Gritli's Children

by Johanna Spyri, Elizabeth P. Stork (Translator)

"Dear child," she said now, in a voice which trembled with anxiety and affection, "you know that you are too tired to go out in the morning; but this afternoon, perhaps, we will go down to the river. Will not that be better, my darling?"

"Oh, yes, I suppose so," sighed the child; but though she said no more, she did not turn her eyes away from the blooming roses and the waving leaves below her.

"Oh, it is so beautiful down there! Do let me go out, mamma!"

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Childrens

265 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1884

About the author

Johanna Spyri was a Swiss author of children's stories, best known for Heidi. Born Johanna Louise Heusser in the rural area of Hirzel, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers in the area around Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

While Johanna Spyri's classic children's novel 1881 Heidi, although most definitely of its time and place, and certainly very much sentimentally imbued with a sometimes rather heavy dose of overt and religious moralism, is and always has been a much cherished and beloved personal reading favourite (mostly due to the fact that sentimentality and pietistic religiosity, while of course always present, are also and for the most part generally well enough balanced out by the delightful truth of the matter that first and foremost Heidi is a joyful and ecstatic celebration of life, of earthbound, natural beauty and happiness), I have never much enjoyed the author's 1883/1884 Gritlis Kinder (both the first part, Wo Gritlis Kinder hingekommen sind and the sequel, Gritlis Kinder kommen weiter) and mostly because of the novels' constant preoccupation with illness and death, and that death seems actually to be an end to be striven for, to be actively desired, even celebrated and prayed for (and this especially with regard to weak and ailing children, namely that in the two Gritli novels, in my opinion, Johanna Spyri most definitely both sports and even seemingly strongly promotes and fetes the attitude and philosophy that the weak and ailing are somehow better off dead, that death is even preferable to life if one is lastingly ill, and this supposedly in particular if young children are seriously and lastingly weak). And while I do indeed firmly believe that one does need to accept the possibility (and perhaps even the probability) of serious illness and resulting death (even amongst the young, even with regard to children), to in the Gritli novels have certain characters like Clarissa the nurse actively encouraging both Nora Stanhope and later Gritli's consumptive daughter Elsli to literally desire and wish for their demises, that dying (and according to Clarissa, thereby living on happily and joyfully in paradise so to speak) supposedly is somehow preferable to life, is better than an earthly existence, that has always (and yes, since childhood) totally and utterly really, truly and lastingly creeped me out in a major and uncomfortable manner (so much so that when I first stumbled upon Gritlis Kinder at my grandmother's house when I was about nine years old and proceeded to read the novel, I actually had recurring nightmares about nurse Clarissa, and albeit that she is most definitely positively and even glowingly and with much personal admiration described and depicted by Johanna Spyri, in my dreams, Clarissa appeared much more like a terrifying demon of sorts constantly following me, stalking me, telling me to follow her towards the pleasures of death and resurrection, into an uncanny Eden like area of supposed eternal bliss).

Now I guess if it had ONLY been young Nora Stanhope who had died (and her death occurs at the end of Wo Gritlis Kinder hingekommen sind), although I still would consider Clarissa with her death obsessions and her always promoting mortality and the state of being deceased as something inherently more positive and superior to life and ergo a state of "being" to be actively and always desired both massively and uncomfortably strangely uncanny and creepy, and with regard to poor Nora also and of course totally and absolutely, patently and in my opinion willfully, nastily counterproductive health and welfare wise, I probably would still not have really all that much enjoyed but also would not have so actively and furiously despised Gritlis Kinder as a whole, as entity if at least Gritli's daughter Elsli had survived. However, when at the end of the second novel, when at the end of Gritlis Kinder kommen weiter, Nora's Swiss friend and companion Elsli (Gritlis daughter) also dies not only under very much the same circumstances as Nora did, but furthermore as some kind of a martyr and ministering angel type (and yes indeed, equally and creepily told by Clarissa that death is a kind friend and preferable to life on earth), well I did and still do kind of see red so to speak (and furthermore, I also most certainly have never ever enjoyed the ministering angels of many 19th century sentimental children's novels all that much if at all, novels or short stories where young girls described and depicted as being oh so whitely shiningly pure, good and angelic, but physically weak and ailing, engaged in helping their fellow man for a limited and limiting period of time, doing good deeds, making life sweet for everyone, before blissfully succumbing in a state of divine grace, dying and ascending to a heavenly and better life, not only willingly, but always happily and indeed very much religiously if not even totally ecstatically).

