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The Lost Prince
A stirring, deeply romantic adventure story about the lost heir to a kingdom, by the author of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.
Paperback, 287 pages
Published
1971
by Puffin
(first published 1915)
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Marco is a 12 year old boy raised by his father and his father's devoted servant. They live in dingy little rented rooms that are visited by secretive gentlemen. They travel constantly, and Marco has been trained since birth to pass as a native of any of the countries in Europe. When a crisis hits, Marco needs all of his training and devotion to his father.
This is a romantic tale, not in the sense of love but in the sense that it's a fantasy of how European feudalism works, a bit like The Prison...more
This is a romantic tale, not in the sense of love but in the sense that it's a fantasy of how European feudalism works, a bit like The Prison...more
Jun 11, 2007
Emily
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Fans of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess
Shelves:
childrensbooks
Marco Lorestan, the hero of this story, is the lesser-known brother to Mary Lennox and Sara Crewe (and I guess Little Lord Fauntleroy, which, unbelievably, I have never read). I've always wondered why so few people have heard of this book, because Burnett's other stories are so famous, and the theme, about a clever, odd, out-of-place child coming of age in trying circumstances is very similar. It might be because all the characters are male and Burnett is not an especially convincing masculine w...more
Okay, so this book is in many respects mediocre and completely obvious, but it is a hilariously good time.
(Possibly it is only so hilarious because it is obvious to everyone except the titular lost prince who he is.)
Marco Loristan and his father are exiled citizens of the fictional European country of Samavia, currently living in London. Samavia has been undergoing civil war since the disappearance of their rightful king hundreds of years ago. (If you have not correctly guessed the identity of t...more
(Possibly it is only so hilarious because it is obvious to everyone except the titular lost prince who he is.)
Marco Loristan and his father are exiled citizens of the fictional European country of Samavia, currently living in London. Samavia has been undergoing civil war since the disappearance of their rightful king hundreds of years ago. (If you have not correctly guessed the identity of t...more
When I first bought my kindle, I wanted some books on it, but I didn’t want to pay for them (since I had just spent a bunch on the kindle). I was going through the free book list on kindle, and I saw some books by one of my favorite childhood authors, Frances Hodgson Burnett. Of course, I grabbed The Secret Garden, just to have it, but I also downloaded a book of hers that I had not yet read, The Lost Prince. (It’s still available for free on kindle, by the way.)
The main character, Marco, is a...more
The main character, Marco, is a...more
Apr 14, 2011
Monika
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrens,
film-adaptation
I had a feeling it would be great and I wasn't wrong. It was a very pleasant novel. I like almost everything about it: characters, places, adventures - all are very interesing.
I admit that the plot is very predictable but it didn't bother me. I could easly connected with the story and characters.
Young Marco is lovely. He has also this beautiful kindness, gentleness and wisdom which make him even more interesting as a child character. Also his father is a very strong character. And I felt sympat...more
I admit that the plot is very predictable but it didn't bother me. I could easly connected with the story and characters.
Young Marco is lovely. He has also this beautiful kindness, gentleness and wisdom which make him even more interesting as a child character. Also his father is a very strong character. And I felt sympat...more
As much as I love Secret Garden and A Little Princess, the same can't be said for this novel. It is okay, but I think it stretches far too long and moves a bit too slow. Burnett, I'm afraid, did not create a convincing strong male protagonist in the form of a twelve-year-old boy, even though she did inject good characteristics that not only I'd love any children to have, but myself, too.
I'd willingly reread A Little Princess and Secret Garden word by word anytime, but not The Lost Prince. The pl...more
I'd willingly reread A Little Princess and Secret Garden word by word anytime, but not The Lost Prince. The pl...more
Pretty standard FHB. As with all her books, you kind of have to wade through the ludicrous plot and a fair amount of period classism, ableism and Orientalism, and then survive the odd left hand turn into a discourse on the power of prayer (which is thereafter able to work our heroes out of any crunch, and combines with the first three to form what is known in academic circles as "toxic bullshitism"). If you manage to get through all that, it's a very sweet story about two boys who would do anyth...more
Aug 21, 2011
Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides
marked it as maybe-read-sometime
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Snail in Danger (Sid) by:
Ellen Kushner's blog (comments)
Shelves:
children-ya
I think the writer of Raising the Griffin may have written that partly as an homage to this. Except that the situations of the protagonists are reversed. (I don't want to say more for fear of spoiling either or both books for those who haven't read them.) The name Ivor being important in both books is making the "not a coincidence" light blink rapidly in my brain.
