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Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
(Blandings #1)
by
The classic tale of leaving the city and building a house in the country, only to find country life isn't so simple. But it is hilarious.
Mr. Blandings, a successful New York advertising executive, and his wife want to escape the confines of their tiny midtown apartment. They design the perfect home in the idyllic country, but soon they are beset by construction troubles,
...morePaperback, 228 pages
Published
February 11th 2005
by Simon & Schuster
(first published 1946)
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Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
My initial reaction to finding out the national treasure who is Tom Hanks had been diagnosed with the Coronavirus was . . . .
But then I got distracted when the news started showing clips of some of his movies and mentioned that this fave . . . .
Was a remake of another old fave . . . .
Which I should have been smart enough to realize, but somehow never put two-and-two together. When threats of the library shutting down tem ...more
My initial reaction to finding out the national treasure who is Tom Hanks had been diagnosed with the Coronavirus was . . . .
But then I got distracted when the news started showing clips of some of his movies and mentioned that this fave . . . .
Was a remake of another old fave . . . .
Which I should have been smart enough to realize, but somehow never put two-and-two together. When threats of the library shutting down tem ...more
I've been wanting to read this for ever (it seems), as the Cary Grant movie based on the book is one of my favorite black and white "oldie-goldies".
What a letdown the book was. Not even a fraction as funny, charming and endearing as the movie. The coarse language came as an added (and unwelcome) surprise considering this was written in the 1940's. At times, I even found it a depressive story; rather ironic considering it's supposed to be a humorous story of the trials and tribulations of home ow ...more
What a letdown the book was. Not even a fraction as funny, charming and endearing as the movie. The coarse language came as an added (and unwelcome) surprise considering this was written in the 1940's. At times, I even found it a depressive story; rather ironic considering it's supposed to be a humorous story of the trials and tribulations of home ow ...more
This is a hard book to know how to rate. It's a story of a husband and wife who decide to buy a home in the country so they can have an idyllic life away from the noise and bustle of the city. You could also say it's a book about a mid-life crisis. Their decisions are mainly emotional, hasty, and unprepared for so they get into a bunch of hassle and get taken advantage of at every turn. At times it was amusing, though most of the time I found it rather annoying. Most of their true problems could
...more
Laugh-out-loud funny. I only wish there were more entries in Mrs. Blandings Diary.
One summer in my middle school years I frequently stayed up late, watching on television the movie being shown on "The Late Show" (there was a different movie every night). I remember seeing the film version of this book then. Cary Grant starred in it as Mr. Blandings.
This book is essentially a comedic tale of a naive advertising executive and his wife in New York City who buy an old country home in Connecticut. As things turn out they have to tear down the house and have a new one built. By the ...more
This book is essentially a comedic tale of a naive advertising executive and his wife in New York City who buy an old country home in Connecticut. As things turn out they have to tear down the house and have a new one built. By the ...more
Hilarious! Just as good as the 1948 Cary Grant movie based on it. The major difference between the novel and the movie is that the movie's time line is majorly compressed (the whole story takes place in a single season) compared to the novel's (the story takes place over a few years). Also, the movie imposed a past romantic history between Mrs. Blandings and the lawyer Bill Cole, which wasn't evident in the book. Most characters in the movie were very true to their counterparts in the novel, how
...more
Hysterical!! 1930s semi-screwball comedy of errors in which a Manhattan couple decides to build a house in the country. Everything that can go wrong...
Made me feel better about my own real estate fumblings. It was also highly quotable, as when Mr. Blandings learns that he must pay the full balance of the mortgage because he didn't get the consent of the mortgage holder before tearing down the house to build a new one:
"I make it a point not to criticize your drinking habits, even when I do not ...more
Made me feel better about my own real estate fumblings. It was also highly quotable, as when Mr. Blandings learns that he must pay the full balance of the mortgage because he didn't get the consent of the mortgage holder before tearing down the house to build a new one:
"I make it a point not to criticize your drinking habits, even when I do not ...more
I don't know if you've seen the old Cary Grant movie made from this book, but my advice is to watch the movie and not worry about the book. It was really stressful--one catastrophe after another, without all that fun Cary Grantness to give you some comic relief. There was humor, and it was pretty well-written, but I just couldn't enjoy it because it was riddled with too much swearing. It was written in the 40's, for heaven's sake! I just didn't expect it to be so foul. And I think it hit too clo
...more
A few stylistic bits are off-putting but understandable - switching viewpoints from Mr to Mrs halfway through and a much larger vocabulary than most current authors use being the most prominent; and the narrative and timeline gets a bit fuzzy - they go to supervise construction of an unfinished house buy only mention in passing where they're living while they do this, and that only after a hundred pages of mystery; but even so the humor is still spot on and relevant today with the universal pitf
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This was a nice little trip back in time, but it also shows the more things change the more they stay the same. Home renovation/redecoration never goes the way you plan & it NEVER costs what you think it should!!!
