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rebelbelle13's review against another edition
4.0
The Country of the Pointed Firs is a beautiful little novella focusing on a remote fishing village in Maine just before the turn of the century (circa 1896). It is a series of vignettes portraying a summer on the coast and the lives of the aging townsfolk within. This town is well past its hay day, and so are its inhabitants. The main character, a female writer, is spending the summer here for relaxation and writing opportunity. She describes the setting so richly and thoroughly that it becomes a character of its own, playing a part in each story that is relayed to her and each person she meets, and each day that envelops her. You can practically smell the saltwater and hear the waves crashing on the north-eastern shore.
The people of this village are heavily focused on the past- people they used to know, the lives they used to have, and the adventures they went on in their early years. The novel has a heavy tinge of longing for past days, and how things used to be. This only makes it more sad when you realize what the march of time will do to these people and their way of life, and what the future has in store. Things will never be the same again.
This is a gorgeous, melancholic little book, and I truly enjoyed my time with it. If you are looking for a setting and character driven novella that you can just relax and lose yourself in, this is definitely it.
The people of this village are heavily focused on the past- people they used to know, the lives they used to have, and the adventures they went on in their early years. The novel has a heavy tinge of longing for past days, and how things used to be. This only makes it more sad when you realize what the march of time will do to these people and their way of life, and what the future has in store. Things will never be the same again.
This is a gorgeous, melancholic little book, and I truly enjoyed my time with it. If you are looking for a setting and character driven novella that you can just relax and lose yourself in, this is definitely it.
panerabreadvampire's review against another edition
1.0
“nothing was going on” (114) can explain the premise of this book perfectly.
whoever told my professor that they had to add this back onto the syllabus… if i ever see you, it’s on sight. a dreadfully boring book
whoever told my professor that they had to add this back onto the syllabus… if i ever see you, it’s on sight. a dreadfully boring book
jenmcmaynes's review against another edition
4.0
Pastoral, idealized observations of Maine coastal life at the end of the 19th century. I wouldn't recommend the 4 short stories in this collection, as they were overly sentimental (A White Heron, Miss Tempy's Watchers, Martha's Lady, Aunt Cynthy Dallett) but I enjoyed Pointed Firs and the associated stories quite a bit. They are gentle, pleasant; not much happens except a tale is retold or a small discovery made. But they capture the 'ideal' of Nature and the humble man (as envisioned at the time) very well. Jewett also captured the dialect beautifully.
fourstringspark's review against another edition
5.0
A slow-moving character study more than a novel. (It's actually short enough to be considered a novella.) No real plot to speak of -- just keen observations of the inhabitants of a small Maine fishing village at the turn of the last century. It's a feast for introverts who remain silent and let others reveal themselves by their conversation.
misajane79's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those classics that I just hadn't gotten around to. I enjoyed the snapshot aspect of it--small town, outsider observing--it all reminded me a bit of L. M. Montgomery. The writing was beautiful, and I can see how it became a classic (no real plot and people still liked it!), but it didn't completely grab me.
andrewaackroyd's review against another edition
5.0
Oh my goodnessssss, this was so good. Elizabeth Strout could never. Jewett put her whole Sarah Orne JUSSY into this book.
A note on the edition: It feels a little disingenuous at best (phobic at worst) to have a (presumably) straight writer/academic (Anita Shreve) write an introduction that reads. “Jewett herself was unmarried when she wrote The Country of the Pointed Firs and remained so until her death from a heart attack in 1909. There is no evidence that she ever had a love affair” (XV). Shreve discounts Jewett’s open Boston Marriage to Annie Fields, a fact that leads to fascinating conversations about same-sex love and relationships (specifically between women) in small-town America before the rampant pathologization of homosexuality by the sexological revolution. Her sapphic relationships don’t have only biographical implications. We can see them clearly in the central storyline about Mrs. Todd and the narrator. They live together, experience a “deeper intimacy,” and “fell under the spell” of each other’s presence. Their parting at the novel’s close is reminiscent of Latour and Vaillant in Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop, creating a queer tradition of loss and failure. Cather cited Jewett as one of their central influences and one of the three masters of American literature. Throughout the piece, multiple women spend all their time together such as Mrs. Todd and Mrs. Fosdick, and men spend all their time fishing together, showing a society dominated by homo-sociality/sexuality that goes unquestioned and often celebrated. Far from an outcast, Mrs. Todd is widely celebrated despite her sapphic relationships. Furthermore, there are multiple characters, which Shreve does touch on, that are conceptualized androgynously, making this book important to trans/gender studies as well. The Country of the Pointed Firs is a 19th-century queer novel and should be treated as such by the publishers. Erasing this facet of Jewett's life in Shreve's forward only furthers the historical destruction of queer narratives and is deeply uncomfortable.
A note on the edition: It feels a little disingenuous at best (phobic at worst) to have a (presumably) straight writer/academic (Anita Shreve) write an introduction that reads. “Jewett herself was unmarried when she wrote The Country of the Pointed Firs and remained so until her death from a heart attack in 1909. There is no evidence that she ever had a love affair” (XV). Shreve discounts Jewett’s open Boston Marriage to Annie Fields, a fact that leads to fascinating conversations about same-sex love and relationships (specifically between women) in small-town America before the rampant pathologization of homosexuality by the sexological revolution. Her sapphic relationships don’t have only biographical implications. We can see them clearly in the central storyline about Mrs. Todd and the narrator. They live together, experience a “deeper intimacy,” and “fell under the spell” of each other’s presence. Their parting at the novel’s close is reminiscent of Latour and Vaillant in Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop, creating a queer tradition of loss and failure. Cather cited Jewett as one of their central influences and one of the three masters of American literature. Throughout the piece, multiple women spend all their time together such as Mrs. Todd and Mrs. Fosdick, and men spend all their time fishing together, showing a society dominated by homo-sociality/sexuality that goes unquestioned and often celebrated. Far from an outcast, Mrs. Todd is widely celebrated despite her sapphic relationships. Furthermore, there are multiple characters, which Shreve does touch on, that are conceptualized androgynously, making this book important to trans/gender studies as well. The Country of the Pointed Firs is a 19th-century queer novel and should be treated as such by the publishers. Erasing this facet of Jewett's life in Shreve's forward only furthers the historical destruction of queer narratives and is deeply uncomfortable.
smuds2's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I think I made a mistake in trying to read this all in one go - they should be treated like little vignettes. Maybe like one little story a day.
Reads like a Ghibli film, and tbh you can still see some of these mannerisms in people up here in Maine today.
Great short book
Reads like a Ghibli film, and tbh you can still see some of these mannerisms in people up here in Maine today.
Great short book
rissaleighs's review against another edition
4.0
Update from a 2020 reread: the passage on the very first page about the herb garden has been immortal in my memory all these years. A summer craving. :)
sidonie's review against another edition
slow-paced
4.0
Normalize women doing nothing and talking about it!