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elliejluna's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
adevrieze's review against another edition
5.0
I can't believe I've never read anything of hers before. This book is beautifully written with compelling characters and I can't wait to read more of her work.
cassiepants's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
thelizabeth's review against another edition
3.0
I guess I should admit that I was hoping this book would feel ahead of its time. It sounds so much like it will be: a woman becomes independent, successful, and respected (!) in a man's job, isn't super involved in romance, and critiques the lifestyle of capitalists. However, to read it, it falls very much into the historical middle ground: being an enlightened story for its period, but disappearing as such once its audience is changed by real-world progress (many) decades later.
I think about this problem a lot, and never quite know what to feel about it. Does the author's hard work have less value if it is still at some fault? It might not be fair, but if I'm honest, it really does disappoint me.
Essentially, it works all right as a novel and a light discussion of beliefs. But I think my feelings would have improved a lot if the reading itself had been more rewarding. For all of the character's appreciation of beauty, Ferber's writing is not very beautiful. It seems deeply unpoetic and proclamatory to me, without a lot of nuance to bite into. These things simply aren't my favorite, but there's also something just kind of generally loopy here that doesn't feel structurally sound. Ferber's transitions are all sort of confused and unclear. And there's a not insignificant amount of straight repetition -- sometimes of entire scenes or paragraphs -- that I just can't figure out. It doesn't feel like intentional style.
So, it's ok that it's old-fashioned, but I kept expecting something subversive to happen anyway. That just isn't what you get here, of course. I did like the hints that I thought I was following -- Selina's oddly intense relationship with a 12-year-old boy, or Dirk's semi-adulterous friendship that I was hoping would get all Brideshead. It did its duty, but it doesn't engender a lot of jaw-drop awesomeness.
The structure also bothered me when I didn't really know where to land my emotions. Selina's emotional struggles are straightforward enough, but I kept having this feeling that she wasn't really the point. Her son Dirk is the point. He's not the main character in page length, but the point of Selina's time is to frame his time. And he has almost no feeling to carry us. I didn't like his time in the book very much.
I think Dirk is intended to bring the reader toward the soullessness of capitalism, as he falls from the brave and true working class into the artificiality of wealth. It's a pretty straightforward morality swing. Selina is an easy heroine to like because she's very like other heroines: she strives for beauty amongst people who just don't understand it, and she profits from hard work, is kind to people, and appreciates the little things in life. What's not to like? So, the way she works as a foil to her adult son is pretty obvious, and not very intricately inspiring. If Dirk were more complexly built, it definitely would be. But he is a just pretty solid hunk of whatever the author says he is.
Ultimately this was the great weakness of the writing for me -- character traits are immensely broad and singular throughout. Nothing to do about it. There was often contradiction as well, and it made the characters crumble more than they already would if you thought about them for ten minutes. For instance, we're told that Dirk is "quick to sympathy," but quite honestly this is never ever true of him (including in that same scene). Dirk is a jerk. He is a jerk as a kid and he is a jerk as a man. He seems to mean well, but is selfish and shortsighted and unengaged. That's partly the point, I know -- Selina's tragedy is having a son who doesn't know what beauty is. But y'know. It made any step he took mean less to me, and it made the ending mean less.
(Instead, I was mostly upset that right on the very last page, Ferber got some racist dialogue in. It's hard to read around, at a moment like that. That is pretty much a wash.)
However, I'm being tough here. It didn't make me mad, as much as a book I really dislike would. There's a lot to appreciate, as it's one of those books that's a little disjointed because it holds a lot of differing things inside it. And one thing of immense value is the sure existence of details that wouldn't be there if it hadn't been written when it was. Almost anyone can catch details at a later date, but not necessarily what was really thought of them, how they really were incorporated with life. Like Selina's war with the heating drum in her room. Or Dirk and Selina's discussions of architecture. (I very much liked when she said she thought that being an architect was the next best thing to being a playwright -- seeing your work enacted.) Also, I frankly loved it when Selina fell in love, and was simply swept away with thoughts about his hands.
It's also not nothing that Edna Ferber used to be immensely famous, a lifelong literary celebrity, and today every bookish person I know (and myself!) did not know her name. (Though many of her famous titles persist.) That alone is worthy of discussion, and of course, reading.
Anyway. I was first interested in this book because of a post by Kelly Hogan, and I do recommend her advice re. rye bread and cabbages.
I think about this problem a lot, and never quite know what to feel about it. Does the author's hard work have less value if it is still at some fault? It might not be fair, but if I'm honest, it really does disappoint me.
