A Little Princess by Frances H. Burnett

Some books stay with you your whole life. A Little Princess is one of them.

Thus it is not very surprising when I embarked on my latest quest to re-read the classics I'd loved as a child (and some which I'd hated, and others which I've not read before) I would go back to this book. But I will admit I was not quite sure about how good this book would be (part of the reason why I chose first to go back to Webster's Daddy Long-Legs, my review of which can be found here) because I remembered that the book had been a little slow in the beginning, and that Sara (the main character) was a bit of a Mary-Sue. In fact, I was quite sure that I would no longer like this book, and I was aghast at the thought of destroying a good childhood memory. However, yesterday I picked up the book.

I loved it.

The basic premise of this story is simple - when Sara first starts attending school, she quickly gains the reputation of being very rich and very eccentric. She is the richest pupil there (and certainly very spoiled by her father) and has got an imagination which is even richer - causing her to weave stories that enthrall those around her. In time, she even begins to pretend that she is a princess, because eventually she wants to be good, and kind, and generous as a princess should be. Most of the pupils in the school are quite enchanted by Sara (though, of course, some are jealous) and two in particular take a great fancy to her. Sara through her generosity and through her sweetness is able to make a lot of friends - with everyone from Lottie, who is four, to Becky, the unfortunate kitchen-maid.

However, when adversity strikes and Sara is left an orphan and penniless, a lot of things change. From being a show-pupil to a beggar, Sara must face the reality of a life without money and discover who her true friends in life really are. She must face the toughest adversity it is possible to face - not only physical (such as being forced to run errands and being deprived of meals) but also emotional (such as finding that many of her old friends no longer want anything to do with her). And she must discover many, many things about human nature - including whether or not it is possible to imagine in the midst of the worst of the troubles than life throws at us.

This book was not boring. Now that I'm older, I saw that there are many hidden themes in this book that I'd missed before - the theme of friendship, of love, of generosity in the worst of all circumstances (and not just by Sara), of imagination and of pretending, of beauty and home. This book is, in the end, a study in human nature. Sara remarks in the book that adversity can be the only test of character, and her adversity not only reveals the strength of her own character but also the characters of the people around her.

I did not find the writing slow or lagging. In fact, the first part which I found slow before was not half as slow this time, because I could appreciate much better the feelings of a father who is leaving his only child alone in a strange country, especially when she has been so close to him for so long. And I did not think Sara was a mary-sue. I know she should be - she's quite perfect, she is always nice, she is humble, she stands up against wrongs, and she believes all the good things that have happened to her are by 'accident' but Sara is just such a genuinely sweet character that you overlook that she is perfect. Also, she is not perfect all the time. There are times when she, too, is cross and angry and broken. She was very easy to sympathize with, even now that I'm 16 instead of 11 as I was when I was originally reading the book. (Incidentally, this is also Sara's age in the book). It is remarkable how Sara remains a princess through and through - through richness and poverty. The other characters are also very well written and compelling, from Lottie to the rat to the Indian servant.

Here's the true test of this book. When I first read the book at 11, I cried like a baby in the middle. I wondered if I would this time too.

This book can still make me cry, laugh, sigh and want to murder people. It still gives me hope. Sara still reminds me of myself - even now, at 16, the power to imagine has not (thank god!) disappeared.

Now I know the stuff classics are made of.

Final thoughts: This is a beautiful book for anyone who an imaginative young child (and maybe also for those less imaginative) and for anyone wanting to get back a piece of their childhood. Of course, like I noted when I wrote about Daddy Long-Legs, I believe kids nowadays might prefer the movie.movie.

Other things: Wondering whether to go next with Pride and Prejudice (which I've read before) or with Frankenstein (which I've not). Of course, I might just forget both and go with A Secret Garden. Library tomorrow is going to be exciting.

This book review is part of my great classics read (and re-read) project.

Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster

Daddy Long-Legs is a sweet, wholesome, good, heartwarming book.

On Friday, we had a guest coming in school and talking (its 'Reading Week') and he talked a lot about how as we read more and more we must move to more difficult books to keep up our interest in reading. I think this is quite true. But I also believe that sometimes we must go back a few levels to the books of our childhood, because you can get awfully tired of reading important books with several layers, and subtext, and hidden meanings in every sentence, and once in a while you just want to read a simple, wholesome book (just as when you eat too much gourmet food you sometimes long for home-made food) and Daddy Long-Legs is one of those classics that you can pick up at any age - be it 10, 35, or 70 and still enjoy it for a few hours. So, I recently re-read this book, and I found that it still has the power to make me laugh and cry and sigh.

What is it that makes this book so amazing?

Well, the first thing is the main character - Jerusha Abbott (aka Judy), an orphan who has been sent by a mysterious trustee whom she has never seen to a college in order to become a writer. Jerusha is not perfect. She's impulsive, reckless, vain at times, and quite silly at others. But she is so honest, so genuinely nice, and so crazy and sweet that you can't help but like her. She's a refreshing character. She can be quite stubborn and pig-headed at times, doesn't see so much of what is right in front of her, and can be quite silly, but in the end you will love her for the other qualities that surpass these flaws. I also love the way the author is able to portray her growing up. In many ways this is an bildungsroman novel (a novel about growing up)but it is portrayed in a style so different from many of these that it is remarkable.

