A Little Boy Lost

by William Henry Hudson

William Henry Hudson (1841-1922) was an author, naturalist and ornithologist. He was born in the Quilmes Partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, where he is considered to belong to the national literature as Guillermo Enrique Hudson, the Spanish version of his name. He spent his youth studying the local flora and fauna and observing both natural and human dramas on what was then a lawless frontier, publishing his ornithological work in Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society, initially in an English mingled with Spanish idioms. He settled in England during 1869. He produced a series of ornithological studies, including Argentine Ornithology (1888-1899) and British Birds (1895), and later achieved fame with his books on the English countryside, including Hampshire Days (1903), Afoot in England (1909) and A Shepherd's Life (1910). His best known novel is Green Mansions (1904), and his best known non-fiction is Far Away and Long Ago (1918). His other works include: The Purple Land (That England Lost) (1885), A Crystal Age (1887), The Naturalist in La Plata (1892), A Little Boy Lost (1905), Birds in Town and Village (1919), Dead Man's Plack and an Old Thorn (1920), and A Traveller in Little Things (1921).

Genres: Fiction, Adventure

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

William Henry Hudson was an Anglo-Argentine author, naturalist and ornithologist. His works include Green Mansions (1904).

Argentines consider him to belong to their national literature as Guillermo Enrique Hudson, the Spanish version of his name. He spent his youth studying the local flora and fauna and observing natural and human dramas on then a lawless frontier, publishing his ornithological work in Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society, initially in an English mingled with Spanish idioms. He settled in England during 1874. He produced a series of ornithological studies, including Argentine Ornithology (1888-1899) and British Birds (1895), and later achieved fame with his books on the English countryside, including Hampshire Days (1903), Afoot in England (1909) and A Shepherd's Life (1910). People best know his nonfiction in Far Away and Long Ago (1918). His other works include: The Purple Land (That England Lost) (1885), A Crystal Age (1887), The Naturalist in La Plata (1892), A Little Boy Lost (1905), Birds in Town and Village (1919), Dead Man's Plack and an Old Thorn (1920), and A Traveller in Little Things (1921).

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a delightful and harmless story from another age. Parts of it put me in mind of W H G Kingston's "Voyage Around The World", bith because of the very Victorian world view, and the fascination with foreign primitive cultures. The language was similiarly victorian, but by no means impenetrable. This book was an easy enough read.

Unlike Kingston's work, this book seems to have hidden allegorical depths. And as such it felt almost post modern too! (which of course, it is too old to be! But it just shows there is nothing new under the sun). But even as I was scratching my head, trying to make sense of it all, I read the author's note at the end of the book where he basically admits he himself cannot remember what he was thinking when he wrote this book.

In any case, follow the adventures of a boy who loses himself in the jungle, and then proceeds to lose even the clothes he stands up in, stolen by natives. Read about how he comes to understand these people, finds a mother to love him and then leaves it all behind again.

If you love books, this is an intriguing one. If you only like modern books that completely make sense, then maybe pass this one by.

[Carol Arnold · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might be a very interesting book if I were a 10 year old boy. I just ran across this public domain book and wanted to read it. It was first published in 1905 and I like to read older books. Little 7 year old Martin wanders away from home and encounters many adventures. He rarely seems to miss home and never longs to go back. The ending is not an ending at all. It just stops.

[Noah Letner · Rating 5 out of 5]

What great tales within the one tale. Marvelous.

[Lester · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very old book..written in an old 'style'.
The entire story is descriptive..in detail and with long sentences.
Still an enjoyable read. I like reading very old books..thinking about how many people have read them, turning the pages and dreaming.

Very descriptive quote about 'The Mirage' (from this book):
"Now this Mirage was a glittering whiteness that looked just like water, always shining and dancing before him and all around him, on the dry level plain where there was no water. It was never quiet, but perpetually quivering and running into wavelets that threw up crests and jets of sprays as from a fountain, and showers of brilliant drops that flashed like molten silver in the sunlight before they broke and vanished, only to be renewed again."