Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Our book for June is Mary Poppins. Please post your comments here for this charming book.

I have finished reading Mary Poppins and have started reading Mary Poppins Comes Back. Chapter 2, called Miss Andrew's Lark is my favourite chapter so far. It is really funny.

Each chapter of the book is self-contained, which makes them great for reading aloud. The chapters do have breaks where you can stop if the listener falls asleep.
I have watched the movie version of Mary Poppins many times and there are some differences between the movie Mary and the book Mary.
Book Mary is very organized, efficient and at times very mysterious. She is also quite vain and arbitrary and spends a lot of time admiring herself in the mirror--but the children love her and her presence has a beneficial effect on the household. This is shown especially in chapter 1 Mary Poppins Comes Back.
Things were going from bad to worse in the Banks house after she left at the end of the first book.

Now for the movie. I am only going to mention the similarities and a few differences between book and movie.
1. Mary Poppins is the only applicant for the job after the previous nanny left.
2. She still has her marvellous carpet bag and wonderful umbrella.
3. She and Bert go into the chalk drawing for an outing.
4. They buy bread from the bird lady and visit the bank briefly, then go to tea with the uncle who floats.

Much of the more fantastic happenings are not in the movie and Mary is much nicer in the film. My daughters enjoyed it when they were small, but it was too long so they usually fell asleep before it was over. Their least favourite part was the song Feed the Birds because it was made them sleepy.

I read the four main Mary Poppins novels when younger and loved them. I was able to accept, for some reason, the differences between the film and the books - I saw them as different things and enjoyed them equally. Coming back to this book again after so many years you look at it with a different perspective - especially after watching the film "Saving Mr Banks". Mary Poppins is quite vain and does enjoy the sight of her own reflection ! The stories within the book, however, are really quirky and I remember being struck by them at the time - the illustrations are very memorable too. I always loved the tale about Mrs Corry and her daughters - snapping off her fingers to give to the children (a bit Grimms fairy tale! ) and I loved the idea of them sticking the stars up into the sky. Like traditional fairy stories, there is often a darker element waiting in the background.

I agree about the illustrations. They are charming. One of my favourite stories is about the Pleiades, in which the little star comes into the department store.

Hi all!

I haven't gotten a chance to start this yet! Uni work & 9-5 work has me swamped.

I was curious how many people are reading the whole series?

I plan on starting my reading next week!

Hi, Robin. I read the first two books and found them to be fast reads and entertaining.

I hope you get some time to relax, Robin. I remember when my daughters were at uni and working. The only time they has to read was on the bus and subway. The book is a fun read, even if Mary did get on my nerves at times.

Rosemarie wrote: "I agree about the illustrations. They are charming. One of my favourite stories is about the Pleiades, in which the little star comes into the department store."

I like that one too, Rosemarie, that's what I mean about the stories being quirky. It also doesn't talk down to younger readers - giving them the names of all the Pleiades.

The most interesting thing about this book for me is that I never realized it was a book!! I watched the movie as a kid and loved it. (I was a huge fan of The Sound of Music).
I didn't actually realize it was a book until I saw the movie Saving Mr. Banks! Makes me wonder about other movies I loved as a kid....

I like the movies too. The Neverending Story and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz have much more in the book than in the movie. The Wizard of Oz is one of my absolute favourite movies. I think I know the dialogue by heart.
Back to Mary Poppins, I think Julie Andrews was a much nicer Mary than the Mary in the book.

I agree with Rosemarie - re-read Mary Poppins last year with my granddaughter in mind, she's quite feisty in the book!

Mary is also very efficient. In Mary Poppins comes back, she has been absent for a while and chaos reigned in the Banks household until she comes back.

Me and my cubemate at work read it last summer, during our lunches. I did not get it completed.
But, it is a lovely read for young at hearts!

Welcome to the group RaventheClaw!

I'm curious. Did anyone here grow up with a nanny? Not a babysitter but someone who lived in? The movie Saving Mr Banks suggests she Travers had an aunt come stay when things got rough for the family, who took care of them. I'm assuming this is where the inspiration came from?

This is my first time reading the book-- my sister had a very heavily abridged picture book that I used to read to her when we were little. I liked it OK, but it wasn't a childhood favorite of mine. I really wanted to like the book during this readalong, but once again, I liked it OK but no more than that. It was interesting to read a bit more background to the picture book that I remember, but I just don't feel drawn to the Mary Poppins character. Although she has magical abilities, she seems rather cold and unlikeable. My favorite characters were Jane and Andrew the dog.

Suki, I liked the dog and Jane as well.

It's interesting to read it as an adult and have the movie in the back of my mind. Not to mention the Saving Mr Banks movie. Emma Thompson's portrayal of Travers in that movie is very much like Mary Poppins in the book. So my initial question of whether the aunt was the inspiration is probably wrong. I imagine without realising it, Travers wrote a large part of herself into Mary Poppins....

But I'm just guessing....

I read through mary poppins with my daughters. They loved the stories. Neither of them seen the movie so they didnt have any prejudice of how they thought the story should go. Our favorite story was about the cow with the star stuck on her head. I didnt know there were more books. Our library only listed just one book.

