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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Mary Cantwell's memoir covers the years of her married life in New York in the 1950s and 1960s. She worked at Mademoiselle and Vogue, and her husband (who is only referred to as B.) was a well known literary agent. The book is raw--her oddly anti-Semitic attitudes (especially toward her own lapsed Jewish husband), her struggles with depression, her ambivalence about motherhood, the incredibly sexist environment. But it captures the time period as few other memoirs do. Her writing is gorgeous and New York City, particularly the Village, is a character in itself. So hard to imagine the New York of this time period, with the old livery stables being transformed into apartments and the garbage piers in the Village. The book has a Mad Man-esque feel to it, with lots of name dropping and retro attitudes. This isn't a big book--no huge tragedies--but it's one of the most beautifully written memoirs I've read. It's a master class in how memoir should be done.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
DNF'd this. it was for my book club and it ended up being a tad boring. as a new yorker i enjoyed seeing how cantwell talks about the city, but that was the biggest draw for me.
well written and great insight into mental health and glimpse into a time-specific scene, but also problematic wealthy white lady musings
As someone who moved to NY, I saw bits and pieces of my own experiences in this book. But what kept me going was also how vastly different NY was in that time versus now. I knew many of the references Cantwell made, but it still seemed like a different world. Also, her experiences as a young person are very different to my generation's, so it was fascinating to read.
The main problem was that I felt like Cantwell wasn't personal enough. While I wouldn't consider it a "superficial" account of her life, I could sense she was guarded. I wanted to know more--because I felt there was more--and it was clear there was more underneath by the end of the book. But we never get to that level.
I enjoyed the writing, though, which was both easy to read, yet was still beautiful.
The main problem was that I felt like Cantwell wasn't personal enough. While I wouldn't consider it a "superficial" account of her life, I could sense she was guarded. I wanted to know more--because I felt there was more--and it was clear there was more underneath by the end of the book. But we never get to that level.
I enjoyed the writing, though, which was both easy to read, yet was still beautiful.
4.5. It was a bit hard to follow her writing style and scrambled thoughts. However, I found it to be deeply honest and relatable. I struggled with the rating because it was hard to stay interested in the story. I often could only manage reading a few pages before finding something else to do. But when I made a conscious effort to read more that 10 pages, it was very enjoyable. I also didn’t understand any of her references— both with the people she talked about and places in New York. Overall, the good outweighed the bad. I’ve never read a book like Mary Cantwell’s. I got this from the library but I may have to get a copy for myself. To pick up again and again. I have a feeling the second time will be even better.
Thoroughly likeable memoir of 2-ish decades in the life of a not quite likeable woman (who became more likeable towards the end), and a delicious remembrance of a particular time & place in 20th century New York in the literary set. It was absolutely everything a memoir should be.
4.5 Stars actually.
I loved this book and it's a story I haven't read in a while; voices from NY's past. Mary lived primarily in the village, raising her two daughters while working at a magazine company, as they do. No mention of Jane Jacobs but I wouldn't be surprised if their paths crossed while in Washington Square Park. I love the descriptions of the city back then and how timeless the sentiments are. I enjoyed looking up her addresses of her homes and still finding what was there. Once near my favorite intersection of Waverly and Gay St. Here are some of my favorite quotes;
"...now it seems there was no more to fear in this vast city than there had been to fear in my small town. I was relieved when I saw Washington Square Arch, just as I had been relieved when I had seen my grandparents' big awkward Victorian beaming like a lighthouse, but sad, too.The only time I ever think about death is on long walks like that one, when I realize that what I am seeing does not depend on me for its existence."
"You could live in New York, I had begun to realize, without ever having to open your mouth except for life's necessities. You could even be invisible, not because you were hidden by the crowd but because the crowd was blind to your being a part of it."
"It had never occurred to me till then that New York had so many strata, that the city that I was trying to know was only the top layer of an enormous archaeological dig, and that no matter how fast and far I traveled, I would never get to know it all."
"Now the saloon seems a hallucination, but I will stake my life on its reality. Somewhere in downtown New York, in 1954, was a room in which was always 1905."
"You could not just live here. You had to be somebody, do something, it didn't matter what [...] The best way to know New York, to learn to love New York, was to let it wear you out."
"I had never been alone before [...]and I began to acquire a trust, still with me, in my feet's wisdom. My body was becoming my house. I ambulated as securely as a turtle."
"At last the new apartment was ready. 'You must be so thrilled,' people said. 'All that moving around.' Rose Red was. I was not. There were still so many streets we had not walked, so many stores we had not entered, so many lives we had not tried."
I loved this book and it's a story I haven't read in a while; voices from NY's past. Mary lived primarily in the village, raising her two daughters while working at a magazine company, as they do. No mention of Jane Jacobs but I wouldn't be surprised if their paths crossed while in Washington Square Park. I love the descriptions of the city back then and how timeless the sentiments are. I enjoyed looking up her addresses of her homes and still finding what was there. Once near my favorite intersection of Waverly and Gay St. Here are some of my favorite quotes;
"...now it seems there was no more to fear in this vast city than there had been to fear in my small town. I was relieved when I saw Washington Square Arch, just as I had been relieved when I had seen my grandparents' big awkward Victorian beaming like a lighthouse, but sad, too.The only time I ever think about death is on long walks like that one, when I realize that what I am seeing does not depend on me for its existence."
"You could live in New York, I had begun to realize, without ever having to open your mouth except for life's necessities. You could even be invisible, not because you were hidden by the crowd but because the crowd was blind to your being a part of it."
"It had never occurred to me till then that New York had so many strata, that the city that I was trying to know was only the top layer of an enormous archaeological dig, and that no matter how fast and far I traveled, I would never get to know it all."
"Now the saloon seems a hallucination, but I will stake my life on its reality. Somewhere in downtown New York, in 1954, was a room in which was always 1905."
"You could not just live here. You had to be somebody, do something, it didn't matter what [...] The best way to know New York, to learn to love New York, was to let it wear you out."
"I had never been alone before [...]and I began to acquire a trust, still with me, in my feet's wisdom. My body was becoming my house. I ambulated as securely as a turtle."
"At last the new apartment was ready. 'You must be so thrilled,' people said. 'All that moving around.' Rose Red was. I was not. There were still so many streets we had not walked, so many stores we had not entered, so many lives we had not tried."
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
I might be biased, because Cantwell starts out her 1st chapter quoting Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, some of the finest first lines in a modern novel, imho: “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs…” and well, I’m partial to Plath. But Cantwell is both different and similar–-not as histrionic, but just as confused, depressed and lost. Raised in 1950′s America to grow up to be a good wife and mother, while at the same time adored by a father that died too soon and wanted her to be an academic, Cantwell took a long time to find herself and her identity, apart from the men in her life. Living in New York came to define her, and we are invited in to the various apartments she lived in from the time she moved here, each location offering a different sense of self. Meditative and offering a glimpse into a long-gone New York, it's a quick read and a very well done memoir.