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134 reviews for:
Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West
Dorothy Wickenden
3.38 AVERAGE
134 reviews for:
Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West
Dorothy Wickenden
3.38 AVERAGE
Multiple layers in this book: regional history, women's friendships, changing women's roles, cultural encounters, remarkably presented by the granddaughter of one of the "heroines" who presents this personal story with the integrity of a researcher and the skill of a gifted writer.
Another one of those books I really wanted to like but just didn't. I'm continuing to follow my mantra that life is too short to read books I don't enjoy. Overall, I still like the idea of the book but I thought it was poorly written. The narrative was all over the place and random people were mentioned in great detail never to be mentioned again. It's exhausting trying to figure out who is important to the story and who's not. The sequencing was off for me as well. A single event may be described in three different places, and each time treated as if it were the first time it was discussed. I was surprised to learn that the author is a long time editor for the New Yorker and also teaches a narrative non-fiction course.
I loved this book! Such a unique story of two interesting ladies
This was an okay read, but had some structural issues that held it back. Pieces felt like a research paper, with an overabundance of quotes and several tangents down historical rabbit holes.
The pieces that are truly the stories of the two women are interesting, but short-lived for the early portions of the book. A lecture style form of writing often returns intermittently, making things feel stiff and caused me to quickly lose momentum in my reading.
The story did gain steam as it went along, getting more focused and enjoyable. However, there were a lot of minor characters that were used to pull in additional bits and pieces of history. These bits and pieces were interesting, but having that many names peppered throughout the narrative made things muddy. There was also still a good smattering of tangential storytelling. There was a lot of good historical information, but it made the central story feel weaker.
The book could have been pared down by about 100 pages, focused solely on Dorothy, Ros, Ferry, & Bob, and been a lot stronger. It wasn't a bad read, but it felt fairly mediocre. There wasn't anything overly gripping or enthralling other than some piqued interest in historical events and the difficulties of frontier life even into the early to mid-20th century.
The pieces that are truly the stories of the two women are interesting, but short-lived for the early portions of the book. A lecture style form of writing often returns intermittently, making things feel stiff and caused me to quickly lose momentum in my reading.
The story did gain steam as it went along, getting more focused and enjoyable. However, there were a lot of minor characters that were used to pull in additional bits and pieces of history. These bits and pieces were interesting, but having that many names peppered throughout the narrative made things muddy. There was also still a good smattering of tangential storytelling. There was a lot of good historical information, but it made the central story feel weaker.
The book could have been pared down by about 100 pages, focused solely on Dorothy, Ros, Ferry, & Bob, and been a lot stronger. It wasn't a bad read, but it felt fairly mediocre. There wasn't anything overly gripping or enthralling other than some piqued interest in historical events and the difficulties of frontier life even into the early to mid-20th century.