My greatest literary heroine: Harriet. My first source of intellectual inspiration and curiosity: Ole Golly. To this day I love tomato and dill sandwiches, the color yellow represents comfort and safety, and Dostoevsky rings poetic to my ears. To reread this book as an adult is to welcome home the dearest of long-lost friends...

1964te yazılmış, başları çok güzeldi sonrasında hikaye sündü biraz. Kütüphaneden ödünç almıştım, denk gelirseniz ilk kısımlar eğlenceli.

Honestly, this book is right up there with Coraline and The Witches in my list of books that become a million times more disturbing when you read them as an adult. This is also going to be one of the books I will return to when I’m a mum and am feeling bad about my parenting skills, so I can think ‘jeez, I could be doing so much worse.’

This was a fun read done “ across the miles” with two grandchildren and a niece, between the ages of 10-12, and their moms.
We read a long chapter (about 20 pages) and chatted daily. Now that we’re done we’ll do a Zoom call and watch the Nickelodeon movie.
This book was a favorite when I first read it about 50 years ago, though sadly (but not unexpectedly) this time around I found it pretty dated.
It was still fun to try a recipe for an old fashioned eggcream soda, learn about dumbwaiters, and recall an age old message about how kindness still counts.

I didn't read this as a child because, according to my childhood parish, reading a banned book is clearly a sin. My classmates and I were encouraged to watch the movie instead, as that wasn't such a bad influence. Now that I've read the book, I understand more fully why we were discouraged from reading it - it sure is sinful!

The writing is bumpy, but so is Harriet and therefore it works well. The characters, however deep or shallow, are magnetic through Harriet's inquisitive and benignly judgmental eyes. The statements of rich vs. poor, normal vs. bizarre, individual vs. brown-noser are both striking and insightful. At times it's very dark, which enriches the entire experience of the book.

Overall I enjoyed the book, and I don't think it takes away from the much-loved film.

I had heard the name of this book before, and it was recommended by another buyer at a used book sale I went to, so I bought it and read it to my daughter. Hmm, I was not really impressed. While Harriet is an interesting girl, the plot seemed disjointed, and I am not sure that the moral of the story that "sometimes you have to lie" is really appropriate. Harriet seems like a bit of a mean girl also, as she is super critical and negative of all of her friends, and everyone she spies on.

(Classics & Cabin Fever) I remember reading this story as child and enjoying it. I am listening to this story, but I'm not loving it starting the 2nd disk of the book. It's slow and rambling. It improved a little toward the end, but you might need to be a child of the past to appreciate it.

Abandoned-series:
After 1 book.

Likes:
* Harriet wants to be a spy
* Jamie, Harriet's best friend, wants to be a chemist
* Sport, token boy in their friendship threesome, wants to be an accountant
* Ole Golly's adept handling of Harriet
* Ole Golly is reminiscent of Mary Poppins (or Nanny McPhee for this generation of children), the ultimate nanny
* Harriet's often unkind comments and analysis

* Psychologist was an observant and intuitive doctor
* Psychologist's recommendations were excellent
* Miriam losing the writing of the 6th grade page of news
* Harriet as an onion...priceless



Dislikes:
* Harriet's distracted parents
* Bullying

* Ole Golly leaving abruptly and with almost no transition time
* Harriet does not accept any responsibility or guilt for her actions
* Harriet's bad behavior in class and at home
* Spying = trespassing, stalking, eaves dropping, unflattering perceptions
* Harriet taking so long to apologize (or retract) her hurtful statements
* Jamie and Sport not just turning so completely away from her but doing cruel things to Harriet
* Harriet learning that "you need to lie to people"
* Harriet not learning or taught tact
* Psychologist should've addressed some of Harriet's OCD behavior - strict routines, watching life and not participating, compulsive writing in her notebooks, not relating well to people
* Harriet basically being rewarded for her bad behavior in school
* Language and topics of Harriet's "columns" not being censored


With-reservations:
Sport taking care of his father, bullying, trespassing, spying, cruel observations, lying, betrayal, some disguised language

"I guard my memories and love them, but I don't get in them and lie down."
Ole Golly

I had an Ole Golly. Her name was Nell Fate and she told the truth and had no time for nonsense and was nothing like either of my parents. I adored her; still do. She died when I was eleven.

I’ve kept my copy of this book since the 1960s.

The house that I grew up in had a dumbwaiter just like the one Harriet is sitting in on page 173, and when we were little we could get into it. It was dark and quite claustrophobic. Ours descended more than 3 stories to what was called the Rumpus Room. Harriet was a very courageous spy.


Along with courage, Harriet has Janie Gibbs, a friend who is planning to blow up the world - mostly because the world is so ridiculous. Perhaps a right livelihood? At this moment in the story they are fighting their mothers’ decision to send them to dancing school (yuck). Janie, a chemistry novice of some clear genius - manages a well-timed explosion.
Janie’s mother: “Harry, that maniac will kill us all…she’s blown up the house!”
Harriet decides to exit:
“I think I’ll just go down the back steps,” she said gently, going toward the door.
“I guess you better.” Janie sounded tired.
“Don’t give up,” Harriet whispered as she left.
“Never,”Janie whispered back.

This book taught me the word "fink," which is one of many things I can't believe has gone out of style. It also terrified me with disturbing descriptions of the mother's beauty treatments, which I didn't understand then and don't now.

This book has a somewhat unlikable protagonist who has a very unappealing home life. It presents what I remember as being a very dark view of human nature. The whole trilogy is excellent.

I actually went back and reread this in high school, and enjoyed it a lot then. It inspired a frenzied increase in public notebook-writing which I found very therapeutic at the time. Harriet really reminded me of the joys of observing and recording human nature: such a great way to avoid your own shortcomings! She also fostered an intense and valid fear that I would one day lose my private notebook, thus destroying my life and crushing the feelings of everyone I cared about.

The most endearing character in these books is Sport, who also has a very entertaining book of his own.

I read this book when I was young enough that it was a REALLY HARD BOOK, only to find that the last 10 or 20 pages was missing. Last month, it occurred to me that I could try again with another copy. It's really quite good!

My memories of it from that 8 year old's reading is that it took place in a little town like the one I grew up in. What a surprise to find that it takes place in Manhattan!

2021 UPDATE: I was disappointed to find myself feeling really uncharitable towards the book on this go-around, an audiobook listening. The problem was Harriet, who I found really obnoxious and unlikable. Probably I was just feeling grouchy.

I hadn’t read this since I was a kid. It’s much stranger than I remember. What a feral and poignant book!

One of my all-time favorite books as a kid. I love how smart and creative Harriet is and I loved to emulate her as a little girl. I remember making maps and observing people in my neighborhood, just like Harriet did.