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catrad's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as I remember it being when I read it as a kid. A lot heavier on the Christian message than I recall too. Oh, and can someone please give Peter a good slap for me? What a selfish, jealous little brat. Rather too good a counterpoint to the perfect little saccharin-sweet Heidi. Ok, maybe I'm being harsh, and maybe the 'he doesn't go to church, he must be horrible, let's say mean things about him behind his back' ethos of the villagers peed me off somewhat, but I was disappointed with this book. I'd probably been looking at it with rose-tinted glasses, and probably a lot of the religious stuff had passed over my head as a kid, but still. Oh well.
lgpiper's review against another edition
3.0
Every once in a while, I figure I should read a book which was considered to be a childrens' classic back when I was a child, but which I missed for some reason. Things like Little Lord Fauntleroy, Anne of Green Gables, The Wind in the Willows, and now, Heidi.
So,we begin with Heidi as a 5-year old. Her Aunt Deta is taking her up the mountain to dump her at her grandfather's cottage. Grandfather is a grumpy old guy with whom no one has had contact for years, at least not willingly so. Deta wants to go to town to get a job and be able to afford fine clothes, and taking care of her late sister's daughter was a hindrance to her. So, Heidi gets dumped.
It turns out that the old guy is either not so bad, or else that Heidi is such a force of sweetness and light, that she mellows him. Whatever, the two of them get along just fine. Heidi makes friends with Peter, the local goat herd, and spends much time among the flowers and goats in the pastures up the Alp. It's a wonderful life.
A few years later, Aunt Deta comes back to reclaim Heidi. She has a scheme to dump Heidi in the household of a rich man with a disabled daughter, Clara, to become Clara's companion. So, Heidi finds herself in the city and is miserable. No stars, no flowers, no goats.
Clara's grandmother shows up for a while and schools Heidi in Christian forbearance and so forth. This book is full of old-fashioned Christian piety from an earlier generation. Being an elderly, repressed Calvinist myself, a lot of it sounded familiar, so it didn't much bother me. It might, possibly bother more modern readers.
Anyway, because this book was meant to be extraordinarily uplifting, Heidi's sweetness and light burns brightly and vanquishes the shadows of darkness and all live happily ever after...or something.
I rather liked this book, but it was pretty saccharine in parts, and might not make much sense to modern youngsters.
So,we begin with Heidi as a 5-year old. Her Aunt Deta is taking her up the mountain to dump her at her grandfather's cottage. Grandfather is a grumpy old guy with whom no one has had contact for years, at least not willingly so. Deta wants to go to town to get a job and be able to afford fine clothes, and taking care of her late sister's daughter was a hindrance to her. So, Heidi gets dumped.
It turns out that the old guy is either not so bad, or else that Heidi is such a force of sweetness and light, that she mellows him. Whatever, the two of them get along just fine. Heidi makes friends with Peter, the local goat herd, and spends much time among the flowers and goats in the pastures up the Alp. It's a wonderful life.
A few years later, Aunt Deta comes back to reclaim Heidi. She has a scheme to dump Heidi in the household of a rich man with a disabled daughter, Clara, to become Clara's companion. So, Heidi finds herself in the city and is miserable. No stars, no flowers, no goats.
Clara's grandmother shows up for a while and schools Heidi in Christian forbearance and so forth. This book is full of old-fashioned Christian piety from an earlier generation. Being an elderly, repressed Calvinist myself, a lot of it sounded familiar, so it didn't much bother me. It might, possibly bother more modern readers.
Anyway, because this book was meant to be extraordinarily uplifting, Heidi's sweetness and light burns brightly and vanquishes the shadows of darkness and all live happily ever after...or something.
I rather liked this book, but it was pretty saccharine in parts, and might not make much sense to modern youngsters.
bookaholic_kim's review against another edition
3.0
children's books are for adults as well. It is easy and enjoyable to read.
I realized that reading these books as an adult is different in a good way. The life lessons are more prominent.
