This is the second time recently that I have gone back to revisit a book from my childhood. I think it might be the last. I find that for the most part my distant memories of these books are more pleasing than the reality of reading them at such an advanced age.

This book was sweet, but very unrealistic and unsatisfying. The child is too good, the characters too underdeveloped and the miracle too preposterous for my adult tastes. I think I will leave all the other childhood books that beacon my return right where they are and spend my time on all those many books I need to read and cannot find the time for.

When I was 8 years old I had a best friend. Whenever we had a sleepover we would find some of her picture books and flip through them before bedtime. One of my favorite stories was the one about Heidi; the pictures of the beautiful, blonde girl living in the mountains among goats and pretty flowers captured me. I really adored the story and I still remember some of the pictures.

I did not think that I would remember the story. After all, I had never actually read the book, just looked at the colorful pictures. But as it turned out, I could remember. Reading this book for the first time felt like revisiting a beloved childhood story. And I remembered it all.

"Heidi" is a rather simple, naturalistic tale about the healthy life, living in harmony with nature and choosing a home for oneself. It is easy to compare to Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secreet Garden", but it is also something quite unique with a dear main character who finds joy in every sunbeam and every flower.

It is adorable. Helplessly charming and sweetly old-fashioned. The perfect comfort-read on a rainy day.

5+ stars & 8/10 hearts. Oh, my heart. I love this book so very much. I’ve known it ever since I was a child and I’ve loved it more each time, I think. So much beauty, so much sweetness, so much humour... and a wonderful message. This is an uplifting, encouraging, refreshing book & I fully, completely recommend it. <33

A Favourite Quote: “‘If God had let me come at once, as I prayed, then everything would have been different[;] but God has arranged it all so much better than I knew how to[.] Oh, how glad I am that God did not let me have at once all I prayed and wept for! And now I shall always pray to God [,] and always thank Him, and when He does not do anything I ask for I shall think to myself, It's just like it was in Frankfurt: God, I am sure, is going to do something better still.’”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “She hardly knew what to admire most in these ancient trees: the lofty tops rising in their full green splendor towards the sky, or the pillar-like stems, with their straight and gigantic boughs, that spoke of such antiquity of age, of such long years during which they had looked down upon the valley below, where men came and went, and all things were continually changing, while they stood undisturbed and changeless.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “Fraulein Rottenmeier was not pleased with the tone of this letter; she did not think the matter was treated seriously enough. She wrote off without delay to Frau Sesemann, but got no more satisfactory reply from that quarter, and some remarks in the letter she considered were quite offensive. Frau Sesemann wrote that she did not feel inclined to take the journey again from Holstein to Frankfurt because Rottenmeier fancied she saw ghosts. There had never been a ghost in the house since she had known it, and if there was one now it must be a live one, with which Rottenmeier ought to be able to deal; if not she had better send for the watchman to help her.”

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).

O carte plină de gingășie și inocență, cu miros de copilărie și fericire pură, ador astfel de cărți pentru că mă resimt copil chiar dacă sunt o persoană matură.
Recomand.

Well, this was such a heart-warming and charming delightful story! I loved the strong Christian themes and the valuable lessons intertwined

The most feel-good story of all time? Possibly. Heidi’s infectious pleasantness carries easily over the Swiss alps and into my life, nearly 140 years later. Despite a plot of idealized happiness, the cast of characters are not without flaw. The moments of conflict, though never described in severe terms, are the kind of dilemmas that transcend time and place. And the mountain, the healing mountain, is the perfect setting to mend.

Purely from a style perspective, I was equally impressed with Spyri’s writing chops. Heidi has one of the most dynamite, blockbuster opening chapters I’ve ever read. Journeying up a mountainside, destined to live with a strange, fearful uncle. It’s got it all. You can’t NOT finish a book that starts this good.

I read a shortened version of Heidi when I was in kindergarten, and I remember the basic plot. I'm glad I read the full story now.

An inspirational story of the victory of faith and goodness, this book is a truly delightful classic.

Johanna Spyri, publicó en 1880, uno de los libros más leídos de la literatura suiza en el mundo entero llamado “Heidi”. Este personaje tan famoso y carismático representa el estereotipo de la aldeana suiza de finales del siglo XIX, realmente es una encarnación alegórica de la sociedad de este país, pues representa la naturaleza intacta de los Alpes, de sus praderas, montañas y paisajes encomiables. Este año estoy disfrutando con enorme placer grandes clásicos de la literatura infantil y este os avanzo que es una preciosidad.

