EP22: The Railway Children - Book Review - TRANSCRIPT

Hi! You're listening to Hyba is Writing, and I am your host, Hyba. Today I'm here with a book review. A few months back, I read The Railway Children by E. Nesbit for the first time. I have this big stack of classics that I got as a gift when I was in elementary school, and I never read them because they seemed to be a bit difficult at the time. Because I felt they were difficult, I just steered clear of them for… the next two decades or so! Anyway, recently, I've been wanting to go through them and read them, because I figure it's about time I read the books in my house that I haven't yet read instead of going to bookstores and buying new books.

I started with The Railway Children, and I absolutely adored the story, and kind of wish I had read it as a child. I feel like there's so much good in this story, and it was definitely written for another time - as an adult living in today's world, I wouldn't let these kids have so much unsupervised time running around all parts of the town where I couldn't see them or what was possibly happening to them - that kind of behaviour is very dangerous in today's world, unfortunately - but even with all of those differences, it's a look into how good people can be towards one another, and how the well-meaning innocence of children can do so much for those around them.

So, given that this book is at least a century old, I'm guessing spoilers don't really count, but I'm not going to spoil the story for you either way, because if you're out there and you've never read this classic like I had never read this classic, just know that it's an amazing story that you will not regret reading.

As a writer it also inspired me and taught me more about how to create good characters - especially child characters, which can be a bit tricky to write. You wouldn't think so, since we've all been children and some of us are around children in our families or schools or whatnot, but it really is difficult to write children for me! This is mostly because I have forgotten at which stage of development children have specific skills - like, when can they speak fluently and without any mistakes? At what age range can they physically get the coordination to climb stuff like trees? And what about their mentalities and thought processes? How simplified should they be - or how complex should they be - within different age groups? All of these things, in my opinion, are examples of aspects of understanding children that can really help with their character creation.

Nesbit does an amazing job with the three main protagonists of the book - three siblings who are still children - and is able in many ways to differentiate between their manners and behaviours in a way that makes the differences in their ages really obvious. For example, Phyllis, who is the youngest child, is always making mistakes in her speech, but she talks like a little lady and you can just imagine this adorable 5 or 6-year old following her siblings around in their adventures.

Nesbit also has a great grasp for each of their voices. I feel like it's an easy trap to fall into, to just give all the kids in your writing the same kind of voice and mannerisms, but these three are very much forces of their own. You've got Roberta, who is the oldest and who seems to be the most responsible - the voice of reason. You've got Peter, the middle child, and he's very much the troublemaker type but means well. I also feel like he's their sort of de-facto leader on their adventures, but he's also very confident and a bit prideful. And then you've got Phyllis, who to me is essentially the sassy little lady of the group, just as confident as Peter but trying to be just as responsible as Roberta, and she's just such an adorable little girl.

And while I really feel the children steal the show with this book - and, after all, it mainly follows their adventures - there are so many adult characters in this book that are extremely well-written as well. The number one prize goes to the children's Mother, though, because this was a character that really got into my heart.

She starts off being this wonderful, playful mom who writes them funny poems and short stories and is always there for them, and when they go through a rough patch in the family and have to move houses and change their lifestyles, she has such an air of positivity about her that is just extremely inspiring and endearing. She's always putting on a happy and peaceful and kind face around her children, even when you know she's sad and tired and working hard. And it really highlights the things that mothers do for us on the daily, how hard they work, how much they want good for us, and how much they're willing to sacrifice in order for their children to get the things they need and want.

Oh, and then there's Perks, the porter in the train station, who isn't exactly the most mature of adults, but I quite liked his character, too. He grows on you the more you read about him, and when the children do something wonderful for him on his birthday - that chapters was just especially lovely. There's another chapter before that where he seems to be angry with the children about something, sitting there reading a newspaper and answering them in these sort of gruff, brief responses, and Phyllis gets so frustrated that she takes away his newspaper and climbs up on him and gives him a hug and tells him "Oh, let's kiss and be friends. We'll say we're sorry first, if you like, but we really didn't know that you didn't know." And I just found that so adorable and innocent and endearing!

From a literary perspective, I also loved the settings, especially the train station that the kids spend so much time at and around. It's especially interesting to me because it seems like train stations are places where you are only temporarily - not places where most people stay, if you know what I mean. We're only ever really passing through. In one way, it makes it seem like the family - the kids and their mother - are stuck in a place, watching the rest of the world go by. But it also gives this understanding that the situation that the family is going through - that rough patch - is really only temporary, and I quite liked that along the way the kids learn a lot of lessons in this temporary place and are able to make a difference in the lives of those living around them. I don't think they'll stay there after the end of the book - not when things are resolved for the family - but it's a nice thing to have the book end while they're still all there, in that little town, next to that railway.

Alright, if I keep talking about everything I liked about this book, this could go on for hours. Those are just a few of the things I really enjoyed about this book, and I hope that if you do decide to read it, you'll find it just as warm and cozy and lovely as I did. If you have already read it, let me know your thoughts and what your favourite parts of the book were by leaving a comment over at my blog or my social media. All the links are in the episode description!

Thanks for tuning in today! Until next time!