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I Was Amelia Earhart
In this brilliantly imagined novel, Amelia Earhart tells us what happened after she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared off the coast of New Guinea one glorious, windy day in 1937. And she tells us about herself.
There is her love affair with flying ("The sky is flesh") . . . .
There are her memories of the her childhood desire to become a heroine ("Heroines did what they wanted") . . . her marriage to G.P. Putnam, who promoted her to fame, but was willing to gamble her life so that the book she was writing about her round-the-world flight would sell out before Christmas.
There is the flight itself -- day after magnificent or perilous or exhilarating or terrifying day ("Noonan once said any fool could have seen I was risking my life but not living it").
And there is, miraculously, an island ("We named it Heaven, as a kind of joke").
And, most important, there is Noonan . . .
There is her love affair with flying ("The sky is flesh") . . . .
There are her memories of the her childhood desire to become a heroine ("Heroines did what they wanted") . . . her marriage to G.P. Putnam, who promoted her to fame, but was willing to gamble her life so that the book she was writing about her round-the-world flight would sell out before Christmas.
There is the flight itself -- day after magnificent or perilous or exhilarating or terrifying day ("Noonan once said any fool could have seen I was risking my life but not living it").
And there is, miraculously, an island ("We named it Heaven, as a kind of joke").
And, most important, there is Noonan . . .
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
56 people are currently reading
1691 people want to read
About the author
Jane Mendelsohn
6 books61 followersJane Mendelsohn was born and raised in New York City. She is a graduate of Yale.
She is the author of three novels: the best-selling I Was Amelia Earhart, shortlisted for the Orange Prize, and Innocence, and American Music. Published to wide acclaim by Knopf in 2010, American Music is now out in paperback from Vintage.
She is the author of three novels: the best-selling I Was Amelia Earhart, shortlisted for the Orange Prize, and Innocence, and American Music. Published to wide acclaim by Knopf in 2010, American Music is now out in paperback from Vintage.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews
January 30, 2024
I saw reviewers either loved this or hated it. Some of the writing was lovely and evocative, other times it seemed this first time author was trying too hard. As for the story, neither Earhart or Noonan comes off looking peachy to say the least. The first half imagines their last flight with some of Amelia's memories of her life scattered in; the second half their time after they crash onto an atoll they name Heaven. It reads as a cross between The Blue Lagoon and Castaway and not necessarily in a good way. The ending.....certainly leaves room for the reader's interpretation.
This had been on my shelf for a long time as I had picked it up at a library book sale. I was intrigued and admit I am fascinated by Amelia Earhart, although my idealism about her life has long ago been dispelled. Glad I can cross this one off my TBR list and will be happy to place in the donation pile.
This had been on my shelf for a long time as I had picked it up at a library book sale. I was intrigued and admit I am fascinated by Amelia Earhart, although my idealism about her life has long ago been dispelled. Glad I can cross this one off my TBR list and will be happy to place in the donation pile.
August 5, 2008
What I learned from this book is that floral adjectives, poignant use of white space, and a voice that maintains the same sentimental register throughout do not make for a compelling read. While the beginning was promising (I crave stories about daredevils, aviatrices, and the Depression era), it quickly devolved into a tedious, romanticized account of Earhart's fictional life on a desert island. At first I was wary about the voice, which seemed drunk on its own elegiac and pseudo-profound metaphors, but before long I was simply confused about what the narrative was trying to accomplish. A happy ending for Earhart? A cheeky Gauginesque portrait of tropical life? An unconventional love story? The ravages of loneliness; the perils of unbridled ambition? Sadly nothing so complex emerged. Great potential in the material, but the execution lacked suspense, variety, and ultimately imagination.
March 21, 2014
One of my favorite books. Really gorgeous prose. The What and the Why are definitely secondary to the How in this one. I can see why some people might think there is something lacking in plot or character development, but I think there's just enough for the lack not to matter in the context of how glorious it is just to dwell in Mendelsohn's moments.
February 4, 2009
Jane Mendelsohn uses shifts in POV to create alternative realities for the title character in I Was Amelia Earhart . Ostensibly, I Was Amelia Earhart is about what happens to Amelia after her fateful plane crash, but implicit in the story is the question of whether the internal or the external world is more real.
