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The Country of the Pointed Firs
Alternate Cover Edition of ISBN 9780486281964
In scene after memorable scene of Sarah Orne Jewett's fictional masterpiece, The Country of the Pointed Firs, the Maine-born author recorded what she felt were the rapidly disappearing traditions, manners and dialect of Maine coast natives at the turn of the 20th century. In luminous evocations of their lives--a happy family reunion, an old seaman's ghostly vision, a disappointed lover's self-imposed exile and more--Jewett created startlingly real portraits of individual New Englanders and a warm, humorous and compassionate vision of the New England character.
In scene after memorable scene of Sarah Orne Jewett's fictional masterpiece, The Country of the Pointed Firs, the Maine-born author recorded what she felt were the rapidly disappearing traditions, manners and dialect of Maine coast natives at the turn of the 20th century. In luminous evocations of their lives--a happy family reunion, an old seaman's ghostly vision, a disappointed lover's self-imposed exile and more--Jewett created startlingly real portraits of individual New Englanders and a warm, humorous and compassionate vision of the New England character.
88 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1896
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About the author
Sarah Orne Jewett
394 books174 followersSarah Orne Jewett was an American novelist and short story writer, best known for her local color works set in or near South Berwick, Maine, on the border of New Hampshire, which in her day was a declining New England seaport.
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July 20, 2017
Sarah Orne Jewett was born in 1849 to a well to do New England family. Her family split their time in Boston while summering in south Bostwick, Maine. Jewett exhibited that she wanted to be a writer early on, and, after striking up a friendship with editor William Dean Howells, her stories began to appear in the Atlantic. Her most famous collection of stories, which can also be known as a novella and has gained inclusion in 500 Great Books By Women by Erica Bauermeister, is The Country of the Pointed Firs, detailing a summer that Jewett spent in fictional Dunnett's Landing, Maine. Although the narrator is not Jewett by name, the story details time she enjoyed in a similar setting. Willa Cather calls The Country of Pointed Firs one of the top three American books that she read, and Cather even edited a later edition of the book. Dunnett's Landing and her inhabitants, even without Cather's editing skills, are worthy of their place as quality women's literature.
The quaint village of Dunnett's Landing is a lovely way to pass a summer afternoon. A narrator who may or may not be Jewett has chosen to pass her summer as a lodger at the home of Almira Todd, a sixty seven year old widow. Todd chose never to remarry and is by definition a strong female protagonist. She is a medicine woman and knows everything about all the flora and fauna in the area, assisting the town doctor in most cases. She is also related to most people in the are as her mother's people, the Bowdens, have called northern Maine home for five generations, preceding the revolution. Through Mrs Todd, we hear many yarns of oral history. Whether it is a story about sailing or whaling, foraging for plant life, or the many relatives Mrs Todd has in the area, we see that she is both a walking history book and charming older woman who our narrator is happy to call a friend. As there are few books featuring strong older female characters, I was easily enamored with Mrs Todd's character.
Almira Todd is hardly the only dynamic woman featured in this novella. Todd's close friend Susan Bostwick is the only survivor out of nine siblings. Bostwick comes from a sea faring family that spent as much time at sea as on land, and she and Todd have known each other since they began school. Together, they regale the narrator with wonderful stories and it is apparent that they enjoy an enriching friendship. Yet, no woman in this novella charmed me as much as Todd's mother, eighty six year old Mrs Blackett. An independent woman if there ever was one, Mrs Blackett has chosen to live in a cottage on Green Island with her confirmed bachelor son William. Content with her station in life, Mrs Blackett shows the exuberance of youth and hardly seems older than her daughter Mrs Todd. The two women appear as siblings rather than a mother and daughter, giving credence to the adage that age is but a number. In the case of Mrs Blackett, it appears as though her best days could still be ahead of her.
In addition the strong female protagonists, I fell in love with Dunnett's Landing, Maine. I spent many vacations in Door County, Wisconsin, and the heavy foliage along with lakeside air and diet heavy on fish boils and cherry pie are similar in character to Dunnett's Landing. The villages are based on fishing and summer homes, and the fir and other trees create a setting that evokes late nights on a porch, reminiscing about time gone by. Jewett enjoyed quality female friendships, and got the idea for Dunnett's Landing after spending a month with a friend in a Maine seaside village. Even though she wintered in the Boston area, Maine held a special place for Jewett as she revisited the characters and setting in later stories. Some editions of the book include these stories including a short story entitled William's Wedding. In all of the yarns, the sea is calm, the foliage is luscious, and Jewett's character descriptions are as though the reader has been acquainted with them for their entire lives.
The Country of Pointed Firs is a quality way to spend a summer afternoon. It evokes time spent on vacation in the country with dear family and friends. Because Jewett's writing is full of strong female characters, it can also be considered early feminist literature. Yet, this writing contains no conflict, as not one character can be considered an antagonist. Perhaps, this can also be true of Jewett's life full of female friendship and little hardship until she fell ill right before her passing. As such, I would be interested in reading Jewett's other stories, especially her previous work appearing in the Atlantic. The Country of Pointed Firs has been a lovely way to spend a summer day, as this enriching novella rates 4 solid stars.
The quaint village of Dunnett's Landing is a lovely way to pass a summer afternoon. A narrator who may or may not be Jewett has chosen to pass her summer as a lodger at the home of Almira Todd, a sixty seven year old widow. Todd chose never to remarry and is by definition a strong female protagonist. She is a medicine woman and knows everything about all the flora and fauna in the area, assisting the town doctor in most cases. She is also related to most people in the are as her mother's people, the Bowdens, have called northern Maine home for five generations, preceding the revolution. Through Mrs Todd, we hear many yarns of oral history. Whether it is a story about sailing or whaling, foraging for plant life, or the many relatives Mrs Todd has in the area, we see that she is both a walking history book and charming older woman who our narrator is happy to call a friend. As there are few books featuring strong older female characters, I was easily enamored with Mrs Todd's character.
Almira Todd is hardly the only dynamic woman featured in this novella. Todd's close friend Susan Bostwick is the only survivor out of nine siblings. Bostwick comes from a sea faring family that spent as much time at sea as on land, and she and Todd have known each other since they began school. Together, they regale the narrator with wonderful stories and it is apparent that they enjoy an enriching friendship. Yet, no woman in this novella charmed me as much as Todd's mother, eighty six year old Mrs Blackett. An independent woman if there ever was one, Mrs Blackett has chosen to live in a cottage on Green Island with her confirmed bachelor son William. Content with her station in life, Mrs Blackett shows the exuberance of youth and hardly seems older than her daughter Mrs Todd. The two women appear as siblings rather than a mother and daughter, giving credence to the adage that age is but a number. In the case of Mrs Blackett, it appears as though her best days could still be ahead of her.