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now while I generally as a rule do tend to vehemently despise and oppose translations that change too much of the original, frankly, with Louise Brooks' English language rendering of Johanna Spyri's Wo Gritlis Kinder hingekommen sind and Gritilis Kinder kommen weiter (usually published under the all encompassing title of Gritli's Children in English translations), I do in fact and actually appreciate that the translator has indeed rather overtly and deliberately altered the ending, that unlike in the original novel(s), Gritli's daughter Elsli does NOT succumb and follow her deceased friend Nora Stanhope into death, but both lives and becomes very much healthy and hearty once more (although I still do think and firmly believe that Clarissa the nurse is very much and dangerously creepy, is highly uncanny as a character even in the Brooks translation and that her preoccupation with death and her promotion and active celebration of the same as something inherently positive and actually to be wished and hoped for more than likely made young Nora not only much more ailing and weak than she already was but in my opinion also actively hastened her eventual demise in both the German original and also in the English translation).

And albeit Louise Brooks' translation of Wo Gritlis Kinder hingekommen sind and Gritlis Kinder kommen weiter, although Gritli's Children most definitely is also more than a trifle pedestrian at times, occasionally even woefully and tediously dragging style and expression wise (and definitely exceedingly too literal and word-for-word as a translation and thus often reading rather painfully like an academic exercise), what Ms. Brooks labels as her "happy ending" actually does make me enjoy Gritli's Children as a novel in and of itself considerably more than I could ever in any way either like or even appreciate Johanna Spyri's original. Therefore, while the original, while Wo Gritlis Kinder hingekommen sind and Gritlis Kinder kommen weiter I have only been able to rate with one star, I indeed will and do consider a high two star ranking for Louise Brooks' rendition, for her Gritli's Children, and indeed almost three stars, but still not quite as yet, for the manner of translation is definitely a bit of a chore to read, and the same problems with death worshipping, sentimentality and ministering angels that plague Johanna Spyri's original are also present, visible and equally problematically celebrated in Louise Brooks' English language version (although I most definitely and indeed do much enjoy, not to mention that I feel intense personal relief at the altered, the changed conclusion, at poor Elsli not also being "killed off" so to speak, albeit I guess one must then also point out that with the variant ending, Louise Brooks' translation of Johanna Spyri's Gritli novels is really no longer truly the former but more of an adaptation and thus most definitely also not what the author, what Johanna Spyri had originally intended, but that I also and frankly do not really care all that much either in this particular case ).

[Kerstin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of Part I, Wo Gritli's Kinder Hingekommen Sind I read it as part of a German compilation of Johanna Spyri's works.

This is a story of Christian hope.

As with all of Johanna Spyri's stories, there is more than meets the eye. On the surface we have a children's book with a serious theme, death. Yet when placed into a Christian context, death is not the end, but the hope of a better life to come. Despite the sober content, the book is written in a sweet, joyful, and often humorous style.

Spyri wrote this in 1883 (and the sequel the following year), and it was still a time when parents knew not all of their children would survive. Tuberculosis (consumption, wasting disease) was one of the more cruel illnesses, as the person infected literally wasted away over a long period of time. For parents watching their children being taken by it must have been unbearable.

Johanna Spyri tells the story of such a girl, one who never really had a chance to live, sweet little Nora Stanhope. She is the sole surviving child of a wealthy widow, and when the mother in her desperation takes her child into the Swiss Alps in hopes for a miracle, she will get one - but not in the way she was hoping or expecting.

The plot shifts now a bit and takes place primarily in the house of the local physician and his four boisterous children and all the scrapes they get into. We also get to know other children of the village and the socioeconomic demarcation lines already made present in the children's lives. All of these get intertwined when Nora and her mother arrive. They leave a lasting impact on one another over the course of the summer with ramifications far into the future.

[Trang]

Very sentimental, and I disliked almost each of the children for some reason or other.
That said, they were distinct characters, and perhaps it was their flaws that make you care about them so. I was chiding and scolding them in my head like they were MY children, while I was reading! Fani is a really good guy, talented and sensible and intelligent, but I could shake him for his selfishness, especially with pursuing his career as an artist, and letting his little sister slave herself quite - almost - to death for their family. Emmi lives entirely for her friend Fani, dedicating herself entirely to helping him with his dreams, which is quite sweet, but she seems to have no life of her own, no dreams, no aspirations that are entirely for herself. And he, though friendly enough, by no means returns her dedication to that extent. Maybe I just have an issue with a girl subjecting her active, promising self to a boy friend, no matter how worthy he is. It'd be acceptable in a older brother's manner towards his younger sister, perhaps.
Quite pious and religious in a schoolgirl's manner, which I by no means dislike, but it doesn't come off as true and genuine as in Heidi. Johanna Spyri seems to suggest that all children naturally have this seed of faith naturally planted in them, which I just didn't quite buy in each of them. Elsi just about makes me believe in her true selflessness as a young Mother Theresa, existing entirely for the purpose of serving others.

Spoiler alert.