Essentially, it works all right as a novel and a light discussion of beliefs. But I think my feelings would have improved a lot if the reading itself had been more rewarding. For all of the character's appreciation of beauty, Ferber's writing is not very beautiful. It seems deeply unpoetic and proclamatory to me, without a lot of nuance to bite into. These things simply aren't my favorite, but there's also something just kind of generally loopy here that doesn't feel structurally sound. Ferber's transitions are all sort of confused and unclear. And there's a not insignificant amount of straight repetition -- sometimes of entire scenes or paragraphs -- that I just can't figure out. It doesn't feel like intentional style.
So, it's ok that it's old-fashioned, but I kept expecting something subversive to happen anyway. That just isn't what you get here, of course. I did like the hints that I thought I was following -- Selina's oddly intense relationship with a 12-year-old boy, or Dirk's semi-adulterous friendship that I was hoping would get all Brideshead. It did its duty, but it doesn't engender a lot of jaw-drop awesomeness.
The structure also bothered me when I didn't really know where to land my emotions. Selina's emotional struggles are straightforward enough, but I kept having this feeling that she wasn't really the point. Her son Dirk is the point. He's not the main character in page length, but the point of Selina's time is to frame his time. And he has almost no feeling to carry us. I didn't like his time in the book very much.
I think Dirk is intended to bring the reader toward the soullessness of capitalism, as he falls from the brave and true working class into the artificiality of wealth. It's a pretty straightforward morality swing. Selina is an easy heroine to like because she's very like other heroines: she strives for beauty amongst people who just don't understand it, and she profits from hard work, is kind to people, and appreciates the little things in life. What's not to like? So, the way she works as a foil to her adult son is pretty obvious, and not very intricately inspiring. If Dirk were more complexly built, it definitely would be. But he is a just pretty solid hunk of whatever the author says he is.
Ultimately this was the great weakness of the writing for me -- character traits are immensely broad and singular throughout. Nothing to do about it. There was often contradiction as well, and it made the characters crumble more than they already would if you thought about them for ten minutes. For instance, we're told that Dirk is "quick to sympathy," but quite honestly this is never ever true of him (including in that same scene). Dirk is a jerk. He is a jerk as a kid and he is a jerk as a man. He seems to mean well, but is selfish and shortsighted and unengaged. That's partly the point, I know -- Selina's tragedy is having a son who doesn't know what beauty is. But y'know. It made any step he took mean less to me, and it made the ending mean less.
(Instead, I was mostly upset that right on the very last page, Ferber got some racist dialogue in. It's hard to read around, at a moment like that. That is pretty much a wash.)
However, I'm being tough here. It didn't make me mad, as much as a book I really dislike would. There's a lot to appreciate, as it's one of those books that's a little disjointed because it holds a lot of differing things inside it. And one thing of immense value is the sure existence of details that wouldn't be there if it hadn't been written when it was. Almost anyone can catch details at a later date, but not necessarily what was really thought of them, how they really were incorporated with life. Like Selina's war with the heating drum in her room. Or Dirk and Selina's discussions of architecture. (I very much liked when she said she thought that being an architect was the next best thing to being a playwright -- seeing your work enacted.) Also, I frankly loved it when Selina fell in love, and was simply swept away with thoughts about his hands.
It's also not nothing that Edna Ferber used to be immensely famous, a lifelong literary celebrity, and today every bookish person I know (and myself!) did not know her name. (Though many of her famous titles persist.) That alone is worthy of discussion, and of course, reading.
Anyway. I was first interested in this book because of a post by Kelly Hogan, and I do recommend her advice re. rye bread and cabbages.
isikunkel's review against another edition
2.0
I don’t know what to think of this book exactly! I liked the main character (Selina) quite a bit, and loved the themes of beauty throughout the book. Was not a “can’t put it down” kind of book. I liked the way it made me think about the different unexpected arcs our lives take and the value of striving.
welred's review against another edition
5.0
I had to think about this one for a few days before reviewing...wavering between 4 stars and 5 and opting for 5 (obviously), because overall I loved it. One of my favorite passages:
"I want you to see all kinds," he would say to her. "I want you to realize that
this whole thing is just a grand adventure...The more kinds of people you see,
and the more things you do, and the more things that happen to you, the richer
you are. Even if they're not pleasant things. That's living."
I've struggled to share what the book is about, but now it's clear: it's about living.