For one, it is epistolary (ie, most of the novel is in the form of letters written by Jerusha to her mysterious sponsor) and this is really one of the best parts of this novel. (In fact, the first time I read this book it was the first time I'd read a book like this, ever, and it really made a large impact on my life). Jerusha's little letters, filled with her lives and loves, with little illustrations, are really a joy to read. Webster has really been able to get into the skin of the character and capture the little eccentricities and crazinesses that make Jerusha, and therefore this book is a delight to read. Also, even though Jerusha never receives a single letter from Daddy Long-Legs, the subtle ways in which he shows his concern (and you see them even more on a re-read) are delightful to read about.

The other, minor characters, including Sally McBride, Julia and Jervie Pendleton, (and of course the all-elusive Daddy Long-Legs) are great. They're all also very human, and we see them from Jerusha's admiring (or not so admiring) eyes, and we fall in love with them ourselves. Even little things like horses and cows at a certain farm are part of Jerusha's little world, and for a few happy hours they become part of our world, too. Jerusha's story has the remarkable power of transporting one from complexity of our reality to a fantasy world which is simple, and child-like, and honest, and this is one of the best things about this book.

Final thoughts: This book is must-read for anyone who, like me, gets tired of life's complexities every once in a while. It is also a must-read for all kids, because every kid should have a nice childhood (even Jerusha expresses this in the book) and learn how to be different, and this is a brilliant book to teach them just that. (But maybe in today's day and age most kids will prefer the movie)

Other news: Still on my re-reading run, I will be borrowing 'A Little Princess' by Francis Hogdson Burnett which I have been trying to find at my house for months now, with no avail. Do you guys have any other recommendations for old, beautiful classics?

Also, I recently saw Dead Poets Society, a brilliant movie on a similar theme as this book, even if it is much more depressing. It is remarkable how important being different is in life - and how much one person can influence a young person.

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

I just finished Of Human Bondage, by Maugham.

Like I wrote before, I borrowed the book from the library last week on the recommendation of another short story I studied which was by the same author. Last week, I have read this book almost feverishly, spending every free moment trying to finish the book. This book is classified as a classic, the most timeless of Maugham's writings, and supposedly his finest work as an author. Here's my verdict of the book:

I thought it was a fairly good book.

The book covers the life of Philip, a young orphaned boy with the additional physical deformity of a club-foot, and follows his story from the day he goes to live with his uncle to the day he marries - almost twenty five years in seven hundred pages. This book describes his various struggles, in school and at work, with his family and with his love, and most particularly his deep obsession with a shop girl Mildred, who fascinates him and repels him and forces him to degrade himself and humiliate himself again and again.

As such, I think of this as a book about the various ways in which human beings love, about the complicated nature of human relationships, and about how, in a way, humans 'bind' themselves to each other. From Philip's Aunt Louisa, who loves both him and his uncle despite their selfishness and their callous behaviour towards the poor lady, to Philip's relationship with Ms. Wilkinson, a woman much older to him with whom he shares a love/hate relationship, to Ms. Price, who repels him, falls in love with him, and considers to find a place in his thoughts long after she has faded from his life, to Nora, who never loved him (and was never loved by him), but always liked him (and whom he liked), to Sally, who shares an almost maternal relationshp with him, to Mildred, with whom he shares an extremely convulted, complex relationship.

I think this novel is a study in human behaviour, in the strange and complex way in which we attach ourselves to each other, and the way our actions can be influenced by our loves - be it of a person, of an object, or even of money. In fact, in this story one can find important insights into human behaviour (and even into the psyche of the author, for those thus inclined) and if not an answer then at least a fresh look at some of the questions that have troubled humans since time immemorial - like what the meaning of life is. In this sense, this book is a piece of art, and a classic.

Other parts of this book pose a problem. The book moves at only a medium-pace at best, and parts of it, especially towards the end and sometimes in the time Philip spends at Paris, can get terribly slow. Too many details in the book don't make too much sense. The writing, while not hard to understand, does not follow the basic rules that writers nowadays follow - like showing instead of telling, and thus the book lags in the technical aspects. Philip, too, can sometimes be a problem. Though he is likeable for most of the book, at times he can be an idiot, selfish, lying, and confused in ways which really make you detest him, and which detract from the book.

Final thoughts: I think it was an interesting book, worth reading once, and certainly timeless for its interpretation of the human psychology, but can be very troublesome to complete and harder to thoroughly enjoy.

Other news: Marr's Ink Exchange has still failed to provide me with adequate words to write a review. However, I'm thinking of going to the library and borrowing some old classics which I've enjoyed a lot, like The Little Princess and Daddy Long-legs and doing a re-read along with a review of both.