...more
It would be funnier if it wasn't quite as frighteningly accurate 😳
(I wonder if folks who didn't care for it ever built or remodelled a house?)
(I wonder if folks who didn't care for it ever built or remodelled a house?)
If you've never seen the Cary Grant and Myrna Loy movie that is based on this book, watch the movie and give the book a pass. In fact, if you HAVE seen the movie, go watch it again - it's great! The book has some elements of the humor that makes the movie so much fun, but only if you're willing to laugh at poor, naive Mr. Blandings as he stumbles through all the trials and tribulations of home ownership. I realize that researching "the best way to dig a well" is easier now in the era of Google t
...more
I found that I agree with some of the reviewers here. While this book was OK, it just wasn't interesting enough to finish. I read halfway through and most of it was interesting, I got a few chuckles, but then felt it bogged down in the details.
I made it to the part where Mr. Blandings is explaining to Mrs. Blandings how the well was being dug, how the expense was charged, and mathematically how much water was expected to gush forth per minute. Mr. Blandings stated that after explanation Mrs. Bl ...more
I made it to the part where Mr. Blandings is explaining to Mrs. Blandings how the well was being dug, how the expense was charged, and mathematically how much water was expected to gush forth per minute. Mr. Blandings stated that after explanation Mrs. Bl ...more
Mr. Blandings is doing well at work and decides it is time to own his own house. So he goes to Connecticut and buys land to build his dream house.
It starts slow. It is better when you read it with sarcasm as Mr. Blandings has trouble with the seller, the architects, and the builder. It becomes extremely funny in Book 2 when I read Mrs. Blandings' journal entries about it. The ownership of the house is funny also as Mr. Blandings figures out how much this house cost him and now he is responsible ...more
It starts slow. It is better when you read it with sarcasm as Mr. Blandings has trouble with the seller, the architects, and the builder. It becomes extremely funny in Book 2 when I read Mrs. Blandings' journal entries about it. The ownership of the house is funny also as Mr. Blandings figures out how much this house cost him and now he is responsible ...more
Perhaps not quite as charming as the film with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, but still a wonderfully funny and relevant read. The amounts of money involved seem trivial today -- until you begin to adjust for inflation! Seriously, if you have ever built, or even renovated, a house, this book will strike a chord that will make you laugh and cringe in equal measure.
Mr and Mrs Blandings find there dream home, but it quickly turns into a nightmare. A book for anyone who's bought a house only to discover all the things the seller neglected to mention.
One of the few times that the movie is better than the book.
Mr. Blandings, an NYC advertising executive, and his wife and kids want to leave their tiny Midtown apartment for a farmhouse in the country. The place they end up buying, and get thoroughly ripped off on, should have been demolished years ago, so they'll need build a brand new house. Pretty much everything that can go wrong, does go wrong while trying to design and construct the perfect home. This house may be the nightmare that does him in, or bankrupts him.
I picked up this novel published in ...more
I picked up this novel published in ...more
Having lived through the renovation of a house myself, I can attest to this story's accuracy, but it is also far funnier than I remember the actual experience!
Mr and Mrs Blandings decide to move to the country. They find a house they love, although it could do with a little updating. Well, so they think, until the engineer and architect get to work. The repairs will cost so much that they decide to replace it with a new house. Oh dear! We follow them through the increasingly painful experiences ...more
Mr and Mrs Blandings decide to move to the country. They find a house they love, although it could do with a little updating. Well, so they think, until the engineer and architect get to work. The repairs will cost so much that they decide to replace it with a new house. Oh dear! We follow them through the increasingly painful experiences ...more
In the BookCrossing forums there is a long standing debate about film adaptations of books. With a well-read group of people, there is a lot of reluctance in the group at seeing the film adaptations as they are so often changed. I am firmly in the camp of film adaptation lovers. With so many books published every year it is impossible to read a significant cross section of them. Add up all the previous years and one is quickly faced with an avalanche of books! That's where the film adaptations c
...more
Aug 16, 2008
Sue
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
every homeowner and especially for prospective homebuilders!
No reader, even if his adventure in construction never went beyond adding a closet to an apartment, or redecorating an office, will fail to discover somewhere in this architectural saga himself (and one's ability to be suckered). I discovered this delightful book while reading Architectural Digest (June 1991). They ran an article entitled:"Mr Blandings' Dream House - Revisiting an American Icon in Connecticut." I was so intrigued, I read the book, researched the author and the house in Connectic
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About:
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House was written by Eric Hodgins and was published in 1946. This comic novel follows a man and his wife as they attempt to build their dream house. They run into all sorts of unforeseen circumstances and it ends up costing them much more than they thought it would!
Did I Like It?:
I picked this book up because I like the film that was based on this book starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The movie is a cute and funny old black and white. The story in the boo ...more
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House was written by Eric Hodgins and was published in 1946. This comic novel follows a man and his wife as they attempt to build their dream house. They run into all sorts of unforeseen circumstances and it ends up costing them much more than they thought it would!
