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43rd out of 206 books
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102 voters
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add to my books
Mistress Masham's Repose
"She saw: first, a square opening, about eight inches wide, in the lowest step...finally she saw that there was a walnut shell, or half one, outside the nearest door...she went to look at the shell—but looked with the greatest astonishment. There was a baby in it."
So ten-year-old Maria, orphaned mistress of Malplaquet, discovers the secret of her deteriorating estate: on a...more
So ten-year-old Maria, orphaned mistress of Malplaquet, discovers the secret of her deteriorating estate: on a...more
Hardcover, 255 pages
Expected publication:
March 7th 2012
by New York Review Children's Collection
(first published 1946)
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I liked this, don't get me wrong. But it's a flawed story, and while I enjoyed it, I found myself skipping or rolling my eyes at chunks.
It reads like an elderly professor telling a story to a favoured niece/nephew, and for all I know it was. It doesn't read like something intended for publication, it's bitty, weirdly paced, very episodic, has sporadic digressions into fairly dry subjects and asides, and then finishes up with a rush of an action adventure ending, as though the author...more
It reads like an elderly professor telling a story to a favoured niece/nephew, and for all I know it was. It doesn't read like something intended for publication, it's bitty, weirdly paced, very episodic, has sporadic digressions into fairly dry subjects and asides, and then finishes up with a rush of an action adventure ending, as though the author...more
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I picked this to read to Nick when I realized, on short notice, that we were out of library books for bedtime reading. It was the first thing on my shelves I found that looked suitable. A more organized reading would have started with Gulliver's Travels and then moved to this one, rather than the other way round, as we're doing. But it worked as a standalone, so there you go.
A plucky English orphan of about ten years age lives with loathsome and loathing guardians who conceal her tru...more
A plucky English orphan of about ten years age lives with loathsome and loathing guardians who conceal her tru...more
Katie
rated it
Recommends it for:
anyone, but it's good for pre-teen age
Recommended to Katie by:
it was in our family bookshelves growing up
A sweet, charming story that I found in a used bookshop. I read it when I was a little girl, and it was fun to read again. It's about a little girl who stumbles on the people of Lilliput from Gulliver's Travels, who have migrated from their home when Gulliver took a few of them to England. They're the ones that are only a few inches tall. I must say that out of all the characters, the Professor is my favorite. His reasoning and advice is hysterical. I love it. It's a really sweet story, and I'm ...more
No, the young protagonist is not Mistress Masham, but a young orphan named Maria. White creates a fascinating world out of a dilapidated estate which has apparently witnessed a great deal of history. The adults are characteristically lovable and inept or vile, with a mix of cunning and stupidity - the old Professor reminds me of Merlin in "Once and Future King."
The narration trips along at a rapid pace, even when White is ticking off a list of historical events or allusions ...more
The narration trips along at a rapid pace, even when White is ticking off a list of historical events or allusions ...more
i liked this book but being that it is from one of my favorite authors i was disappointed, it is not nearly as good as The Once And Future King and The Book Of Merlyn. unlike those books i found sections of Mistress Masham's Repose to be just plain boring although i did like the fact that i could see some of the politics that make up The Book Of Merlyn peeking through in this book too. my favorite example: "You would be a Big Bug then, however kind you were, and they would be little bugs, w...more
Maria is a 10-year-old orphan who lives on her huge, dilapidated ancestral estate with the vicar Mr Hater as her guardian and Miss Brown as her governess. These are the villians, conspiring to steal Maria’s family fortune, but mainly making her feel alone & unloved.
