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Review: Edmondo De Amicis - Heart (Translated by Isabel F. Hapgood) (1886)
This was a children's novel and it read as such, very wholesome, very hopeful. I'd recommend it if you want something light and easy.
Spoilers?
Story
This book took us through a year in the life of our protagonist, Enrico Bottini, though he is not a major figure in the story. Rather, Enrico narrated the events that happened at school, and they were very typical events that you would observe at school as a third grader.
Between those stories told to us by Enrico included letters from his parents, giving him moral lessons and such, as well as fables and tales that were meant to teach him certain values.
Through the course of the school year, Enrico observed his friends get into trials and tribulations and come out of them stronger. By the end of the book, Enrico was to move away from Turin due to his father's work, and thus would not advance to grade four with his friends.
In general, there was nothing morally ambiguous about this story. All of the stories ended hopefully, the lesson learned was always one of kindness, of patriotism. At first, I was kind of surprised that all of the stories were happy, that people were always helping each other, that people weren't badmouthing each other or scamming each other despite the circumstances. That was when I realized that this really was a kids' book, to teach them moral behaviour, that there is good in the world, and to encourage children to be good to one another.
Writing & Translation
As mentioned, this book was written as a diary by Enrico, but there were letters from his mom and dad, as well as various stories inserted intermittently. I thought this was an interesting format, and it gave us a complete picture. I think it made sense for a children's novel to have the different perspectives, as opposed to a book for a more mature audience that might have wanted to play with the idea of an unreliable narrator.
Isabel F. Hapgood was the translator for this book and I think the translation read well enough.
Characters
Enrico Bottini
Enrico was our narrator. He was a bit of a blank slate and a backseat passenger to most of the stories in this book. Enrico was probably meant to be a stand in for the children reading this book, as Enrico observed and learned from the everydoing goings-on around him, as well as from his parents' lessons.
Mr. & Mrs. Bottini
Enrico's parents were also somewhat bland to me. They didn't stand out as strong characters to me. I think they were very much typical parents, Mr. Bottini being someone who was tough but had a soft side, and Mrs. Bottini being someone who was sympathetic but upright.
Silvia Bottini
Silvia was Enrico's older sister. She acted as a leader of the siblings (Silvia and Enrico had another younger brother). When she realized that they were hard on their money, she, speaking for both Silvia and Enrico, insisted that they would not need gifts, and that money should be saved for the essentials. However, their father was touched and bought them gifts anyway.
Ernesto Derossi
Derossi was the top student in the class.
Garrone
Garrone was a student in the class who was older than the rest. I believe he was 14 years old, which would have been old for grade three. He was tough and noble, and often stood up for the kids who were bullied in class. Enrico liked Garrone a lot.
During the novel, Garrone's mother had died and it had been tough on him as well as the other kids in class who looked up to him.
Pietro Precossi
Precossi was the son of a blacksmith. His father was abusive. However, Precossi despite all odds did very well in school. That prompted his father to realize the wrong of his ways, and afterwards, Precossi's father was more enthusiastic about his son's education.
Antonio "Tonino" Rabucco
He was known as "the little stonemason," since that was his father's profession, and I don't remember him ever being called anything else.
Other
There were a lot of characters in the book, as many of them might only have one story told about them the entire novel. Unfortunately, I don't remember a lot of the names, but I think that kind of made this book more realistic, that Enrico perhaps might only have brought up a classmate because something amazing happened to them.
Themes
Goodness
I was actually kind of surprised that so many of the stories were truly good.
One of the first stories was about the little cleaner boy who cleaned at the girls' part of the school. He'd lost his money and was afraid to return home. When the female students were going home, they bumped into the cleaner boy, and understanding his dilemma, fundraised money between all of them so he could return home. I kept expecting the boy to be a scammer but it turns out it was meant to be a hopeful story, one that talked about the students having sympathy for the boy.