In addition the strong female protagonists, I fell in love with Dunnett's Landing, Maine. I spent many vacations in Door County, Wisconsin, and the heavy foliage along with lakeside air and diet heavy on fish boils and cherry pie are similar in character to Dunnett's Landing. The villages are based on fishing and summer homes, and the fir and other trees create a setting that evokes late nights on a porch, reminiscing about time gone by. Jewett enjoyed quality female friendships, and got the idea for Dunnett's Landing after spending a month with a friend in a Maine seaside village. Even though she wintered in the Boston area, Maine held a special place for Jewett as she revisited the characters and setting in later stories. Some editions of the book include these stories including a short story entitled William's Wedding. In all of the yarns, the sea is calm, the foliage is luscious, and Jewett's character descriptions are as though the reader has been acquainted with them for their entire lives.
The Country of Pointed Firs is a quality way to spend a summer afternoon. It evokes time spent on vacation in the country with dear family and friends. Because Jewett's writing is full of strong female characters, it can also be considered early feminist literature. Yet, this writing contains no conflict, as not one character can be considered an antagonist. Perhaps, this can also be true of Jewett's life full of female friendship and little hardship until she fell ill right before her passing. As such, I would be interested in reading Jewett's other stories, especially her previous work appearing in the Atlantic. The Country of Pointed Firs has been a lovely way to spend a summer day, as this enriching novella rates 4 solid stars.
January 6, 2019
First published in 1894, this small jewel of a classic has survived largely unnoticed for well over a hundred years. Jewett presents us a series of character studies in a small Maine town that had once been a prosperous if not wealthy seaport and whaling village, recounting stories of or from a few of its inhabitants. Most of the stories are those of the town’s women, left widowed or single by the dangers that befell sailors in particular but late 19th century life in general. The main idea is similar to Sherwood Anderson’s “Winesburg, Ohio.”
The unnamed narrator, presumably a middle-aged woman like the author, rents a room for the Summer from a widowed Mrs Almira Todd, “Almiry,” with whom she rapidly becomes friends. Mrs. Todd introduces the narrator to the neighborhood, her relatives and friends who divulge their stories of good and hard times, of life and death.
There is much fodder for hardened cynics. The book is largely about women, so is this Victorian Chick-Lit? The stories describe the lives of poorly-educated – but occasionally well-traveled by ship – small town folk. So is this about boring rubes? No to both questions. Luckily, a recently adopted Scandinavian term rescues us from the jaws of hypocrisy – “Hygge.” This is cultivation of simple pleasures – living with less, walks in Nature, an evening spent before a fireplace, conversing or reading, conversing with real people, not a voice in an electronic device. and so forth. The main idea is simple comfort for us in the US seen in mid-century modern Scandinavian teak furniture and other designs.
Does the book describe life in “simpler times?” Again, no. They were simpler times primarily because we have not lived them and have no idea how complicated “simpler times” really were.
Jewett describes a small part of the complexity and uncertainty of those times. And the times were hard to live and die. For just one instance from Chapter 18 (The Bowden Reunion):
“And presently Mrs. Blackett showed me the stone-walled burying ground that stood like a little fort on a knoll overlooking the bay, but, as she said, there were plenty of scattered Bowdens who were not laid there, - some lost at sea, and some out West, and some who died in the war; most of the home graves were those of women.”
One last point – the book is well-written and reads rapidly but the language is slightly stilted late 19th century construction. And much of the dialogue describes contemporary parlance full of lost letters and occasional words lost to our early 21st century vocabularies. Both are easily digested after a few pages.
All told, the book is a charming and intimate introduction to a time long gone. Most important, introduction to a group of people we would not know if Jewett had not written the book. The book was praised by Henry James and Ursula Le Guin; Willa Cather thought it was one of the best American novels of the 19th century. I largely agree and I’m very glad I ran into it.
The unnamed narrator, presumably a middle-aged woman like the author, rents a room for the Summer from a widowed Mrs Almira Todd, “Almiry,” with whom she rapidly becomes friends. Mrs. Todd introduces the narrator to the neighborhood, her relatives and friends who divulge their stories of good and hard times, of life and death.
There is much fodder for hardened cynics. The book is largely about women, so is this Victorian Chick-Lit? The stories describe the lives of poorly-educated – but occasionally well-traveled by ship – small town folk. So is this about boring rubes? No to both questions. Luckily, a recently adopted Scandinavian term rescues us from the jaws of hypocrisy – “Hygge.” This is cultivation of simple pleasures – living with less, walks in Nature, an evening spent before a fireplace, conversing or reading, conversing with real people, not a voice in an electronic device. and so forth. The main idea is simple comfort for us in the US seen in mid-century modern Scandinavian teak furniture and other designs.
Does the book describe life in “simpler times?” Again, no. They were simpler times primarily because we have not lived them and have no idea how complicated “simpler times” really were.
Jewett describes a small part of the complexity and uncertainty of those times. And the times were hard to live and die. For just one instance from Chapter 18 (The Bowden Reunion):
“And presently Mrs. Blackett showed me the stone-walled burying ground that stood like a little fort on a knoll overlooking the bay, but, as she said, there were plenty of scattered Bowdens who were not laid there, - some lost at sea, and some out West, and some who died in the war; most of the home graves were those of women.”
One last point – the book is well-written and reads rapidly but the language is slightly stilted late 19th century construction. And much of the dialogue describes contemporary parlance full of lost letters and occasional words lost to our early 21st century vocabularies. Both are easily digested after a few pages.
All told, the book is a charming and intimate introduction to a time long gone. Most important, introduction to a group of people we would not know if Jewett had not written the book. The book was praised by Henry James and Ursula Le Guin; Willa Cather thought it was one of the best American novels of the 19th century. I largely agree and I’m very glad I ran into it.
July 15, 2020
"When I thought we were in the heart of the inland country, we reached the top of a hill, and suddenly there lay spread out before us a wonderful great view of well-cleared fields that swept down to the wider water of a bay. Beyond this were distant shores like another country in the midday haze which half hid the hills beyond and the faraway pale blue mountains on the northern horizon. There was a schooner with all sails set coming down the bay from a white village that was sprinkled on the shore, and there were many sailboats flitting about. It was a noble landscape."
This classic , written in 1896, is told by an unidentified writer who spends a summer in the quintessential Maine coastal town of Dunnet. These pleasant vignettes of resourceful women and hardy fishermen are reminiscent of a slower, more peaceful time and place. A time when family, neighbors, hard work, and simple pleasures were highly valued; a time and place where fancy words meant little, but purpose meant everything.