I was a bit disturbed by the way early death was presented as something desireable and happy, in contrast to the strong will to live in Heidi. I do not know the circumstances, but I could imagine Johanna wrote the book with the aim to ease a particular ill child out of life, offering comfort and taking away the fear of death... but to a healthy, energetic child reader I imagine these parts to be rather confusing and depressing.
Lots of redundancy as well, such as the double instance of early death with Nora and Elsi, and the good wise mother character that settles all the troubles and makes it all right again in both Tante Klarissa and their own Tante back home. Some insignificant and flat characters. Alltogether really, truly not a very good book. But I keep thinking about it and caring and nagging! So, no idea whether I'd recommend it. Take that as you like.

[BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful children's book, first published in 1884 and set in the spirit of its time. As long as you keep this early publication date in mind while reading the book as an adult, it is most certainly a beautiful and interesting book to read, with a compelling story.

My Dutch edition was published in 1911, only 27 years after the Swiss original, and it contains some very beautiful illustrations, which were great to look at.

[Kerstin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dieser Folgeroman zu “Gritlis Kinder” spielt am reichen Anwesen der Frau Stanhope am Ufer des Rheins. Während im Orginal der Pathos sich mit dem amüsierenden und drolligen Verhalten der Ärztekinder in Balance hielt, wird die Handlung hier in das Melodramatische hineingezogen und überspitzt. Das mag wohl dem Leser im 19. Jahrhundert gefällig gewesen sein, aber für heute ist es ein bischen viel.

[معصومه توکلی · Rating 3 out of 5]

عنوان ترجمهٔ فارسی: بچه‌های گریتلی

[Diletta Nicastro · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read this book in Italian.
Here is my review in Italian.

Procedendo con la lettura mi convinco che 'Gritli' sia una sorta di prova generale per il libro molto più famoso di Johanna Spyri, 'Heidi', che ho amato moltissimo. I temi trattati, infatti, sono molto simili, ma nel complesso la trama è molto meno articolata e sicuramente meno avvincente.
Tuttavia quando approfondisco la questione scopro che Heidi è del 1880-1881 mentre questa diade di 'Gritli' è posteriore di un paio d’anni (1883-1884). La patina di angoscia che attraversa tutta la narrazione è forse derivata dalla debole salute del figlio della Spyri, che poi morì di tubercolosi proprio nel 1884 a 29 anni.

A mio avviso sono troppi i bambini coinvolti nella storia (in una storia così breve, tra l’altro) tanto che è difficile approfondire i loro caratteri, portando a confondersi.
Degno di nota il confronto tra Nora, la malata, e Emmi, l’energica figlia del dottore (innamorata di Stefi), che di base rispecchia un po’ il personaggio di Heidi. Mentre, però, la vivacità di Heidi coinvolgerà Klara a tal punto da spingerla a guarire, qui Nora non trova alcun contatto con Emmi, e si rifugerà in Elsi (la sorella di Stefi), debole come lei, anche se con un maggior senso del dovere.

Complessivamente ho trovato il libro un po’ angosciante, senza altra speranza se non quella della Fede (i libri della Spyri sono sempre attraversati da un profondo credo religioso e aspirazione alla vita ultraterrena). La critica alla società è troppo lieve e i personaggi tutto sommato troppo stereotipati per affezionarsi a nessuno dei ragazzi (Elsi esclusa, forse).
La frase più interessante di tutto il libro la pronuncia Emmi: “Bisogna sempre avere qualcosa di bello da pensare alla sera per rallegrarsi del giorno dopo” (pag. 50).

Per leggere la recensione completa visita il mio blog:
https://dilettanicastro.blogspot.com/...

[itchy · Rating 2 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p16: Marget's three children did not get by any means the nice care that Fani and Elsli had received from their own mother, and Gritli's children retained an air of distinction that was ineffaceable, and that marked them as quite different from the younger set.

ocr:
p137: "Fani, we are Los! who can help us?" screamed Emma.

p146: "...You must at any rate take measures to set Mrs. Bickel's mind at rest She told me yesterday that she had lost her sleep and her appetite, from thinking about the beautiful leather trunk, and the six new suits of clothes, which she has no doubt the waiters at the Crown Prince are sharing among themselves...."

p149: "Oh, ope the gates of heaven now,
And bid me enter in!"

It would seem that Heidi is so good that it severely eclipse the rest of Spyri's work, which have strikingly similar themes.