I realized that reading these books as an adult is different in a good way. The life lessons are more prominent.
soepie's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
trisjdavila's review against another edition
4.0
frickin love the mountains but why do we need to talk about god so much
scoutmomskf's review against another edition
5.0
It's been many years since I last read Heidi. Having just returned from a visit to Zurich, the home of the author, I felt it was time to revisit the Swiss Alps. The book has three parts: the first, when Heidi goes to live with her grandfather on the mountain; the second, when Heidi is taken to Frankfurt to be Clara's companion; and the third, when Heidi returns to the mountain and her grandfather. Each one is portrayed vividly with its challenges and triumphs.
The story opens as Heidi's Aunt Dete, who has cared for her since she was a year old, takes Heidi to live with her grandfather. Dete has been offered a job where it is inconvenient to take Heidi with her. As she drags the five-year-old Heidi through the village, the people are horrified by the idea of Heidi living with the reclusive and grouchy old man, but Dete won't be deterred. One sees the villagers' point when Dete arrives at the grandfather's hut, and he is less than welcoming. But once Dete is gone, we see a softer side of him as he makes room for Heidi in his life. Heidi is a sweet child who looks at everything as an adventure, from sleeping in the loft on a bed made of hay to exploring the meadows with the goats and Peter, the goatherd. She is a compassionate and empathetic child who thinks of others before herself. I loved her interactions with Peter's blind grandmother. She's no pushover, though, and has the occasional run-in with Peter. And so, three years pass as Heidi grows healthy and happy. The only negative is her grandfather's refusal to send her to school in the village, though Heidi doesn't miss it.
Then Aunt Dete reappears. She has a chance to ingratiate herself with a wealthy family in Frankfurt. They are looking for a companion for their invalid daughter, Clara, and want someone "innocent and unspoiled." She and grandfather engage in a shouting match, and when he storms off, she kidnaps Heidi, making promises she does not intend to keep. Poor Heidi thinks she can go home anytime, so she doesn't fuss. Upon arriving in Frankfurt at the Sesseman home, young Clara is enchanted by Heidi, though the housekeeper, Fraulein Rottenmeier, takes her in immediate dislike. Poor Heidi has no clue how to behave in a home like this and makes all kinds of blunders, many of which are highly amusing. But Clara is kind and finds Heidi vastly entertaining. Heidi has a fair share of stubbornness too, which comes out when it is time for lessons. Having listened to Peter's tales of woe about reading, Heidi refuses to try to learn. It isn't until Clara's grandmother comes to visit that anything changes. I loved how she found just the right motivator to break through Heidi's stubbornness, and once she did, there was no holding Heidi back. But all is not well with Heidi. She is dreadfully homesick, and though she tries to hide it, her health is soon affected. The ghost scene is funny and heartbreaking as the depth of her unhappiness becomes clear. I loved the doctor and his insistence that Heidi must return to her mountain home. Though sad, Clara sends Heidi off with a bounty of gifts.
Finally, Heidi returns home to her beloved mountain and grandfather. In the time she's been gone, he's become even more of a hermit and grouch. However, their reunion is sweet and emotional. Peter, too, is overjoyed to have his friend back. As shown in her reunion with Peter's grandmother, Heidi continues to be a sweet ray of sunshine. The old lady's appreciation of the soft rolls Heidi brings her is nothing compared to the joy she gets when Heidi reads to her. That isn't all Heidi has learned, and she soon has her grandfather ending his isolation and rejoining the world of the villagers.
Meanwhile, Heidi invites Clara to visit. Though illness delays her trip, the good doctor from Frankfurt pays Heidi and her grandfather a visit. The doctor, suffering from a personal tragedy, finds healing in the simple life he experiences there. I loved seeing Heidi's joy in showing him around her mountain. The downside is Peter's jealousy at having to share his friend, a foreshadowing of future trouble. The doctor and Heidi's grandfather become good friends. The doctor returns to Frankfurt convinced that Clara will benefit greatly from a trip to Heidi's mountain, and plans commence for the following summer.