Through her choice of words and syntax, description, rhythm and beat, Mendelsohn creates shifts in perspective. The more subtle shift in perspective is juxtaposed on top of a more obvious shift of person. Mendelsohn uses four points of view for her narration and the dialogue of her two primary characters, Amelia Earhart and her navigator Noonan: I, we, he, and she. This technique illuminates the inner and outer world of Amelia and Noonan. The character’s various perspectives acquire voice. “She” is the pronoun used to describe Amelia’s outer self — the self the world sees — the Amelia Earhart. “I” is the pronoun used to describe Amelia’s inner being, the personal Amelia.
Mendelsohn also uses shift in POV — person, distance, perspective — to create mood and flesh out scenes. “But they always make up by the end of dinner. . . .” Next paragraph, “It takes us all evening to make dinner.” Third paragraph: “He sets out every afternoon to catch fish for dinner. . . .” (86-7). Why can’t the reader move through this dinner? The characters finish dinner, only to begin it again in the next paragraph from another point of view. And then again a third time — not erasing the reality of what went before, but creating anew, adding to the bulk of what’s already been given. The effect is to create a variety of worlds — alternative realities, if you will. Discourse and dialog is normally more linear; in “real life” we don’t normally re-present the same facts over and over from various points of view.
Mendelsohn’s ineffable connections are made by association, by a relational communication between the parts — the scenes that make up the chapters. The result of the story’s structure is that the reader can’t feel smug or sure of herself. The shifts in POV fracture the reader’s normal perception of how the world should work, preventing the reader from settling into habitual reactions. The structure of the book demands that the reader think — about the story and life, the dichotomy between the inner and outer worlds, and the question of which is more real.
Through her choice of words and syntax, description, rhythm and beat, Mendelsohn creates shifts in perspective. The more subtle shift in perspective is juxtaposed on top of a more obvious shift of person. Mendelsohn uses four points of view for her narration and the dialogue of her two primary characters, Amelia Earhart and her navigator Noonan: I, we, he, and she. This technique illuminates the inner and outer world of Amelia and Noonan. The character’s various perspectives acquire voice. “She” is the pronoun used to describe Amelia’s outer self — the self the world sees — the Amelia Earhart. “I” is the pronoun used to describe Amelia’s inner being, the personal Amelia.
Mendelsohn also uses shift in POV — person, distance, perspective — to create mood and flesh out scenes. “But they always make up by the end of dinner. . . .” Next paragraph, “It takes us all evening to make dinner.” Third paragraph: “He sets out every afternoon to catch fish for dinner. . . .” (86-7). Why can’t the reader move through this dinner? The characters finish dinner, only to begin it again in the next paragraph from another point of view. And then again a third time — not erasing the reality of what went before, but creating anew, adding to the bulk of what’s already been given. The effect is to create a variety of worlds — alternative realities, if you will. Discourse and dialog is normally more linear; in “real life” we don’t normally re-present the same facts over and over from various points of view.
Mendelsohn’s ineffable connections are made by association, by a relational communication between the parts — the scenes that make up the chapters. The result of the story’s structure is that the reader can’t feel smug or sure of herself. The shifts in POV fracture the reader’s normal perception of how the world should work, preventing the reader from settling into habitual reactions. The structure of the book demands that the reader think — about the story and life, the dichotomy between the inner and outer worlds, and the question of which is more real.
June 11, 2013
It’s not often that I stick with a book I’ve started once I find out I really don’t like it. But even though that was the case I kept reading this one because it was so short (a scant 145 pages each of which contained a fair amount of white space) and I was interested in finding out more about Amelia Earhart. I would have been much better off looking for a decent biography because this book was more fiction than fact. Granted, there has always been a great deal of speculation about what happened after Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937 while attempting to fly around the world in her Lockheed Electra. But this book takes great liberty with the little that is known about her disappearance. Instead the author has used her own imagination to invent what comes across more as fantasy than as historical fiction. In addition to a section that bears an unfortunate resemblance to a scene from Gilligan’s island, the entire novella suffers from a lack of narrative focus, partly because the action keeps shifting back and forth between past, present and future. To add to the confusion the author chose to tell the story alternating between the first and the third persons, often quite arbitrarily. But my biggest criticism of this book is that in dreaming up such a far-fetched ending to one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century, the author has actually done quite a disservice to the memory of Amelia Earhart and what she accomplished during her lifetime. She inspired an entire generation of women aviators including more than 1000 women who were active during WWII. The only really good thing I can say about this book is that it’s made me want to find out more about Amelia Earhart’s life.
