Maria Augusta TrappReseñas

Seems like a pretty honest telling of her life and self.

Though many know the story told in the popular musical & movie The Sound of Music, most probably don't know the true story behind it. This is the book that inspired Rodgers and Hammerstein to write the musical, and there are some similarities, but also some large differences. The book also goes on to cover the Trapp Family's lives in America after they fled Europe, an event which takes place within the first 40% of the book.

Overall, I found it fascinating to read about the true story behind a movie I watched so very many times all through my childhood, and plenty since then, too, even leading my own daughter to fall in love with it. It is very easy to read and follow what is going on. I enjoyed the times the author tells about her halting English in a way that seems very real, even while the entire book is in English. I love the way the family works together in all things, not just their singing career, each one using their talents where they can be most useful. I also appreciate the author's instinct to attribute everything to the will of God, doing quite a few things she didn't really want to do, because she had good reason to believe God wanted her to. I should add that I don't agree with, and at times even understand the need for, some of the theology the author believes in, but the foundational beliefs of trusting in God for every aspect of one's life is important.

We can find a word of caution for our own lives in these pages, as the family watched Hitler come to power and take over their country years before WWII started. The children were told at school that their parents were "nice, old-fashioned people who don't understand the new Party," and that they shouldn't tell their parents what they learned at school. This is beginning to happen to some degree today as well, with some areas wanting to cut parents completely out of the decision-making for what goes on at schools. Once they start trying to keep what the kids are learning at school secret from the parents, it should be a huge red flag!

The book did feel like it dragged a bit in the 2nd half, though I can't quite put my finger on why. It may have simply been that the story of how the family's concert career grew and they bought their farm wasn't as interesting to me as the rest. Overall, though, I'm glad I read this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the movie and wants to know the true story or anyone interested in memoirs about life during and after WWII (especially from those who are from countries directly affected by the war).

This book brought to life all the best bits of the film "The Sound of Music" whilst removing the added for film aspects, for instance the Baron was not a hard unloving character and although the Princess told Maria that the Baron was in love with her it was not done in a nasty way like it was in the film by the Baroness.

It was great to read all about the family's life in America especially the amusing stories of Maria learning to speak English. As you read more and more it is hard not to get the feeling that this would be a very good family to belong to.

The family achieved so much, their Singing is just one part of all they accomplished. I hope the essence of what Georg and Maria began has continued within the family even if the singing has not. This is ultimately a family who are their for each other and support each other through thick and thin, very rear in the modern world.

This was a book I truly found difficult to put down.

Like almost everybody, I grew up with The Sound of Music. I don't remember when I learned that it was based on a true story, but I have had this book on my book bucket list since I was young.

Maria's voice was refreshing. She's a straight talker, and I felt less like I was reading a memoir and more like I was sharing a cup of tea with her over the kitchen table.

I was completely charmed by the book, and by Maria, and the entire Trapp family.

Mostly a good account of the real story behind the Sound of Music family. The father was not distant and emotionally aloof like the movie. The kids names were different (there was a younger Maria too).
They did not leave Austria right after the concert and climb any mountain to get away. There were 3 more kids after their marriage too.

Great Christian family story. Takes them to their move to Vermont during the War. Quite religious too in a Roman Catholic way. Worthwhile to learn the real events.

3/18/22

3/18/22

The life story of Maria Von Trapp, which later inspired the musical "The Sound of Music."

The story that inspired "The Sound of Music."

I first read this book when a teen. What a delight to read it again and find that it is her testimony.

In the movie, the climax is the escape from Austria. In the book, that is treated with a brief flashback - only enough to let us readers know that it did happen.

This book is really about the many 'miracles' in her life that witnessed to her that God is in charge and he blesses those who trust in him.

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3312512.html

Actually only the first part of the book deals with their time in Austria; the rest is about their experiences in America. Neither book nor film explains much about Maria's own background - apparently both her parents died by the time she was ten, and various other arrangements did not work out; she did get a professional teaching qualification before entering the convent.

The major change to the story is the telescoping of time. Maria and Georg married in 1927, when he was 47 and she was 22 (when the film was made, Julie Andrews was 29 and Christopher Plummer 35); over the next ten years the family became noted performers, especially when most of their money was wiped out in a bank crash and they needed the income; Maria had three more children to add to the seven from the first marriage; the turning point when they decided to flee was after they were invited to sing for Hitler on his birthday after the Anschluss, and knew that they could not bring themselves to do it but also could not stay in the Reich if they said no. And they fled to Italy, where Georg von Trapp had citizenship due to havig been born in Zara when it was Austrian (it was then Italian and is now the Croatian city of Zadar).