Heidi es una niña huérfana, que queda al cuidado de su tía durante sus primeros cinco años de vida. Esta, tras encontrar un trabajo que le imposibilita seguir cuidando de su sobrina, la llevará con su único familiar vivo que es su abuelo, a vivir en los Alpes suizos, cerca de la frontera con Austria. Allí Heidi, caerá cautivada por la vida en constante contacto con la naturaleza, se enamorará de sus aldeanos, de los animales que corren libres y de la cotidianidad tan armoniosa que hay en el pueblo. Todo cambiará cuando su tía, pasados largos años, vuelve a por ella con el fin de que sirva de damita de compañía para una niña invalida en Alemania.

Este clásico infantil está plagado de inocencia, de amor infinito hacia la naturaleza y nos muestra algunos valores humanos muy importantes. Son varios los pasajes donde la felicidad de Heidi se ve sustituida por la desesperación y la melancolía, por el anhelo y la necesidad de volver a su hogar, en esos será donde veremos más la reivindicación que lleva esta obra.

Los personajes me han resultado en su mayoría sumamente entrañables, sobre todo el abuelo de Heidi y esta misma, con una inocencia marcada que no se ve alterada. En contraposición hallaremos a la señorita Rotenmeier, una mujer severa y fría que amargará los días de nuestra protagonista tan divertida y vivaz.

Para finalizar, el mensaje de esta breve pero profunda y exquisita novela, es sencillo y claro: busca hacer partícipe al lector de preservar el amor y la importancia hacia la naturaleza. De que a pesar de que a veces te ofrezcan una vida con lujos hay gente que prefiere conducir su existencia de una manera más desahogada, con libertad y respirando aire puro.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Classics + Children

Many years ago, I watched the anime TV show “Heidi” and enjoyed it. I had never read this classic before, so this is the first time I've read it. I have completely fallen in love with this charming book. The story follows Heidi, a five-year-old orphan girl who moves to the Swiss Alps to live with her grandfather after the death of her parents.

Despite being known as a rigid and isolated man, the grandfather starts loving Heidi, forming a beautiful bond. Due to her cheerful nature and innocence, Heidi becomes the friend of many characters, including Peter and his family, especially his grandmother.

One day, Heidi is taken to Frankfurt and becomes the companion of a disabled girl named Clara. Initially, the little girl struggles to live the lifestyle of this wealthy family, but soon, her presence there brings joy to those around her, especially Clara. I will not say more about what happens because you should explore it yourself.

The first thing you need to know is that this is a truly heartwarming story. So, if you own the book or decide to read it one day, save it for a time when you really feel down. I’m sure it will lift your spirits. The author has done a terrific job using her words and plots to tug at the strings of readers’ hearts. Another strength of this novel is the beautiful description of the Swiss Alps. The setting is stunning and vivid.

There is good character development as well. All the characters undergo changes, revealing multiple facets of their personalities, including Heidi's. The story addresses many significant themes, such as maintaining hope, the importance of staying connected to your roots, resilience, courage, and how nature can heal a person. The ending is beautiful, too, and I loved it.

I can't even begin to describe how much I adored the first part of this book. I actually loved it enough to give it a full five star rating. It was so lovely and heartwarming.

However, the second part for me was extremely dragging and I just felt there was too much religious preaching in it. Way too much, which really pulled down my interest in the book.

O minunată poveste emoționantă despre o fată Heidi. Cartea nu este nicidecum un basm în genul ei, dar în ea apare inevitabil ceva fabulos - acesta este unchiul de munte și atmosfera satului și, desigur, peisaje alpine magice. Autorul a reușit perfect să creeze o atmosferă idilică de peisaje alpine. Într-un anumit sens, cartea este atât naivă, cât și copilărească, dar din anumite motive nu o observi în timp ce o citești. Observi doar cât de drăgălasă este Heidi, te bucuri iubirii ei de viață. Știi că până la urmă toată lumea se va recupera, se va îmbunătăți, își va da seama de greșelile lor. Că totul va fi bine, iar unchiul de munte va fi acceptat în sat și își va face prieteni.