What Katy Did

Ummm... I think this is one of those books that hasn't aged brilliantly. Mainly in ideas of what constitutes 'good' behaviour. Katy is a girl of 11 or 12, she is the eldest of six siblings. Her mother is dead and her father mostly absent due to his work, so they are raised by their aunt. The aunt is a bully and the father neglectful, but these facts are glossed over. Katy, who is shown to be kind-hearted, generous and imaginative is somehow supposed to be naughty because she is occasionally impatient (again, she is a child) and therefore we're supposed to watch her learn a moral lesson. At one point her aunt is angry and ashamed because Katy visits an invalid and is kind to her, but snobbery and class divide make this somehow a bad act show more or something. Anyway, the first half of the book is a bunch of childish adventures where the children go on picnics or read each other stories. Not fascinating stuff, but harmlessly amusing. Then Katy has an accident and becomes disabled. I would be interested to know what disabled and chronically ill readers make of this book. On the one hand, it is disabled representation and through cousin Helen we are shown how a disabled person is not someone to pity, however on the other hand, cousin Helen specifically teaches Katy that she should make herself pretty etc for others so they don't find spending time with her a chore and Katy learns to finally be that good little girl she apparently wasn't before (even though she clearly was already a lovely person) because illness is some kind of trial sent by God or something. I don't know. The thing is, yes, Katy becomes a mother to the other children and matures and is more responsible etc, but she also grows up from 12 to 16 and loses a guardian so regardless of her disability, she would have matured anyway and would probably have become more responsible. Who the hell is judging a little girl for being a little impetuous and careless sometimes! Why shouldn't she be allowed to express that she is in pain sometimes? I went into this dreading the moral nonsense, and although it was a little more interesting than expected, I did not find I agreed with it. show less

Twelve-year-old Katy Carr and her younger siblings—Clover, Elsie, Dorry, Johnnie (AKA Joanna) and Phil—were a rambunctious lot, playing many imaginative games together with neighbor Cecy Hall. Their father, the local doctor in their small Ohio town of Burnet, was often away, but liked them to be active and happy, so despite the worrying of their fussy Aunt Izzie, who cared for them, they usually had a marvelous time. After the visit of their Cousin Helen, an invalid whose happy and loving nature inspired devotion in all of the Carr siblings, Katy vowed to be just like this relative, little dreaming that all-too-soon she would be. An act of disobedience and a fall from a swing left Katy terribly injured, confined to her bed with a show more back injury. So began a period of attendance at what Cousin Helen called The School of Pain, where Katy learned patience, self-control, discipline, and kindness to others, eventually becoming the very center of the Carr household...

Originally published in 1872, What Katy Did is the first of five novels about the Carr children, and has remained in print to this day. Although considered a classic here in the states, for some reason it has been more popular in the UK through the years, than it has been here. It's a book I've long been aware of, and have always meant to read. In my mind it belongs in that same class of vintage girls' classics as Little Women, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Anne of Green Gables. On the whole I enjoyed the book, appreciating the early chapters depicting the Carr children and their games and fun, as well as the later ones showing Katy's adjustment to her new reality. The trope involving the angelic invalid who becomes the heart of the home was already familiar to me, and while there are aspects of it that are dated, did not offend me as it seems to have done some other reviewers. The idea of the School of Pain might well strike some readers as somehow absurd, but I think it remains true that our response to suffering (of whatever kind) will often dictate our subsequent experience, and is at least partially in our hands. All this being said, while I didn't despise the book as some seem to have done, I also didn't love it as much as I expected to do. This is my kind of book, and I really thought I would take it more to heart. I expected to enter more fully into Katy's feelings and experiences, but sometimes felt myself at an odd remove from her. Perhaps because of the way the story is told, with the narrator looking back from the distance of many years and from the outside, it felt somehow removed? In any case, despite the fact that it is not destined to become a favorite, it was enjoyable, and I hope to read the sequels shortly. Recommended to readers who enjoy vintage girls' stories. show less

I. love. this. book.
When I first discovered it in our bookshelf, I absolutely fell in love with the characters, obviously Katy most of all. For years I felt very acutely the injustice of not having been born in the early 20th century in a countryside somewhere in Devon or Kent. This is a book I will hold on to forever, and one of the few where I actually have an emotional attachment to. Definitely going to save this one for any future spawn I may produce. It's got everything a children's classic should contain.

