Johanna Spyri
Paperback | Pages: 352 pages Rating: 3.99 | 167462 Users | 3508 Reviews
Itemize Books In Favor Of Heidi (Heidi #1-2)
| Original Title: | Heidi |
| ISBN: | 0753454947 (ISBN13: 9780753454947) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Heidi #1-2 |
| Characters: | Heidi, Clara, Peter, Uncle Alm |
| Setting: | Switzerland |
Explanation As Books Heidi (Heidi #1-2)
Heidi, a Swiss book originally published in German in 1881, was one of those books I grew up with: my mother had a simplified, abridged version of it that I read many times and loved as a child. When I realized the GR group "Catching up on the Classics" was doing it as a group read, I jumped in, excited for the chance to revisit Heidi and her simple, joyous life in the Swiss alps with her grandfather.
Heidi, a 5 year old orphan, has been raised by her mother's sister Dete, who resents the imposition. When Dete gets a good job offer, she marches Heidi up to the Swiss village where she was raised, the (fictional) village of Dörfli ("little village") and then even further up the mountain, to dump little Heidi on her unsuspecting grandfather, an embittered recluse. Despite being taken aback, the grandfather quickly takes to Heidi, admiring her intelligence and enthusiasm. She thrives in the lovely Swiss alps and country life, immediately shedding her more citified clothing and ways, and helping the local goatherd Peter.
The Falknis mountain, with its two "towers," near where Heidi and Peter tend the goats
Everyone around Heidi grows to love her: her grandfather, Peter, Peter's grandmother. The only problem is that "Alm-Uncle," her grandfather, has such a deep distrust of people and town life that he refuses to even send her to the village school. Heidi is growing up happy and uncivilized when her aunt Dete suddenly reappears after three years, determined to take Heidi to Frankfurt to be the companion of Clara, a rich but sickly and invalid girl. Our bouncy, enthusiastic girl starts to feel desperately unhappy, cooped up in the big city. But Heidi has lessons to learn, and God has a plan.
I loved the detailed descriptions of the lovely Alps and life there in olden times. I suppose Heidi is a bit of a Mary Sue character, but her exuberant nature, jumping around all the time like a young goat, was charming. And -- continuing the animal metaphors -- I really felt for her when she felt like a trapped bird in Frankfurt, though the wasting away thing was a bit over the top.
The Alm-Uncle's character, bitter toward mankind generally but loving toward his bright granddaughter, seemed entirely believable to me, and honestly I got a bit teary as he began, like the prodigal son in Christ's parable, to find his way back to harmony with God and with his fellow men. Clara's devout grandmamma is a paragon of saintliness but has a little humor to leaven her spiritual lessons to Heidi; Peter's ailing, blind grandmother is equally devout but would fit in well with other Victorian-era sickly but wise characters.
The preachiness got a little too heavy-handed toward the end, although I did appreciate the message of continuing to trust God even when your prayers aren't answered immediately, and at the same time needing to take action to improve your own circumstances, as much as you can. I also can't help but be charmed with the notion that country living, with lots of fresh goat milk and toasted goat cheese on bread, brisk mountain air and the beauty of nature, heals pretty much everything.
Mmmmm! ... okay, actually I don't like goat cheese, toasted or otherwise, but I have to say Heidi tempts me to give it another shot.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Heidi and her friends again, after many years apart. I recommend Heidi to readers who like old-fashioned children's classics, like Anne of Green Gables, and don't mind a healthy dose of religious content in their reading.
A note on English translations: Since this book is over 100 years old, it's out of copyright and there are several free English versions available. I read parts of Heidi in German and did some comparisons between the three English versions I found on Project Gutenberg. None of them completely satisfied me, but I thought this one was the best, closest to the original German text without being unbearably awkward: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1448. I'm sure there are better translations out there, but I was working with what I could find free online. Whatever version you pick up, make sure you get both halves of the story, which was originally published in two parts (the second half has Clara visiting Switzerland).List Appertaining To Books Heidi (Heidi #1-2)
| Title | : | Heidi (Heidi #1-2) |
| Author | : | Johanna Spyri |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Kingfisher Classics |
| Pages | : | Pages: 352 pages |
| Published | : | November 15th 2002 by Kingfisher (first published 1880) |
| Categories | : | Young Adult. Fantasy. Paranormal. Vampires. Romance |
Rating Appertaining To Books Heidi (Heidi #1-2)
Ratings: 3.99 From 167462 Users | 3508 ReviewsEvaluation Appertaining To Books Heidi (Heidi #1-2)
Heidi's Ten Life Enriching Lessons for Grownups:I normally read children's books during Christmastime. Not only to catch up with my Reading Challenge (I am behind by 10 books as of this writing), but also, most of children's books have life lessons that can be good reminders for the coming year. New Year always means new beginning, new hope. Do you remember when you were still in school and after reading a story in class, the teacher asked you what was the lessons you learned from it? So, inThis was one of those rare books which instilled in me the gift of imagination, and taught me how to dream...I believe it requires great skill to weave magic for generations, armed with nothing but a simple, heart touching plot and oodles of feel-good-factor! And Johanna Sypri is one such skilled author.The story flows thus: Heidi, an orphaned little girl, goes to live in the Alps with her grandfather. She is the personification of innocence and gaiety. Living on goat milk, and grazing the herds
This was so precious! A little preachy and had some very traditional views in regards to disabilities and such, but the setting and atmosphere of the book reminded me a lot of Anne of Green Gables and made me so happy <3
Very similar theme to The Secret Garden - fresh air & country kid causes incredible cure in rich invalid kid. The parenting is slightly better, but still quite distant. Overall, the story read more like an outline most of the time. The characters weren't very deep, although there was an air of mystery about several which attempted to make them more interesting. Worked a bit for some. Most were just caricatures, though. The ending was predictable. The main character was a cheerful chatterbox
This was so cute and heartwarming, if a bit preachy, but it is a product of its time period in that way. But I really loved it overall!
And they lived happily ever after.Because life was supposed to be like this. Simple and cozy, surrounded by people we love and care for, into nature! It should be more than just surviving, with the sea, mountains, sky, and woods.Yes, I loved Heidi, who had the purest mind in the world!Dear Johanna Spyri,Take a bow! You just won my heart. It's been a long time I've read a book this much fresh and heartwarming.When Heidi was sent away to Frankfurt, away from her Grandfather and Grandmother, away
Ahoy there mateys! While recently sailing on the Norwegian Sea with me maman, we had a very nice dinner wherein we discussed favourite books from both of our childhoods. It was a delightful foray into me memories of all the books that me mom read to me when I was young and the lovely purchases she let me make at the local bookstore after every birthday or good report card. One of her beloved books from childhood was Heidi. She read it to me when I was little and I adored it too. In fact it was
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