Week 16, Book 12
Welcome to the 56 Weeks with Nancy Drew series! If you are new here, welcome. You can find my introductory post to this series here. Please note I will be including plot spoilers in this review series. I explain my reasoning at the start of this post. This is Part Two in a two part discussion. You can find Part One here.
Edition pictured: Revised text (20 chapters, 181 pages)
Cover illustrated by: Rudy Nappi
Revised text publication date: 1972
Original text publication date: 1935
My edition printed: 1990 or later
Ghostwriter: Mildred A. Wirt Benson
Editors: Edna Stratemeyer Squier & Harriet Stratemeyer Adams
Revised by: Grace Grote (In this case, the term “revised” is used loosely. This is a completely different book from the OT written by Wirt Benson.)
Setting: River Heights; New York City; St. Louis, Missouri; countryside near Cairo, Illinois
Originally published in 1935, I will be reviewing the revised text (RT) edition of The Message in the Hollow Oak, published in 1972 and pictured above.
Nancy’s Aunt Eloise invites Nancy to New York. A detective friend of hers, Boyce Osborne a.k.a. Boycey, needs Nancy’s help on a baffling case (1-2). Upon arrival at Aunt Eloise’s “apartment house”, Nancy gets stuck in the elevator (4). When she finally gets out, Boycey tells Nancy all about the message in the hollow oak that him and his detective buddies were trying to find while they were on holiday. The message was supposed to be left by a French-Canadian missionary travelling through Illinois in the late 1600s (8-9). The one catch is a man called Kit Kadle wants to find the message first (10).
Boycey suggests that when Nancy gets to Illinois she could stay with the girls at the archeological dig that is going on in the area (13). Ned’s cousin, Julie Anne, just happens to be joining the dig, so the two girls agree to meet up in St. Louis (16-17). After Bess and George leave her at the airport, Nancy gets the feeling that a man is watching her (17). Unfortunately, he boards the same plane as Nancy and sits next to her, then proceeds to ask her increasingly personal questions about the reason for her trip (18-19). Nancy lands in St. Louis, meets up with Julie Anne who tells her all about the dig and Nancy in turn tells the other girl about the hollow oak (21-23).
After a helicopter ride, the two girls arrive at the site of the dig. The students welcome Nancy with open arms, as does the dig leader, Teresa Bancroft (28-30). (I assumed Teresa was meant to be an archeologist as she has a group of university students from a class she teaches, but, annoyingly, she is only referred to as a “dig leader” throughout the book.) Her first night there, her sleep is disturbed by a strange voice calling her name (30). From then on, things just get weirder, not to mention more dangerous around the dig and throughout Nancy’s search for a specific hollow oak, of which there are many. Apparently, the Illinois countryside is positively riddled with the things!
In this one, Nancy — you guessed it — finds the message in the hollow oak. Even with multiple plane rides, helicopter trips, and a lot of traipsing around the countryside in dubious vehicles, Nancy still has time to get stuck in an elevator (4), extricate an barnyard intruder from her bedroom (32), attend a religious service (32), acquire a “good-luck coin” (40-41), spend days not looking for the hollow oak, chase more intruders, human this time (54), spend way, way too much time worrying that her new friend Art is jealous of Ned, go on a multi-day towboat tour with new friends and old (92-121), take countless motorcycle rides into town, help out on an archeological dig (50-51), show off her French translation skills (175-176), eat 21 meals, three snacks, including an odd combination of doughnuts and apples, kindly provided by a marshal’s deputy.
Time of year
While Nancy is away in Illinois, she calls her father who relays the message that Ned Nickerson is very eager to get in contact with her. She tries three numbers, hoping to find him, but is unsuccessful.
“Nancy sat in the phone booth another half a minute thinking of the tall, good-looking young man. Right now he was working on a summer job, selling insurance.” (58)
Ned attends Emerson College during the school year, so we can assume that this book is set somewhere between May and early September.
