Your Humble Blogger had fond memories of Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates. Sadly, I went and ruined those memories by re-reading the thing. Yeesh.
Yes, I know, it was published in 1865. But I cannot believe that even in 1865 it was anything but laughable for five boys, unchaperoned, to spend time in the big city going to museums and churches, and discussing history. And if it was, I can’t believe it was anything but infuriating for the plot to come to a complete standstill while the author details the paintings, organ concerti, and historical events that occupy the boys’ attention. And, by the way, Hans isn’t on the trip; although the boys will be competing for the titular Silver Skates, they are very much minor characters.
And besides, Little Women was in published in 1868; as I noted in my last jaunt through the mid-nineteenth C., so the whole it’s-so-old-it-must-be-quaint-not-bad bird won’t fly.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
Oh, I gotta chime in on the book’s side. It’s only partly a story about Hans and Gretel and their parents. It’s also about Holland, or a storybook version of Holland, and I find that fun.
The thing is, Hans himself is just too good and pure to be that interesting — if the book did focus on him all the time, I suspect it would be insufferable. The major characters in Little Women, by contrast, are much more interesting, except perhaps for the father.
Granted, Little Women is a better book. And Hans Brinker is one of those books I like in part because it reminds me of when I first read it. Still, I have reread it fairly recently, and I still like it.
Well, and if Hans is insufferable, our tour guides through storybook Holland are little manikins that … wait … you know, if they turned out to be androids, placed by aliens who plot the destruction of the world but need the Silver Skates, which are actually the last remaining parts of the titanium space armor … nah. I hate to harsh on a childhood favorite, but the whole Let’s Go Holland stuff didn’t work for me at all this time through.
Thanks,
-V.