When attempting to actually read this, I suffered from, well, the things that have happened in reading and writing since this was publ...more
When attempting to actually read this, I suffered from, well, the things that have happened in reading and writing since this was publ...more
A great story although I found it a little slow a the beginning to gather momentum. Beautifully written, although I wouldn't expect anything less from this author.
"They saw the sun go down, and shade by shade, deepen and make radient then draw away with it the last touches of colour - rose-gold, rose-purple, and rose-grey. One mountain top after another held it's blush a few moments and lost it. It took long to gather them all but at length they were gone and the marvel of night fell."
I just fe...more
"They saw the sun go down, and shade by shade, deepen and make radient then draw away with it the last touches of colour - rose-gold, rose-purple, and rose-grey. One mountain top after another held it's blush a few moments and lost it. It took long to gather them all but at length they were gone and the marvel of night fell."
I just fe...more
I can see why this is a little known Burnett novel. Marco, the main character, is a twelve year old who is just too perfect for words. Although Burnett's writing is beautiful and her descriptions wonderful, there's too much of it, plus she did a lot of telling instead of showing. I got to the point where I was totally skimming over page after page after page. Plus, the reader knows right from the beginning who the lost prince is and yet somehow, the lost prince is ignorant of the fact until the...more
A children's classic, recommended to me by my children. A wonderful story with an engaging tone.
Details: A boy in London is being brought up by his father to love his lost homeland in eastern Europe. We follow the Marco Loristan on the journey to his destiny from London. The kindness exhibited in the story is touching and the sensitive treatment of all the characters is very well written.
This is a quick read for adults and the denouement is not surprising, but I was led so well along the path -...more
Details: A boy in London is being brought up by his father to love his lost homeland in eastern Europe. We follow the Marco Loristan on the journey to his destiny from London. The kindness exhibited in the story is touching and the sensitive treatment of all the characters is very well written.
This is a quick read for adults and the denouement is not surprising, but I was led so well along the path -...more
somewhat predictable but cute story of a boy working for a cause greater than himself.
Marco has grown up traveling the world, but he and his father remain loyal to their home country, Samavia. When his father sends Marco on an important journey for their country, Marco and his faithful friend set off, hoping that one day, their prince will return.
I love this story! The JourneyForth version is best, because it skips some buddhist stuff. Marco is a fun character to spend time with and the story is interesting. It's also refreshing (in both this book and Burnett's A Little Princess...more
I love this story! The JourneyForth version is best, because it skips some buddhist stuff. Marco is a fun character to spend time with and the story is interesting. It's also refreshing (in both this book and Burnett's A Little Princess...more
It's about a nation in Europe that has been in civil war for over 500 hundred years and is waiting for the hidden descendant of their beloved prince to make their country become whole. Can't you just see the intrigue and adventure wanting to bubble to the surface? Don't get too excited, because it didn't.
It was a struggle for me to get through this one. The story moved SO slowly. While the content is clean, the plot made me yawn a few times. I see potential in the story, if it were to be updated...more
It was a struggle for me to get through this one. The story moved SO slowly. While the content is clean, the plot made me yawn a few times. I see potential in the story, if it were to be updated...more
Burnett continues to riff on her favorite themes in THE LOST PRINCE. These are: children yearn to follow a good/just leader, there are forces in the universe that will help you attain your dreams if you can be devoted/focused enough, and if you act carry yourself with dignity and cheer, everyone will be in awe of you. I did enjoy the part when the boys have an active part in traveling for the sake of The Game.
THE LOST PRINCE is predictable to a fault and promotes a servile hero-worship that I j...more
THE LOST PRINCE is predictable to a fault and promotes a servile hero-worship that I j...more
This is one of the lesser-known novels for teenagers by Frances Hodgson Burnett (best known for 'The Secret Garden'). It was written about a hundred years ago, so is out of copyright and was free for my Kindle.
