The River is a coming of age novella set in India. Harriet, the daughter of a jute factory manager, is just on the cusp of growing up--one moment a child, the next thinking thoughts and asking questions that would challenge many an adult. The time is perhaps during World War II, but as Godden says in the introductory paragraphs, it could be this war, or the war before that, any war, any place. There is a timeless quality about the setting, a garden by the edge of a river. Like the garden of Eden it has a tree--a great cork tree--and it also has a snake.

In the opening pages we meet Harriet, who longs to be special, to be something great in the world. She writes poetry and misses her sister Bea, who is already in her teens, beautiful and swiftly growing away. Harriet, left on her own, tries playing with her younger brother but Bogey is more interested in ants and the snake than any games Harriet might want to play. Victoria, the youngest of the siblings is too young to be much company, either. So Harriet dreams, writes in her secret book and spends long hours communing with her cork tree and the river.

Into this garden comes a man--a soldier, an amputee who had been tortured as a prisoner of war and managed to escape the enemy but not the wounds to his body and spirit. Captain John finds healing in the garden and in the company of the children. And perhaps there is more....Harriet notices how often, and how carefully, John looks at Bea.

The story unfolds over one winter as the garden blooms with the cooling weather. Rumer Godden has a kind of genius for taking us inside the minds of children. She also has a gift for lyrical descriptions of nature. The slow, gentle story of Harriet's growing up is well done and the darker undercurrents keep up enough suspense that I raced my way towards the finish perhaps too quickly to really savor the poetry.

Three and a half stars. Not quite as strong as The Greengage Summer or An Episode of Sparrows or Godden's other India book The Peacock Spring, but still well worth a read.

Content rating G. Some mild discussion of puberty and one rather terrifying event but overall a clean read.

Comforting Memories

This is such a beautifully written book and it brought back so many wonderful memories from my own childhood in India. No one describes the uniqueness of life in India like Rumer Godden. From the smells of the bazaar to flying kites from the walled rooftops, she described what will always be home for me.

This is a lovely story of a child growing up in India, and much more. If there is a flaw to the book at all, it is its length - just 160 pages, which makes it really a novella. That means that it is beautiful and delightful, but slight. Cleverly constructed, it has no chapters and the story just flows like the river behind the house in the story. There is very little plot and the little there is in my copy partly spoilt by the author's preface that gives away a key element of the story. So if you are going to read it, please turn to the story first and read the preface afterwards.
Why it is such a special little story is that it is set so beautifully in a natural setting, with lots of trees, flowers and plants that all grow and produce scent - all so warmly described.
It's a gem.

Aunque en un principio me costó un poco entrar, luego la atmósfera me capturó.
Pero desde luego si he de quedarme con algo, es con los diálogos y las relfexiones de la narradora sobre su entorno y las personas que la rodean.
Creo que es un libro que plasma imágenes en tu cabeza mientras lees de una manera fascinante, pero sobre todo te deja la impronta de los personajes que lo habitan.

No le pongo 5 estrellas porque no me ha llegado a calar del todo y en muchos momentos, me he sentido más fuera que dentro de la historia. Pero sin duda lo recomiendo. Se disfruta.

This is a beautifully written coming of age novel. It is fascinating to me because it is set in a different culture to mine, and death is accepted almost casually, as part of life. The central character has to learn this, and has to learn to accept responsibility for things she's done. It is a bit brutal in some ways, with a mother and father who seem to be absent a lot, but the children are generally very happy, and the descriptions are so vivid that you can really imagine yourself there.

Harriet is at the cusp of adolescence, with her older sister quickly growing away from her, and her younger brother too much of a child to play with, while she herself ricochets between ages in a way that confuses her. She lives an idyllic life in India with her happy family and a much-loved and well known landscape. But then something terrible happens, and her world changes forever.

I fell in love with Harriet and her joy and fury and questioning of the world. This is a quick read that repays a second look, when you can see how skillfully Godden has constructed her story. The leisurely descriptions of the river, the landscape, the family house, the characters are so delicious I could quote the whole book, but I'll leave you with just a few excerpts.

The middle finger of Harriet's right hand had a lump on the side of it; that was her writing lump; she had it because she wrote so much, because she was a writer. "I am going to be a poet when I grow up," said Harriet... She kept a private diary and a poem book hidden in an old box that also did as a desk in an alcove under the side-stairs, her Secret Hole, though it was not secret at all and there was no need to hide her book because she could not resist reading her poems to everyone who would listen.

"You are always trying to stop things happening, Harriet, and you can't." But Harriet still thought, privately, that she could.

A whirr and a splash made her jump so that she almost fell off the jetty. A kingfisher had struck from a branch above her. Now it sat on a post with the fish still bending and jerking in its beak. The poor fish had been placidly, happily, swimming and feeding somewhere under the jetty, and then, out of its element, from another, it had been seized and carried off. And swallowed, thought Harriet regretfully, watching it disappear.

I wonder what the other fishes think? thought Harriet, but then, that was the same with any dying; one person was seized and taken away. But what does it feel like if that comes right plumb in the middle of your family? She could not think of it, it seemed impossible and yet she had just seen it happen. Things do happen, she told herself, but she was lulled again with the sound of the river running in her ears. Those were fishes, Harriet told herself comfortably. Only fishes.

