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A review by icameheretoread
The Railway Children by E. Nesbit
4.0
"If everybody thought of everything, there'd be nothing left for anybody else to think about."pg 164
I read [b:Five Children and It|45181|Five Children and It (Five Children #1)|E. Nesbit|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327882197l/45181._SY75_.jpg|975095]in 5th grade and disliked it. For years I had a bad taste in my mouth when I heard the name E. Nesbit. Then, recently, I read one of her ghost stories in the [b:Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852-1923|52974605|Weird Women Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers 1852-1923|Leslie S. Klinger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575591998l/52974605._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73796202] collection and thought maybe I should try her again.
Here's the thing, I see why this charmed so many people for so long. It's got the total Anne of Green Gables feel to it, and the afterword in my edition compares it to A Little Princess.
But it's so....twee. I mean, my teeth hurt while reading it because it's over the top sweet. And I know that is how some people want their stories to be, but for me it's grating.
I also wanted to spank Peter for being an idiot. He never once talks to his sister without calling her "silly" or a "prat".
But if one looks at the time this was written, some of it is forgivable. I'd love to overhear a parent explain to their modern children why the Railway Children are running around train tracks and quarries unsupervised but as a child of the 80s ...it's not shocking.
I read [b:Five Children and It|45181|Five Children and It (Five Children #1)|E. Nesbit|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327882197l/45181._SY75_.jpg|975095]in 5th grade and disliked it. For years I had a bad taste in my mouth when I heard the name E. Nesbit. Then, recently, I read one of her ghost stories in the [b:Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852-1923|52974605|Weird Women Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers 1852-1923|Leslie S. Klinger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575591998l/52974605._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73796202] collection and thought maybe I should try her again.
Here's the thing, I see why this charmed so many people for so long. It's got the total Anne of Green Gables feel to it, and the afterword in my edition compares it to A Little Princess.
But it's so....twee. I mean, my teeth hurt while reading it because it's over the top sweet. And I know that is how some people want their stories to be, but for me it's grating.
I also wanted to spank Peter for being an idiot. He never once talks to his sister without calling her "silly" or a "prat".
But if one looks at the time this was written, some of it is forgivable. I'd love to overhear a parent explain to their modern children why the Railway Children are running around train tracks and quarries unsupervised but as a child of the 80s ...it's not shocking.