Most of the story about her romance with Georg von Trapp is consistent between the book and the musical/film, and a lot of the little details about life in the Trapp household are taken from the book. Maria's rival for Trapp's affections is described as "Princess Yvonne", a distant cousin of the first Mrs Trapp, and by implication of Austro-Hungarian nobility. I have done a bit of detective work on this. The first Mrs Trapp was born Agatha Whitehead, into a family of British naval engineers who moved to the Austro-Hungarian coast (now in Croatia) - her grandfather invented the torpedo, and his sons carried on the work. Her mother was an Austro-Hungarian aristocrat, who would have had many eligible nieces and cousins I suppose; also her father's sister married Georg von Hoyos, her cousin was the diplomat Alexander von Hoyos, and there are plenty of candidates on that side as well (I see an Ilona who would be the right age and is almost "Yvonne"). Incidentally Georg von Trapp was a submarine captain, and personally sank eleven Allied ships in the first world war, six of them British; we don't hear much about that.

The book is frank about the problems of impoverished gentility and very direct about the plight of refugees trying to get permanent status in the USA - it is of course inhumanly difficult now, but it wasn't all that easy back then even for nice white people. Maria is also very up front about her personal piety and devotion to the Catholic faith - it’s entirely consistent with the story of her vocation, and it’s an element that is only alluded to as background colour in the film.

It's a celebrity memoir, written for fans, but also I feel putting down on paper the stories that Maria had told her friends and family over many years. She finishes with reflections on the fundraising that the family had done for humanitarian relief in Austria after the war ended, an emotional but also super-organisational task, and on Georg’s death from lung cancer in 1947 on the Vermont farm that the family set up as first a refuge and then a business, and which is still run by the grandchildren.½

The book that my favorite movie is based on!

I must've read this more than ten times as a child... it was an old, library-bound hardcover, and this was back in the day when your library card number got stamped onto the card in the back pocket. I think my number was the only one on there, over and over again.
So much more engaging, serious and interesting than 'The Sound of Music'! I remember loving all the historical detail of the times and Maria's authentic 'voice.'

I'm not sure if it'd still be 5 stars if I re-read today... but I do have Maria von Trapp's other book on my TBR... we'll see!

I love the Sound of Music! It's one of my favorite movies. The music, the romance; funny and dramatic all at the same time. I really enjoyed reading about the real Family Von Trapp. I loved the little pieces that matched up with the movie, and the real parts that didn't. The movie barely scratches the surface of their unique life. Their ups and downs, riches to rags, their life in America. If you are a fan of the Sound of Music, definitely give this one a read.

The true story is infinitely better than the Hollywood version!

An incredible account. I've wanted to read the story behind The Sound of Music for a number of years now. I was surprised at the amount of humor in it! The Nazi invasion into Austria made things suddenly eerie, and the account in Maria's letter toward the end had a depressing effect, but overall, it's a delightful memoir full of hope.

Entertaining memoir from Maria von Trapp. The story begins with her unhappy childhood in Austria right up through her marriage to Baron Georg von Trapp. The book skips the parts that are mentioned in her previous book. Maria goes into detail about her singing, her missionary work, and her lodge. It's a joyful read, which will be of interest to anyone who has heard of this remarkable woman.

A very sweetly told story by Maria von Trapp, whose book and family inspired the movie "The Sound of Music". The book tells of the family's experiences in Austria and when the moved to the USA during WWII. The book lightheartedly tells of the difficulties they encountered during their first years in America. It's a wonderful story of family togetherness.

So much more than the movie covers. Maria's faith and determination are a true inspiration as we see the full story of the von Trapp family after they escape from Austria

Fantastic read! (And oddly enough things are JUST enough correct that I think I won't be too upset about the differences next time I see the movie...)

An honest examination of her own life.

This is the autobiography of Maria von Trapp whose name was made famous by the movie 'Sound of Music.' But this was written years later and is not the book that became the inspiration for the movie. That book is her first book titled 'The story of the Trapp Family Singers.'

In this book we the author shares her life and thoughts from childhood up to the time of the writing of the book. The exception is that she does not retell the part of her life from her first book so together they could be considered account of her life to that date. An account one must read to have insight into who she was. Though there are a couple of discrepancy between her two books I would attribute them too time; or perhaps trying to separate the fiction of movie from life. This is hard too determine.

