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Heidi is a story written by Johanna Spyri published between 1880 and 1881. It is about a young orphan girl who grows up in the Swiss Alps (mountains in Switzerland) with her grandfather.
Summary[change | change source]
When her parents die, Heidi must live in the mountains with her grandfather, Alm-Uncle, who does not like people. He slowly changes and becomes more caring because of Heidi. Then, Heidi must move to Frankfurt, Germany to be the friend of Clara, a girl who is sick and cannot walk. There she learns how to read from Clara’s grandmother, and she also learns about God. She becomes very home sick, and a kind doctor says that she must return home to her grandfather. Later, Clara visits Heidi in the Alps and becomes strong enough to walk.
Inspiration[change | change source]
Johanna Spryi wrote this story for her son, Berhard Diethelm Spryi. People and places in the story may have come from Spryi's own life. Catherine Eayrs, a literary critic, thinks that the village of Dorfli, which is not real, may come from Jenins in Switzerland, a place that Spryi visited as a child. Also, the kindly doctor is similar to Spryi's own father, and Clara's grandmother is a good storyteller, just like Spryi's own mother.[1]
Reception[change | change source]
Immediately after the book was published, Heidi was popular, both with children and adults. It continues to be popular, and translations are available in more than fifty languages. About 50 million books have been sold.[2] The story has also been told on film and television. There is even a musical version.
Visitor’s to Switzerland can visit a tourist village called Heididorf, Heidi’s village in Maienfeld.[3]
Criticism[change | change source]
Some readers think that one problem of Heidi is that the book teaches the Christian religion. Malcolm Usrey, a literary critic, thinks that nature is as important as Christianity in helping people, because Clara’s paralysis and Heidi’s home sickness are both healed in the “clean air of the Swiss mountains”.[4]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Eayrs, Catherine. "Johanna Spyri." In Jane M. Bingham (ed), Writers for Children Critical Studies of Major Authors Since the Seventeenth Century
- ↑ http://www.heidi-swiss.ch/en/heididorf/geschichte.html
- ↑ http://www.heidi-swiss.ch/en/heididorf/index.html
- ↑ Malcolm Usrey, "Johanna Spryi's Heidi: The conversation of a Byronic Hero" in Anne H. Lundin (ed), 2004, Constructing the Canon of Children's Literature, Routledge. pg 103
See also[change | change source]
Other websites[change | change source]
- Heidi at Project Gutenberg
- Heidi at Project Gutenberg (illustrated)
