The Task is Done
A review of Stuart Little by E. B. White
By Julia A. Keirns
Another children’s classic by E. B. White, written in 1945. I have to admit up front though that I am disappointed in not only the ending, but also a few other spots in the book. You will have to read it for yourself, but this book leaves me wanting closure.
Mr. White was a great writer, and there are spots in the book where his writing ability amazes me, but there are spots in the book where my response is just, “really?” I am 54 years old and have never actually read Stuart Little until now. I was always told it was such a great book. I have seen all three of the movies, Stuart Little, Stuart Little 2, and Stuart Little 3 – The Call of the Wild. I was expecting a different ending based on the movies. Sometimes it is better to read the book first before seeing a movie, and sometimes it is the other way around. I am glad I saw the movies first. Otherwise, I would not have been interested at all in seeing the movie if it was based on the book.
One thing that surprised me in the book, is that Stuart is actually born into a family of humans. In the movie he was adopted. Adopted makes much more sense, but of course this is a children’s fantasy book, so anything can happen. Stuart goes on lots of adventures, meets all kinds of people, and runs into all sorts of issues based on his size of only two inches.
Many of his adventures make a lot of sense in the book, but many of them just have absolutely no bearing on the story or plot at all and I was left wondering what in the world that had to do with the story. I especially was not very pleased with the way Stuart treated Miss Harriet Ames in Chapter 14 – An Evening on the River. I actually was a little appalled at his behavior. And my thought was, “this is supposed to be a children’s book?”
The book must be well written of course, after all it was published, although I did enjoy reading Charlotte’s Web much better. I think E. B. White learned a lot between these two books. Back in these years I think people were starving for literature and so anything remotely good was published.
The writing and imagination could have been better in this book. I felt disappointed in several spots throughout the book as though it felt rushed and not completely thought out. Stuart Little is the first book written for children by E. B. White and is recognized as a true classic in children’s literature. Even though I felt that it could have been better, I still feel that everyone should read this book at least once in their lifetime. I have now completed that task and most likely will never read it again.