Did I Like It?:
I picked this book up because I like the film that was based on this book starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The movie is a cute and funny old black and white. The story in the boo ...more
Feb 18, 2014
Kitty Jay
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Mom, Dad, Mike
Shelves:
checked-out-from-library,
fiction
My mom and dad ran a custom home building company, one where I grew up half on job sites and the other half sitting quietly in a corner as clients discussed what they wanted. For reasons that would become apparent, the movie with Cary Grant, Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House, was one of their favorites.
I didn't even know it was a book until recently, and immediately checked it out from the library. If you're familiar with the movie - and liked it - take heart, because the script paid close att ...more
I didn't even know it was a book until recently, and immediately checked it out from the library. If you're familiar with the movie - and liked it - take heart, because the script paid close att ...more
Nov 25, 2008
Phil
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
Anyone doing home construction or even renovation.
Shelves:
fiction
There is no one who has ever built a home or a major addition that can't relate to this book.
Written in the mid-1940s, it was made into a movie in the early 50's with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy that virtually used the book as a script, not merely a story line. Both are hilarious.
To escape the tiny Manhattan apartment, the Blandings decide to buy a house in suburban Connecticut - a creaky old house that they quickly decide (or is decided for them) to tear down. The modest house Mr. Blandings envi ...more
Written in the mid-1940s, it was made into a movie in the early 50's with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy that virtually used the book as a script, not merely a story line. Both are hilarious.
To escape the tiny Manhattan apartment, the Blandings decide to buy a house in suburban Connecticut - a creaky old house that they quickly decide (or is decided for them) to tear down. The modest house Mr. Blandings envi ...more
Can say for certain that this book is utterly brilliant and worth at least 4.5 stars for sheer truthfulness and insight. Couldn't entirely appreciate this truthfulness however, as the comedy struck too close to home to be enjoyable! When you're reading about the trials of building a home and every situation seems familiar (either because you've fallen into these traps in the past, or can easily see yourself doing so in the future), the laughs become morbid.
On a more positive note, the language i ...more
On a more positive note, the language i ...more
This is a really, really funny book, touching on just about every nightmare a home owner could possibly imagine. Eric Hodgins put his never-used engineering degree from M.I.T. to work overtime, to come up with dilemmas from jacking up the sagging foundation, to the famous"Taj Mahal" closet with changes totaling $1247.00. Mr. Blandings and his equally long-suffering wife are never mentioned by first name, but they still come across as the vulnerable, fallible type of people most of us are when co
...more
I've loved the movie for years, so it's no surprise I enjoyed the book. Anyone can relate to Blanding's situation...stuck between dreams and realities and the capital required to make that happen. It's always more than you plan for, even when you think you're being frugal.
The book didn't have the same pace as the movie; but I couldn't help but envision Cary Grant and his delightful expressions throughout. All in all an enjoyable romp through the trials and tribulations (and mostly trials) of tr ...more
The book didn't have the same pace as the movie; but I couldn't help but envision Cary Grant and his delightful expressions throughout. All in all an enjoyable romp through the trials and tribulations (and mostly trials) of tr ...more
I will never build a house. I haven't seen the movies that are based on this book so this was a fresh read for me. I enjoyed it. I wouldn't say it's laugh out loud funny and you really do feel for Mr. Blanding as everyone even his wife seems to be against him. But then at times you look at both him and his wife and are like you are overreacting especially when a cottage was built down then hill from them and they were upset about it hurting the view but it could barely be seen. This is book one
...more
A fun read full of the painful comedy of house-building woes. Written shortly after the end of WW2, the humor reflects a time before social-consciousness extended to social class and women, yet it does not offend, giving equal time to the foibles of all sorts of people and professions.
I would certainly have a hard time deciding whether this is a good book to read before embarking on home ownership, or whether it might be sufficient to make any prospective homeowners to resign themselves happily ...more
I would certainly have a hard time deciding whether this is a good book to read before embarking on home ownership, or whether it might be sufficient to make any prospective homeowners to resign themselves happily ...more
Aug 03, 2008
Amanda
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Preservation-interested people or anyone contemplating building a house.
Shelves:
preservation-and-architecture
This is the only book I have ever read that I did not prefer to the movie rendition. It is a fun look at the process of building a home in post-WWII America. Some historic preservation issues come up in it, including when is it appropriate to buy an old house to tear down and rebuild a different one? The movie is funnier than the book, but I recommend this read to anyone contemplating building a house with their spouse. This couple is the terror of many architects.
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Readers also enjoyed
Born 1899, Eric Francis Hodgins was the American author of the popular Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1946). Hodgins served as editor in chief of The Youth Companion, associate editor of Redbook, and then as associate editor of Fortune magazine. He became publisher of Fortune in 1937, and a vice president of Time Inc. in 1938. He quit Time Inc. in 1946 to write full-time.
His novels also inc ...more
His novels also inc ...more
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