The Borrowers

In my heavy book buying decades, I actively avoided best sellers and being a classic carried little weight. I bought a book either because it was by a favorite author, or because I liked the opening paragraph. This was one of those. "It was Mrs May who first told me about them. No, not me. How could it have been me -- a wild, untidy, self-willed little girl who stared with angry eyes and was said to crunch her teeth? Kate, she should have been called. Yes, that was it -- Kate. Not that the name matters much either way: she barely comes into the story."

That meta-opening hooked my into buying the boxed set, but then it took 40 years to get around to reading the rest of the book. My loss. This is a splendid children's book. A tale within a show more tale, as the author tells who Mrs May told "Kate" a story Mrs May heard from her brother. And that tale of the miniature Borrowers is surprisingly more science fiction than fantasy. There is no magic, no fairies. The Borrowers were small people who evolved to be even smaller to avoid capture. In their world view, humans exist to support them. But, as the child Borrower Arrietty learns from the child human, Borrowers may be a vanishing race. Dark stuff for a kids book. Even the ending is both very meta, a la The Princess Bride, and ambiguous.

I never try to evaluate how well a book might work for young readers, but as an adult, I loved it. show less

There's an old house where a little family of little people live under the kitchen floor: Pod and Homily Clock, and their daughter Arrietty. At thirteen, Arrietty longs to see what the world is like outside of her home, but Pod is the only one who ever ventures out to "borrow" what they need from the house. The danger of being "seen" by a "human bean" is too great—but a human boy who comes to stay at the house changes everything in The Borrowers by Mary Norton.

My, what a cozy and delightful adventure this classic children's fantasy story is! I first discovered and read it nearly thirty years ago, then I found the sequel, and then I saw two movies based on the books. Of course, that means the books' and movies' dialogue and happenings show more got a little jumbled in my memory...

So it was great to go back and reread the first novel. Even as much as I loved the story as a kid, it resonates with me on an even deeper level now, especially the differences between the two generations under the floor, the nature of Arrietty's longings, Pod's uneasiness with his wife's excited doings, and the impending need for greater change.

The climax is poignant and incredible, and goodness—now I wish I could remember just how well I understood the book's last line those decades ago. I don't recall its irony, its mystery, hitting me quite like this!

I'm looking forward to revisiting the sequel sooner than later. show less

A visit to the Cockington Green miniature village in Canberra has rekindled my memories of Mary Norton's lovely Borrowers series. So I'm re-reading and reacquainting myself with the tiny family of Pod, Homily and of course, Arrietty. My copy of this book has my name and address in my mother's handwriting and "Grade III" written in the front page, so I read it the year I turned 8. Re reading it as an adult brings back all the memories of delight (particularly in the quirky adaptations of the items borrowed from we "human beans") but adds a darker layer as I realise how human and flawed all the characters are and how precarious is the Borrowers' existence. I couldn't help paralleling their lives with those of contemporary human refugees, show more eking out a precarious existence and always living under the threat of forced emigration... Unlike my 8 year old self I also enjoyed the role of the decanter of Madeira! Highly recommended for children, but also very enjoyable for adults. show less

“...Borrower's don't steal."
"Except from human beings," said the boy.
Arrietty burst out laughing; she laughed so much that she had to hide her face in the primrose. "Oh dear," she gasped with tears in her eyes, "you are funny!" She stared upward at his puzzled face. "Human beans are for Borrowers - like bread's for butter!”

Well that's a wonderful, fun book. Tiny people that live under the floor and steal Borrow whatever they need to survive/thrive from the 'human beans' that live in the house above.

It's a cute story. I love the characters, especially the Borrowers (a tiny teen is still a teen, and the mother's fear for her daughter and father's providing for the family hit home), although the full sized people are great to love show more and hate and get in the way as well.

The writing and world building is solid as well. There are constant mentions of things being reused in ways we'd never intend by people far far smaller than us. It really does feel like a real giant tiny world.

I think my favorite moment in the entire book was when Arietty meets the boy for the first time. Two children, living at once in the same and far far different worlds.

Well worth the read. I look forward to the sequels.

“Mrs. May looked back at her. "Kate," she said after a moment, "stories never really end. They can go on and on and on. It's just that sometimes, at a certain point, one stops telling them.”

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Although I have no specific memories of it, I know that I read The Borrowers when I was younger. I'm certain my younger self enjoyed this whimsical tale of miniature people living within the walls and under the floorboards of an English estate, borrowing food and clothing and brick-a-brac from the humans above. The people who exist for the Borrowers' convenience. What's interesting in rereading it as an adult is to see adult themes subtly introduced and know that many of the novel's finer points were probably lost on me. That the mild feminism displayed in Homily's admonition of her husband, Pod, that if he had a son he would have already taken him borrowing (after he refuses to consider taking his daughter) was lost on my adolescent show more innocence. That the personalities introduced, the shrewish Mrs Driver, the not-so-dotty Great Aunt Sophy, the Boy and especially the narrator's unnamed brother entertained me without necessarily causing me to think too hard about the way the world works.

Seventy-plus years afters its publication, The Borrowers is still a great book both for children to read and adults to revisit (or read for the first time, if you've never had the pleasure). show less

The Borrowers is one of those children's classics that I am always wanting to reread. I reread the series probably once a year at least, and the stories get better every time. My only quibble with them is that they are so short!

This is the first book in the series and was originally published in 1952. It's the story of Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock, a family of tiny people who are very like humans, but about six inches in height. Borrowers survive by "borrowing" what they need from the Big People. Borrowers prefer sleepy old houses in the country, where the routines are firm and the humans few. For borrowers must live secretly, or the humans will capture them and exhibit them like animals in a zoo. Their very survival depends upon show more this secrecy.

But Arrietty, Pod and Homily's only daughter, is tired of the safe life under the kitchen. She hates the long, dusty passages under the floors and the dull loneliness of secrecy. She longs for the outdoors, for freedom — and when Pod finally agrees to take her on a borrowing trip, she is overjoyed. But when she meets a human boy unexpectedly in that great outside world, a chain of events is set in motion that wil change their lives forever. They must flee their old home and strike out in search of a new place.

I think one of the strongest things about this story is the characters. They are entirely believable, and both Pod and Homily remind me a great deal of my own parents. Even the villains are well-drawn, and you feel that you understand them. And there is always that lingering uncertainty, the little coincidences that *might* just mean the whole story of the borrowers is made-up.

Though she never gets bogged down in wordy explanations, Norton somehow makes all the details of their precarious lives convincing. Everything is do-able, down to the last technical detail of how Pod climbs up the steps or improvises something for their little home.

The message — if I want to weigh down such a delightful story with something so ponderous and adult as that — is that independence, even if inconvenient and difficult, is far better than a comfortable dependence. Oh yes, the dolls' furniture and decorations delivered right to their home are nice, but, as Norton puts it in one of the later books, "improvisation is life and breath to borrowers." It's a matter of self-respect.

I cannot wait until I have children of my own and we read these books together for the first time. I can't recommend them highly enough. show less

Beneath the kitchen floor is the world of the Borrowers -- Pod and Homily Clock and their daughter, Arrietty. In their tiny home, matchboxes double as roomy dressers and postage stamps hang on the walls like paintings. Whatever the Clocks need they simply "borrow" from the "human beans" who live above them. It's a comfortable life, but boring if you're a kid. Only Pod is allowed to venture into the house above, because the danger of being seen by a human is too great. Borrowers who are seen by humans are never seen again. Yet Arrietty won't listen. There is a human boy up there, and Arrietty is desperate for a friend.