Neglected she explores and has adventures discovering an ornamental island called Mistress Masham’s Repose, in the middle of one of the lakes in the grounds. The island is occupied by Lilliputians that Maria sees as her secr...more
Neglected she explores and has adventures discovering an ornamental island called Mistress Masham’s Repose, in the middle of one of the lakes in the grounds. The island is occupied by Lilliputians that Maria sees as her secr...more
I plucked this from the free shelf at the library because I liked the weight and size of the old hardbound volume, and it physically looked like a book I might like. (It has no dustjacket, so it's just plain blue with the title printed plainly in white on the spine.) It starts out with a promising dry humor and builds slowly into a wonderful little fairy tale, complete with many stereotypical characters who seem individual all the same. I recommend it for grown-ups who can be whimiscal and yo...more
I picked this book up in my parents basment,looking for somethign to read before I got on the train. It was written in 46, and was crumbly but whatever. I thought it woud be boring, far fetched or both, but I fninished it in a day. I couldnt put it down, it was a far fetched idea with so much human folly. the main character is a ten year old, and there is a professor and mini people, sommwthing i normaly wouldn't read....great for people of all ages. The main undertone was really how much we...more
I found a ratty old copy of this on the free cart at the library. I love the author so I'm going to try. I've only read a couple of pages and I'm already happy to be in the book.
8/20/10 I went back and started this again since I had only read a few pages. It's really wonderfully well-written with clever commentary on society and its social strata. The main character, Maria, an orphan (of course), lives in an enormous ancient run-down English castle set in vast grounds. Two people ...more
8/20/10 I went back and started this again since I had only read a few pages. It's really wonderfully well-written with clever commentary on society and its social strata. The main character, Maria, an orphan (of course), lives in an enormous ancient run-down English castle set in vast grounds. Two people ...more
Lovely lovely lovely. What a way with words and what an eye for detail. I would like to be able to write like T H White. Probably intended as a book for 10 year old girls, but who cares,really? By the way, there is no Mistress Masham - she is an ancestor of the heroine, Maria, and her 'repose' is an island upon which descendants of Lilliput have been living for many moons, after having been kidnapped from their island by John Biddel, the captain who rescued Gulliver.
Valerie
added it
I'm pretty sure I first read this from my mother's collection, but I now have my own paperback copy.
Though the Lilliputian element obviously draws attention, and the discussions of their 'OEconomy' are interesting, I was most charmed by the descriptions of Malplaquet--one of those 'stately homes of England' that PG Wodehouse wrote about so often. Indeed, there's a certain Wodehousian flavor to a lot of it--not surprising, as Wodehouse and White were contemporaries--or at least had o...more
Though the Lilliputian element obviously draws attention, and the discussions of their 'OEconomy' are interesting, I was most charmed by the descriptions of Malplaquet--one of those 'stately homes of England' that PG Wodehouse wrote about so often. Indeed, there's a certain Wodehousian flavor to a lot of it--not surprising, as Wodehouse and White were contemporaries--or at least had o...more
One of the books listed in "1001 Children's Books"
An elderly aunt gave this to me when I was young (I'd guess I was about 10) and I read it, and I enjoyed it, but I never quite knew what to make of it. I understood it was a classic of some sort (the copy she gave me was old) but yet, I'd never heard of it, and for some reason that really confused me - I couldn't figure out where to place it in the big overall pantheon of books-for-kids.
An elderly aunt gave this to me when I was young (I'd guess I was about 10) and I read it, and I enjoyed it, but I never quite knew what to make of it. I understood it was a classic of some sort (the copy she gave me was old) but yet, I'd never heard of it, and for some reason that really confused me - I couldn't figure out where to place it in the big overall pantheon of books-for-kids.
I read this when I was a child--I don't remember what I did with it, although I did hang onto it for years. I didn't realize until I just looked it up that it was written by T.H. White. The fact that I remember it so fondly says a lot--about the book or me or both. Is it even still in print? In the libraries? Seems like everyone who has read it found an old copy somewhere. Too bad I lost mine.
