What Katy Did/What Katy Did Next

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What Katy Did is the first and What Katy Did Next is the third in a series of novels (there are five in all) written by Susan Coolidge. By design, these are are novels advocating proper behavior for young Victorian girls, however they aren't quite as bad as that makes it sound. Katy Carr is the oldest of six siblings who grow up in a small town

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IM convo

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me: because the focus of this round was "travel" i ended up spending way more time on that aspect than i would have otherwise
basically, susan coleridge knows exactly how false her victorian message is but she pushes it anyway
with extreme cynicism
...which none of her (12-year-old) readers seem to have gotten
Sabina: hilariously, What Katy Did makes an appearance in a story by Angela Carter
me: what does carter say about it?
Sabina: it was on Lizzie Borden's bookshelf XDDDDD
me: susan coleridge was an anglophile
or so i presume from her description of london, where she has katy in raptures over every street that ever appeared in classic british children's literature
me: i don't know, long stretches of these books are very boring, but they are so close to being the PLATONIC IDEAL of victorian novels for young girls that the temptation to quote from them and mock them is massive
like chrissie was telling me that in What Katy Did at School the characters found an "anti-flirtation society"
Sabina: I'm trying to think of other

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m: though benefactor/ward is NOT a theme in what katy did
which is about a family of six with four girls, and the boys are minimized
and all of the most significant interaction takes place between girls and their female friends
and even the suitor is kind of...eh, he's just there
doesn't really have a personality
and the father is never around
Sabina: yeah XD
actually that part doesn't have much to do with the book
me: no, not really
he's not a bad father, he just has different ideas about what young girls should be like
and the kids get into trouble, but nothing very serious
it just seems serious because coleridge remembers it
childhood is "happy" because most people edit those parts out
Sabina: ha
me: the brothers really don't have personalities

repost take two

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No, don't apologize! This is great XD. And we're already off-topic from the original theme of "fantastic places" with these books, anyway.

I think you're right about the societies coming from different places. I mean, I haven't read What Katy Did at School, but from what people (meaning sesame_seed) have been saying The Society for the Suppression of Unwomanly Behavior existed largely to promote the idea that young ladies shouldn't talk to BOYS, that a lady who talked to boys she hadn't known since childhood** was a LOOSE WOMAN, and that it was much more seemly to sit around and play games and compose poetry with your girlfriends. (Or as Chrissie put it, "that notion that of course female friends > icky boys

[svz_insanity]

I've never actually read "What Katy Did" and "What Katy Did Next" even though I own a copy of "What Katy Did At School". Judging from some reviews on Amazon, it seems like they altered Katy's personality in it a lot. I should really see if I can get my hands on the copy of the two others.

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http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8994

and

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8995

Though I am the last person in the world to recommend an e-text over a physical copy of a book -- reading these two books in e-versions drove me absolutely insane and I barely finished on time oh wait, I didn't finish on time, this entry was a week late. -_-;

[svz_insanity]

Aww, thanks!

And yeah, I'd much prefer them in book form. :/ E-books usually frustrate me to no end so I'll end up buying the real copies just so I can stop squinting.

repost, again

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It's ironic, isn't it, considering how much time we spend squinting at computer screens for reasons unrelated to literature. *g*

[tarigwaemir]

Coming to the discussion late! >_<;;

The "meta" aspect intrigues me actually; I rather like the idea that Coleridge was getting fed up with her own characters. ^_^;;

I did spend most of my early childhood reading all the classic children's books for girls, but I can't think of any books where male characters are overlooked and Victorian standards reinforced to the extent you seem to be describing here. Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm probably comes the closest, since it not only has the benefactor/ward trope (and hinting at guardian-falling-in-love as well) but Rebecca remains pretty much uninterested in boys throughout the book. Pollyanna befriends boys indiscriminately, often shocking her elders because the playmates she finds are usually poor and not of the same class (this is part of why I like Pollyanna although she is a bit of a goody-two-shoes). Polly and Phronsie (from Five Little Peppers) are universally adored by their male siblings and cousins and interact pretty freely with the friends of their male relatives. Hmm...

sorry this reply is so late! (repost version)

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Just after the scene I quoted, there's one where Katy kills off Violet and Emma by way of falling rocks a tragic winter carriage accident and lingering illness. Amy is completely traumatized but I imagine that for Coleridge it was kind of carthartic. XD

It's completely obvious, the split between the first and second half of What Katy Did. Probably the main reason the book has survived is that the conflict between individuality and conformity is so clearly demonstrated in it. Or by it -- in my review I guessed that Coleridge had written this split on purpose (because it is SO BLATANT, how could it not have been on purpose?) but now I think probably the novel just evolved that way and she was too nauseated to revise. XD;

Verrrry interesting.