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mimima's review against another edition
3.0
A lovely, quiet character study. Not much happens, and that is ok, though won't be a meaty Book Club discussion :)
mimii's review against another edition
4.0
This was a lovely collection of sketches of the inhabitants of Dunnets Landing. In all the stories, the influence of the landscape and the sea has a major influence on the characters. For anyone who loves Maine, they will immediately appreciate the beauty and the power of the land that Jewett has so beautifully captured. A little known (?) gem of American literature.
lofiultraviolet's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
manwithanagenda's review against another edition
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I have no idea where this book came from, sometime in the past few years it just sort of appeared on the bookshelf in my old room at my parents...I probably picked it up at a yard sale before leaving for school one summer.
The prose is engaging, features dead-on dialect, and good folkisms; it's real slice of life stuff - so nothing really happens.
Thirtysomething Victorian Woman Author Stays in Rural Coastal Maine Town for Summer and Makes Friends. The narrator supposedly is working on some project but she, unnamed, never mentions if she even finishes it. It's just a plot convenience for her to be in town for the whole summer.
But, Jewett does develop her characters nicely and while reading it you begin to experience the setting and the realities of life in coastal Maine at the end of the nineteenth century.
Where Jewett really shines is in her short stories, there are four Dunnett Landing stories that share a narrator and setting with 'The Country of the Pointed Firs', but would not sit well with the novella itself simply because they are such extended portraits and, with the possible exception of the last, so self-sustaining. That last story was one I was glad to read because it offered rare closure.
The other four stories are great, especially "Martha's Lady", which is very neatly done. There is little else I can say about it other than that the tone of sadness and expectation are something else.
The prose is engaging, features dead-on dialect, and good folkisms; it's real slice of life stuff - so nothing really happens.
Thirtysomething Victorian Woman Author Stays in Rural Coastal Maine Town for Summer and Makes Friends. The narrator supposedly is working on some project but she, unnamed, never mentions if she even finishes it. It's just a plot convenience for her to be in town for the whole summer.
But, Jewett does develop her characters nicely and while reading it you begin to experience the setting and the realities of life in coastal Maine at the end of the nineteenth century.
Where Jewett really shines is in her short stories, there are four Dunnett Landing stories that share a narrator and setting with 'The Country of the Pointed Firs', but would not sit well with the novella itself simply because they are such extended portraits and, with the possible exception of the last, so self-sustaining. That last story was one I was glad to read because it offered rare closure.
The other four stories are great, especially "Martha's Lady", which is very neatly done. There is little else I can say about it other than that the tone of sadness and expectation are something else.
kaseyd's review against another edition
4.0
Quick and delightful to read. It is light-hearted, sweet, beautifully written, and calming to read.
evamadera1's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and loved the sweet, slow stories. The pace of the narrative matched the tone and content brilliantly. This was pleasant, easy reading. I even didn't mind the short story format because most of them were connected, little vignettes of this quaint New England town. The last few, unconnected stories felt a little out of sync with the rest of the book but they were still good. I definitely recommend this book.
hannahlee's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, listen, I read the title piece but not the "other stories." I wanted to like this a lot more than I ended up doing. While I appreciated the nice Maine atmosphere and the glimmers of colorful characters that we saw, I felt that Pointed Firs really didn't delve deeply enough into the characterizations to let me connect with the protagonist or any of the other players in the story. The dialog, written largely in what I assume was intended to simulate a "Maine dialect," was difficult to parse and didn't evoke the accent naturally - I could start to hear it with a lot of intentional work on my part, but on the page it looked like a more southern accent. Sometimes the story had some charm, but overall it felt under-developed to me, without a lot of emotional resonance.
laingley's review
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
ncostell's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25