Literature Network » Johanna Spyri

Is anyone ruder than the Swiss?

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From: The Sunday Telegraph London
Date: 20040104
Author:QUENTIN LETTS

Pigtailed Heidi, with her milk-maid frock and squidgy dimples, is a marketing con. Think of Switzerland and one of the few images is probably of orphan Heidi, the wet little heroine of Johanna Spyri's 19th-century novel. We accept that stereotype of clog-footed sweetness. Snap off a chunk of Toblerone, slap hands on one another's lederhosened buttocks, yodel-oh-oh-oh.

In recent days my family has discovered that the Swiss can be less endearing. Goose-stepping in skis is physically impracticable but they would surely do it if they could. It is as though the extended family of Allo, Allo! 1's ...

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