"I want you to see all kinds," he would say to her. "I want you to realize that
this whole thing is just a grand adventure...The more kinds of people you see,
and the more things you do, and the more things that happen to you, the richer
you are. Even if they're not pleasant things. That's living."
I've struggled to share what the book is about, but now it's clear: it's about living.
cme314's review against another edition
5.0
My rating is really 4.5 stars. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did, I was caught. What a beautiful, eloquent book.
alysev's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to love this book, and I did love aspects of it. Ferber has a gift for description, and I enjoyed the theme of what makes a life successful. That said, I thought the story was a bit plodding.
marisolea's review against another edition
5.0
Selina Peak es una chavala que vive con su padre una vida peculiar. A su muerte, decide hacerse maestra y se traslada a una comunidad holandesa cerca de Boston. Su vida transcurre entre la escuela y la casa de los Pool, donde la acogen. Los Pool son una familia de granjeros compuesta por el matrimonio formado por Klaas y Maartje y sus hijos, Roefl, Geertje y Jozina. Roefl ya tiene doce años y no va al colegio, echa una mano en las labores agrícolas. Pero posee ciertas cualidades que solo Selina parece ver.
Durante un baile, conoce a Pervus DeJong. Acaban casándose. Selina es muy joven, recordemos. Pervus se dedica a la granja y Selina a sus labores. Tienen un hijo, Dirk, al que acaban llamado Sobig (así de grande). Selina decide echar una mano a Pervus en la granja, a pesar de la enconada resistencia de su marido que no quiere ver a su mujer trabajando en el campo. Selina tiene ideas propias sobre el aprovechamiento de los campos pero se topa con la cerrazón de Pervus. Pero Pervus muere y Selina se ve abocada a deslomarse en el campo, pasando penurias, levantándose temprano y yendo ella a Chicago en el carro a vender la fruta y la verdura en el mercado, lo que llama notablemente la atención. Pero Selina no logra vender todo su producto, intenta contactar con vendedores al por mayor, vende a domicilio... Y en una de esas topa con su antigua amiga de la infancia, Julie, hecha una mujer, casada, con un marido rico y un casoplón. Julie tiene un padre forrado que ayuda a Seline a prosperar, recomendándole inversiones, echándole una mano con las obras que quería llevar a cabo en el campo... y así Selina va progresando económica y socialmente hasta tener una posición privilegiada en su comunidad. Sobig es mandado a estudiar a la universidad y comienza una vida muy distinta a la que había tenido hasta entonces.
El libro me ha encantado porque es la historia de una mujer hecha a sí misma, que no duda de sus capacidades, que se supera, que no ceja en su empeño. Una mujer, como diríamos ahora, empoderada. La parte de la historia del hijo en la universidad me gustó bastante menos, la verdad. Pero la historia de Selina es estupenda, llena de fuerza y de ganas de superarse.
Durante un baile, conoce a Pervus DeJong. Acaban casándose. Selina es muy joven, recordemos. Pervus se dedica a la granja y Selina a sus labores. Tienen un hijo, Dirk, al que acaban llamado Sobig (así de grande). Selina decide echar una mano a Pervus en la granja, a pesar de la enconada resistencia de su marido que no quiere ver a su mujer trabajando en el campo. Selina tiene ideas propias sobre el aprovechamiento de los campos pero se topa con la cerrazón de Pervus. Pero Pervus muere y Selina se ve abocada a deslomarse en el campo, pasando penurias, levantándose temprano y yendo ella a Chicago en el carro a vender la fruta y la verdura en el mercado, lo que llama notablemente la atención. Pero Selina no logra vender todo su producto, intenta contactar con vendedores al por mayor, vende a domicilio... Y en una de esas topa con su antigua amiga de la infancia, Julie, hecha una mujer, casada, con un marido rico y un casoplón. Julie tiene un padre forrado que ayuda a Seline a prosperar, recomendándole inversiones, echándole una mano con las obras que quería llevar a cabo en el campo... y así Selina va progresando económica y socialmente hasta tener una posición privilegiada en su comunidad. Sobig es mandado a estudiar a la universidad y comienza una vida muy distinta a la que había tenido hasta entonces.
El libro me ha encantado porque es la historia de una mujer hecha a sí misma, que no duda de sus capacidades, que se supera, que no ceja en su empeño. Una mujer, como diríamos ahora, empoderada. La parte de la historia del hijo en la universidad me gustó bastante menos, la verdad. Pero la historia de Selina es estupenda, llena de fuerza y de ganas de superarse.