Acclaimed writer Barbara Holland, whom the Philadelphia Inquirer has called "a national treasure," finally tells her own story with this at...
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reviews
Aug 05, 2009
Gustine
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This intelligent, literary memoir is about childhood during simpler times (the 1940s, though it could easily have taken place any time pre-80s, before urban sprawl and recent child-rearing fashions took hold. Indeed, I identified very strongly with the childhood Holland describes).
Unlike so many other memoirs, this one is absolutely engrossing without ever once relying on harrowing or shocking events. (Although serious family dysfunction and tragic events are present, they seem entir More...
Unlike so many other memoirs, this one is absolutely engrossing without ever once relying on harrowing or shocking events. (Although serious family dysfunction and tragic events are present, they seem entir More...
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Oct 11, 2010
Kim
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"What happened to eccentrics? I suppose for a while we locked up the impecunious ones, and then we just medicated them all, and after that it was no fun anymore and they faded away." This is the kind of observation that fills "When All the World Was Young," Barbara Holland's clear-eyed look back on growing up in the 1940s and '50s. This is a memoir, yes, but it is also a testament to what it meant to be a child, teenager, mother, father, wife, and husband in a time before TV,
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Sep 12, 2011
Renee
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This story is so much more than a brilliantly observant girl growing up in WWII-era Washington, D.C., more than the story of growing up in a home with an emotionally detached mother and wicked stepfather- it's also an authentic history of that time and a terrific look of how children were seen, how wives lived and how fathers (some) ruled the world.
Holland never victimizes herself and is anything but sentimental, yet it certainly seems her family alienation extended to her entire academic More...
Holland never victimizes herself and is anything but sentimental, yet it certainly seems her family alienation extended to her entire academic More...
Apr 16, 2011
Melody
rated it:
The best memoirs leave one wanting more. This is one of those. A lovely, incisively observed life. Holland is amusing without being silly, nostalgic without being treacly.
A telling excerpt:
"Several years ago a well-heeled friend said to me, 'I was brought up to believe you must never, ever dip into capital. Weren't you?' 'No,' I said, 'I was brought up to believe you must never, ever cross a picket line.' and we gazed at each other across the chasm."
I ado More...
A telling excerpt:
"Several years ago a well-heeled friend said to me, 'I was brought up to believe you must never, ever dip into capital. Weren't you?' 'No,' I said, 'I was brought up to believe you must never, ever cross a picket line.' and we gazed at each other across the chasm."
I ado More...
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Jul 07, 2010
Sue
rated it:
grew up on meadow in chevy chase... wanted to have words w/ her stp father ... experience affected her life it seems... very interestingly written and fun to recall growing up in 40's and 50's... she may have been born about 1940...
Mar 21, 2011
I am going to quit pretending to read this now. Poor book, I've been supposedly reading it for like two weeks and have gotten through about five pages. It's not the book's fault, it has fallen victim to my annual March college basektball- and Spring fever-induced reading lull.
Aug 17, 2010
Diana
rated it:
I loved learning about what it was like growing up in the 40s and 50s, what family life was like, the roles of men and women during the War, and social expectations. It makes history so much more relatable when it comes from a woman's perspective. I'd be interested in reading one of Barbara Holland's other titles.
Apr 05, 2009
Karen
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I read the first chapters and skimmed the last...I'm taking a break from it because it's just too heavy, but certainly well written.
Jan 02, 2011
Elizabeth
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Holland's high school Shakespeare schedule (late 40's):
Freshman year: Romeo and Juliet
Sophomore year: Julius Ceasar
Junior year: Macbeth (oddly jammed among a year of American Lit)
Senior year: Hamlet
My high school Shakespeare schedule (mid 90's):
Freshman year: Romeo and Juliet
Sophomore year: King Lear (though I know other classes did Julius Ceasar)
Junior year: Macbeth (oddly jammed among a year of American Lit)
Senior year: Hamlet
More...
Freshman year: Romeo and Juliet
Sophomore year: Julius Ceasar
Junior year: Macbeth (oddly jammed among a year of American Lit)
Senior year: Hamlet
My high school Shakespeare schedule (mid 90's):
Freshman year: Romeo and Juliet
Sophomore year: King Lear (though I know other classes did Julius Ceasar)
Junior year: Macbeth (oddly jammed among a year of American Lit)
Senior year: Hamlet
More...
Dec 16, 2009
Suzy
rated it:
This is one of my favorite memoirs. Funny, and familiar too. She grew up during the 1940's and 50's and much of what she talks about is what I remember from the 50's and 60's. Hilarious! She looks at childhood the way it used to be,Jump roping, sledding, playing outdoors with a gang of kids, brothers and sisters in a large family and so much more. All before the women's movement.
Barbara Holland is a very witty writer and I found myself laughting out loud all the way through! Loved
Barbara Holland is a very witty writer and I found myself laughting out loud all the way through! Loved
Apr 14, 2009
Rozanne
rated it:
The best book I've read thus far this year. Totally absorbing and extremely well-written. Even though this is a memoir, Holland tells her story in the larger context of the era in which she grew up (1940s and 1950s), which I found fascinating. A truly wonderful book.
Jan 28, 2008
Cory
rated it: 
Found this left on a bench in a mall. Never should have picked it up. The first chapter seems interesting but I struggled to get through a couple more chapters before deciding it was terrible and that I wasn't going to waste my time reading it.
Jan 17, 2008
Kathleen
rated it:
Barbara Holland is truly fantastic - her observations, wit and style make her writing come to life so vivdly. This is a great account of her life, and also a light examination of how the "role" of the woman is defined in society.
Aug 13, 2008
Paul
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This memoir was the first Barbara Holland I had read. A delightful memoir, interesting because she herself is an interesting person, and because she gives fine tuning to "dysfunctional family."
Apr 17, 2008
Marnie
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Great insight into the life of one of my favorite authors. Like any memoir, much of it was painful to read and consider, but Ms. Holland manages to come through her trials fairly unscathed.
Jul 09, 2008
Bonnie
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I loved this book. Perhaps you have to be "of a certain age"... I am of that age, and grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC, so I recognize much of Holland's turf.
Jan 27, 2012
Kathy
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Delightful memoir. Such a way with words; sad little girl but an incredible insight and way to express it. It's terriffic!
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