2.5 stars
This is the first work I have read by Rumer Godden. She was an Anglo-Indian writer who spent a good deal of her childhood in India and lived there as an adult. She left when India gained independence. In her writing she often used experiences from her own childhood and this novel is no exception. Born in 1907, Godden was in India at the height of Empire. Although she could be critical of the British, she also felt they did a great deal of good. When Nehru said, “My quarrel with the British is that they left a land of poverty-stricken wrecks” Godden leapt to the defence of the British. She seemed to confuse individual acts of charity and goodness with the mechanisms of imperialism.
This is a fairly brief novel and is really about the end of childhood. Harriet is the focus of the novel and she is approaching puberty. Her older sister is no longer a playmate and her younger brother she feels is still a child. There are lots of beginnings and ends. The world for Harriet is limited and is mainly the large house and garden with her siblings and nanny. Her parents are a little distant and her mother is pregnant. There are Indian servants around, but it is the interior world of the end of a childhood that is central. The domestic staff are the only way the children learn of the culture of India. There has been a recent war (it is not clear which). A wounded soldier is staying nearby, (Captain John) and he plays a central role for the two older girls and is an object of fascination. The garden and its surroundings do feel very much like a Garden of Eden. There is even a real serpent and a river running through. Gooden does capture some of the disconnectedness of childhood and the changes from seeming very young and then quite grown up. This is an idyll, but real life intrudes with jealousy, death and burgeoning sexuality. I have a vague recollection of Jean Renoir’s 1951 film of this, but really don’t remember how closely the plot was followed.
The colonial backdrop is really only a canvas to hold a very Eurocentric plot. The human element of the canvas seems to be irrelevant and the focus is the climate, vegetation and animal life. There is no real plot (not necessarily a problem), but most of all there is no sense that anything in particular is going in in the outside world (wars, riots, famine, the push for independence). It isn’t possible to completely avoid the imperial backdrop as this novel tries to do. There are also a couple of short stories at the end where Godden tries to write from the point of view of the indigenous population. These descend into sentimentality and are patronising: talk about primitive spectacle and the imperial gaze!

Rumer Godden had a long and prolific writing career, but her centenary in 2007 seemed to pass unmarked. If you are not familiar with her then you have missed one of the few truly great British novelists of the twentieth century.

The River, which was later filmed by Jean Renoir, is a very short and, in parts, sad book, but in many ways typical of Rumer Godden's work: set in India, the main characters children, the theme growing up, and how to be perceived by adults as a person rather than a child. It is hard to think of another writer who can so well convey what it is like to be one of her characters, and who describe scenes and events so vividly. One modern writer she can possibly be compared with is Alexendar McCall Smith - like him she is a writer who always wants to understand why people are the way they are, and who never condemns others. Her writing has a delicacy and subtlety sadly lacking in most modern authors.

Godden is, in sentence after sentence, a great (and underappreciated) stylist. She writes clear prose that both simplifies and magnifies the world: its confusions, its sensuality, its grace. In doing this Godden delivers an exquisite, delicate, and steel-boned elegy to the Eden of childhood, from which we must be exiled, but which teaches us to wonder and prepares us for the rest of our lives.

I love this author, this is the 3rd book of hers I've read. It is my least favorite so far but The River is more of a short story just giving an account of her childhood rather than a great book like the others I've read. Her writing style is beautiful and simple, she paints pictures in my mind but this book is lacking any real plot and development.

This was my first adult Rumer Godden and I really enjoyed it. It took me a while to get used to the writing style but once I had I was engrosed. It was a coming of age story that really drew you in to the time and the place. I could almost see the river and hear the noises from the factory. The tragedy was tear inducing and beautifully written and the whole book stayed with me for days after.

Some really beautiful and lyrical language, but not much in the way of plot.

Poesía, naturaleza, infancia, familia. India.

This wasn't an enjoyable read. The characters were irritating and annoying and I couldn't feel any connection to them. Through most of the book, I couldn't sense any genuine kindness. In the afterward, it said it held humor but I didn't laugh anywhere in the book. The writing was choppy, too.

Aight turns out this might in fact be a book more aimed at kids/teens than adults, which I did NOT realize - but that being said, the prose was so damn pretty. Overly simple in some ways, and profound in others, this book was a very enjoyable little read. 3.5 stars!

This English narrator returns to her beloved India as an accomplished writer. She fondly remembers her years spent there when she was seven to twelve years old. Her father was employed in India and she lived with her mother, sisters and brother, Bogey.
The reader gets a true feel for the Indian landscape and the daily movement of the people as she describes key events from that period of her life. Captain John came to stay with them after a serious war injury. Harriet tells the story and she likes to read her poems and stories to him and get his opinion. She and her sisters vie for his attention and he seems to like the sister Bea the best; but he appreciates Harriet’s ability to write and to speak her mind on issues.
The story takes a tragic turn when she finds her little brother face down when he was supposed to be out playing. He has been bitten by a cobra and he dies. One sister blames her because she knew that he had a pet snake and did not tell the others.
At the end of The River, her mother has a new baby girl and this seems to lift her hope as they all strive to go forward. She is seen successfully flying a kite and she compares it to her own ability to rise and soar above life’s twists and turns. This is a smooth and insightful read!

A bit precious. Godden deals with similar themes better in other books.

A novella about an English child growing up in India, beautifully written and full of evocative description of life in that country. There is no plot and really only one event of any significance. The theme of the book is growing up as experienced by the main character, Harriet, who is absolutely charming. The main interest of the book is the beautiful way it is written. I have only read a few works by Rumer Godden but I will be looking out for more.