Thankfully, Sarah One Jewett's descriptions of the Maine coast are still accurate, while the local dialect, so realistically recounted, may not be widely heard. Whether it is the herbalist Mrs. Todd commenting on the singing of a distant relative,"I chanced to drift alongside Mis' Peter Bowden o' Great bay, I couldn't help thinking' if she was as far out o' town as she was out o' tune, she wouldn't get back in a day", or an aged fisherman recalling a day's haul,"We went out 'early as sometimes; looked like a poor mornin'. got nine haddock, all small, and seven fish; the rest on'em got more fish than haddock. Well, I don't expect they feel like bitin' every day; we I'am to humor 'em a little, an' let 'em have their way 'bout it." These locals came alive; I could hear their voices as I read.
I was easily transported back to this idyllic village. I came to love these people who found joy and pleasure in small things; people who knew life and accepted it, whether it was a hard winter, a poor catch, or death. They faced it all with stoicism and forbearance.
The Country of the Pointed Firs is a great book to read before going to bed, not because it will make you sleepy, but because you will feel the contentment of these characters and images of coastal Maine will stay with you throughout the night. The words of the narrator as she departed Dunnet at the end of that summer are exactly how I felt on finishing this lovely book. "At last I had to say good-by to all my Dunnet Landing friends, and return to the world in which I feared to find myself a foreigner. There may be restrictions to such a summer's happiness, but the ease that belongs to simplicity is charming enough to make up for whatever a simple life may lack, and the gifts of peace are not for those who live in the thick of battle."
This classic , written in 1896, is told by an unidentified writer who spends a summer in the quintessential Maine coastal town of Dunnet. These pleasant vignettes of resourceful women and hardy fishermen are reminiscent of a slower, more peaceful time and place. A time when family, neighbors, hard work, and simple pleasures were highly valued; a time and place where fancy words meant little, but purpose meant everything.
Thankfully, Sarah One Jewett's descriptions of the Maine coast are still accurate, while the local dialect, so realistically recounted, may not be widely heard. Whether it is the herbalist Mrs. Todd commenting on the singing of a distant relative,"I chanced to drift alongside Mis' Peter Bowden o' Great bay, I couldn't help thinking' if she was as far out o' town as she was out o' tune, she wouldn't get back in a day", or an aged fisherman recalling a day's haul,"We went out 'early as sometimes; looked like a poor mornin'. got nine haddock, all small, and seven fish; the rest on'em got more fish than haddock. Well, I don't expect they feel like bitin' every day; we I'am to humor 'em a little, an' let 'em have their way 'bout it." These locals came alive; I could hear their voices as I read.
I was easily transported back to this idyllic village. I came to love these people who found joy and pleasure in small things; people who knew life and accepted it, whether it was a hard winter, a poor catch, or death. They faced it all with stoicism and forbearance.
The Country of the Pointed Firs is a great book to read before going to bed, not because it will make you sleepy, but because you will feel the contentment of these characters and images of coastal Maine will stay with you throughout the night. The words of the narrator as she departed Dunnet at the end of that summer are exactly how I felt on finishing this lovely book. "At last I had to say good-by to all my Dunnet Landing friends, and return to the world in which I feared to find myself a foreigner. There may be restrictions to such a summer's happiness, but the ease that belongs to simplicity is charming enough to make up for whatever a simple life may lack, and the gifts of peace are not for those who live in the thick of battle."
February 19, 2016
What a sweet, lovely book. Composed of a series of vignettes that are bound together by an overstory of a young lady spending the summer in Dunnet Landing, Maine. Jewett does a spectacular job of portraying the people who populate this seafarer's town and its neighboring islands. She captures both their relationships and sense of community and their naturally reticent and independent natures.
Every occupant of this town has his own unique tale, and while there is no driving plotline, but more a kind of folklore that is being passed, reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales but even less plot-driven than that. I felt amazingly attached and involved with these people, even though they might only make an appearance in one chapter and then fade from view in the next.
The descriptions Jewett offers of both the land and its people are astoundingly visual:
"A long time before we landed at Green Island we could see the small white house, standing high like a beacon, where Mrs. Todd was born and where her mother lived, on a green slope above the water, with dark spruce woods still higher."
"I wondered, as I looked at him, if he had sprung from a line of ministers, he had the refinement of look and air of command which are the heritage of the old ecclesiastical families of New England. But as Darwin says in his autobiography, 'there is no such king as a sea-captain.'"
And, she sprinkles some astute observations among her flowing descriptions of the land and its people:
"Conversation's got to have some root in the past, or else you've got to explain every remark you make, an' it wears a person out." If you have a friend who has been with you since childhood, or a sibling with which you are very close, you will understand this perfectly. No new friend can fill that same purpose because with the old friend or sibling no explanation is necessary and with the new friend no amount of explanation could be enough.
"There, you never get over bein' a child long's you have a mother to go to." Again, if you have lost a mother you know the truth of this statement. While your mother lives there is always "home".
I have long wanted to read this book, having come across an excerpt from it years ago in a Victorian magazine. I was not disappointed. It roused a kind of nostalgia in me for a time and place I have never known but would love to be a part of. It suggests a kind of serenity, camaraderie, industry and love of life that is often sorely missing from our modern existence. The closest modern-era book I have found to this is At Home in Mitford.
Every occupant of this town has his own unique tale, and while there is no driving plotline, but more a kind of folklore that is being passed, reminiscent of The Canterbury Tales but even less plot-driven than that. I felt amazingly attached and involved with these people, even though they might only make an appearance in one chapter and then fade from view in the next.
The descriptions Jewett offers of both the land and its people are astoundingly visual:
"A long time before we landed at Green Island we could see the small white house, standing high like a beacon, where Mrs. Todd was born and where her mother lived, on a green slope above the water, with dark spruce woods still higher."
"I wondered, as I looked at him, if he had sprung from a line of ministers, he had the refinement of look and air of command which are the heritage of the old ecclesiastical families of New England. But as Darwin says in his autobiography, 'there is no such king as a sea-captain.'"
And, she sprinkles some astute observations among her flowing descriptions of the land and its people:
"Conversation's got to have some root in the past, or else you've got to explain every remark you make, an' it wears a person out." If you have a friend who has been with you since childhood, or a sibling with which you are very close, you will understand this perfectly. No new friend can fill that same purpose because with the old friend or sibling no explanation is necessary and with the new friend no amount of explanation could be enough.
"There, you never get over bein' a child long's you have a mother to go to." Again, if you have lost a mother you know the truth of this statement. While your mother lives there is always "home".