There are four books in the original series. I reread the first two for our book discussion.

I never realized that they were in a sense, short stories. The only connection between them is the characters.
I was very disappointed how Mary Poppins left. Rather cold heartedly if you ask me.

I think my favorite stories were about Andrew the dog and the twins.

Is there more about Mr. Banks in the second book Rosemarie? He was barely in this first one!

There is a chapter about Mr. Banks, and my favourite story is about Andrew, Miss Lark and an annoying visitor.

Yesterday I was able to pick up a copy of Mary Poppins that I ordered last week. I'm obviously behind but very much looking forward to reading this, it's been on my TBR list for ages.

I hope you enjoy it, Gem. It is different from the movie, but still a lot of fun.

I've completed chapter four. As much fun as it is to read this book given how much I absolutely adore the movie, the movie Mary Poppins is almost the polar opposite of the book Mary Poppins (unless that is something happens that allows us to see another side of her). She comes across as very haughty to me.

Jane and Michael on the other hand are (so far) what I'd expect. Innocent, naive, and full of life.

Gem, you have summed her up. And I agree, the children are delightful.

❀✿ Gem ✿❀
My cubemate Joyce read this last year and she kept me updated. I was really surprised by the fact the Mary is so much different than the movie character. I am glad they made that change for the movie cannot imagine her being a self indulgent and snobby person!

Lesle wrote: "❀✿ Gem ✿❀
My cubemate Joyce read this last year and she kept me updated. I was really surprised by the fact the Mary is so much different than the movie character. I am glad they made that change ..."

I agree completely. I don't think the movie would have been magical (which it totally is to me) unless the made Mary Poppins likable and relatable. The way she was written makes me wonder why so many girls liked the story as children. I'm glad this, my first read of the book, is as an adult.

My favourite parts as a child were the magical adventures. I really didn't pay that much attention to Mary herself.

I was very disappointed with the book. Mary is so abrupt with the children and I felt sorry for them. I have not seen the movie again, (I saw it when it first came out) however I remember Mary being very nice.

I have seen the movie many times when my children were small. Mary was much nicer in the movie, but I did enjoy the magic in the books.

I finished and while I enjoyed the book, the character of Mary Poppins did nothing for me. I can't believe how different the movie and the book are. Most movies that are made from books have a similar story line... there was almost nothing in the movie that was true to the book. I'll probably read the rest of the series at some point.

Finailly I took the first book! hope I will love it like the movie was!

❀✿ Gem ✿❀
My cubemate Joyce at work said the same thing. She did enjoy it though. Just much different. I guess it would not have been a very good Walt Disney movie otherwise!

Well.. I almost finish to read and I liked it very much, macigal book! But I don't get it how Mary do her magic! Someone can tell me how she got her powers??

Emiliy, we don't find out how she does all her wonderful things, she just does.

Emiliy200 wrote: "Well.. I almost finish to read and I liked it very much, macigal book! But I don't get it how Mary do her magic! Someone can tell me how she got her powers??"

Perhaps Ms P did not go to magic college, and is self-taught.

Thank you, Rosemarie and Mark, it's interesting thought!
And I finished to read the first book and right now I'm in the second, chapter 3.

I liked the second book better than the first.

Rosemarie wrote: "I liked the second book better than the first."

Oh, why??

My favourite story of all is Miss Andrew's Lark, chapter 2 in the second book.

Rosemarie wrote: "My favourite story of all is Miss Andrew's Lark, chapter 2 in the second book."

I agree, it's so funny story! You choose a good one!
And Rosemarie, why is the Mary Poppins in the movie so different from Mary from the books? What is the point to do Mary so kind and not tough?

Emiliy200 wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "My favourite story of all is Miss Andrew's Lark, chapter 2 in the second book."

I agree, it's so funny story! You choose a good one!
And Rosemarie, why is the Mary Poppins in th..."

I suppose Mr Disney thought he would make more money by changing it.

Mark wrote: "Emiliy200 wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "My favourite story of all is Miss Andrew's Lark, chapter 2 in the second book."

I agree, it's so funny story! You choose a good one!
And Rosemarie, why is the ..."

Well.. It worked. Because people recognize the movie more than the books.

Of course any film adds video and audio to the printed words, so it should have more impact.

Re Walt Disney, in Bambi his mother was killed, so Disney films are not all about happy endings. (It would be interesting if Walt had filmed the Masque of the Red Death!)

There are a lot of differences between the book and the movie. I think one of the reasons is that each chapter is a separate story, so it would make a better TV series. I didn't like the Mary in the book as much as in the movie. Book Mary was efficient, organized and mysterious. But she was also vain, unreasonable and self-centred. She spent a lot of time looking at herself in shop windows!

When my daughters were small they usually fell asleep before the movie ended because it was so long(for a movie for kids).

The book-Mary is preferable to the film-Mary, as she is more human, with the usual foibles. And the series of Poppins books was very sucessful for Ms Travers, separately from the film.

I think Mary Poppins of the series do love the children although she don't show them that.

Ha ha, yes! Love can take many forms - see the vast literature which features it.

As a child, I really liked the Mary Poppins books, especially the magic parts. I loved the magic carpet bag.