Title: A Little Princess
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Pages: 324
Finished: September 25, 2019
First Sentence: Once on a dark winter's day, when the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted and the shop windows blazed with gas as they do at night, an odd-looking little girl sat in a cab with her father and was driven rather slowly through the big thoroughfares.
Summary: Sara Crewe, daughter of the rich Captain Crewe in India, starts Boarding School in England under the tutelage of Miss Minchin. There she becomes the star pupil and favorite of many of the younger students for her kindness. When she turns 11 (or 10?) disaster strikes. Her father dies, penniless. Infuriated, Miss Minchin turns Sara into a scullery maid. The little girl tries to imagine her way out of the drudgery, but things start looking up when an Indian gentleman moves next door.
Thoughts: Hm... This was a really quick read. Quicker than Secret Garden. That being said, it hasn't aged as well as The Secret Garden has. It seems there's been a shift in society in the last five or so years that has made a number of things seem really "of their time". And while I am educated enough to understand that that's what the time was and that's how things are, it doesn't make it any less problematic or frustrating to read/watch/listen to.
Basically, I wanted to like this story, but I find myself frustrated with it. Sara is so incredibly perfect. And while I don't mind Mary Sues as much as other people do (particularly because people don't have issues with men being perfect in media) I found her to be a bit too precious. She handled unfair criticisms with grace far above her years. She was incredibly intelligent.
Kind to everyone. I mean, she's the person we aspire to be, but no one is faultless.
The classicism was tough to handle too. And I know that's my 21st century self talking, so I try to look past it, but it really doesn't age well.
I DID appreciate the ending though. I will admit, I'm more familiar with the 1990s movie and the Shirley Temple movie, both of which end in a dramatic search for her father who hasn't actually died while Miss Minchin tries to get her arrested as a thief... or something. In the book, it's her father's friend who lives next door. She's eventually found out because she returns the missing monkey and the story comes out.
I'm not sorry I read the book. It was a welcome reprieve from my current reading projects. And while I do appreciate it for what it was, I don't really feel much of a need to read it again.
Read for Classics Club Spin 21
Basically, I wanted to like this story, but I find myself frustrated with it. Sara is so incredibly perfect. And while I don't mind Mary Sues as much as other people do (particularly because people don't have issues with men being perfect in media) I found her to be a bit too precious. She handled unfair criticisms with grace far above her years. She was incredibly intelligent.
Kind to everyone. I mean, she's the person we aspire to be, but no one is faultless.
The classicism was tough to handle too. And I know that's my 21st century self talking, so I try to look past it, but it really doesn't age well.
I DID appreciate the ending though. I will admit, I'm more familiar with the 1990s movie and the Shirley Temple movie, both of which end in a dramatic search for her father who hasn't actually died while Miss Minchin tries to get her arrested as a thief... or something. In the book, it's her father's friend who lives next door. She's eventually found out because she returns the missing monkey and the story comes out.
I'm not sorry I read the book. It was a welcome reprieve from my current reading projects. And while I do appreciate it for what it was, I don't really feel much of a need to read it again.
Read for Classics Club Spin 21
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