I loved Heidi's excitement over her friend's imminent visit. I loved the portrayal of the procession up the mountain - the horse bearing Clara's grandmother, Clara being carried up in a sedan chair, and her wheelchair carried up by still others. Grandfather surprises everyone with his tender care of Clara, and grandmamma is impressed. The time passes quickly, and soon they must go back down the mountain. Grandfather suggests that Clara be allowed to stay on the mountain with Heidi in hopes of benefitting from the stay. I loved seeing the joy of the two girls as they spent hours together. Once again, Peter's jealousy over sharing his friend is apparent, and this time it takes a destructive turn. He pushes Clara's empty wheelchair down the mountain, where it is destroyed, hoping to force the girl's departure. Instead, Clara and Heidi are more determined than ever to enjoy their time together. The healthy lifestyle works wonders for Clara, and soon grandfather encourages her to try standing. A trip to the high meadow with Peter and the goats gives Heidi the idea for Clara to try walking and forces Peter to help. After getting a taste for it, Clara becomes determined to leave the chair behind forever. I loved the surprise the girls had for grandmamma on her next visit up the mountain. It was topped only by the surprise appearance of Clara's father.
As Clara's visit ends, with promises to visit again the following summer, life on the mountain returns to normal. Heidi's grandfather has now been fully reintegrated into village life, and when winter comes, he and Heidi move to a house in the village. Heidi continues her schooling and drags Peter along with her, using the lesson learned from grandmamma to motivate him. Heidi encourages grandfather to continue helping Peter's family. The doctor retires from Frankfurt and moves to the village, giving Heidi another person who will watch over her.
The author's vivid descriptions made the settings come alive. I could practically smell the flowers in the meadow and hear the wind in the fir trees. The goats and their unique personalities were great. I admit to laughing out loud at the description of the monkey in the classroom and Fraulein Rottenmeier's reaction. The description of Heidi's homesickness made me ache for her, while I cheered at her joy the closer she got to home.
Peter was the one character that I was ambivalent about. When it was just him and Heidi, things were good. He showed her how to get on in the mountains and provided her with friendship. He's also lazy, doing the minimum of what he needs to do to get by. This was especially true when it came to reading to his grandmother. He's also selfish, which shows in his jealousy at sharing Heidi with the doctor and Clara. His destruction of the wheelchair was thoughtless and cruel, and he deserved the pangs of conscience he felt. I felt that he got off a little too easy regarding the consequences of his actions.
I especially noted during this reading the sometimes over-the-top preachiness of some sections. This is common in children's literature of the time. Stories for kids were written to teach as well as entertain, and morality was rarely subtle.
The story opens as Heidi's Aunt Dete, who has cared for her since she was a year old, takes Heidi to live with her grandfather. Dete has been offered a job where it is inconvenient to take Heidi with her. As she drags the five-year-old Heidi through the village, the people are horrified by the idea of Heidi living with the reclusive and grouchy old man, but Dete won't be deterred. One sees the villagers' point when Dete arrives at the grandfather's hut, and he is less than welcoming. But once Dete is gone, we see a softer side of him as he makes room for Heidi in his life. Heidi is a sweet child who looks at everything as an adventure, from sleeping in the loft on a bed made of hay to exploring the meadows with the goats and Peter, the goatherd. She is a compassionate and empathetic child who thinks of others before herself. I loved her interactions with Peter's blind grandmother. She's no pushover, though, and has the occasional run-in with Peter. And so, three years pass as Heidi grows healthy and happy. The only negative is her grandfather's refusal to send her to school in the village, though Heidi doesn't miss it.
Then Aunt Dete reappears. She has a chance to ingratiate herself with a wealthy family in Frankfurt. They are looking for a companion for their invalid daughter, Clara, and want someone "innocent and unspoiled." She and grandfather engage in a shouting match, and when he storms off, she kidnaps Heidi, making promises she does not intend to keep. Poor Heidi thinks she can go home anytime, so she doesn't fuss. Upon arriving in Frankfurt at the Sesseman home, young Clara is enchanted by Heidi, though the housekeeper, Fraulein Rottenmeier, takes her in immediate dislike. Poor Heidi has no clue how to behave in a home like this and makes all kinds of blunders, many of which are highly amusing. But Clara is kind and finds Heidi vastly entertaining. Heidi has a fair share of stubbornness too, which comes out when it is time for lessons. Having listened to Peter's tales of woe about reading, Heidi refuses to try to learn. It isn't until Clara's grandmother comes to visit that anything changes. I loved how she found just the right motivator to break through Heidi's stubbornness, and once she did, there was no holding Heidi back. But all is not well with Heidi. She is dreadfully homesick, and though she tries to hide it, her health is soon affected. The ghost scene is funny and heartbreaking as the depth of her unhappiness becomes clear. I loved the doctor and his insistence that Heidi must return to her mountain home. Though sad, Clara sends Heidi off with a bounty of gifts.
