Monday, January 26, 2015

Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers


"She knew very well that Mary Poppins never wasted time in being nice." 

Growing up, I missed an awful lot of the children's classics -- I read and loved the Narnia series, the Little House books, and the Boxcar children, but I never even read The Wizard of Oz series until I was in middle school (and I skipped the first book, assuming it was just like the movie.  I was quite wrong).  I am now officially adding Mary Poppins to the list of books I regret never reading while I was an actual child.

If you're not familiar with the plot, Mary Poppins is a mysterious, magical nanny that shows up and takes charge of the four Banks children after their Katie Nanna leaves on short notice.  She's not what you'd call warm and cuddly -- she's actually rather short and brusque with the children -- but when Mary is around, wonderful things happen.  The two elder children, Jane and Michael, have fantastic adventures with Mary, including a visit to the zoo at night when the animals are running the place; a tea party held whilst floating up near the ceiling; and a magical trip around the world.

Mary Poppins was never among my favorite Disney movies when I was a kid, and when my own children were born, I didn't enjoy it much more.  It was only after I saw Saving Mr. Banks that I had any read desire to read the book to see how it compares to the movie.  Well, it's far superior -- in fact, there's barely any resemblance to the movie at all, except the famous opening when she comes in with her carpet bag and slides up the bannister; and her evening out with Bert.  It's possible that other elements in the movie are taken from later books in the series, which I haven't read yet, but if you're a fan of the movie, you might be disappointed.  Mr. and Mrs. Banks are barely mentioned, and there are no chimney sweeps in sight.


I also did not realize that this book was revised by Travers back in 1981.  I'd been listening to the audio, and when I have a hard copy, I like to see my progress by comparing it to the print book.  So, I looked in my copy to check my place, and was VERY surprised to see that my current chapter, "Bad Tuesday" was QUITE different -- as in quite racist!

That particular chapter starts out with Michael getting out of the wrong side of bed.  Everything goes wrong all day and he's being very naughty.  They're out on a walk and spot a compass on the ground, and Mary Poppins uses it so they can travel around the world.  In the audio version, they go in all four points of the compass, and visit a polar bear, a macaw, and panda, and a dolphin, and it's quite delightful.  Apparently in the original version it's people, and the visit to Africa is particularly offensive.  But I'm glad to say that the revised version is much better.  

Though I do own a print copy of the book, I mostly listened an audio version, which I just loved.  The reader, Sophie Thompson is one of the most delightful audiobook narrators I've ever encountered.  (Yes, that's the Sophie Thompson who is the sister of Emma Thompson, who played Miss Bates in Emma and Mary Elliot in Persuasion).  She's just perfect for Mary Poppins -- Mary is very no-nonsense, the children are full of wonder, and her accents are spot-on.  I'm planning to read the entire Mary Poppins series, and when I do, I will imagine Sophie Thompson narrating all the rest of the books in my head.

I'm counting this book as my Children's Classic for the Back to the Classics Challenge.

16 comments:

  1. I so LOVE Mary Poppins. Never liked the movie though.

    I recently found out that she revised that Bad Tuesday chapter twice--once with people, which was a lot better but still not amazing, and then finally with the animals. At least I think that's what happened. I grew up on really old copies. But my favorite chapter is "Bad Wednesday" in the second book, when Jane has a naughty day. That is as scary as all get-out!

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    1. I've already put the next three books on hold at the library. Sadly, none of them are on audio.

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    2. The first two are the best. IMO. Let me know what you think of Bad Wednesday :D

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  2. Huh. I loved the movie as a child, so was not as enamored of the book when I read it only a few years ago. I remembered more similar scenes, e.g. the tea party. We certainly had an older version of the book, but don't remember the Bad Tuesday chapter. I wonder if it's because we have a more recent version, or if we were so horrified by how unlikable we found Mary Poppins that we stopped before we got there.
    I, too, recently watched Saving Mr Banks and have thought of re-examining Mary Poppins but hadn't gotten around to it. Now I'll really have to pull it off the shelf!

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    1. She's really not very fun, is she? Very no-nonsense, but not very kind either.

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    2. Mary Poppins is snippy, impatient, vain, rude, and always denies everything. You gotta love her. :)

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  3. I recently read Mary Poppins for the first time too. I've yet to see the movie or 'Saving Mr Banks', but I definitely want to compare them to the book.

    I had no idea that the book was revised! Honestly, I'm kind of glad; I doubt I would have enjoyed reading the book so much if I'd read the original chapter.

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    1. I really liked Saving Mr. Banks. Emma Thompson is wonderful as usual. The parts about Travers' childhood are really quite sad. Ruth Wilson is excellent as the mother.

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  4. I read Mary Poppins as a young girl and I was so sad when it ended. If only I knew there were sequels. When I saw that the audio book was available at the library--I downloaded it and played it for my gc while driving them to school. Alas, it wasn't the same. Today's sophistication has really changed books. My gc,who love Konigsburg and Andrew Clement, etc. thought it was very boring and actually I did too.!

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    1. There are a handful of sequels to Mary Poppins. An omnibus edition of all the books has recently been published.

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  5. I read Mary Poppins for the first time, too! right before Saving Mr. Banks came out. I'm glad I did, I enjoyed Saving Mr. Banks more after reading all the back story and stories.

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  6. I still haven't read Mary Poppins. Now I'm sure I need to try it sooner than later!

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  7. I read Mary Poppins several times as a kid (I tended to reread a lot then, just like now!), but I don't think it made a huge impression on me the way other childhood favorites did. I had no idea that Travers revised the book in 1981--so glad that she did!

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  8. I think I would enjoy reading Mary Poppins, from your post here.

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  9. I've never read Mary Poppins. Like the movie, but it wasn't a favorite. Loved Saving Mr. Banks though. I've been curious about the books and still may pick them up.

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  10. I read some of the Mary Poppins books when I was young and loved them. The books are so full of fantasy and are pretty scary at times. Most of all I loved how tough and snarky her character was. I think that is what will surprise people the most if they've only seen the movie. I loved the Oz books too. Such a shame most people haven't read them.

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