Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Dietro il Vento del Nord
A chi è rivolto
Readers who love fairy tales with a deep heart, gentle humor and old London streets will feel at home. It suits anyone who enjoys songs, dreams, talking animals and a child who sees more than the grown-ups around him.
Che cos’è questo libro
Where does a boy go when the wind speaks to him through a crack in his bed? In At the Back of the North Wind, George MacDonald sends little Diamond, a London coachman's son, out into the night with a tall, dark-haired lady who is the North Wind herself. You get a tale of storms, sickness, poverty and tenderness, with songs, dreams and talking horses along the way. It begins in a hayloft with a hole in the wall.
In questo riassunto
- 1A boy argues with the wind through a holeFree
- 2North Wind sweeps London and Diamond helps a girl
- 3The wind has two faces, and both are kind
- 4A long voyage to the country behind the wind
- 5Ruin falls on the family and Diamond keeps cheerful
- 6A small boy learns the streets and makes friends
- 7Nanny, the hospital and a boy who works as a cabman
- 8A child's kindness meets a difficult world
- 9What the story means and how it is told
Punto chiave 1 di 9
A boy argues with the wind through a hole
Diamond is a coachman's son who sleeps in a hayloft above the stable. He is named after the old horse in the stall below. The boards behind his bed are so thin that the north wind blows in through a knot hole, and three times he plugs it with twisted hay.
Each time the hay pops out and hits him on the face. Then a voice speaks from the wall, gentle but a little cross, and says the hole is her window. They argue politely about windows, laws and names, until Diamond tears away the brown paper his mother has pasted over the gap. The wind sweeps off his covers, and he sees a vast pale woman whose black hair streams through the dark.
She tells him she is the North Wind and that nobody is cold with her, only without her. She warns that she may look black, or wear bat wings, or turn into a serpent. If he holds her hand, he will always know her. So the first lesson of the book is trust, and it is tested at once.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Diamond
- Diamond is a gentle London coachman's son who lives above a stable and befriends the North Wind.
- The North Wind
- The North Wind is a mysterious woman with streaming hair who carries Diamond on nighttime journeys.
- Nanny
- Nanny is a poor crossing sweeper whose guarded manner contrasts with her friend Diamond's trusting nature.
- Mr Raymond
- Mr Raymond is a kindly gentleman and writer who takes an interest in Diamond and his tales.
- Diamond's father
- Diamond's father is a hardworking coachman whose employment supports his family and their home near the stable.
- Old Diamond
- Old Diamond is the faithful working horse after whom the young Diamond has been named.
- Jim
- Jim is a poor street boy who knows Nanny and shares the hardships of London's streets.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 92,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 6 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about Dietro il Vento del Nord
What is At the Back of the North Wind about?
It tells of Diamond, a poor London coachman's son who meets the North Wind as a lady. She takes him on night journeys, and he brings that same love to the people in his own hard world.
Who is North Wind in the story?
North Wind is the wind given a face. She appears as a giant lady, a girl or a tiny creature, and does work that can seem harsh, though Diamond learns she acts out of love.
Who is Diamond named after?
Diamond is named after his father's favorite horse, old Diamond, who sleeps in the stall under his bed.
Is At the Back of the North Wind a children's book?
It was written for young readers and is told in a friendly voice with songs and fairy tales. Adults often enjoy it too, for its feeling for poverty, faith and kindness.
What is the main message of the book?
The book says that trust, kindness and love matter more than comfort or cleverness. Diamond holds on to what he cannot prove, and his gentleness changes people around him.