There was another story about how Enrico had invited a classmate over to his house to play. Enrico had invited him because he had done well at school. Enrico was aware that the other student was not from a well-to-do family. When they were playing with Enrico's trains, Enrico's father gave him a note, nudging him to gift one of his toy trains to the friend (as a gift in celebration of his fine work at school), who gratefully accepted it. So this was the tone of the book, in which Enrico would observe and then learn to do the kind thing.
There was the boy who had gotten injured while pushing another kid out of the way of an oncoming truck; he was thanked profusely by the parent of the child who was saved. And though he hobbled around on crutches a lot, he was seen as a hero.
Family
Family was a strong theme, which would be expected of an older child's book. Enrico's mother, father, and sister were constantly instilling in him good moral values, but also values of unity. For example, I mentioned that Silvia stepped up on behalf of the siblings to assure their parents that they did not need to give toys to them.
Enrico also told many stories about his classmates and their relationships with their parents. Parents were often proud of their children for doing well. There was Precossi, whose performance at school had turned his father's behaviour around.
There was another story about a child whose father wrote labels to earn extra money for the family. The child was secretly helping his father write labels and in turn his grades fell. His father grew cold because of his grades and yet the boy continued to write labels to help his father earn extra money. In the end, his father found out that he had been staying up and doing poorly in school to help him write labels.
There was another story about a boy travelling from Italy to Argentina to find his mother. He was sent from place to place. He finally made it to see his mother in a hospital. His mother had lost hope, but upon seeing her son, was rejuvenated and enthusiastic about doing surgery to get better.
So a lot of these stories were about the power of familial love.
Patriotism
There were a lot of patriotic stories. I remember at one point in the book, a teacher had reminded the children that a boy from any part of Italy should have been treated the same as if they were from Turin.
There was a story about a boy who had climbed a tree to help the military keep an eye out for approaching troops, and he had died a hero.
There were patriotic processions/parades during the book as well.
Education
Of course, education was important. Both teachers as well as Enrico's mother had emphasized how teachers were as much parents to the students as their actual parents were. So Enrico's mother respected teachers.
At one point, Enrico's father took him to visit his teacher who was now old and retired. Years later, the teacher still remembered Enrico's father, who treated him like an elderly relative.
Overall
This was honestly a pretty wholesome book. I was surprised by it and I had a good time reading it.
Spoilers?
Story
This book took us through a year in the life of our protagonist, Enrico Bottini, though he is not a major figure in the story. Rather, Enrico narrated the events that happened at school, and they were very typical events that you would observe at school as a third grader.
Between those stories told to us by Enrico included letters from his parents, giving him moral lessons and such, as well as fables and tales that were meant to teach him certain values.
Through the course of the school year, Enrico observed his friends get into trials and tribulations and come out of them stronger. By the end of the book, Enrico was to move away from Turin due to his father's work, and thus would not advance to grade four with his friends.
In general, there was nothing morally ambiguous about this story. All of the stories ended hopefully, the lesson learned was always one of kindness, of patriotism. At first, I was kind of surprised that all of the stories were happy, that people were always helping each other, that people weren't badmouthing each other or scamming each other despite the circumstances. That was when I realized that this really was a kids' book, to teach them moral behaviour, that there is good in the world, and to encourage children to be good to one another.
Writing & Translation
As mentioned, this book was written as a diary by Enrico, but there were letters from his mom and dad, as well as various stories inserted intermittently. I thought this was an interesting format, and it gave us a complete picture. I think it made sense for a children's novel to have the different perspectives, as opposed to a book for a more mature audience that might have wanted to play with the idea of an unreliable narrator.
Isabel F. Hapgood was the translator for this book and I think the translation read well enough.
Characters
Enrico Bottini
Enrico was our narrator. He was a bit of a blank slate and a backseat passenger to most of the stories in this book. Enrico was probably meant to be a stand in for the children reading this book, as Enrico observed and learned from the everydoing goings-on around him, as well as from his parents' lessons.
Mr. & Mrs. Bottini
Enrico's parents were also somewhat bland to me. They didn't stand out as strong characters to me. I think they were very much typical parents, Mr. Bottini being someone who was tough but had a soft side, and Mrs. Bottini being someone who was sympathetic but upright.