I have long wanted to read this book, having come across an excerpt from it years ago in a Victorian magazine. I was not disappointed. It roused a kind of nostalgia in me for a time and place I have never known but would love to be a part of. It suggests a kind of serenity, camaraderie, industry and love of life that is often sorely missing from our modern existence. The closest modern-era book I have found to this is At Home in Mitford.
March 26, 2017
This short story sequence bored me out of my mind. Other reviewers state that this book appeals to an older, more experienced audience, though I hope I do not have to reread this in my old age. Sarah Orne Jewett's acclaimed novel follows a young writer who spends a summer in Dunnet Landing, Maine. There, she befriends various townsfolk and notices the decline of the Coastal New England town itself.
While perhaps there is something to be said about how Jewett eschews typical plot constructions in The Country of the Pointed Firs, I could not find anything exciting or rewarding about this book. Jewett includes some meaningful observations about friendship and time passing, but I have come across these same sentiments in works of overall higher quality. Maybe those who come from a small town or are interested in the history of New England would like this one more than I did.
While perhaps there is something to be said about how Jewett eschews typical plot constructions in The Country of the Pointed Firs, I could not find anything exciting or rewarding about this book. Jewett includes some meaningful observations about friendship and time passing, but I have come across these same sentiments in works of overall higher quality. Maybe those who come from a small town or are interested in the history of New England would like this one more than I did.
February 6, 2017
Simplemente perfecto ♥
May 1, 2018
Novelita corta, bucólica, sencilla y bien narrada sobre una época y lugar ya desaparecidos. Nostálgica, bonita, habla de la soledad y los cambios generacionales de una forma que me llegó. Si bien es cierto que es una novela pausada en la que no ocurre gran cosa, los personajes y sus recuerdos y, precisamente, su narración, es de lo que más me gustó. Me resultó muy agradable gracias a ese entorno de pueblo pesquero y a las vivencias que van contando los mayores del lugar, sobre tiempos pasados y personas que dejaron este mundo hace mucho tiempo. Es un libro tranquilo y con gran presencia femenina.
January 16, 2021
The prose of this book is wonderful. You will surely feel as I do if the beauty of wild rugged coastlines, remote islands and undisturbed nature speak to you. One short example follows:
“The month was August, and I had seen the colors of the islands change from the fresh green of June to sunburnt brown that made them look like stone, except where the dark green of the spruces and fir balsam kept the tint that even winter storms might deepen but not fade.”
The author describes in stunning prose not only the features of coastal areas but also the individuals living there—solitary men and women living by and off the sea and land. Sailors, fishing folk, recluses, innkeepers, craftspeople, herbalists and others. These people are what the book is about. They are spoken of intimately. They are drawn with loving care. The people’s lives tie together. Chapters flow fluidly, one to the next. Each person comes alive; they live and breathe. Their sorrows and woes, their moments of joy and happiness are felt as one’s own.
I am describing how I react to this book. I easily relate to and instinctively feel a bond with the individuals and the choices they make. We learn of an elderly mother and son—she’s in her eighties, he’s in his sixties. They live alone on an island. Her daughter and his sister, also elderly and in her sixties, is a widow, a herbalist and one who occasionally takes in boarders. She lives in the town of Dunnet Landing on the coast of Maine. The woman who narrates the tale is a writer, a visitor to the town.
Cindy Harden Killavey narrates the audiobook. The recording is faulty, more so in the beginning than at the end. One hears the murmuring of voices in the background. The volume rises and falls. Nevertheless, the words are spoken clearly, often in patois. I grew to like the narration very much, although I did struggle with it at the start. Three stars for the narration.
The women and the men of this story have an inner peace and serenity. They are resolute, and they are strong. I was soothed in spending time with them. There is a haunting beauty to this tale. I highly recommend it, particularly to those of us drawn to the sea and coastal areas. Don’t miss this wonderful classic.
This novel is in my view very much better than the author’s first, her semiautobiographical novel, A Country Doctor. Since I do not repeat the information provided in that book’s review here, a link follows: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
***********************
*The Country of the Pointed Firs 4 stars
*A Country Doctor 2 stars
“The month was August, and I had seen the colors of the islands change from the fresh green of June to sunburnt brown that made them look like stone, except where the dark green of the spruces and fir balsam kept the tint that even winter storms might deepen but not fade.”
The author describes in stunning prose not only the features of coastal areas but also the individuals living there—solitary men and women living by and off the sea and land. Sailors, fishing folk, recluses, innkeepers, craftspeople, herbalists and others. These people are what the book is about. They are spoken of intimately. They are drawn with loving care. The people’s lives tie together. Chapters flow fluidly, one to the next. Each person comes alive; they live and breathe. Their sorrows and woes, their moments of joy and happiness are felt as one’s own.
I am describing how I react to this book. I easily relate to and instinctively feel a bond with the individuals and the choices they make. We learn of an elderly mother and son—she’s in her eighties, he’s in his sixties. They live alone on an island. Her daughter and his sister, also elderly and in her sixties, is a widow, a herbalist and one who occasionally takes in boarders. She lives in the town of Dunnet Landing on the coast of Maine. The woman who narrates the tale is a writer, a visitor to the town.
Cindy Harden Killavey narrates the audiobook. The recording is faulty, more so in the beginning than at the end. One hears the murmuring of voices in the background. The volume rises and falls. Nevertheless, the words are spoken clearly, often in patois. I grew to like the narration very much, although I did struggle with it at the start. Three stars for the narration.
The women and the men of this story have an inner peace and serenity. They are resolute, and they are strong. I was soothed in spending time with them. There is a haunting beauty to this tale. I highly recommend it, particularly to those of us drawn to the sea and coastal areas. Don’t miss this wonderful classic.
This novel is in my view very much better than the author’s first, her semiautobiographical novel, A Country Doctor. Since I do not repeat the information provided in that book’s review here, a link follows: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
***********************
*The Country of the Pointed Firs 4 stars
*A Country Doctor 2 stars
July 11, 2017
My note to myself, since I've tried keeping better track of why I add books to my tbr list, is that I first learned about this book in Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick. It makes sense, as the "Mrs. Todd" of this book is a wonderful example of a woman living on her own and is quite satisfied, thank you very much. The narrator of this book is a younger woman, boarding with Mrs. Todd so she can work on her writing, and she also qualifies for the spinster test (in Bolick's definition.) This a series of stories about the characters in a small coastal town in Maine. It was a lovely way to end each day as I read it in Serial Reader before bed.
April 7, 2025
Re-readable, and recommended by Henry James himself. Who am I to say more?
All the stars, quiet and with eyes and ears wide-open.