The main character, Katy, is a precocious young girl, the eldest of a large family. She's always getting herself into scrapes, as young children do, and is imaginative and lively, always thinking up stories in their garden, show more which actually sometimes get her into trouble. One day, as a result of her disobedience, she gets into an accident that will change her life forever. However, this accident unleashes a series of events which actually enrich her, fill her with compassion and kindness, and most importantly the strength to move on in the face of her adversity.

The book had a great impact on me as a child, and for a month afterwards I tried very hard to be like the serene and wonderful and impossibly perfect Helen, one of the characters in the book. A month of commitment from a 10 year old is pretty impressive, looking back! show less

It's... very moralistic. In a 19th-century, Christian fashion. HOWEVER, I still love it. It's such a ridiculous story and the bit about the School of Pain made me want to vomit (in fact, it reminded me of a stupendous article that appeared in Lupus UK about how chronic illness is really a "beautiful beast within" which is actually the most offensively stupid thing I have ever had the misfortune to see in my entire life, including that film where Jack Black is a luchador) but otherwise there is something so wonderfully compelling in the Katy character that will never make me able to hate this book despite me disagreeing with this whole moral construct. I don't actually think Katy is a less interesting character after she "grows up". show more There's nothing wrong with learning to be patient with others and to love your neighbour and try to see the best even in the worst situations. It just shouldn't be presented as a requirement of personhood. Anyway, compared to all the other turn-of-the-century sentimental crap that came out of American children's literature (Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Pollyanna... VOMIT) this is a lot better, and I remember enjoying the sequels too! Good to read on a tiring journey. show less

I'm not sure if I ever read this as a child - although it was one of my Mum's favourite books I found it hard to get into. I enjoyed it as an adult though, the enthusiastic joy of Katy and her siblings and their games and adventure, and then her growth and learning after her injury. I can see why people despise it for the 'pain is a lesson from God so we can become patient people' theme, which is very dangerous and needs to be handled with a lot of care, but I can also see why it is a classic.

I read this many years ago, but I still remember it fondly. It's a wonderful old classic like Anne of Green Gables, but it is shocking how underrated this book is. It's one of these books filled with the adventures (and misadventures) of a spirited girl named Katy Carr, though her siblings also play a part in this book (albeit smaller)

One can only wonder how Katy would have fared today after her accident. With today's medical technology, she probably would have been on her feet a LOT more quickly - and I could say the same for Helen. I felt bad for Helen, and felt that she should NOT have given up her fiance due to her own accident. Helen is a wonderful and warm person who deserved her own happiness and just to give it up to make her show more fiance not feel obligated to 'take care' of her,

I did not like that. If the same happened to her fiance, I doubt he would have made the same sacrifice she did and expect her to take care of him (as was the lot of so many women back then and even now) I get this book was written in a different time with double standards for men and women, although that double standard still exists today and it sucks and that's why I took a star away from this book.

What happened to Katy was hard for her, but her long recuperation has taught her many lessons, and she actually becomes a better person in the end for the lessons that the 'School of Life' has taught her. This is overall a good book, if you liked 'Anne of Green Gables' or 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn', you should like this book. show less

It's... very moralistic. In a 19th-century, Christian fashion. HOWEVER, I still love it. It's such a ridiculous story and the bit about the School of Pain made me want to vomit (in fact, it reminded me of a stupendous article that appeared in Lupus UK about how chronic illness is really a "beautiful beast within" which is actually the most offensively stupid thing I have ever had the misfortune to see in my entire life, including that film where Jack Black is a luchador) but otherwise there is something so wonderfully compelling in the Katy character that will never make me able to hate this book despite me disagreeing with this whole moral construct. I don't actually think Katy is a less interesting character after she "grows up". show more There's nothing wrong with learning to be patient with others and to love your neighbour and try to see the best even in the worst situations. It just shouldn't be presented as a requirement of personhood. Anyway, compared to all the other turn-of-the-century sentimental crap that came out of American children's literature (Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Pollyanna... VOMIT) this is a lot better, and I remember enjoying the sequels too! Good to read on a tiring journey. show less