[Liasanya Leseratte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dieses Buch erzählt die Geschichte von den beiden Kindern von gritli, die wie ihre bereits verstorbene Mutter, ein sehr verträumtes Leben abseits der Realität führen. Der Junge fani hat großes künstlerisches Talent und möchte dieses zum Beruf machen, vergisst dabei aber seine Familie. Das Mädchen elsli ist mutterersatz für die jüngeren Halbgeschwister und kümmert sich auch noch um das kranke Gastkind Nora, das dem Tode geweiht ist. Im Kontrast dazu stehen die lebenslustigen Arztkinder oscar, Emmi, Fred und Rikli; die im Gegensatz dazu ein ganz normales Kinderleben auf dem Land führen. Dieser Kontrast ist etwas zu drastisch und führt die ganze Handlung sehr ins melodramatische. Als Kind/Jugendliche fand ich diese Geschichte sehr traurig und ich mochte es nie wenn hauptcharakter sterben. Deswegen nur 3 Sterne. Für mich ist es auch nicht wirklich ein Kinderbuch.

[Admburton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Heidi as a child and loved it I was quite curious to see what other stories the author has written. I found myself reminded by many other young adult stories, which is quite interesting. I was reminded of Anne of Green Gables, and The Gerald Durrell Tales.

Additionally it gave a perspective of faith and communication at the time. I am thankful I chose to read this relatively easy read.

[Bab · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dentro de que le ha pasado el tiempo por encima que ni un convoy de tanques sionistas y de que es proselitista con todas las ganas en la educación religiosa de los niños, los personajes y los giros de la historia e incluso las moralejas no están mal. Para pasar una tarde en urgencias hay cosas mucho peores (¿clamidia caníbal?). Bab's short caption: not sure if better than Heidi (definitely not than Ezra tho).

[J. D. Román · Rating 4 out of 5]

No llega al nivel de calidad narrativa que "Heidi", pero es una tierna historia que reflexiona sobre temas serios como la muerte.

[Pranav Kumar]

3.5/5

[Laura Méndez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Estamos ante una de las obras más personales, polémicas y tristes de Johanna Spyri, creadora de la tierna Heidi, y quizá por eso muchos se imaginaban que esta historia iba a ser algo parecido, pero nada más lejos de la realidad. Cuando Spyri escribió esta historia, hacía poco que habían muerto de tuberculosis su marido y su hijo. Esta terrible enfermedad era, en la época, una verdadera plaga que afectaba a ricos y pobres, llevándose por delante casi a cualquiera que tuviera la desgracia de padecerla puesto que por entonces no había cura para este mal.

La historia se centra en las relaciones entre los hijos de tres familias: los Stein, los Stanhope y la familia de Heiiri, el jornalero. Son los hijos de este último los que dan nombre a la novela, ya que Gritli fue la primera esposa de Heiiri y madre de sus dos primeros hijos: Fanni y Elsli. Resulta curioso cómo el personaje de Gritli, a la manera de Rebecca en la novela de Daphne du Maurier, tiene una importancia vital en la historia a pesar de no aparecer en ningún momento. Gritli fue, en su día, una de las muchachas más bonitas y prometedoras del pueblo. Aunque podría haber tenido a cualquier hombre que quisiera, se casó por amor con el pobre jornalero Heiiri. Al cabo de poco tiempo, tras dos embarazos, una vida de miseria y un exceso de trabajo, Gritli murió tísica.

El tema luctuoso está muy presente a lo largo de toda la novela. Es un relato cargado de un enorme pesimismo, quizá por las difíciles circunstancias por las que estaba pasando Spyri por entonces, pero creo que también guarda un mensaje de ayuda para los niños de aquella época. En nuestros tiempos, nos parece inconcebible que se escriba un libro para niños que hable de la enfermedad y la muerte con tanta naturalidad porque no estamos acostumbrados que los niños mueran, pero en el siglo XIX la cosa era muy diferente. La tuberculosis afectaba por igual a niños y adultos, formaba parte de la vida diaria y era imposible sustraerse a ella. Los niños morían a menudo tras largos y penosos días en los que sus cuerpos se consumían lentamente. Con esta novela, Spyri se dirige a los niños que, como Nora y Elsli, estaban en una situación en la que vivían con la muerte encima de ellos, pero también a los padres de estos niños; padres como la señora Stanhope, que insiste en recorrer Europa en busca de una cura milagrosa para su hija porque cree que es su deber como madre, en vez de quedarse junto a su hija y ayudarle a hacerle más llevaderos sus últimos días.

Por eso me parece que es una falta de respeto tremenda hacia Johanna Spyri el que se hubiera alterado el final, por muy crudo que fuese, para darle a su protagonista un final feliz que, sí, era merecido, pero no era el final que Spyri tenía para ella. ¿Con qué derecho puede uno atreverse a modificar la obra de otro autor solo porque nos parezca inapropiada o morbosa? "Los niños Gritli" es una obra triste y pesimista, pero eso no significa que sea mala o deba ser odiada.

[Diana Luna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Primera vez leído (02-07/Julio/2019): 1 estrella.
Me gustó el personaje de Fred 💚🌱🐍🦎🦖🦕🐃🦓🐽🐥🐿️🦑🕷️🐝🐛🐌🕸️🐞🦂🐞🦂🐌😊