Finally, Heidi returns home to her beloved mountain and grandfather. In the time she's been gone, he's become even more of a hermit and grouch. However, their reunion is sweet and emotional. Peter, too, is overjoyed to have his friend back. As shown in her reunion with Peter's grandmother, Heidi continues to be a sweet ray of sunshine. The old lady's appreciation of the soft rolls Heidi brings her is nothing compared to the joy she gets when Heidi reads to her. That isn't all Heidi has learned, and she soon has her grandfather ending his isolation and rejoining the world of the villagers.
Meanwhile, Heidi invites Clara to visit. Though illness delays her trip, the good doctor from Frankfurt pays Heidi and her grandfather a visit. The doctor, suffering from a personal tragedy, finds healing in the simple life he experiences there. I loved seeing Heidi's joy in showing him around her mountain. The downside is Peter's jealousy at having to share his friend, a foreshadowing of future trouble. The doctor and Heidi's grandfather become good friends. The doctor returns to Frankfurt convinced that Clara will benefit greatly from a trip to Heidi's mountain, and plans commence for the following summer.
I loved Heidi's excitement over her friend's imminent visit. I loved the portrayal of the procession up the mountain - the horse bearing Clara's grandmother, Clara being carried up in a sedan chair, and her wheelchair carried up by still others. Grandfather surprises everyone with his tender care of Clara, and grandmamma is impressed. The time passes quickly, and soon they must go back down the mountain. Grandfather suggests that Clara be allowed to stay on the mountain with Heidi in hopes of benefitting from the stay. I loved seeing the joy of the two girls as they spent hours together. Once again, Peter's jealousy over sharing his friend is apparent, and this time it takes a destructive turn. He pushes Clara's empty wheelchair down the mountain, where it is destroyed, hoping to force the girl's departure. Instead, Clara and Heidi are more determined than ever to enjoy their time together. The healthy lifestyle works wonders for Clara, and soon grandfather encourages her to try standing. A trip to the high meadow with Peter and the goats gives Heidi the idea for Clara to try walking and forces Peter to help. After getting a taste for it, Clara becomes determined to leave the chair behind forever. I loved the surprise the girls had for grandmamma on her next visit up the mountain. It was topped only by the surprise appearance of Clara's father.
As Clara's visit ends, with promises to visit again the following summer, life on the mountain returns to normal. Heidi's grandfather has now been fully reintegrated into village life, and when winter comes, he and Heidi move to a house in the village. Heidi continues her schooling and drags Peter along with her, using the lesson learned from grandmamma to motivate him. Heidi encourages grandfather to continue helping Peter's family. The doctor retires from Frankfurt and moves to the village, giving Heidi another person who will watch over her.
The author's vivid descriptions made the settings come alive. I could practically smell the flowers in the meadow and hear the wind in the fir trees. The goats and their unique personalities were great. I admit to laughing out loud at the description of the monkey in the classroom and Fraulein Rottenmeier's reaction. The description of Heidi's homesickness made me ache for her, while I cheered at her joy the closer she got to home.
Peter was the one character that I was ambivalent about. When it was just him and Heidi, things were good. He showed her how to get on in the mountains and provided her with friendship. He's also lazy, doing the minimum of what he needs to do to get by. This was especially true when it came to reading to his grandmother. He's also selfish, which shows in his jealousy at sharing Heidi with the doctor and Clara. His destruction of the wheelchair was thoughtless and cruel, and he deserved the pangs of conscience he felt. I felt that he got off a little too easy regarding the consequences of his actions.