We read of her childhood which adds details as too why she formed the personality she did. Left too be raised by relatives she never knew her mother and very rarely saw her father that she considered herself an orphan. How her love of the Church diminished in this atmosphere as her love of the outdoors grew. We see how close she crossed the line toward what we would call a juvenile delinquent. And then her re-awakening that drove her too impetuously run too a life of piety at the Nonnberg monastery, a cloistered monastery.

It was from this monastery that the Mother Superior sent her to be a tutor for the von Trapp family. She writes that she fell in love with the children so accepted the proposal of the Baron too become his wife and the mother of his children. She briefly touches her life during this period that is covered in her first book and we take up with her later in life. Her life as a world touring speaker and the families very interesting section on where she was sent to the Pacific to see and show that lay missionaries could be of great benefit and where some of her children were missionaries.

The book concludes with her growing old and her stubborn too not let go of control of guiding the family. Her recognized weakness over her life and her regrets. The writing appears too be very open and personal with all that she shares.½

Somewhere in my worthless, miserable blog, I must have done something...good?

This evening we look at The Story of the Trapp Family Singers which inspired the movie The Sound of Music.

At least once a day, I have to stop and marvel at being married to such a wonderful woman. I really am incredibly blessed, and the more I think about my wife, the more reasons I have to thank God for her. Thoughts like these tend to wander, and occasionally I find myself humming the words to that song from the movie The Sound of Music, where the Captain and Fraulein Maria sing about how they 'must have done something good' to deserve something - I think each other's love. This song is objectionable on several levels, one being that it sounds so much like a sappy song about 'Catholic guilt' for receiving such a blessing. "I am not worthy" and all that nonsense.
The other objection is that I know in my heart that I never, ever did anything good enough to deserve my wife. I don't think any man could say that if he is married to a good woman.

As a priest said to me once, I really married up.

The real story of the von Trapp family is far more interesting than the movie.

To begin with, there was no proposal under a canopy in the backyard, followed by a little singing and snuggling. Instead, Maria went back to the convent, since she still was under obedience to the superior of her order, and asked the nuns to tell her what to do. After prayer and reflection, they gave her the answer I suspect she did not want to hear: they told her to marry the man. There was no dramatic song about mountain climbing, sung by the mother superior while looking out the wrong window. The most dramatic moments in real life are usually made up of less exciting stuff, and are more beautiful for that reason.

In our own life, I proposed to my wife in the midst of an argument.

Another part of the book which I found inspiring is the death of the Captain. I really got the sense that these folks were Catholic by the way they prepared for the Captain's death. Maria and the Captain had agreed that if one of them were on his deathbed that the other would ask him a special question. The question, paraphrased, was:

"Do you accept death willingly from the hand of God?"

My wife and I have said this to each other now; once before she had her gallbladder removed, and again when I thought I was having a heart attack. Thankfully, neither one of us died, but it is a good thing to meditate on one's death, and how disposed one is at the moment of death.

What is a Flibbertigibbet?

I found this word(from the song 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?) in Shakespeare's King Lear. It is the name of a devil which was featured in 1603 in a book by Samuel Harsnett. The book was called Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures. This does not seem like the kind of word a nun(at least not an orthodox one) would ever use.

There are some reviews of the book that mention some stresses of touring and singing, and how things weren't as rosy as they were described in the book. Overall, I still recommend the book as a change from watching Julie Andrews singing her way around Austria.

Need I say more? If you're a fan of the classic movie, it's a must-read.

Maria tells a seemingly light and optimistic story about the Trapp family life in Austria before the war and their immigration to the US during the war. She describes about her family learning English, trying to be part of a new country, their ups and downs with concerts. She talks about learning to survive during tough times when they didn’t have any concerts to play and about the many new friends they found in the USA.
Even with all the bad things that happen to them she was still able to describe it optimism. When they were living in Austria and lost all their money, she even told her husband how happy she was about that. Only now after they lost it all, could they see the true character of their children. Maria’s American friends told her that she must remember that they are now poor, Maria answered: “we are not poor, we just don’t have money.” She was right; people like the Trapp family can never be poor.
This book is so sweet and the Trapp family was so loving and warm hearted with each other, almost too good to be true. It seemed more like a fairy tale than a true story to me. This is a great read for days when you feel sad or just need to be cheered up.