June 18, 2011
The Book Report: The speculation about what really happened to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan in 1937 has always been pretty durned feverish. This récit, can't really call it a novel because nothing happens and it's all a narrative inside the character's head, purports to be the internal monologue and reported dialogue with Noonan of Earhart herself as she takes off on her fateful round-the-world trip, gets lost, and then...well, it's the "and then" that's this story. It's a lovely thing, like most of the récits I've read over the years. Book itself is really pretty, too: A beautiful design, a jacket moody and evocative, type beautifully chosen...the whole enchilada.
My Review: This morning, I got a lovely note from a new online acquaintance regarding my review of another book. It being quite an agreeable sensation to receive praise for one's efforts, I popped over to say thank you, as a well-brought-up boy does. He lists in his current readings a few books about Amelia Earhart, whose name never comes up but I immediately gush to everyone around me about how I enjoyed "I Was Amelia Earhart" when I read it, and so they should trot right out and get copies theirownselves. True to form, I suggested this to my new best friend who told me I wrote a nice review that nobody else noticed, not that I'm bitter or anything, and then on a nagging suspicion went to look at my reviews.
I've never reviewed this book.
I was quite stunned. I have loved the atmospherics and the insights of this delight to the senses for fifteen years, and never written a review of it?!? So, after an afternoon of pleasure spent reacquainting myself with its brief, intense delights, I sat down to write this review. And sat. And sat.
This is a tough book to review because it's not a novel, so I can't point to action, and it's not a story because it's got too little urgency, and it's nothing like the popular books by popular writers that I read like everyone else to pass the time since I don't adore TV. What to say that doesn't sound pretentious and uppish? I just do not know.
I've settled on this: I'll show you the passage that made me stop reading, go get another glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, scratch the dog in her favorite places, and open the book back up to read it again. If you like this passage, you will like the book:
"Now, when she tries to remember her first excursion in an airplane, she can't distinguish it from the heavenly beauty of California in 1921...The spring came suddenly; the rains stopped, the days grew noticeably longer, and the afternoon light felt powdery, as if it might blow away. She doesn't remember that maiden voyage, but she remembers walking across the airfield when she stepped out of the plane. Strong, fresh skirts of breeze brushed against her face and body as she walked across the landing strip. Strands of her honey-blonde hair swept into her line of sight. She looked out past the hangars, over a field of tall, dry grass, and in the buttery light, with the wind grazing past her, she thought she could see forever. She had the sensation of seeing a length of time stretch out in front of her, endlessly, effortlessly, on an invisible wing. She felt as though an experience she had always anticipated were about to take place, as if a tender, unearthly feeling were finally going to reveal itself to her." (pp113-114, Knopf hardcover edition)
So?
My Review: This morning, I got a lovely note from a new online acquaintance regarding my review of another book. It being quite an agreeable sensation to receive praise for one's efforts, I popped over to say thank you, as a well-brought-up boy does. He lists in his current readings a few books about Amelia Earhart, whose name never comes up but I immediately gush to everyone around me about how I enjoyed "I Was Amelia Earhart" when I read it, and so they should trot right out and get copies theirownselves. True to form, I suggested this to my new best friend who told me I wrote a nice review that nobody else noticed, not that I'm bitter or anything, and then on a nagging suspicion went to look at my reviews.
I've never reviewed this book.
I was quite stunned. I have loved the atmospherics and the insights of this delight to the senses for fifteen years, and never written a review of it?!? So, after an afternoon of pleasure spent reacquainting myself with its brief, intense delights, I sat down to write this review. And sat. And sat.
This is a tough book to review because it's not a novel, so I can't point to action, and it's not a story because it's got too little urgency, and it's nothing like the popular books by popular writers that I read like everyone else to pass the time since I don't adore TV. What to say that doesn't sound pretentious and uppish? I just do not know.