3.5/5

Es muy tierno este libro. Trata sobre unos niños británicos que viven en la India en la época colonial y realmente viven entre esos dos mundos: el europeo que viven en su casa y el oriental que les rodea. Ocurre un accidente en la vida de estos niños y vemos cómo lo procesan, sobre todo desde el punto de vista de la protagonista. Es un libro muy cortito pero como que lo he leído con bastante cariño. También está escrito muy bien.

A rather lovely and touching read, The River is a beautifully written love letter to India and to adolescence and to all that comes with it. It’s very sweet and the way it explores feelings of alienation and a young girl’s experiences feels very true to life.

3.5 stars

This is the seventh book published by Rumer Godden, in 1946. It is a jewel of a book, small yet perfect. It tells the story of Harriet, a young English girl growing up in Bengali with her British Colonial family. Ms. Godden is masterful with her descriptions of India at that time, and she paints a full picture of tropical lushness and exotic wildlife. She is equally talented at creating complex characters.

In some of Rumer Godden's works, the house is practically a character in itself. Here, it is the Bengal River that runs through the town and this story, mysterious, powerful, ever-changing. This is a coming-of-age book about a young girl who intends to be a serious writer, just as Rumer herself planned when she was a young girl growing up in India.

The River is a joy to read. It was made into a film in 1951, directed by the famous French film director Jean Renoir. Ms. Godden collaborated on the screenplay for the film, and she accompanied Renoir and the film crew to India. It was one of the first color films to be made and one of the first films made almost entirely on location in India. Of all the films made of Rumer Godden's works, I believe "The River" is the only one she judged authentic to her story.

Na 't Hooge Nest wist ik niet zo goed wat te lezen. (Het lijkt wel of ze me bij de NBD vergeten zijn, maar dat laat ik even zo, vind het wel relaxed.) Het gevolg is dat mijn Currently Reading lijst nu op 91 titels staat. Ik was al bezig in the Garden of Evening Mists, en heus, het is prachtig. Interessant gegeven, boeiende personages, poëtische stijl. Toch liet ik me maar wat graag afleiden met Daddy Longlegs, een oud meisjesboek dat geheel aan mij voorbijgegaan was. En trouwens, het tweede deel van de Lockwood-serie begon ook fijn. Dear Enemy, het vervolg op Daddy Longlegs, kon me lang niet zo bekoren. Niets kon me bekoren, bah!
Dan grijpt men terug op een oude liefde. Rumer Godden, welke kende ik nog niet? The River.
Eergisteravond begonnen, gisteravond gehuild en gehuiverd en luidop gezegd: Godallemachtig, wat is dit mooi.

Het is maar een dun boek, en het verhaal is zo simpel. Een jaartje in het leven van een Engelse familie in India. Focus ligt bij Harriet, de op een na oudste dochter. Grote zus Bea is het spelen voorbij, en zelf is Harriet eigenlijk een beetje te oud geworden voor broertje Bogey, en klein zusje Victoria leeft in haar eigen fantasiewereldje.
Harriet droomt ervan om schrijfster te worden, af en toe borrelen er gedichten op die groter zijn dan zijzelf. Captain John, een gewonde oorlogsveteraan (het verhaal speelt ten tijde van de Eerste Wereldoorlog) die veel bij hen over de vloer komt, is eigenlijk de enige die haar zieleroerselen een beetje duiden kan, en dat helpt hem op zijn beurt ook weer om over zijn trauma's heen te komen.
Het verhaal begint met de twee zusjes die met Latijnse vervoegingen bezig zijn: bellum en amare. Liefde en oorlog. Daar breekt Harriet zich het hoofd over. Liefde en oorlog, geboorte en dood. En de rivier absorbeert alles en houdt nooit op met stromen. Ze wonen aan de rivier, vlakbij de jutefabriek.

Het verhaal wordt voorafgegaan door een lange inleiding, waarin Rumer Godden uit de doeken doet hoe autobiografisch dit verhaal is. Op één ding na: ik had geen broertje dat door een cobra gedood werd.
En daar breek ik mij nu nog steeds het hoofd over.
Ze heeft dat niet voor niets vermeld. Het werkt door tijdens het lezen. Je ziet de haviken in de lucht en denkt … foute boel. Bogey is altijd de insecten en andere beesten in de tuin aan 't bestuderen, en drukt Harriet op het hart dat ze niks mag zeggen over de cobra die hij gezien heeft. Ze vertelt over begrafenissen die ze gezien heeft.
De kennis beïnvloedt hoe je leest, hoe je meekijkt, -voelt, -luistert, -ruikt, -denkt met Harriet.
En toch kreeg ik kippenvel toen het echt gebeurde.

Godallemachtig, wat is dit mooi.

Beautifully told story of a European girl named Harriet coming of age in Colonial India. About Life, growing, death, birth, love, so many first experiences, poetry, beauty and presence of nature.

My grandfather knew Renoir and loves his films. We finally watched The River over Thanksgiving and I enjoyed the movie very much, despite its simplicity and datedness. I figured I should read the book, I've had my grandmother's old copy sitting on my bookshelf for years. So I read it in 3 days and the book is a thousand times better than Renoir's film -- which is lovely, but thought over all it missed the reality/beauty/meaning of the book.
I wish I had read this when I was 13, 14...I'm sure I will read it to a future daughter when she is growing up. Seriously recommended.