The story is loosely based on fact, but features an imaginary Eastern European country called Samavia. Marco, the young protagonist of the book, has been brought up as a patriot by his father, despite never having been there. He is observant and intelligent, and knows when to be quiet. He...more
The story is loosely based on fact, but features an imaginary Eastern European country called Samavia. Marco, the young protagonist of the book, has been brought up as a patriot by his father, despite never having been there. He is observant and intelligent, and knows when to be quiet. He...more
I'd really only read Secret Garden (which I loved) and although I have probably read A Little Princess, I am more familiar with the movie version (the one with Liesel Matthews which I adore). So this was my first foray into her other writings. I loved it. The philosophy is surprisingly "new age" and modern (treat others with respect, respect yourself, jealousy will destroy you, etc. etc.). The characters seemed larger than life but that's okay, they were still enjoyable to spend time reading abo...more
First time reading this, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. I think the latter two are better kids' books. This was all right, and it was relatively enjoyable, but some of the protagonists' characteristics were too "perfect" without the imaginative inventiveness and felicitous Arabian Nights-like "magic" that A Little Princess has to balance the utter perfection of the protagonists.
This is adventure for kids on an epic level. A secret plot to restore the lost heir of a kingdom overthrown, but set in realistic Europe... I like the characters and the way they stick together through their larger-than-life adventure. A fun read, even though it's a bit dated (by the author of Secret Garden) and so the reader can guess the ending long before the character does.
Loyalty, father son relationship, love of country, friendship, and so forth abound in this book. I thought it would be a little more "active" but overall a good read. Josiah wasn't impressed though. I'll have to reread it to him when he's older. We were trying to find a more "boy" book as a read aloud but the writing style is a little on the boring side at times so we'll keep looking.
This was a late-night read. It was oddly a page-turner, even though it took the annoyingly perfect main character forever to figure out what the reader with a modicum of intelligence has figured out from almost the beginning. If you can forgive her that, and the occasional preachy tone, it was actually a compelling story and a fun plot.
I enjoyed most of story part of this book, but by the end of the book I had grown quite weary of Burnett's persistent Confucian message. I find that Burnett and Kipling seem to advocate similar religious messages, but Burnett can be a bit annoying and repetitious, while Kipling fits his message in naturally.
Feb 28, 2011
Jillian
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-books,
classics
If you liked The Secret Garden or A Little Princess, you will like this.
I was surprised, reading this as an adult, how progressive the ideas were. "What would it be best to think about now?" asks the protagonist when he has a problem.
Hodgson Burnett teaches kids how to deal with anxiety within the context of a fairy-tale. There are even glimmers of Buddhist thinking, as well.
I was surprised, reading this as an adult, how progressive the ideas were. "What would it be best to think about now?" asks the protagonist when he has a problem.
Hodgson Burnett teaches kids how to deal with anxiety within the context of a fairy-tale. There are even glimmers of Buddhist thinking, as well.
A good "boy" advenutre story, but not for boys born in the late 20th century or in the 21st century. My favorite book of all is A Little Princess by the same author and while I had read many of her books, I had never read this one. It was fine, just doesn't stnad the test of time.
Burnett is one of my favorite authors, but this was more intense than her others that I've read. I love her characters, and her imagery is incredible. The only reason this is 4 stars instead of 5 (they really need halves) is that I saw some thing coming for a long time and would have liked a little more suspense in that area, but it is written for a younger audience, so that's okay.
This is a good solid children's classic. It's the story of a young boy and his father who travel around the world learning languages and gaining knowledge about everthing from art to geography while preparing for the return of a prince to a fictional land called Samavia. I was impressed by the relationship between the son and his father and the level of respect each had for the other. Also, I liked the themes of love of learning and the power of the mind to accomplish good. The character develop...more
I've read it as a child and at that time it was translated into Indonesian language and had unbelieveably bad illustration, still I read it again and again, so it should say something about the quality of the story
I read this recently as an adult and quite liked it. I was a bit tired of it by the end as it dragged on but overall I enjoyed it and I'm sure would have gained more pleasure if I was younger.
Simple, but inspiring. His heritage was a bit obvious throughout the whole book, and his being blind/oblivious to that fact was a bit stretching things. But other than that, it was a good story.
This book was just okay. It was slow moving at points, and sometimes phrases he used seemed repetitive, but overall it left you with a positive feeling and had some interesting bits.
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Frances Eliza Hodgson was the daughter of ironmonger Edwin Hodgson, who died three years after her birth, and his wife Eliza Boond. She was educated at The Select Seminary for Young Ladies and Gentleman until the age of fifteen, at which point the family ironmongery, then being run by her mother, failed, and the family emigrated to Knoxville, Tennessee. Here Hodgson began to write, in order to sup...more
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updated Jan 26, 2012 01:33pm
Jan 26, 2012 01:38pm