The art is by @bluewingphotos on instagram ❤
Heidi by Johanna Spyri – Book review, Plot Summary, Themes and Rating
Heidi is a children’s book written by the Swiss author Johanna Spyri. It was initially published in 2 parts and written in German. It is one the best-selling books ever written about the childhood years of a girl living with her grandfather in the Alps.
Plot Summary: The book opens with Heidi being taken to the Alps to live with her grandfather by her aunt Dete. Dete has cared for Heidi since she was a baby as both of her parents had died under grievous circumstances but now she had a job offer and could no longer take care of her. The villagers are unsettled by this decision as Uncle Alp, Heidi’s grandfather, is known to be resentful and solitary and had renounced religion. However, after some initial reluctance, they form a close bond. Heidi loves living in the mountains and holds the beauty of nature and its vibrant colors close to her heart. She befriends Peter and his grandmother and brings joy to everyone she interacts with by her simple and unaffected behavior.
Aunt Dete appears after having left Heidi for a good while. She comes with the news of having found a job in Frankfurt for Heidi as a companion to a physically-challenged girl, Clara. Dete claims that this experience would be valuable to Heidi as Grandfather hadn’t sent her to school or church. Heidi’s departure leaves Grandfather and Peter’s grandmother in dismay. In Frankfurt, Heidi learns to love Clara and Clara’s grandmother, who teaches her about the importance of prayer and submission to God. On the other hand, the forbidding Miss Rottenmeier makes Heidi unhappy. She starts missing the mountains quickly and grows more miserable by the day. Phantom occurrences are revealed to be Heidi in a state of sleepwalking because of her homesickness. A kind doctor advises that Heidi must return to the mountains to restore her health.
She returns to the ever-sprightly mountains and its people and brings more light into their lives while gaining happiness herself. Due to Heidi’s words and encouragement, Grandfather returns to religion and they go to Church together. He also renounces his solitary ways and makes peace with the people of the village.
Clara visits the Alps later and is nursed back to color with the help of Grandfather’s hospitality, the nutritious homemade food and the mountain air. She starts getting healthier and stronger by the day. Peter, being envious of her monopolizing Heidi’s time, causes her wheelchair to break. Surprisingly though, with help from Heidi and Peter, Clara begins to walk. Clara’s father promises Grandfather that he will take care of Heidi when the old man dies.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Review: Heidi is written in a freely flowing, imaginative and well-paced style. The author has successfully portrayed a child’s character as unaffected and simple, yet kind and empathetic. The character building is effective and true to real life. Even though it is a children’s fiction, it can easily and competently be read by people of all ages with immense enjoyment. It stays snug within its genre yet manages to push the boundaries and become something more. This is the reason why it has become the symbol of Swiss folklore around the world and stayed alive for 138+ years. The language is lucid and immersive. The author intermixes humor and important, valuable lessons throughout the second half of the book.
Heidi’s character is relatable to anyone who has experienced homesickness/ lived away from home. Reading about her thought process and unending sympathy is refreshing and rejuvenating. This book would be perfect for anyone, at anytime. It is incredibly relaxing and great for a weekday afternoon.
Scholastic edition: https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/9352755758/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3638&creative=24630&creativeASIN=9352755758&linkCode=as2&tag=saadia-21&linkId=005328c94c32bd531287aa64c22441ec
Themes:
- The healing power of nature.
- Family and relationships.
- Empathy
- Religion (Christianity)
“I’ll always say my prayers… and if God doesn’t answer them at once I shall know it’s because He’s planning something better for me.”
“The happiest of all things is when an old friend comes and greets us as in former times; the heart is comforted with the assurance that some day everything that we have loved will be given back”
”It’s the sun’s way of saying goodnight to the mountains” he explained. ”He spreads that beautiful light over them so that they won’t forget him till he comes back in the morning.”
~ Saadia
This Place
Every place I’ve stayed in or been to gives rise to certain feelings. Often, I subconsiously relate places to objects, colours and certain words. (Is that some sort of synesthesia?)
This is one of those poems, about one particular place.
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Being Present.
Just a little reminder to stay here, be in the now, love the present for what it is, you’ll never have it again. Take a minute, be grateful, today is all we have.
If you want to see more art infused poetry be sure to head over to my Instagram @saadiapeerzada
Art by @mind.drawing on Instagram.
– Saadia
People
There’s this girl, alive, mad and a masochist, all rolled into one. Her eyes are amber, brooding, and her scars, they run a bit too deep.
I’ve looked just enough to burn and frey at the seams
There’s another girl, pale skin, gold and cedar haired , with topaz eyes that remind me of summer sunrises. She is the living example of how an ideal person should balance life. But the other day I saw parallel cuts across her arm and wondered if anyone had it easy at all.
There’s this other girl, so different for everyone else, she is like the night sky when it is dipped in clouds, veins and tendrils of grey and ivory threating to overcome the sky; she is the moon that preserves beauty when at midnight the world looks like an unending slate of obsidian but she is also the thunder that cleaves the world apart. I wonder when she’ll learn of her own power.
– Saadia
Last Saturday
I remember smiling at you
And feeling this warmth
In the snow that
Skims my bones.
– Saadia
Persistent Darkness
I wish I could share your burden
But the sky weighs too much
And it stays on your shoulders;
Tall and grey.
It is impossible to say
What it’d feel like
To live
With the moment
When your child’s eyes
Lost their light
Flashing before you
Every moment
And then the next
And the next
And the next.
– Saadia
Velvet
Your hair curves around itself
Like tresses of silk overlap
And like water
Ever flowing and unebbing
Like folds of velvet
Soft but firm
And dark… like the night sky
But flecked with lighter hues
Almost as if
Beams of light
Tear at the sky
With lethal claws of morning.
– Saadia
The World in Slumber
The world is bathed in
A dull shade of honey
Like the blood is
seeped out of its veins
It’s still pretty
Still striking
How a mustard veil
Can make the sky look new
When the world slumbering underneath
Is dead.
– Saadia