Silvia Bottini
Silvia was Enrico's older sister. She acted as a leader of the siblings (Silvia and Enrico had another younger brother). When she realized that they were hard on their money, she, speaking for both Silvia and Enrico, insisted that they would not need gifts, and that money should be saved for the essentials. However, their father was touched and bought them gifts anyway.
Ernesto Derossi
Derossi was the top student in the class.
Garrone
Garrone was a student in the class who was older than the rest. I believe he was 14 years old, which would have been old for grade three. He was tough and noble, and often stood up for the kids who were bullied in class. Enrico liked Garrone a lot.
During the novel, Garrone's mother had died and it had been tough on him as well as the other kids in class who looked up to him.
Pietro Precossi
Precossi was the son of a blacksmith. His father was abusive. However, Precossi despite all odds did very well in school. That prompted his father to realize the wrong of his ways, and afterwards, Precossi's father was more enthusiastic about his son's education.
Antonio "Tonino" Rabucco
He was known as "the little stonemason," since that was his father's profession, and I don't remember him ever being called anything else.
Other
There were a lot of characters in the book, as many of them might only have one story told about them the entire novel. Unfortunately, I don't remember a lot of the names, but I think that kind of made this book more realistic, that Enrico perhaps might only have brought up a classmate because something amazing happened to them.
Themes
Goodness
I was actually kind of surprised that so many of the stories were truly good.
One of the first stories was about the little cleaner boy who cleaned at the girls' part of the school. He'd lost his money and was afraid to return home. When the female students were going home, they bumped into the cleaner boy, and understanding his dilemma, fundraised money between all of them so he could return home. I kept expecting the boy to be a scammer but it turns out it was meant to be a hopeful story, one that talked about the students having sympathy for the boy.
There was another story about how Enrico had invited a classmate over to his house to play. Enrico had invited him because he had done well at school. Enrico was aware that the other student was not from a well-to-do family. When they were playing with Enrico's trains, Enrico's father gave him a note, nudging him to gift one of his toy trains to the friend (as a gift in celebration of his fine work at school), who gratefully accepted it. So this was the tone of the book, in which Enrico would observe and then learn to do the kind thing.
There was the boy who had gotten injured while pushing another kid out of the way of an oncoming truck; he was thanked profusely by the parent of the child who was saved. And though he hobbled around on crutches a lot, he was seen as a hero.
Family
Family was a strong theme, which would be expected of an older child's book. Enrico's mother, father, and sister were constantly instilling in him good moral values, but also values of unity. For example, I mentioned that Silvia stepped up on behalf of the siblings to assure their parents that they did not need to give toys to them.
Enrico also told many stories about his classmates and their relationships with their parents. Parents were often proud of their children for doing well. There was Precossi, whose performance at school had turned his father's behaviour around.
There was another story about a child whose father wrote labels to earn extra money for the family. The child was secretly helping his father write labels and in turn his grades fell. His father grew cold because of his grades and yet the boy continued to write labels to help his father earn extra money. In the end, his father found out that he had been staying up and doing poorly in school to help him write labels.
There was another story about a boy travelling from Italy to Argentina to find his mother. He was sent from place to place. He finally made it to see his mother in a hospital. His mother had lost hope, but upon seeing her son, was rejuvenated and enthusiastic about doing surgery to get better.
So a lot of these stories were about the power of familial love.
Patriotism
There were a lot of patriotic stories. I remember at one point in the book, a teacher had reminded the children that a boy from any part of Italy should have been treated the same as if they were from Turin.
There was a story about a boy who had climbed a tree to help the military keep an eye out for approaching troops, and he had died a hero.
There were patriotic processions/parades during the book as well.
Education
Of course, education was important. Both teachers as well as Enrico's mother had emphasized how teachers were as much parents to the students as their actual parents were. So Enrico's mother respected teachers.
At one point, Enrico's father took him to visit his teacher who was now old and retired. Years later, the teacher still remembered Enrico's father, who treated him like an elderly relative.
Overall
This was honestly a pretty wholesome book. I was surprised by it and I had a good time reading it.