I've settled on this: I'll show you the passage that made me stop reading, go get another glass of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, scratch the dog in her favorite places, and open the book back up to read it again. If you like this passage, you will like the book:
"Now, when she tries to remember her first excursion in an airplane, she can't distinguish it from the heavenly beauty of California in 1921...The spring came suddenly; the rains stopped, the days grew noticeably longer, and the afternoon light felt powdery, as if it might blow away. She doesn't remember that maiden voyage, but she remembers walking across the airfield when she stepped out of the plane. Strong, fresh skirts of breeze brushed against her face and body as she walked across the landing strip. Strands of her honey-blonde hair swept into her line of sight. She looked out past the hangars, over a field of tall, dry grass, and in the buttery light, with the wind grazing past her, she thought she could see forever. She had the sensation of seeing a length of time stretch out in front of her, endlessly, effortlessly, on an invisible wing. She felt as though an experience she had always anticipated were about to take place, as if a tender, unearthly feeling were finally going to reveal itself to her." (pp113-114, Knopf hardcover edition)
So?
July 16, 2016
Ilman Helmet-lukuhaasteetta ja etenkin kohtaa 23 (oman alansa pioneerinaisesta kertova kirja) en olisi tullut lukeneeksi tätä Jane Mandelsohnin teosta Minä olin Amelia Earhart. Aihe siinä on vallan kiinnostava, sillä ovathan naislentäjät edelleen aika harvinainen näky. En olisi tiennyt teoksesta ilman lukuhaasteeseen jaettuja vinkkejä.
Kiinnostavaksi teoksen tekee se, että Amelia Earhat katosi yrittäessään lentää maapallon ympäri kaksimoottorisella Lockheed Electralla ja Mendelsohn on ottanut tämän tapahtuman teoksensa inspiraatioksi ja kirjoittanut romaanin muodossa siitä, mitä viimeisen yhteyden pidon jälkeen olisi voinut tapahtua.
Katoaminen synnytti paljon teorioita siitä, mitä Amelialle ja hänen navigaattorilleen Fred Noonanille tapahtui. Teorioista on kirjoitettu paljon artikkeleita sekä kirjoja ja Amelian matkaraporteistakin on julkaistu teos, sillä hän lähetti ne kirjeellä eräälle lehdelle aina välilaskujensa aikana.
Mendelsohnin astuu romaanissaan Amelian kenkiin ja kertoo tämän ajatuksista ennen maailman ennätyslentoa, sen aikana ja pakkolaskun jälkeen. Tarina ei etene lineaarisesti, sillä alussa Amelia on jo pienellä saarella (kuusi kilometriä pitkä ja kahdeksansataa metriä leveä), jonne hän suunnasta eksyttyään onnistuu laskeutumaan, ennen kuin polttoaine loppuu. Taivaaksi nimeämältään paratiisisaarelta hän kertoo lentäjän lokikirjaansa kirjoittaman tarinan.
Mendelsohnin kerronta on paikoin äärimmäisen kaunista, suorastaan runollista. Hän kuvailee Amealiaa ja Noonania kahdeksi eksyneeksi sieluksi suunnattomassa vainajien valtakunnassa, kuinka tuuli piirtää ohuita juonteita aavikon pintaan rypyttäen autiomaan kasvot, kuinka Lae tuntuu ihmisasutuksen viimeiseltä rajalta, missä kalliosaaret kohoavat merestä kuin vainajien sormet ja kuinka vieras, kirkas tähtitaivas on kuin mutkikkaalla, kauniilla, vieraalla kielellä kirjoitettu.
Teos oli kuitenkin varsin hidaslukuinen, osittain siksi, että jäin ihastelemaan kaunista kieltä, osittain siksi, että tarina tuntuu välillä polkevan paikallaan ilman varmuutta mihin suuntaan sen pitäisi seuraavaksi mennä.
Loppujen lopuksi lukukokemus on kuitenkin positiivinen, sillä fiktiivisyydestään huolimatta se tarjoaa faktaa ponnahduslautanaan käyttäen yhden mahdollisen tapahtumaketjun, joka aiheutti tämän naispioneerin näyttävän poistumisen elävien kirjoista.
Kiinnostavaksi teoksen tekee se, että Amelia Earhat katosi yrittäessään lentää maapallon ympäri kaksimoottorisella Lockheed Electralla ja Mendelsohn on ottanut tämän tapahtuman teoksensa inspiraatioksi ja kirjoittanut romaanin muodossa siitä, mitä viimeisen yhteyden pidon jälkeen olisi voinut tapahtua.