*A sincere thank you to Sarah Orne Jewett, Unnamed Press | Smith & Taylor Classics, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* 25|52:30b
All the stars, quiet and with eyes and ears wide-open.
*A sincere thank you to Sarah Orne Jewett, Unnamed Press | Smith & Taylor Classics, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* 25|52:30b
June 30, 2019
Un remanso de paz. eso ha sido fundamentalmente para mí esta novela. Me ha encantado pasearme por este idílico pueblecito y conocer a sus habitantes. Otra cosa que me ha interesado mucho ha sido cómo la autora ha sido capaz de caracterizar a los personajes en gran medida a través de sus silencios. Nos enseña así cómo las personas introvertidas y reservadas pueden (podemos) en muchas ocasiones parecer secas o insensibles y sin embargo esconden en su interior un complejo mosaico de sentimientos.
Al terminar la lectura, me ha sucedido igual que a su protagonista,me ha dado mucha pena dejar atrás el pueblecito de Dunnet Landing
Al terminar la lectura, me ha sucedido igual que a su protagonista,me ha dado mucha pena dejar atrás el pueblecito de Dunnet Landing
January 3, 2017
Rating: 5* of five
My review is live today at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud. I gave it 5 stars because Jewett records the social injustice endemic in 19th century Maine in gorgeous, lush writing. I hadn't noticed this when I first read the book forty-plus years ago.
My review is live today at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud. I gave it 5 stars because Jewett records the social injustice endemic in 19th century Maine in gorgeous, lush writing. I hadn't noticed this when I first read the book forty-plus years ago.
October 3, 2019
Yo entiendo perfectamente el valor que esta obra puede tener desde una perspectiva regionalista o de género: pero para mí personalmente, que no soy persona de Nueva Inglaterra ni soy estudioso de las escritoras decimonónicas de carácter naturalista, pues todo eso no es suficiente si la historia no me resulta interesante.
La movida es que llega una escritora a pasar el verano en una aldea costera de Maine para acabar su libro. Y uno piensa “pues ahora, no sé, presenciará un asesinato, descubrirá un misterio, mediará en una herencia, se enamorará de una pastora... ALGO PASARÁ”. Pero no. Porque lo único que pasa es que hace muy buenas migas con la casera (si ahí hay algo más está descrito muy sutilmente y no lo he decodificarlo) y entonces las dos se pasan el verano señoreando.
Que si vamos a merendar con mi prima, que si acompáñame a buscar estas hierbas medicinales al bosquecillo, que si vamos a coger una barca y nos damos un paseo, que si vamos a comernos una langosta pollúa, que si vamos a visitar a uno que enviudó, que si te presento a mi hermano que se ha quedado mocito, que si vamos a una granja a comer pasteles, que si vamos a hacer caramelos para la tos... TODO EL VERANO LAS DOS VIEJAS JUGANDO A LAS CASITAS.
Es un libro que tú dices “bueno, y la presentación cuando acaba, que cada vez quedan menos páginas y aquí ya no hay espacio ni para nudo ni para desenlace”. Pues nada. No vas a encontrarte ni una cosa ni otra.
Yo lo he visto como un fanfic de “qué haría yo este verano si pudiera”. Porque encima es que la escritora dice que va allí a escribir un libro pero con tanto plan es que no escribe ni la lista de la compra, la cabrona, porque ni le queda ni un rato libre.
El libro es muy bonito, que conste, no me malentendais. Unos paisajes preciosos, muchas plantas por todos lados, muchos paseos y muy buena comida, pero claro... todo eso es mucho mejor para vivirlo que para leerlo.
La movida es que llega una escritora a pasar el verano en una aldea costera de Maine para acabar su libro. Y uno piensa “pues ahora, no sé, presenciará un asesinato, descubrirá un misterio, mediará en una herencia, se enamorará de una pastora... ALGO PASARÁ”. Pero no. Porque lo único que pasa es que hace muy buenas migas con la casera (si ahí hay algo más está descrito muy sutilmente y no lo he decodificarlo) y entonces las dos se pasan el verano señoreando.
Que si vamos a merendar con mi prima, que si acompáñame a buscar estas hierbas medicinales al bosquecillo, que si vamos a coger una barca y nos damos un paseo, que si vamos a comernos una langosta pollúa, que si vamos a visitar a uno que enviudó, que si te presento a mi hermano que se ha quedado mocito, que si vamos a una granja a comer pasteles, que si vamos a hacer caramelos para la tos... TODO EL VERANO LAS DOS VIEJAS JUGANDO A LAS CASITAS.
Es un libro que tú dices “bueno, y la presentación cuando acaba, que cada vez quedan menos páginas y aquí ya no hay espacio ni para nudo ni para desenlace”. Pues nada. No vas a encontrarte ni una cosa ni otra.
Yo lo he visto como un fanfic de “qué haría yo este verano si pudiera”. Porque encima es que la escritora dice que va allí a escribir un libro pero con tanto plan es que no escribe ni la lista de la compra, la cabrona, porque ni le queda ni un rato libre.
El libro es muy bonito, que conste, no me malentendais. Unos paisajes preciosos, muchas plantas por todos lados, muchos paseos y muy buena comida, pero claro... todo eso es mucho mejor para vivirlo que para leerlo.
August 17, 2013
I read some other comments, and generally this one seems to appeal more to those who are a bit on the experienced side. It makes me realize how favorite books fit one's age. when I was 18, I was forced to read Pride and Prejudice. Hated it. At 23 in grad school. Hated it. At 35, a friend said: "You really should give it a try." Loved it. So, since the book didn't change, that means I did.
As a writer of young adult fiction, this is actually quite encouraging. I'm not a great writer for adults, but I can be a great writer for a 15 year old. So that becomes my goal--not to aspire to something that is beyond my skill level, but to take the gift I have and try to do the best I can for the audience I have.
One other thought on this book. Walden comes to mind as a companion, and in many ways Walden is the greater book. Yet for pure enjoyment, I suspect the vast majority of readers would prefer this one.
Great ending . . . impressive passages on friendship, time, gardening, the sea. Well worth reading . . . it's short!
As a writer of young adult fiction, this is actually quite encouraging. I'm not a great writer for adults, but I can be a great writer for a 15 year old. So that becomes my goal--not to aspire to something that is beyond my skill level, but to take the gift I have and try to do the best I can for the audience I have.
One other thought on this book. Walden comes to mind as a companion, and in many ways Walden is the greater book. Yet for pure enjoyment, I suspect the vast majority of readers would prefer this one.
Great ending . . . impressive passages on friendship, time, gardening, the sea. Well worth reading . . . it's short!