This book has been on my shelf for at least the last fifteen years, but I never got around to reading it until now. It's a clever story of a girl named Maria who discovers Lilliputians on her property. Having never read Gulliver's Travels, I can't say how necessary that might be, but I'm familiar enough with the tale to understand most of the references. The supporting characters - the evil Vicar and Miss Brown, the distracted Professor, the chatty Cook - are delightfully ridiculous. The descrip...more
This was a Book Club Forum book of the month, i wasn't terribly impressed, i found it long winded and unstimulating.
I know it was written a long time ago, but it felt like it, and i can't see todays children having the patience with it written in this way
I know it was written a long time ago, but it felt like it, and i can't see todays children having the patience with it written in this way
I picked this up after reading "The Once & Future King" and found I liked it even more than I expected. Having been a long-time fan of "The Borrowers", this story was extremely entertaining and a really fun read.
Delightful novelty from the author of The Once and Future King about a lonely little girl on an English country estate who discovers a lost colony of Lilliputians living on an ornamental island in the lake. There are some gentle, Merlinesque lessons here about the responsibilities of power and the benefits of mutual respect, but they're managed gracefully in the background, and White's light, slightly wry touch with his story is a pleasure to read. The precursor of other charming "tiny p...more
My thoughtful mother, remembering how much I loved _The Once and Future King_, picked this up for me at a used bookstore. I just grabbed it randomly off my bookshelf and I don't know how it is yet, but it smells heavenly - musty, old, cloth-bound paper smell. Mmmmmm.
I read this when I was 11 or 12. Absolutely LOVED IT! I've kept the book on my bookshelf lo these 50 plus yrs. I really must re-read it!
Pretty good fantasy about a little girl in England's encounters with Lilliputians (left over from Gulliver).
An excellent, unique, and amazingly little known classic. Show or read this book to your kids!
I haven't reread this as an adult, but I sure loved it as a kid!
Totally charming tale of a spunky orphan with evil guardians, requisite crumbling ancestral manse,garden folly inhabited by tiny mythical creatures, etc. Think Joan Aiken's Black Hearts at Battersea meets Northanger Abbey, a little. This is what Lemony Snicket WISHED he could write! Much more akin to "The Water-Babies" than to Gulliver's Travels at all despite the fact that it revolves around the same Lilliputians! Great companion to Mitford sisters...and little girls will come up ...more
Part of the New York Review Children's Collection.
Oh, isn't this a wonderful book! The Borrowers gone amuck!
Loved this - a secret world any child would kill for.
Katy
rated it
Recommends it for:
grown-up fond of Pippi and The Borrowers; spunky, advanced, imaginative young readers.
I thought it strange that I had never heard of this book, being a fan of TH White and children's literature; this might have been reason for suspicion but the book turned out delightfully.
I think it is perhaps a little too grown up for many young readers but Maria, the protagonist, and all the supporting characters (including the exiles Lilliputians) are charming and captivating. Good for reading out loud!
I am not sure why this is not better known but I'm pleased to be able to add i...more
I think it is perhaps a little too grown up for many young readers but Maria, the protagonist, and all the supporting characters (including the exiles Lilliputians) are charming and captivating. Good for reading out loud!
I am not sure why this is not better known but I'm pleased to be able to add i...more
Maria, an orphan, who lives in a huge falling down palace while slowly being bilked out of her money by her guardian and governess, has her life enlivened when she discovers Lilliputians living an the estate. With the help of an elderly professor and her new minituature friends her fortunes are restored.
The story has a very uneven pace and I skipped huge portions but the language is lovely. " Maria ran around like a wild puppy shaking the slipper of her imagination" The gov...more
The story has a very uneven pace and I skipped huge portions but the language is lovely. " Maria ran around like a wild puppy shaking the slipper of her imagination" The gov...more
10-yr-old Maria finds Lilliputians
This book got me through junior high.
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Born in Bombay to English parents, Terence Hanbury White was educated at Cambridge and taught for some time at Stowe before deciding to write full-time. White moved to Ireland in 1939 as a conscientious objector to WWII, and lived out his years there.
More about T.H. White...
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