Timeline
Starting on a Friday and ending on a Thursday, this book is set over 21 days, making it one of the more spread out timelines of these books, and it feels it. Nancy spends a lot of days not investigating, which instead of creating tension and anticipation that Kit Kadle might find the message in the hollow oak first, it made me lose interest in the story.
The original text is better
Before reading this one, I had planned on following my usual format for these posts. However, having read the original text (OT) edition for this title first, I ruined all possibly of enjoying this book. My logic was the same that I apply to films, when I have the option available, I watch the original before the remake. Of course, that can backfire, as the original is usually better. Perhaps the one exception is the 1995 remake of Sabrina with Julia Ormond and Harrison Ford. The 1954 original, despite having the ever charming Audrey Hepburn in the staring role, falls flat in comparison. Humphrey Bogart playing the love interest of someone who looks almost young enough to be his granddaughter may have had something to do with it. And heaven help me, what kind of love story ends with the music swelling to the couple hugging? If you can’t kiss then, when are you going to kiss?!
Sorry! I can hear what you’re thinking. “When did this become a film review?” You’re quite right. Back to The Message in the Hollow Oak…
But first, can I just say, this is a prime example of why it has taken me so long to post about this one. I have become a master at avoiding this book. I’d pick it up. Read a few pages. Land on yet another insane scenario. And not exciting insane. At its best, this book was stupid insane, which was frustrating, but at least it helped to keep me awake. Mostly, this book was insanely boring. When I wasn’t taking trips to the kitchen for unnecessary snacks, I was falling asleep part way through a chapter. Now, you have some idea of why this book took me a whopping 11 days to read, when I usually read these books over 1-3 evenings and that’s with taking copious notes.
My schedule for keeping to one title a week has well and truly gone out the window. Not that I wasn’t a little behind schedule before! I thought I was two weeks behind in posting Part Two of The Message in the Hollow Oak, but I went back to check and over the course of the past 12 titles I've managed to get myself four weeks behind. Let's see if I can get myself caught up!
Now, if you love the RT, this is not a critique on your taste. If I hadn’t read the OT first I might not have so strongly taken against this one. It certainly has me rethinking my theory that I should read the OT first going forward!
For now, I thought I would end with some of the notes I made to myself while reading this one. I wrote these not planning to share them with anyone, so umm, I think I was trying to entertain myself a bit as this book slowly drove me mad. I write notes on the plot as I read these books, and I note now thoughts in ALL CAPS, so they stand out. I've kept my thoughts in this format, as I really did feel like I was yelling at this book as I read.
I hope you brought your appetite because this book is about to be roasted…
OT Nancy survives a train wreck on the way to the Canadian wilderness, which puts the responsible adult she’s travelling with in the hospital. She handles the situation head on and helps the injured after the wreck. Meanwhile, RT Nancy needs constant comforting from her aunt and the detective friend while stuck in an elevator. — YES, LET’S COMPLETELY STRIP NANCY OF BRAVERY AND COMPETENCY FROM THE OFF.
After finding one hollow oak with a plaque on it, the farmer that is driving Nancy around says he has to go home and won’t be able to drive her again for another THREE DAYS and Julie Anne tells Nancy she probably wouldn’t have been able to get permission to shirk her duties on the dig to help Nancy, anyway (16). — THIS HAS ALL THE SUBTLETY OF A BULL IN A CHINA SHOP. WHY CAN’T NANCY DRIVE HERSELF? OT NANCY GETS INTO A HIGH SPEED CHASE THROUGH THE STREET OF RIVER HEIGHTS TO BRING DOWN A THIEF, BUT RT NANCY CAN'T DRIVE AROUND THE ILLINOIS COUNTRYSIDE?
In the evening the boy student clean the artifacts found on the site while the girls make a “wholesome meal” (44). — GIVE ME A BREAK
Nancy finds a “crudely printed note” left for her. “Nancy took out her magnifying glass and examined the note for fingerprints. There were none on it.” (72) — LOL WHAT WAS NANCY EXPECTING? FOR THE PERSON WHO HAD LEFT IT TO HAVE DIPPED THEIR FINGERS IN INK???