Katoaminen synnytti paljon teorioita siitä, mitä Amelialle ja hänen navigaattorilleen Fred Noonanille tapahtui. Teorioista on kirjoitettu paljon artikkeleita sekä kirjoja ja Amelian matkaraporteistakin on julkaistu teos, sillä hän lähetti ne kirjeellä eräälle lehdelle aina välilaskujensa aikana.
Mendelsohnin astuu romaanissaan Amelian kenkiin ja kertoo tämän ajatuksista ennen maailman ennätyslentoa, sen aikana ja pakkolaskun jälkeen. Tarina ei etene lineaarisesti, sillä alussa Amelia on jo pienellä saarella (kuusi kilometriä pitkä ja kahdeksansataa metriä leveä), jonne hän suunnasta eksyttyään onnistuu laskeutumaan, ennen kuin polttoaine loppuu. Taivaaksi nimeämältään paratiisisaarelta hän kertoo lentäjän lokikirjaansa kirjoittaman tarinan.
Mendelsohnin kerronta on paikoin äärimmäisen kaunista, suorastaan runollista. Hän kuvailee Amealiaa ja Noonania kahdeksi eksyneeksi sieluksi suunnattomassa vainajien valtakunnassa, kuinka tuuli piirtää ohuita juonteita aavikon pintaan rypyttäen autiomaan kasvot, kuinka Lae tuntuu ihmisasutuksen viimeiseltä rajalta, missä kalliosaaret kohoavat merestä kuin vainajien sormet ja kuinka vieras, kirkas tähtitaivas on kuin mutkikkaalla, kauniilla, vieraalla kielellä kirjoitettu.
Teos oli kuitenkin varsin hidaslukuinen, osittain siksi, että jäin ihastelemaan kaunista kieltä, osittain siksi, että tarina tuntuu välillä polkevan paikallaan ilman varmuutta mihin suuntaan sen pitäisi seuraavaksi mennä.
Loppujen lopuksi lukukokemus on kuitenkin positiivinen, sillä fiktiivisyydestään huolimatta se tarjoaa faktaa ponnahduslautanaan käyttäen yhden mahdollisen tapahtumaketjun, joka aiheutti tämän naispioneerin näyttävän poistumisen elävien kirjoista.
May 17, 2016
Pieni suuri elämäkertateos, joka on lähes täysin fiktiivinen. Mendelsohn kertoo oman versionsa siitä, mitä Amelia Earhartille tapahtui maailmanympärilennolla tapahtuneen koneen edelleen selvittämättömän katoamisen jälkeen. Kerronta on utuista, aurinko leikkii Electran siivillä ja tunnelma on viehättävä. Elämäkerta minun makuuni.
July 27, 2007
Compelling, poetic book. There's an intentionally ethereal, vague quality to narrative as it starts, but as the story unfolds, the early pieces come into focus. I didn't know what to make of it at first, but was very much drawn in as the character deepened and emerged. Lovely.
June 12, 2012
Just arrived from Japan through BM.
What if Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan would survive in some lost island in the middle of nowhere?
Perhaps it's an excess of imagination of the author but this was not able to convince any reader about this very improbable story.
What if Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan would survive in some lost island in the middle of nowhere?
Perhaps it's an excess of imagination of the author but this was not able to convince any reader about this very improbable story.
January 26, 2023
we get it, she flies planes
November 25, 2009
I Was Amelia Earhart is a slim little novella, but the writing style is so dreamlike and interesting that it really made me slow down and savor each word. Mendelsohn's writing is beautiful and spare, with no words wasted.
Written from Amelia's perspective, this book tells the story of Earhart's final flight and what transpires after her crash landing on a remote island. It's pretty fascinating to see what this author imagines was inside Earhart's head and what she experienced after her disappearance. The relationship between Earhart and her navigator, the drunken Noonan, is central to Earhart's tale and evolves as Earhart accepts her castaway status. I enjoyed this story and a glimpse into what might have been.
