Have you read Danger in the Fourth Dimension? If so, what did you think of it?
Personally, I liked it. It has some good action, good plot twist here and there, and some good close calls.
I've only read Danger In The Fourth Dimension once and that was back in, I believe, 1996-97, so I don't recall all that much about the book aside from the fact that it takes place at a Sci-Fi theme park.
Yeah it's set at the Fourth Dimension theme park and their father gets kidnapped. It wasn't the same as reading a Casefiles but I enjoyed it anyways. At least things happened in this one.... :)
Things happen in all The Hardy Boys books- otherwise they'd be pretty boring and wouldn't have much readership. ;)
(Though I suppose a Seinfeld-inspired case could be funny- the mystery about nothing. It would involve Frank and Joe arguing over what crime had really occured and then finding out at the end of the case that there really wasn't a crime at all and that guy really was just trying to get into his own house. I don't know if they'd have to meet with the President over it though. ;D)
But back to the topic- I have "Danger in the Fourth Dimension" and I've read it a long time ago. But as with all The Hardy Boys books, I enjoyed it. I'd have to reread it to really give a good review or anything though.
Quote from: MacGyver on January 22, 2010, 07:50:20 AM
Things happen in all The Hardy Boys books
Three words: Survival Of The Fittest. The book had nothing happen in it.
Quote from: MacGyver on January 22, 2010, 07:50:20 AM
It would involve Frank and Joe arguing over what crime had really occured and then finding out at the end of the case that there really wasn't a crime at all and that guy really was just trying to get into his own house.
I think you just described the
Undercover Brothers in great detail.
QuoteI think you just described the Undercover Brothers in great detail.
LOL! :D
As far as "Survival of the Fittest" goes, there was an avalanche and gunplay and fighting in the last chapter. It was action-packed enough for me, but to each his own.
Quote from: Dinosaur Dan on January 22, 2010, 08:34:48 AM
Three words: Survival Of The Fittest. The book had nothing happen in it.
Actually, Survival of the Fittest is a four-word phrase. ;D
Quote from: Dinosaur Dan on January 22, 2010, 08:34:48 AM
Three words: Survival Of The Fittest. The book had nothing happen in it.
Cave Trap also had nothing happen in it.
Quote from: tomswift2002 on January 30, 2010, 09:16:14 AM
Cave Trap also had nothing happen in it.
Frank almost drowned... :(
I guess we all have different standards of action levels for The Hardy Boys. Obviously, sometimes the writers hit the mark right on target and sometimes they just kinda fall flat. Though it can be daunting sometimes, I just try to look for the good in these matters, and I can generally find something to enjoy. (There's also the factor of me just plain being indecisive and never being good at picking favorites of anything because I like them all! ;D - Thus, I enjoy all The Hardy Boys books to some degree, not to mention lots of movies commonly derided as cheesy, corny, etc. I just think they're fun. 8))
Yes we do have different standards of action. There are plenty of books I wish had MORE action/danger too. Luckily there is the world of fan fiction that can usually satisfy my need for more near death experiences or whatever...I love the boys but some books, like you said, fall flat.
I, too, usually enjoy every book just because of Joe and Frank. No matter how well the writer writes the dangerous stuff or how much they leave out...the Hardys are always the main core to every story. Therefore, I always enjoy it to some extent. :)
Exactly. Definitely agreed. 8)
Quote from: MacGyver on January 24, 2010, 09:55:36 PM
LOL! :D
As far as "Survival of the Fittest" goes, there was an avalanche and gunplay and fighting in the last chapter. It was action-packed enough for me, but to each his own.
There was a gunfight, but it was settled in four sentances! And the avalanche part did not make up for the fact the broken rope that started the case had nothing to do with the case at all, and the bad guy was obivous from the begaining!
How many sentences should a gunfight be settled in? I enjoy action in the Hardy Boys books too, but it doesn't have to be a nonstop Michael Bay action movie. ;)
Quote from: MacGyver on June 16, 2010, 03:10:51 PM
How many sentences should a gunfight be settled in? I enjoy action in the Hardy Boys books too, but it doesn't have to be a nonstop Michael Bay action movie. ;)
If there's a gunfight it should last at least 3 paragraphs. I agree that the book does not have to be "a nonstop Michael Bay action movie" but it has to be better then a "a nonstop snooze fest".
Okay- fair enough. I can see your point. 8)
I'm just starting to re-read this book for my second time now (remember, the only time that I read this book was about 15 years ago) and its getting interesting with Fenton Hardy checking out of the hotel unexpectedly.
Of course, you can also tell that this book is pretty dated by the fact that the hotel manager gives Joe a bag containing tourist information about the park and that part of South Carolina, and then mentions that there is a video in the bag on the part as well, and as soon as Frank and Joe get in their room, Joe "pops" the VHS tape into the VCR. If the book was every reissued in the future, I think the publisher could easily just change that line that mentions the VHS tape and VCR into a DVD or Blu-Ray or whatever physical home video format is out then.
There are always those technological comparisons- in some ways, you can look at The Hardy Boys as historical fiction- for instance, in reading Trapped at Sea (published in 1982)- I noticed a scene where Joe states that there's an emergency calls public phone about three miles back that they can use if needs be. In today's world, he would just pull out a cell phone and dial 911. But of course, you can't always get a signal with a cell phone and sometimes the battery might be dead. So there are still times when the Hardys might be forced to use a landline phone somewhere. I think I would like any reissues of older Hardy Boys books to stay as written just for historical value. Kids today can be reminded that some of the things they've grown up with and are commonplace now were not always around and some things were different in the past. Though I'm not a Luddite by any means, sometimes I do enjoy that world where cell phones and the Internet and other technology were not quite as readily prevalent.
I was in a 4th grade class a few weeks ago, and almost all of them had cellphones. We had a whole discussion about the Internet and cellphones etc. I don't think kids today could even fathom life without them. The few kids who don't have them or don't use the Internet still know of them and use them from time to time.
I think the Hardy Boys give a sense of a certain time period. While sometimes I wish they would just pull out a cellphone and solve the problem, I really enjoy the challenges they have to go through because they don't have certain things.
There's no guarantee that it would make kids more grateful, but at least they would be more aware. There WAS a time before videogames, computers, and cellphones.
People used to talk to each other face to face. Words used to come out of our mouths and not from our fingertips.