums (which I guess some people still use), a dud  rocket, etc....

Interesting but definitely a sign of the times.

Ah, sorry I lacked this week with keeping up with the discussions and stuff. It was a (fortunately) busy week....

[MacGyver]

"Holidays" are also used instead of saying "vacation" so that is interesting that you picked up on that. I see where they are coming from on that one but we don't really say that anymore.

This is also a British thing. For example, see "Mr. Bean's Holiday". He's not celebrating Christmas, Easter, Arbor Day or any such holiday or whatever- he's just taking a vacation. (Seriously- see the movie- it's hilarious! And totally clean! And rated G! )
I'm familiar with that usage of "holidays" mainly due to reading numerous Enid Blyton books as a child. (still love 'em- can't beat The Secret Seven and The Famous Five!)

Anyway- back to The Tower Treasure...
BEST line in the whole book thus far (from the OT)

At the start of Chapter III "Traces of the Thief"- right after Chet Morton's car has been stolen- Chet makes this remark to Frank and Joe.

"The car is pretty well known around Bayport," said Chet. "It is certainly a gay-looking speed-wagon. Any one who saw it would remember it."

LOL! Now I know exactly what Chet is meaning here- the original meaning of gay (and it does still mean this) is "happy". Thus, in the lyrics of The Flinstones' theme song, we'll have a gay old time!
But obviously Leslie McFarlane couldn't have foreseen modern usage of that word and reading that passage with the current connotations in mind is just (unintentionally) hilarious!

[MacGyver]

On a more serious note, I was cheering for Callie for taking goodies to an elderly widow. (And upset for her when this speed maniac destroyed half her snacks.) All I could think of was James 1:27- awesome! You rock, Callie!