Before picking up HARRIET THE SPY by Louise Fitzhugh again, I tried to remember why I didn’t like it many years ago. And all I could remember was that it gave me an uncomfortable, squirmy, unhappy sort of feeling that stemmed from reading about Harriet doing things she shouldn’t that were clearly going to cause Bad Things to happen. Now what’s odd is I wasn’t really a goody-two-shoes kid, and I liked lots of other books about characters that were naughty, or even who did things I felt they shouldn’t, who did things that I saw as hurtful, etc. So there must have been something more to it than that, but my memory consists entirely of the squirmy feeling.*
And then I opened the book, and the degree to which this is an obnoxious girl with no discernable redeeming qualities, with whom I cannot sympathize at all, and who is not even interesting to make up for it, absolutely bowled me over. Harriet’s attitude towards the people on the subway when they go to visit Ole Golly’s mother really turned me off. I began to get slightly more interested in Harriet as a character only when her spy notes began to be less observations and more musings. Like:
What is too old to have fun? You can’t be too old to spy except if you were fifty you might fall off a fire escape, but you could spy around on the ground a lot.
Harriet’s reaction to being an onion for the Christmas play went a long way towards endearing her to me as well, so by mid-book I actually cared about the main character, which is helpful. I vaguely recollect that my original reaction to Harriet’s friends reading her notebook was more on the friends’ side, but this time through I thoroughly empathized with Harriet, particularly as she goes through the subsequent days miserable and misunderstood. So from that turning point on I was properly hooked, and I really did enjoy the rest of the book, but I likely wouldn’t have gotten that far naturally (like, without being determined to finish and blog about the book).
A few other random thoughts:
- What the hell kind of a name is Ole Golly? I mean, seriously.
- I think Harriet seems like a 9 year old, not an 11 year old. The things she wonders about, her level of awareness (or lack thereof) of her friends’ and classmates’ having feelings, and just her general behavior, don’t ring true of an 11-year old for me. That made it hard for me to buy into the character; I eventually just decided that in my mind she’d be 9, and that made it all work much better.
- I suspect as a child I was confused by the progressive-type school Harriet attends, particularly as it would have seemed incongruous with the other time period cues given in terms of the parents’ behavior, etc.
- I’m not sure I find it believable that Harriet was permitted to print the newsletter items she did - but I enjoyed the twist of her not actually being reformed or learning her lesson.
*I recall a different kind of squirmy feeling from some books that I loved but that creeped me out or were deeply affecting in a way that stuck for days after reading (especially Time windows book), so that I started hesitating to re-read them, even though I loved them, because it was too big a psychological commitment. I do a similar thing with some movies now - I really want to see them, but I’m sure they’ll leave me depressed, and I’m never willing to commit to that so I keep really wanting to see them but when the time comes to actually sit down and watch something I choose fluff.
Posted in Childhood Reading, Fitzhugh, Louise, Harriet the Spy
Good post. I loved this book, although I found the part where she is ostracized by her peers difficult– it hit close to home for a nerdy kid like me. I grew up in the working-class Pittsburgh suburbs, so things like Central Park and nannies and dumbwaiters seemed incredibly exotic to me, which was part of the appeal of the book.
Did anyone else start a spy notebook and/or stash spy gear after reading this?
But I very much hear you on the squirmy feelings, both kinds. There were books I avoided reading again for that reason (also episodes of Seinfeld). And I still haven’t seen Schindler’s List, precisely because of what you outlined in the last paragraph. Way to elucidate things we think or feel when we’re reading but can’t always explain clearly… I think that’s my favorite thing about this blog!
Awww, I’m sad you didn’t like this. I loved this one. Oh well. I do agree with you about the newsletter items. I didn’t really think they were all that well written either.
Do you think you’ll try the Long Secret? It’s sort of a sequel but it’s more from the POV of the character Beth Ellen. Harriet’s in there and we do get a sense of what she’s thinking but it’s not ALL about her. Also, there aren’t really too many references to the events of the first one. There is still spying, of course.
I started a spy notebook! It was second grade. I spent one day on my front lawn writing down license plate numbers like Harriet. Actually, it was probably more like 20 minutes before I got hopelessly bored.
I remember finding The Long Secret boring.
This is how I feel about The Great Gatsby. Really didn’t like it.
God, does anybody really like the Great Gatsby?
I love the Great Gatsby. I think it’s because I’ve taught it. I find that the books I’m forced to read so closely often are better for that close reading. It’s the sort of critical reading that ruins books which are actually entertaining/enjoyable to read, but really gives a book like TGG a reason to exist.
Olivia: Yeah, I can see that. It occurs to me that perhaps I should not, in fact, dismiss the book based on my reactions while skimming it as a high school junior.
I would go ahead and discount pretty much anything from school. HS English has a way of ruining novels. I know John Green has tried ranting about how critical reading is not/should not be entirely separate from enjoyment of a novel (I loved his CITR deconstruction), but in HS the two are generally totally separate ideas. Luckily, I was never forced to read a lot of the classics in HS or else I’d probably hate them too- I tried to burn Jane Eyre on a BBQ (this from a die hard romance reader). I’m really thankful Hamlet wasn’t part of my HS education.
CITR?
Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts about how HS English classes should be taught — and every current or former Hunter College High School English teacher in the world is perplexed by their sudden, overwhelming urge to roll their eyes — and I’ve been mulling over blogging about this. I’d like to read what John Green had to say.
therealpotato: I grew up in nyc, but I was still perplexed by the dumbwaiter. Glad you liked the post!
Sadako: I’m not sure I’m up for the sequel - I feel like I ended at a neutral space with Harriet (hated the first half, liked the second half), and maybe I’ll leave it at that.
I liked The Great Gatsby. Haven’t read it again since high school, I really should.
Olivia: From the way you write it it sounds like the attempt to bbq Jane Eyre was unsuccessful - what happened? I’ve found paper generally catches fire pretty well.