“Holding her hands binocular-fashion around her eyes, Nancy focused not he opposite bank and tried to detect possible footprints. She could see none.” (82) — PROBABLY BECAUSE HOLDING YOUR HANDS LIKE THEY ARE BINOCULARS DOES NOT MAGICALLY TURN THEM INTO BINOCULARS!!! (Note: Nancy is 18 in the RT books, not 5 years old, like one might assume from this scene.)
More about Nancy thinking Art is jealous of Ned (84). — I FEEL LIKE I’M READING A SWEET VALLEY HIGH
Nancy suggested that they take a taxi to the airfield and meet Ned and the others. During the ride Art did not say a word. When they reached the field he walked off by himself.
"What's eating him?" Julie Anne asked.
"Competition," Nancy replied. "Julie Anne, I think you'll have to cheer up poor Art."
The girl beamed. "Do you think I ran do it? He's been tagging after you ever since you arrived."
"Of course you can," Nancy said. "Why don't you start in right now by walking over to him?"
Julie Anne liked this idea and set off at once. (93)
— OH, BROTHER
Art is aloof with Ned (94). Bess notices Art’s attraction to Nancy, then Ned notices it too and now both boys aren’t talking to each other (95). Bess tries to point Art in Julie Anne’s direction and Nancy tells her she wants to encourage him that way too, but they’ll have to take it slow (96). — AGAIN, AM I READING A SVH???
One night on the towboat, the group has just finished dessert when a log comes through the window. Miraculously, everyone is unhurt except for Dave who has a small cut from the glass. Ever helpful, the boys replace the glass in the window (114). — WHAT, DOES THE TOWBOAT HAVE A SUPPLY OF GLASS ON BOARD FOR WHEN THE WINDOWS GET BLOWN OUT BY ALL THOSE FLOATING LOGS THAT GET PROPELLED ON BOARD???
“So much had been going on that the subject of jealousy between him and Ned had been forgotten. Nancy was happy over this and hoped the good relationship would last.” (114) — I'M ROLLING MY EYES.
Theresa suggests Art lend his motorcycle to Ned so he can drive Nancy into town to make a report to the police. “Nancy was delighted to see that he showed no sign of jealousy.” (139) — OH, BROTHER
More worries about jealousy between Art and Ned (142). — I MEAN, WHY DOES THIS BOOK MAKE NANCY SEEM SO SELF CONSUMED???
After being kidnapped, Bob explains how he was able to drop spearheads on the ground as a signal to anyone looking for him. “When the men took me out for exercise, they untied my hands.” (164) — LOL OH, SURE. ALL KIDNAPPERS TAKE THEIR HOSTAGES OUT FOR EXERCISE
The letter that is found in the hollow oak includes directions to the treasure, in French, which Nancy translates (175-176). — THE ONLY THING THE RT HAS IN COMMON WITH THE OT IS THAT THERE IS A MESSAGE IN A HOLLOW OAK AND NANCY CAN TRANSLATE FRENCH.
The last chapter is followed by a “Postscript”.
The Hopewell mound was excavated the following summer and found to contain many perfectly preserved artifacts and fossils, including several bird effigies in stone, and a rare baby's cradle. At a luncheon celebration which followed the event, Nancy was praised for having added valuable information to the archaeological knowledge of America.
With a smile she said, “All the credit belongs to Père François and his message in the hollow oak." (182)
— NO EXCITING TREASURE AND NANCY DIDN’T EVEN GET TO DIG IT UP HERSELF. HONESTLY, COULD THIS BOOK HAVE BEEN MORE ANTICLIMACTIC???
Final thoughts
I think that about covers it. I hope you had a giggle, or were at the very least mildly amused. If you are planning to read The Message in the Hollow Oak, I recommend sticking with the OT if you can get your hands on a copy. If you must read both, like I felt I did, I would suggest either reading the two versions far apart from each other, or getting the RT out of the way first.
The Mystery of the Ivory Charm is up next. Here’s hoping I have more success with that one!
