HEIDI
-Johanna Spyri
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urprised? Surprised that I am writing about
a classic, which (Amazon says) is suitable for kids aged 9 to read? Well,
regardless of what anyone says, Heidi, I would say, is a book that has
relevance for any age group; provided they have a child in them that retains ,
(although a wistful expectation) the innocence and simplicity, and the peace it
brings. I must warn you, reader, that this is not a critical analysis of the
book, but may seem rather biased, because I have loved and cherished this book
since I was, well, nine years old.
Orphaned at
an early age and taken in by her young aunt Dete, Heidi--short for Adelheid--is
soon in the way. Dete has a new and better job where Heidi is not welcome, so
the little rosy child is sent to live with her curmudgeon of a grandfather,
high on the Alm Mountain in the Swiss Alps.
Everyone calls him
the Alm-Uncle because he never comes down to the village, even in the coldest
winter, and has developed a reputation as an evil, godless old hermit. But
Heidi soon finds that things are not always what others say they are, and makes
friends with the Alm-Uncle. Her contagious spirit brightens up the desolate
hut, as she finds purity and love and life in the trees, the whistling wind,
the birds, the nodding buttercups and the magnificent snow-capped
mountains. She happily runs wild in the
glorious mountains with the goat boy, Peter, and his goats.
Suddenly Dete
appears again, and whisks the child away from a distraught grandfather who had
taken the girl for his own, and Heidi finds herself confined in a stone house
in a stone city where she is expected to be a companion to an invalid girl,
Klara. Dete sees this as a great opportunity for Heidi, one that will provide her
with an education. But, bitterly unhappy away from her grandfather and the
outdoor life she has grown to love, the brightness in her spirit soon grows
frail with the dictative Ms Rottenmeier, and the blandness of the surroundings.
After a bout of sleepwalking that is recognized by the kind Mr Sesemann and the
doctor, her homesickness is put to rest as she, at last, makes her way back to
the Alm. How the grumpy grandfather changes his mind, how Klara finally comes
to the mountains as well, and the surprising events that follow, form the heart-warming
ending to this story that has been loved by readers ever since it was published
a hundred years ago.
It is the sheer
sincerity and purity in the story that tugs at your heartstrings. The goat herd
Peter, his blind grandmother, and Heidi’s profusely charming love for them,
nature, the goats, and her beloved grandfather, make you fall in love all over
again with the story, the child, with childhood and the simplicity it promises.
This is a story
of the simple life of Heidi imbued with a deep love of children and childhood.
Spyri mentioned that the work was "for children and those who love
children".
I have read
Heidi more number of times than I have read any other book, so far. It
replenishes a new faith in you when the going gets tough.
Your worries
will stay suspended in the chaotic world, as Heidi takes you into the world of
fresh air, cheese, goats and trees, where love is abound and simplicity gives
you purpose. The image of Heidi sitting amongst golden buttercups in the haze
of the full, setting sun, and goats nibbling herbs while the eagle glides over
the Falknis, will be etched in your mind and your heart for ages to come.
Writing Danseuse