I especially noted during this reading the sometimes over-the-top preachiness of some sections. This is common in children's literature of the time. Stories for kids were written to teach as well as entertain, and morality was rarely subtle.
grandma_fix's review against another edition
2.0
OK...so this isn't the exact version I read...I read a version that was adapted for children...read it to my fourth graders...lots of content was lost in the rewrite, I'm sure...but I have no read the story of Heidi and have the basic idea of it...the one I read was about 200 pages... : )
tracey_stewart's review against another edition
5.0
My two favorite aunts gave me Heidi when I was eight years old. I don't know if it was Christmas or birthday; all I know is I have them to thank not only for this but for Anne of Green Gables (and my very favorite stuffed bear Snowball), bless their names forever. As with Anne, I read Heidi over and over (and over), and followed up with some of the sequels from the library, and loved it dearly; unlike with Anne, though, I haven't read Heidi in many years. The Goodreads Kindred Spirits group chose it as their "Akin to Anne" group read for last June, and I fully intended to join in then, but in the end it took being faced on December 30 with a Challenge shortcoming of two books for me to pick up what surely had to be a quick read so as to meet my goal. (It worked.)
I was a little worried. Childhood memories are fragile. It doesn't take much to stain a current opinion, leaching backward to taint what was so beloved. But, I'm happy to say, Heidi came through it just about unscathed.
Peter didn't, but I'll come to that.
The story: Heidi is an orphan at six, and lives with her aunt until said aunt gets a job and decides that the girl's grandfather is just going to have to serve his time looking after the child, no matter how alarming his reputation is. Just about everyone Aunt Dete meets exclaims in horror at the idea of leaving the poor child with the old man, the Alm-Uncle; he hates everyone, and makes no secret of it. She's doomed. Dete is not an admirable character, but I will say for her that she is tough: she ploughs on despite the exclamations of horror and barely even gives the Alm-Uncle a chance to say no before she vanishes, leaving grandfather and granddaughter together.
And it's fine. It's better than fine. Heidi flourishes, with her grandfather providing quiet but loving support and the goats and Peter providing entertainment, and her own active nature keeping her constantly occupied. And Grandfather flourishes a bit himself, softening and expanding a bit. And when that aunt of hers pops up again a couple of years later and sweeps Heidi away with her again to dump her on a wealthy household that needs a companion for wheelchair-bound Klara, Heidi's small following on the mountain suffers her loss.
It was startling how much I remembered. I, who have trouble remembering details from a book I read last month, remembered the white rolls, and the kittens, and what happened to the wheelchair; I remembered the hayloft beds (maybe because I wanted one so badly when I was little) and the wonderful goats' milk and the other bed behind the stove. And it was all still very, very sweet.
Except for Peter. I was taken aback by what a nasty piece of work he had the potential to be. I remember loving Peter. Perhaps that was because of the other books, but here – here he is selfish and lazy and greedy, and a little stupid. He shakes his fists at the interloper on Heidi's time, and then there's the wheelchair incident; he did damage. He was a little scary. If he hadn't had the fear of capture put into him, and hadn't had the Alm-Uncle's influence curbing his behavior, it seems like he might have ended up a serious problem.
Heidi is a type of little heroine which I tend to doubt is written much anymore. Everything impacts her personally, from the grandmother's blindness to the tribulations of the goats. She's a simple, entirely selfless child with no desire to be anything else. She's not clever, per se; she can learn and learn quickly when she wants to, but she'd rather be out romping with the goats than reading. Which, now that I think of it, very likely has a good deal to do with her decline in Frankfort with Klara: she went from having hours of exercise in the fresh air, along with a simple diet (very simple – I was a little shocked at the amount of bread and butter and cheese and milk, and the paucity of meat and green vegetables) to almost no exercise and three meals a day of rich food (with more processed flour, at that). No wonder the child felt poorly. It wasn't just homesickness and worry over the elderly folk on the mountain.
The rest of the cast of characters were very satisfying. Peter's mother and grandmother were drawn as simple, grateful folk; I've been trying to remember what it was that I read in which the poor characters continually refused gifts, even of things they needed desperately, because they could not accept "charity"; Peter's family had no such compunctions, and the gifts they received did what they were supposed to do: they gave joy to the recipients and the givers. I loved the doctor and Klara's grandmother – they were beautifully drawn. I wanted to smack Klara's father a bit, or at least to find out what was so very important in his business life that he had to abandon his daughter to the servants and the aptly-named Frau Rottenmeier for months on end. The French maid was surprisingly bitchy (though I can't help but wonder if some of her comments weren't effectively translated; they were delivered as cutting remarks, but read like cryptic non sequiturs). The butler, Sebastian, was a love. And, last but not least, I enjoyed watching the grandfather show a bit more depth and three-dimensionality by the end of the book.