Written from Amelia's perspective, this book tells the story of Earhart's final flight and what transpires after her crash landing on a remote island. It's pretty fascinating to see what this author imagines was inside Earhart's head and what she experienced after her disappearance. The relationship between Earhart and her navigator, the drunken Noonan, is central to Earhart's tale and evolves as Earhart accepts her castaway status. I enjoyed this story and a glimpse into what might have been.
November 29, 2016
What a disappointment ! I was hoping to read about another heroine in the mode of Annie Oakley, but what I got was (in the words of another reviewer) “ a tedious, romanticized account of Earhart's fictional life on a desert island.”
July 17, 2015
“It’s the last sky,” is one of the opening lines in this fictionalized story of Amelia Earhart and her mysterious disappearance over the Pacific Ocean in 1937. A thought provoking line, as are many in this amazing book by Jane Mendelsohn. I am so glad I read it. Lyrical, insightful, and imaginative; the suspense is rather drifting, much like flying a slow plane at low altitudes. We are on Earhart’s wings in so many ways as the story unfolds. “Love is so transparent that if you are unprepared for it you will see right through it and not notice it.” So says the ambitious and sometimes cold-hearted Amelia. The essence of this story is not so much about flying or courage or tempting danger, but more about Earhart’s discovering love. Love for life, love for a person, a being without wings. There is much to be admired in this story for its metaphoric aerial and ghostly flights of the heart and mind. Even Earhart’s plane The Electra wore a shining symbolism. What I didn’t like about this novel is the mechanics of the writing. There is a constant mix of points of view, first person vs. third person narration (sometimes within the same paragraph); one chapter of 15 pages had the POV change 10 times from “I” to “she”. Also, there is a mix of present tense vs. past tense, which I found to be jarring. And, the dialogue is presented without quotation marks that added to the chaotic reading. I suppose this kind of styling might be considered artistic by some, or progressive, or gimmicky, or maybe faulty on the part of the author or editors. For this reader, it became disorienting, annoying, and purposeless.
February 13, 2014
all I can say is...WTF?
April 5, 2016
I don't understand why the point of view constantly changes in this book. It's confusing and doesn't seem to illuminate. I just thought the whole thing was annoying.
August 25, 2022
Questo romanzo è un omaggio, in memoria della prima aviatrice che sorvolò l' atlantico, Amelia Earhart.
Seppur nasca da una storia vera, Jane Mendelsohn ricostruisce a proprio piacimento con inventiva e fantasia cosa possa essere accaduto quello sfortunato giorno, in cui si perdono le tracce di entrambi i due piloti, Amelia Earhart e Fred Noonan.
I due navigatori avrebbero dovuto intraprendere il giro del mondo, ma in questa impresa accadono tanti malaugurati imprevisti : la radio funziona male, gli strumenti di bordo non sono stati regolati e il carburante risulta insufficiente per l' impresa.
La storia viene raccontata in prima persona da Amelia, e poi ci si allontana dalla protagonista e si capitombola su una terza persona, con l' intersecarsi dei dialoghi tra i personaggi, preciso "senza virgolette discorsive".
Personalmente, non apprezzo quando il narratore passa da una persona all' altra, o sobbarca il lettore di dialoghi, senza ordine, sovraffolando il testo, dopotutto, basterebbero solo due virgolette, per essere più chiari.
Ho avuto quella fastidiosa impressione che la scrittrice non avesse la piena padronanza di ciò che stesse scrivendo, a causa delle frasi spezzettate, la prosa che si storpia, passando dalla prima persona e poi repentinamente alla terza, fino a sfociare nella forma dialogata e in aggiunta flashback casuali meramente riempitivi.
Il testo manca di fluidità e continuità tale, da mantenere alto l' interesse del lettore.
Tuttavia, nonostante, i difetti riscontrati a primo impatto, l' ho trovata tutto sommato una lettura gradevole, riflessiva e con una giusta dose di pathos.
Di sicuro, ho apprezzato l' idea di fondo e
l' ho trovato un buon modo per commemorare una figura femminile realmente esistita, così avventurosa e coraggiosa, come Amelia Earhart.
Anche i picchi fantasiosi e romanzati della storia non mi sono tanto dispiaciuti, è solo il modo di raccontare che non mi ha convinto del tutto.
