Heimatlos

Spyri, Johanna, 1827-1901Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 356K words
Chapters: 36

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Heimatlos by Johanna SpyriAuthor: Spyri, Johanna, 1827-1901,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Mar 8, 2007

Editor's review

Heimatlos is another notable work by Johanna Spyri besides Heidi; its original German title means "the homeless one," and it revolves around the themes of losing one's home and seeking belonging. Spyri is known for her gentle, finely wrought depictions of Alpine village life and the child's inner world, and this book continues in that vein: though the characters face setbacks, the tone remains oriented toward goodness and reconciliation. As a free electronic text from Project Gutenberg, it preserves the language of the original book, making it suitable as reading material in the original German and convenient for researchers examining the narrative features of nineteenth-century German-language writing for young readers. Readers may wish to set it against Heidi and observe how the author handles the recurring images of "homeland" and "wandering." Note that this is the original German edition; readers unfamiliar with German will need a translation or a bilingual edition.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Learners with some German who wish to read literature in the original
Readers who enjoy Spyri's work and want to explore her writing beyond Heidi
Researchers interested in nineteenth-century German-language children's and young adult literature
General literary readers interested in themes of home and belonging

Not a good fit for

Readers with no German reading ability and no access to a translation
Readers who prefer genre fiction with strong plots and fast pacing
Beginning readers of foreign literature who need modern annotations and introductions

Reading tips

Get a general sense of the plot first, then read the German original to reduce frustration from unfamiliar words.
Keep a notebook to record recurring images of home and clues about the characters' movements.
Read it alongside Heidi and compare how the two works depict the Alpine countryside.
Use the electronic edition's search function to look up keywords and trace expressions related to "Heimat."

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is the relationship between this book and Heidi?

Both were written by Johanna Spyri and both involve Alpine village life and children growing up, but Heimatlos is an independent work, not a sequel to Heidi. It can serve as supplementary reading for understanding the author's other work.

Can I read this book without knowing German?

This Project Gutenberg edition is the original German text and includes no translation. If you do not know German, it is best to read it alongside a Chinese or English translation; if you simply want to learn about the author, you might start with a translation of Heidi.

How is the electronic edition best read?

You can download the plain text or ebook format and use the dictionary lookup and full-text search functions in a reader. As a public-domain electronic text, its formatting is plain; it is advisable to add bookmarks yourself and proceed chapter by chapter.

Comments

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About the author

Spyri, Johanna, 1827-1901 Author

Johanna Spyri (1827–1901) was a Swiss writer of children's literature, known for stories set in Alpine village life. Her best-known work, Heidi, follows an orphan girl who lives with her grandfather in the mountains and later accompanies a city girl, told in a warm tone that emphasizes nature's healing power and the inner world of children. The library holds 25 of her works, including the first and second parts of Heidi, Wo Gritlis Kinder hingekommen sind, and Heimatlos: Two stories for children, and for those who love children; they are commonly classified as inspirational coming-of-age stories. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted, yet her plain storytelling clearly conveys kindness, courage, and the strength to grow upward. Her works have long been loved by young readers and have influenced later children's literature about growing up in the natural world.