The affection I have for the book remains intact. I love it when that happens.
I was a little worried. Childhood memories are fragile. It doesn't take much to stain a current opinion, leaching backward to taint what was so beloved. But, I'm happy to say, Heidi came through it just about unscathed.
Peter didn't, but I'll come to that.
The story: Heidi is an orphan at six, and lives with her aunt until said aunt gets a job and decides that the girl's grandfather is just going to have to serve his time looking after the child, no matter how alarming his reputation is. Just about everyone Aunt Dete meets exclaims in horror at the idea of leaving the poor child with the old man, the Alm-Uncle; he hates everyone, and makes no secret of it. She's doomed. Dete is not an admirable character, but I will say for her that she is tough: she ploughs on despite the exclamations of horror and barely even gives the Alm-Uncle a chance to say no before she vanishes, leaving grandfather and granddaughter together.
And it's fine. It's better than fine. Heidi flourishes, with her grandfather providing quiet but loving support and the goats and Peter providing entertainment, and her own active nature keeping her constantly occupied. And Grandfather flourishes a bit himself, softening and expanding a bit. And when that aunt of hers pops up again a couple of years later and sweeps Heidi away with her again to dump her on a wealthy household that needs a companion for wheelchair-bound Klara, Heidi's small following on the mountain suffers her loss.
It was startling how much I remembered. I, who have trouble remembering details from a book I read last month, remembered the white rolls, and the kittens, and what happened to the wheelchair; I remembered the hayloft beds (maybe because I wanted one so badly when I was little) and the wonderful goats' milk and the other bed behind the stove. And it was all still very, very sweet.
Except for Peter. I was taken aback by what a nasty piece of work he had the potential to be. I remember loving Peter. Perhaps that was because of the other books, but here – here he is selfish and lazy and greedy, and a little stupid. He shakes his fists at the interloper on Heidi's time, and then there's the wheelchair incident; he did damage. He was a little scary. If he hadn't had the fear of capture put into him, and hadn't had the Alm-Uncle's influence curbing his behavior, it seems like he might have ended up a serious problem.
Heidi is a type of little heroine which I tend to doubt is written much anymore. Everything impacts her personally, from the grandmother's blindness to the tribulations of the goats. She's a simple, entirely selfless child with no desire to be anything else. She's not clever, per se; she can learn and learn quickly when she wants to, but she'd rather be out romping with the goats than reading. Which, now that I think of it, very likely has a good deal to do with her decline in Frankfort with Klara: she went from having hours of exercise in the fresh air, along with a simple diet (very simple – I was a little shocked at the amount of bread and butter and cheese and milk, and the paucity of meat and green vegetables) to almost no exercise and three meals a day of rich food (with more processed flour, at that). No wonder the child felt poorly. It wasn't just homesickness and worry over the elderly folk on the mountain.
The rest of the cast of characters were very satisfying. Peter's mother and grandmother were drawn as simple, grateful folk; I've been trying to remember what it was that I read in which the poor characters continually refused gifts, even of things they needed desperately, because they could not accept "charity"; Peter's family had no such compunctions, and the gifts they received did what they were supposed to do: they gave joy to the recipients and the givers. I loved the doctor and Klara's grandmother – they were beautifully drawn. I wanted to smack Klara's father a bit, or at least to find out what was so very important in his business life that he had to abandon his daughter to the servants and the aptly-named Frau Rottenmeier for months on end. The French maid was surprisingly bitchy (though I can't help but wonder if some of her comments weren't effectively translated; they were delivered as cutting remarks, but read like cryptic non sequiturs). The butler, Sebastian, was a love. And, last but not least, I enjoyed watching the grandfather show a bit more depth and three-dimensionality by the end of the book.
The affection I have for the book remains intact. I love it when that happens.