Seppur nasca da una storia vera, Jane Mendelsohn ricostruisce a proprio piacimento con inventiva e fantasia cosa possa essere accaduto quello sfortunato giorno, in cui si perdono le tracce di entrambi i due piloti, Amelia Earhart e Fred Noonan.
I due navigatori avrebbero dovuto intraprendere il giro del mondo, ma in questa impresa accadono tanti malaugurati imprevisti : la radio funziona male, gli strumenti di bordo non sono stati regolati e il carburante risulta insufficiente per l' impresa.
La storia viene raccontata in prima persona da Amelia, e poi ci si allontana dalla protagonista e si capitombola su una terza persona, con l' intersecarsi dei dialoghi tra i personaggi, preciso "senza virgolette discorsive".
Personalmente, non apprezzo quando il narratore passa da una persona all' altra, o sobbarca il lettore di dialoghi, senza ordine, sovraffolando il testo, dopotutto, basterebbero solo due virgolette, per essere più chiari.
Ho avuto quella fastidiosa impressione che la scrittrice non avesse la piena padronanza di ciò che stesse scrivendo, a causa delle frasi spezzettate, la prosa che si storpia, passando dalla prima persona e poi repentinamente alla terza, fino a sfociare nella forma dialogata e in aggiunta flashback casuali meramente riempitivi.
Il testo manca di fluidità e continuità tale, da mantenere alto l' interesse del lettore.
Tuttavia, nonostante, i difetti riscontrati a primo impatto, l' ho trovata tutto sommato una lettura gradevole, riflessiva e con una giusta dose di pathos.
Di sicuro, ho apprezzato l' idea di fondo e
l' ho trovato un buon modo per commemorare una figura femminile realmente esistita, così avventurosa e coraggiosa, come Amelia Earhart.
Anche i picchi fantasiosi e romanzati della storia non mi sono tanto dispiaciuti, è solo il modo di raccontare che non mi ha convinto del tutto.
March 30, 2024
”The brave brave brave brave Sir Robin,” sings my brain.
Yes she was brave, yes she was reckless, yes she was daredevil, the brave brave brave brave Amelia Earhart. In this one, she survives the plane crush. What follows, even if it is fully a product of fantasy, is a kind of soppyish love story on a tropical islet full of practical conundrums. Things one would never do on a tropical island. Things one would never have on a tropical island. Would a woman fall for any man if there’s noone else around? Seriously?
I’m all for a bit of fantasy, even in love department (hell yeah) pero I’d like the practicalities of survival to be at least believable.
Yes she was brave, yes she was reckless, yes she was daredevil, the brave brave brave brave Amelia Earhart. In this one, she survives the plane crush. What follows, even if it is fully a product of fantasy, is a kind of soppyish love story on a tropical islet full of practical conundrums. Things one would never do on a tropical island. Things one would never have on a tropical island. Would a woman fall for any man if there’s noone else around? Seriously?
I’m all for a bit of fantasy, even in love department (hell yeah) pero I’d like the practicalities of survival to be at least believable.
January 1, 2022
While the writing was very poetic and lyrical, the overall story was disengaging. I was not a fan of the switching between first and third person point of views, nor was I a fan of the way the story was structured. The jumps between past and present were often sudden and abrupt, leaving me awfully confused.
September 2, 2017
"She looked over his shoulder out the window at the night, & she saw
strange constellations, empty & meaningful, strung like jewels.
She wanted to live, but it occurred to her that death might be just as beautiful as flying. "
Page 60
Nearly 70 years after her disappearance, Amelia Earhart still holds us in the palm of her hand.
This was a great read.......it imagines her life, after the crash, with Mr. Noonan.
They come to a place where being the ONLY two, within their world on the island, where they can understand each other & care about each other & Ms. Mendelsohn imagines how maybe these two decide how their life will be lived out.
Mr. Noonan knows that she is her OWN woman & try as he might, she will never let him control her.
Amelia knows that her resentment of Mr. Noonan, will eventually come to a détente of understanding.
They are all they have on this atoll.
There are only the two of them.
One cannot write to much, without giving up too many spoilers, so suffice it to say, our author makes their life intriguing & interesting.
Even if perhaps it never happened, it is a great read & we believe perhaps it could have.
When they realize their new paradise may end, planes keep appearing with pontoons under them, they ask ~will they soon to be rescued?
Do they WANT to be rescued?