September 14, 2018
La narradora de esta historia se traslada durante el verano a la costa de Main para retomar su trabajo como escritora ["había algo en el pueblo costero de Dunnet que lo hacía más atractivo que el resto de las aldeas marítimas...su litoral rocoso, umbríos bosques y las pocas casas que parecían encajadas en los propios arboles"].
Allí será huésped de la señora Todd, una mujer apasionada por las hierbas silvestres y cultivadas, ["pisaba el tomillo y su aroma se hacía notar entre todo lo demás"] y de su mano conoceremos a algunos habitantes de Dunnet y de las islas cercanas como la señora Blackett, madre de la señora Todd, que vive en green island con su hijo, ["cuando la señora Blackett te saluda, ya antes de soltar su cálida mano te ha hecho sentir que eres una vieja y querida amiga"], o la historia de Joanna, una ermitaña retirada en la isla de Shell-Heap ["Joanna era una de esas personas condenadas desde el principio a caer en la melancolía... se retiró del mundo, no estaba hecha para vivir con nadie, y quería ser libre"].
°
"Me tiro a los pies" de Sarah orne y de este librazo porque desde las primeras páginas me sumerjo en un estado como de tranquilidad y felicidad con su lectura. Con una prosa maravillosa y esa descripción de un estilo de vida sencilla que podemos ver como lejana, me llama la atención especialmente la valentía de sus personajes femeninos y esa intimidad que existe entre ellas y se muestra de esa manera tan sutil.
°
No me gusta leer en alto ni que me lean, pero es curioso que con este libro desee que alguien me lo leyera y también pensé que sería un libro precioso para leerle a alguien.
Allí será huésped de la señora Todd, una mujer apasionada por las hierbas silvestres y cultivadas, ["pisaba el tomillo y su aroma se hacía notar entre todo lo demás"] y de su mano conoceremos a algunos habitantes de Dunnet y de las islas cercanas como la señora Blackett, madre de la señora Todd, que vive en green island con su hijo, ["cuando la señora Blackett te saluda, ya antes de soltar su cálida mano te ha hecho sentir que eres una vieja y querida amiga"], o la historia de Joanna, una ermitaña retirada en la isla de Shell-Heap ["Joanna era una de esas personas condenadas desde el principio a caer en la melancolía... se retiró del mundo, no estaba hecha para vivir con nadie, y quería ser libre"].
°
"Me tiro a los pies" de Sarah orne y de este librazo porque desde las primeras páginas me sumerjo en un estado como de tranquilidad y felicidad con su lectura. Con una prosa maravillosa y esa descripción de un estilo de vida sencilla que podemos ver como lejana, me llama la atención especialmente la valentía de sus personajes femeninos y esa intimidad que existe entre ellas y se muestra de esa manera tan sutil.
°
No me gusta leer en alto ni que me lean, pero es curioso que con este libro desee que alguien me lo leyera y también pensé que sería un libro precioso para leerle a alguien.
September 16, 2014
Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
And the audio version is available at LibriVox.
CONTENTS
I. The Return
II. Mrs. Todd
III. The Schoolhouse
IV. At the Schoolhouse Window
V. Captain Littlepage
VI. The Waiting Place
VII. The Outer Island
VIII. Green Island
IX. William
X. Where Pennyroyal Grew
XI. The Old Singers
XII. A Strange Sail
XIII. Poor Joanna
XIV. The Hermitage
XV. On Shell-heap Island
XVI. The Great Expedition
XVII. A Country Road
XVIII. The Bowden Reunion
XIX. The Feast's End
XX. Along Shore
XXI. The Backward View
Such adorable stories are a true comfort reading.
Note:
SARAH ORNE JEWETT (1849-1909) was born and died in South Berwick, Maine. Her father was the region's most distinguished doctor and, as a child, Jewett often accompanied him on his round of patient visits. She began writing poetry at an early age and when she was only 19 her short story "Mr. Bruce" was accepted by the Atlantic Monthly. Her association with that magazine continued, and William Dean Howells, who was editor at that time, encouraged her to publish her first book, Deephaven (1877), a collection of sketches published earlier in the Atlantic Monthly. Through her friendship with Howells, Jewett became acquainted with Boston's literary elite, including Annie Fields, with whom she developed one of the most intimate and lasting relationships of her life.
The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) is considered Jewett's finest work, described by Henry James as her "beautiful little quantum of achievement." Despite James's diminutives, the novel remains a classic. Because it is loosely structured, many critics view the book not as a novel, but a series of sketches; however, its structure is unified through both setting and theme. Jewett herself felt that her strengths as a writer lay not in plot development or dramatic tension, but in character development. Indeed, she determined early in her career to preserve a disappearing way of life, and her novel can be read as a study of the effects of isolation and hardship on the inhabitants who lived in the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast.
Jewett died in 1909, eight years after an accident that effectively ended her writing career. Her reputation had grown during her lifetime, extending far beyond the bounds of the New England she loved.
And the audio version is available at LibriVox.
CONTENTS
I. The Return
II. Mrs. Todd
III. The Schoolhouse
IV. At the Schoolhouse Window
V. Captain Littlepage
VI. The Waiting Place
VII. The Outer Island
VIII. Green Island
IX. William
X. Where Pennyroyal Grew
XI. The Old Singers
XII. A Strange Sail
XIII. Poor Joanna
XIV. The Hermitage
XV. On Shell-heap Island
XVI. The Great Expedition
XVII. A Country Road
XVIII. The Bowden Reunion
XIX. The Feast's End
XX. Along Shore
XXI. The Backward View
Such adorable stories are a true comfort reading.
Note:
SARAH ORNE JEWETT (1849-1909) was born and died in South Berwick, Maine. Her father was the region's most distinguished doctor and, as a child, Jewett often accompanied him on his round of patient visits. She began writing poetry at an early age and when she was only 19 her short story "Mr. Bruce" was accepted by the Atlantic Monthly. Her association with that magazine continued, and William Dean Howells, who was editor at that time, encouraged her to publish her first book, Deephaven (1877), a collection of sketches published earlier in the Atlantic Monthly. Through her friendship with Howells, Jewett became acquainted with Boston's literary elite, including Annie Fields, with whom she developed one of the most intimate and lasting relationships of her life.
The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) is considered Jewett's finest work, described by Henry James as her "beautiful little quantum of achievement." Despite James's diminutives, the novel remains a classic. Because it is loosely structured, many critics view the book not as a novel, but a series of sketches; however, its structure is unified through both setting and theme. Jewett herself felt that her strengths as a writer lay not in plot development or dramatic tension, but in character development. Indeed, she determined early in her career to preserve a disappearing way of life, and her novel can be read as a study of the effects of isolation and hardship on the inhabitants who lived in the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast.
