A delicate jewel that you will keep enjoying, 12 Oct 2000
This collection of short stories was written at the end of the nineteenth century. There is nothing dramatic about the stories; in fact, very little happens. The author simply describes a summer spent in a small fishing community in Maine. A family reunion, a fishing trip or a visit to an outlying island are the main events. The extraordinary nature of this book lies in the delicacy and the kindness with which Mrs Jewett describes her characters. Each one of them has a story, a dramatic past or a hidden strength: we meet a shy fisherman who is secretly engaged or hear the story of a heartbroken young woman who went to live on an uninhabited island. Some portraits are sad, some are happy, but overall there is an atmosphere of inner peace and acceptance of one's fate. Ever since I have discovered this jewel a few years ago, I keep returning to it regularly to read a few pages, wherever the book happens to fall open. It never disappoints me.
a lovely book I'd been avoiding, 13 Nov 1998
My book club read Country of the Pointed Firs one month when I didn't participate and I really didn't think I'd go back and read it. Last summer when my daughter and I visited Victoria, British Columbia I found the book in a bookstore for one dollar and bought it. I read it on the ferry traveling home and it was wonderful to read of the Maine woods and look and see the woods of the San Juans. A lovely set of stories, with lovely people. I'm so glad I got the book.
A short story collection centered around the people of Maine, 31 May 1996
A collection of quiet "sketches," this volume is a reminder of the fine writing produced by some of the earliest American realists. Critics have recently revised their first opinions of the book as a "small success" and now consider it a classic of American literature. The stories revolve around a young writer who goes to the coastal town of Dunnet Landing, Maine. In the company of Mrs. Todd, a venerable and locally revered herbalist who gives her lodging, the writer comes to know and write about the people of the area. The result is a fascinating look into personalities shaped and distilled by life on that severe coast into persons of rare character. This edition also contains eight of Jewett's best short stories, including "A White Heron" and "The Queen's Twin."
No plot devices or car chases here--this is a book to read on a rainy afternoon when nostalgia and melancholy threaten to overwhelm. It's comfort food like grandma used to make--reassuring, soul-fortifying, and full of the capacity to cheer. It's also addictive--once you take a bite out of Pointed Firs, you can't stop.
Similar author: Mary Wilkins Freeman
A delicate jewel that you will keep enjoying, 12 Oct 2000
This collection of short stories was written at the end of the nineteenth century. There is nothing dramatic about the stories; in fact, very little happens. The author simply describes a summer spent in a small fishing community in Maine. A family reunion, a fishing trip or a visit to an outlying island are the main events. The extraordinary nature of this book lies in the delicacy and the kindness with which Mrs Jewett describes her characters. Each one of them has a story, a dramatic past or a hidden strength: we meet a shy fisherman who is secretly engaged or hear the story of a heartbroken young woman who went to live on an uninhabited island. Some portraits are sad, some are happy, but overall there is an atmosphere of inner peace and acceptance of one's fate. Ever since I have discovered this jewel a few years ago, I keep returning to it regularly to read a few pages, wherever the book happens to fall open. It never disappoints me.
a lovely book I'd been avoiding, 13 Nov 1998
My book club read Country of the Pointed Firs one month when I didn't participate and I really didn't think I'd go back and read it. Last summer when my daughter and I visited Victoria, British Columbia I found the book in a bookstore for one dollar and bought it. I read it on the ferry traveling home and it was wonderful to read of the Maine woods and look and see the woods of the San Juans. A lovely set of stories, with lovely people. I'm so glad I got the book.
A short story collection centered around the people of Maine, 31 May 1996
A collection of quiet "sketches," this volume is a reminder of the fine writing produced by some of the earliest American realists. Critics have recently revised their first opinions of the book as a "small success" and now consider it a classic of American literature. The stories revolve around a young writer who goes to the coastal town of Dunnet Landing, Maine. In the company of Mrs. Todd, a venerable and locally revered herbalist who gives her lodging, the writer comes to know and write about the people of the area. The result is a fascinating look into personalities shaped and distilled by life on that severe coast into persons of rare character. This edition also contains eight of Jewett's best short stories, including "A White Heron" and "The Queen's Twin."
No plot devices or car chases here--this is a book to read on a rainy afternoon when nostalgia and melancholy threaten to overwhelm. It's comfort food like grandma used to make--reassuring, soul-fortifying, and full of the capacity to cheer. It's also addictive--once you take a bite out of Pointed Firs, you can't stop.
Similar author: Mary Wilkins Freeman
