Ultimamente o que me tem apetecido comprar e ler são clássicos. Descobrir clássicos. Acumular clássicos.Descobrir edições bonitas de clássicos a adicioná-los à pilha por ler.Nesta onda, descobri este livrinho, que é um clássico infantil e que, também tem uma adaptação cinematográfica, que conto ver em breve."Black Beauty" traz-nos a história de um cavalo desde o seu nascimento até à sua velhice.Black Beauty é um cavalo que, desde que nasce até aos seus primeiros anos, tem uma vida que ele adora, pois os donos são pessoas maravilhosas e que lhe prestam todos os cuidados necessários que ele precisa, assim sendo, também ele, tem um prazer especial em dar toda a sua atenção e tentar sempre o seu melhor para lhes agradar.Aqui, conhece e lida não só com os seus donos como com os empregados destes e, todos eles, sem excepção, são amigáveis e atenciosos.Black Beauty era feliz.Um dia, o inesperado acontece e, com muito pesar, (sendo esse pesar muito bem transmitido pela escrita da autora) Black, vai ter de abandonar a família e todos os que lhe são queridos, inclusivé os seus colegas de trabalho e amigos: os restantes cavalos da família.Então, nesta história bonita mas ao mesmo tempo triste, Black Beauty vai conhecendo outros donos que não são tão simpáticos como os anteriores... colegas que lhe contam histórias inimagináveis, histórias de dor, de maus tratos e também de desespero (alguma vez leram (ouviram) um cavalo dizer ser melhor morrer do que continuar a ser submetido a tal tormento??).Passa por demasiadas mãos até que, no fim de tudo, a autora nos recorda de como o mundo é pequeno...Numa das abas deste livro, dizem-nos que a autora escreveu este livro (e único dela) para chamar ou tentar chamar a atenção para os maus tratos que os cavalos eram submetidos naquela época e, na minha opinião, ela conseguiu-o excelentemente bem.Deu voz aos animais e deu conselhos através desta mesma voz, de como fazer para melhorar o bem estar destes belos animais que tanto fazem e fizeram pelas pessoas quando não havia carros ou estes, eram escassos.Espero sinceramente que tenha conseguido alcançar o seu objectivo, pois algumas partes são realmente dolorosas de ler...O livro encontra-se dividido em 4 partes.Os capítulos são pequenos e o ritmo, para mim, variou entre rápido e lento.Recomendo 300 vezes este livro a pessoas que como eu, gostam e são sensíveis aos problemas de todo o tipo de animais.3,5*
At the age of 65 I'm editing my bookshelves and sighing. It seems that the time has come at last for me to set Anna Sewell's BLACK BEAUTY free. I've had a strong attachment to this book for a long, long time, and highly recommend it for children and adults. The story began life as a sort of political tract to encourage adults to treat animals with kindness and patience. It depicts a time when this lesson was more significant because service animals were everywhere in society-- but the lesson is still valuable, and the story is gripping.1) My copy-- the Illustrated Junior Library edition--is an unedited, unexpurgated version of Miss Sewell's work, and I think this is the way it should be read. It's important for young people (and everyone else!) to learn that people's behavior, surroundings, and beliefs were not always the way we see them now. This is a story that's often sad-- and it's important to learn to feel some emotion from one's reading. (Of course if a child is very very sensitive, a caring adult will want to be nearby to help. Certainly the happy ending to BB-- besides Beauty himself galloping in the country-- is that modern society has indeed learned to pay heed to the welfare of animals. A child could, for example, learn the satisfaction of supporting the SPCA.)2) While I'm making suggestions, I must mention that my long-beloved copy of BLACK BEAUTY contains illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg. THESE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE THE BEST. They are historically accurate, the horses are lovely, and the humans are vividly characterized. They are a distinct pleasure in themselves, so I recommend this particular volume if you can find it.
What do You think about Black Beauty (2003)?
This is the first book I ever read. I remember the day that I brought it in to show to my teacher, Miss Gerardi. She asked me if I could read it, so I started reading it aloud to her right away. The story is told in Black Beauty's own words. Beauty's friends are hard to forget, especially high-spirited Ginger. Anna Sewall's words are full of loving empathy for these beautiful animals. The story was set in 19th century England, at a time when almost everyone came into frequent contact with horses. I hope that her story caused at least a few people to treat them with greater kindness.
—Susan
This book probably deserves 5 stars or at least 4, and I do recommend it to everyone, especially to girls who love horses. I’m giving it only 3 stars, however, not because I wasn’t one of those girls who were big horse fans (which I wasn’t really), but because for me it was just too emotionally harrowing. This might have been the first book I ever read that made me sick with depression. The horse goes through a lot of suffering in this book. Not for the overly sensitive but a beautifully told story. Terrific one for teaching empathy for non human animals.
—Lisa Vegan
The Victorian period saw a dramatic rise in the middle class and in the leisure time that this new class had to spend on themselves and their causes. Childhood became more important to the middle class and so the first flowering of children's books, a genre that has prospered up until our own time. One of the great Victorian children's novels is Black Beauty, which illustrated the virtues of obedience and cheerfulness, while also bringing the issue of animal abuse into the public eye.Black Beauty is a truly affecting, first-person (horse?) account from a noble stallion who gets passed from owner to owner and who takes on all sorts of jobs common to horses at the time. Cloying sentiment is non-existent, as the tragic stories of fellow horses such as Ginger and Captain are told soberly. Interestingly, Sewell implies that we are to our animals as God is to us--they do not understand our ways and reasons (see the early discussion on hunting), but it is right for them to accept that we are wiser and to obey us as cheerfully as possible. A plea for compassion and mercy.”
—Johnny Waco