Jewett died in 1909, eight years after an accident that effectively ended her writing career. Her reputation had grown during her lifetime, extending far beyond the bounds of the New England she loved.
December 31, 2017
There’s a term sometimes used in film and literature studies: Mise-en-scène, French for "placing on stage.” Some writers just put me there—they make me feel like I am experiencing what the character in their story is experiencing. It involves little details about the surroundings and the character's reactions, but the key is the right details, and I’m learning that which details work differs from one reader to the next. These details didn’t work for me.
I was so looking forward to this book. I wanted to know what it was like to live in Maine, to feel it. But it didn’t provide that for me. At all. And the content of the story didn’t hold my interest either. This is terrible, but I kept thinking reading this was like following To the Lighthouse’s Mrs. Ramsay around, if she never had an interesting thought. (And again, each reader will have a different idea of what constitutes an interesting thought. Plenty don’t think Mrs. Ramsay’s were very interesting!)
So a probably lovely book, but unfortunately not for me.
I was so looking forward to this book. I wanted to know what it was like to live in Maine, to feel it. But it didn’t provide that for me. At all. And the content of the story didn’t hold my interest either. This is terrible, but I kept thinking reading this was like following To the Lighthouse’s Mrs. Ramsay around, if she never had an interesting thought. (And again, each reader will have a different idea of what constitutes an interesting thought. Plenty don’t think Mrs. Ramsay’s were very interesting!)
So a probably lovely book, but unfortunately not for me.
December 7, 2020
I loved this beautifully written, yet down-to-earth work by Sarah Orne Jewett. This is my first experience with her. I knew that I should read her, and now I'm so glad I did!!
August 13, 2016
“In the life of each of us, I said to myself, there is a place remote and islanded, and given to endless regret or secret happiness; we are each the uncompanioned hermit and recluse of an hour or day...”
I’ve only come across a few books like this one – so quietly beautiful that it calls no attention to itself, a book so engrossed in its subject that one forgets it was actually written – it feels so like an actual experience. The narrator like a coat one can slip into. Walking with Mrs. Todd, gathering herbs, visiting friends, looking out the schoolhouse window watching the funeral procession go by - the feeling of peace, the contentment of the island people, their connection to nature – the sea. It’s a holiday for the spirit. I especially loved the visit to Green Island.
This book deserves more attention - it’s a masterpiece of understated story-telling. You could say that nothing happens, but really – everything happens: life, death, friendship, love, family, seasons of life and nature, disappointment, renewal – all in the ebb and flow of the every-day. It’s like a tidepool – at first you only see the silver flash of a tiny fish, but if you sit for a minute, you spot a crab, a sea slug, and is that a worm of some kind? Life teems where a moment before there was only a pool of water.
“You don’t go out fishing after Christmas?” I asked, as we came back into the bright kitchen. “No; I take stiddy to my knitting after January sets in,” said the old seafarer. “Tain’t worth while, fish make off into deeper water an’ you can’t stand no such perishin’ for the sake o’ what you get. I leave out a few traps in sheltered coves an’ do a little lobsterin’ on fair days. The young fellows brave it out, some on ‘em; but for me, I lay in my winter’s yarn an’ set here where ‘tis warm, an’ knit an’ take my comfort.”
The quietness of TCOTPF reminded me a little of “The Summer Book”, by Tove Janssen – even though the books are very different otherwise. Thanks to Bettie and Mumzie for the recommendation.
I’ve only come across a few books like this one – so quietly beautiful that it calls no attention to itself, a book so engrossed in its subject that one forgets it was actually written – it feels so like an actual experience. The narrator like a coat one can slip into. Walking with Mrs. Todd, gathering herbs, visiting friends, looking out the schoolhouse window watching the funeral procession go by - the feeling of peace, the contentment of the island people, their connection to nature – the sea. It’s a holiday for the spirit. I especially loved the visit to Green Island.
This book deserves more attention - it’s a masterpiece of understated story-telling. You could say that nothing happens, but really – everything happens: life, death, friendship, love, family, seasons of life and nature, disappointment, renewal – all in the ebb and flow of the every-day. It’s like a tidepool – at first you only see the silver flash of a tiny fish, but if you sit for a minute, you spot a crab, a sea slug, and is that a worm of some kind? Life teems where a moment before there was only a pool of water.
“You don’t go out fishing after Christmas?” I asked, as we came back into the bright kitchen. “No; I take stiddy to my knitting after January sets in,” said the old seafarer. “Tain’t worth while, fish make off into deeper water an’ you can’t stand no such perishin’ for the sake o’ what you get. I leave out a few traps in sheltered coves an’ do a little lobsterin’ on fair days. The young fellows brave it out, some on ‘em; but for me, I lay in my winter’s yarn an’ set here where ‘tis warm, an’ knit an’ take my comfort.”
The quietness of TCOTPF reminded me a little of “The Summer Book”, by Tove Janssen – even though the books are very different otherwise. Thanks to Bettie and Mumzie for the recommendation.
March 4, 2018
Review soon.
March 29, 2010
I agree with Willa Cather that reading this book is kind of like watching paint dry. Actually the way she expressed it was,
An unnamed female narrator, probably in her 30s, spends a summer in a small Maine coastal town and describes her interactions and increasing emotional connections with the salt-of-the-earth locals. The novella is followed by four "stories," but they all share the same narrator and cast of characters so we might as well consider them altogether a novel. Time and history are writ small in the details of a china cabinet, an old widower's braided rug, the pies at a family reunion. The narrative didn't completely hold my interest, so I concentrated on harvesting passages for my commonplace book.
If I were to name three American books which have the possibility of a long, long life, I would say at once, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, and The Country of the Pointed Firs. I can think of no others that confront time and change so serenely.
An unnamed female narrator, probably in her 30s, spends a summer in a small Maine coastal town and describes her interactions and increasing emotional connections with the salt-of-the-earth locals. The novella is followed by four "stories," but they all share the same narrator and cast of characters so we might as well consider them altogether a novel. Time and history are writ small in the details of a china cabinet, an old widower's braided rug, the pies at a family reunion. The narrative didn't completely hold my interest, so I concentrated on harvesting passages for my commonplace book.
I saw William Blackett’s escaping sail already far from land, and Captain Littlepage was sitting behind his closed window as I passed by, watching for some one who never came. I tried to speak to him, but he did not see me. There was a patient look on the old man’s face, as if the world were a great mistake and he had nobody with whom to speak his own language or find companionship.
August 9, 2023
Oh my, this is a gem! I’d never heard of it until my brother suggested I read it (thank you, Calvin!), and now I feel I shall be recommending it all around!
