Snail-shell Harbor.

by J.H. Langille

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Snail-Shell Harbor.

J.H. LANGILLE.

292 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

James Hibbert Langille

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

So a number of years ago I visited Fayette, Michigan, a restored “ghost town” state park (great place, by the way). At the gift shop they sold this book, a reprint, first published in 1870 only a scant few years after the town’s founding and which takes takes place in a fictionalized version of the village. It promised to be look at life on the shores, written by a contemporary.

Except not really. No matter what the blurb says, It is not really about life in this little town. The author does have some knowledge of the actual place, but all of the details are the kinds of observations a visitor might make, and not a picture painted by an actual resident. As far as story goes, it could be set in any frontier town, really.

Anyway, the company town and its life are merely set-dressing for what turns out to be a very… pious… story. Written by a young minister for “Sunday school use,” Snail Shell Harbor is really the tale of how some concerned, earnest people start a Sunday school in a remote iron-smelting town, and how the children all loved it so that even the adults were converted and everyone became super happy.

Each bit of the plot, such as there is, goes as follows: a kindly person earnestly explains the gospel to an ignorant but good-hearted person, who thinks on it, and then agrees with him.

It’s really dull, but harmless. There is some brief, stereotyping of the Irish, and an “African” couple speaks in a cringe-worthy “phonetic” fashion. On the plus side there is little malice. No other faiths are bashed. Indeed, all of those converted are a missionary’s dream: they have no strong convictions of their own for anything and are easily attracted to whatever unnamed Protestant sect this is supposed to represent. As far as 19th century literature goes, the writing style is fairly simple, and I believe it was originally intended for children. As such, the arguments and the strawmen counter-arguments (what mild ones there are), are also very simplistic, as are any sociological interpretations.

It’s not unpleasant, just terribly boring.

What is interesting is being exposed to the kind of “Sunday school” books that were referenced in more modern authors like L.M. Montgomery and other turn of the century authors. I guess when their characters refer to Sunday school libraries, then this is the kind of books they meant.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed in this book, mainly because I was expecting something completely different... Instead of an account of what life was like in Fayette, this was essentially a book about introducing Christianity to the "heathens" of an industrial community.

[Jodi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this strictly for research on Fayette, MI. It... was horrible. Please don't read it. Heavy-handed, not well told or written. It just is really bad.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting setting, boring story. Preachy.