It feels like a cross between Tales from the Old Squire’s Farm, and Anne of Green Gables.
Super charming, set in Maine.
I really enjoyed it!
It feels like a cross between Tales from the Old Squire’s Farm, and Anne of Green Gables.
Super charming, set in Maine.
I really enjoyed it!
August 9, 2011
The Country of the Pointed Firs is a very quiet novella. It doesn't really even have a plot. Yet somehow Jewett pulls off a masterful work of rumination and lazy summer days, set in rural coastal Maine. This novella's triumph -- it was published originally in 1896 -- is its resistance to the oncoming onslaught of railroad and stylish magazine homogeneity encouraged among American people and places alike.
It's slow going with this novella at first, but, sure enough, by the turn of the last page I found myself very moved. Jewett's descriptions of the slowly decaying fishing village of Dunnet reminded me a lot of my current home in coastal Southeast Alaska (down to the detail of the spruce beer), and I related with the anonymous narrator's status as an outsider.
The experience of reading this book was something like listening to conversation between offbeat characters or watching bees fly around above a field. If that's your cup of tea, this is your novella.
It's slow going with this novella at first, but, sure enough, by the turn of the last page I found myself very moved. Jewett's descriptions of the slowly decaying fishing village of Dunnet reminded me a lot of my current home in coastal Southeast Alaska (down to the detail of the spruce beer), and I related with the anonymous narrator's status as an outsider.
The experience of reading this book was something like listening to conversation between offbeat characters or watching bees fly around above a field. If that's your cup of tea, this is your novella.
October 1, 2016
My edition not here - a lovely hardcover with artful illustrations. I'm sure reading that made all the difference. Reading an old mm pb or gutenberg on the e-reader would not have felt meaningful, or given me the experience of giving Jewett's words & ideas the consideration they deserved.
So, I'm glad. I'm glad I got to know this little fishing village in Maine, of over 100 years ago. What interesting people, talking even then about the way of life they were saying goodbye to. Unfortunately for me there was almost nothing about the fish, or wildlife, not even much about the herbs that Mrs. Todd used in her potions and balms. Hm... come to think of it, it's interesting that she was just another neighbor with a talent, whereas so much stale historical fiction would tend to assume she'd be viewed as a witch.
I don't feel the need to reread or recommend this, but I am giving it to my mother.
So, I'm glad. I'm glad I got to know this little fishing village in Maine, of over 100 years ago. What interesting people, talking even then about the way of life they were saying goodbye to. Unfortunately for me there was almost nothing about the fish, or wildlife, not even much about the herbs that Mrs. Todd used in her potions and balms. Hm... come to think of it, it's interesting that she was just another neighbor with a talent, whereas so much stale historical fiction would tend to assume she'd be viewed as a witch.
I don't feel the need to reread or recommend this, but I am giving it to my mother.
February 2, 2020
Libro sencillo a la vez que entrañable, donde se transmite mucha sensibilidad
February 14, 2024
It took me a while to figure out the rhythm of this book—it’s more Wendell Berry than Anne of Green Gables—but once I stopped hunting for a plot I very much enjoyed it.
September 19, 2019
Beautifully written. Captures a point in time and place like the camera of Alfred Stieglitz.
February 28, 2018
Cinco estrellas
Una historia sencilla y hermosa. La magia de los días que transcurren pacíficamente en un pueblo pesquero (Dunnet Landing) Maine, en Nueva Inglaterra y sus habitantes, personas carismáticas y llenas de entereza.
Todo es calma, serenidad, nostalgia...
"Las nubes habían teñido el cielo de gris, como es una temprana tarde de otoño, y la orilla se había cubierto de sombras. Pero de repente vimos como un dorado rayo de sol se filtraba y caía sobre las islas más lejanas, y una de ellas brilló intensamente bajo esa luz y se reveló imperiosa a nuestros ojos".
Definida por Henry James como «una pequeña y hermosa obra maestra» y considerada como un clásico incontestable de las letras anglosajonas del siglo XIX, La tierra de los abetos puntiagudos es la gran novela de Sarah Orne Jewett, una de las voces más respetadas de la literatura regionalista estadounidense.
«Si se me pidiera que nombrase tres libros norteamericanos con posibilidades de tener una larga, larga vida, de inmediato diría La letra escarlata, Las aventuras de Huckleberry Finn y La tierra de los abetos puntiagudos. No puedo pensar en ningún otro que pueda afrontar el paso del tiempo y los cambios con tanta serenidad» – Willa Cather
Una historia sencilla y hermosa. La magia de los días que transcurren pacíficamente en un pueblo pesquero (Dunnet Landing) Maine, en Nueva Inglaterra y sus habitantes, personas carismáticas y llenas de entereza.
Todo es calma, serenidad, nostalgia...
"Las nubes habían teñido el cielo de gris, como es una temprana tarde de otoño, y la orilla se había cubierto de sombras. Pero de repente vimos como un dorado rayo de sol se filtraba y caía sobre las islas más lejanas, y una de ellas brilló intensamente bajo esa luz y se reveló imperiosa a nuestros ojos".
Definida por Henry James como «una pequeña y hermosa obra maestra» y considerada como un clásico incontestable de las letras anglosajonas del siglo XIX, La tierra de los abetos puntiagudos es la gran novela de Sarah Orne Jewett, una de las voces más respetadas de la literatura regionalista estadounidense.
«Si se me pidiera que nombrase tres libros norteamericanos con posibilidades de tener una larga, larga vida, de inmediato diría La letra escarlata, Las aventuras de Huckleberry Finn y La tierra de los abetos puntiagudos. No puedo pensar en ningún otro que pueda afrontar el paso del tiempo y los cambios con tanta serenidad» – Willa Cather
September 12, 2018
En La tierra de los abetos puntiagudos presenciamos el verano que pasa una escritora en un pueblo pesquero de Maine.
La autora nos quiere mostrar a través de ésta historia la vida de éste pueblo; de su aislamiento, su dureza, la forma de vida de sus habitantes.
Es un lectura ágil y ligera; qué entretiene pero no aporta mucho más. Está bien si queremos leer algo sencillo, que nos haga despejarnos y no pensar en nada negativo pero para mi ha pasado sin pena ni gloria.
La autora nos quiere mostrar a través de ésta historia la vida de éste pueblo; de su aislamiento, su dureza, la forma de vida de sus habitantes.
Es un lectura ágil y ligera; qué entretiene pero no aporta mucho más. Está bien si queremos leer algo sencillo, que nos haga despejarnos y no pensar en nada negativo pero para mi ha pasado sin pena ni gloria.
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