Are they both imagining these sudden appearances of planes?
What would a life back in civilization be life?
Suddenly Amelia sees that a rescue could be defined as being "captured" & so she cannot have that again.
She must be the pilot again of her own fate.
And~~ so ~~ they make a decision.
These book is written so lyrically & from different perspectives, Amelia speaks & then our narrator speaks.
All the while, you wonder...........Where are you ?
What happened?
This is a book that I simply enjoyed.
It is at times melancholy & bittersweet because, a man seems to have to controlled her life,
& in doing so, perhaps her disappearance.
Mr. Putnam is never far from her mind & we sense her resentment because she understands that she is simply publicity for him & in that publicity, monetary fame.
She allows him this control.....
The mystery is why?
Perhaps it is just true that Amelia Earhart was a woman before her time.
As I read this book, I kept thinking~ how much I wished she could have returned from this flight..
"Dreams Amelia....Dreams & False Alarms....."
Read this book!!!~~
strange constellations, empty & meaningful, strung like jewels.
She wanted to live, but it occurred to her that death might be just as beautiful as flying. "
Page 60
Nearly 70 years after her disappearance, Amelia Earhart still holds us in the palm of her hand.
This was a great read.......it imagines her life, after the crash, with Mr. Noonan.
They come to a place where being the ONLY two, within their world on the island, where they can understand each other & care about each other & Ms. Mendelsohn imagines how maybe these two decide how their life will be lived out.
Mr. Noonan knows that she is her OWN woman & try as he might, she will never let him control her.
Amelia knows that her resentment of Mr. Noonan, will eventually come to a détente of understanding.
They are all they have on this atoll.
There are only the two of them.
One cannot write to much, without giving up too many spoilers, so suffice it to say, our author makes their life intriguing & interesting.
Even if perhaps it never happened, it is a great read & we believe perhaps it could have.
When they realize their new paradise may end, planes keep appearing with pontoons under them, they ask ~will they soon to be rescued?
Do they WANT to be rescued?
Are they both imagining these sudden appearances of planes?
What would a life back in civilization be life?
Suddenly Amelia sees that a rescue could be defined as being "captured" & so she cannot have that again.
She must be the pilot again of her own fate.
And~~ so ~~ they make a decision.
These book is written so lyrically & from different perspectives, Amelia speaks & then our narrator speaks.
All the while, you wonder...........Where are you ?
What happened?
This is a book that I simply enjoyed.
It is at times melancholy & bittersweet because, a man seems to have to controlled her life,
& in doing so, perhaps her disappearance.
Mr. Putnam is never far from her mind & we sense her resentment because she understands that she is simply publicity for him & in that publicity, monetary fame.
She allows him this control.....
The mystery is why?
Perhaps it is just true that Amelia Earhart was a woman before her time.
As I read this book, I kept thinking~ how much I wished she could have returned from this flight..
"Dreams Amelia....Dreams & False Alarms....."
Read this book!!!~~
August 15, 2011
I got this book as a Christmas present for my Aunt Dolores in about 1994. She was my godmother and we both loved to read. As is tradition in my family, when she died, I received as an inheritance all the gifts I'd given her, including this book and a few pictures of myself that I had framed for her. How vain of me! But I think she liked them, so whatever. This book is beautiful. I never read it at the time, but I thought of my aunt when I saw it and thought she would like it. I don't think we ever talked about it, but I found a book mark in it, so I assume she read it. Oddly enough, and quite appropriate for my Aunt Dolores, the book mark commemorated the ordination of Pope John Paul II, which I found very cute. The book has sensuous passages that I blush to think my aunt would have read. But I'm glad too. She was a slightly mysterious woman to us kids. She turned down three marriage proposals and never had any children. We all thought she was very curmudgeonly when we were little, but when I was a teenager and she was diagnosed with multiple myaloma, a painful form of bone cancer, she softened considerably and we became closer. She had a career in business, which was different from her 8 sisters who all but one worked as teachers, nurses, or homemakers. She was sort of ahead of her time in some ways. Like Amelia! Now that I've read this book, I'm so glad I bought it for her and I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did. :)
July 25, 2011
I think I read this hoping for a factual biography and was disappointed because it was more like a dream stream-of-consciousness which may suit you. I will have to get around to reading again to make sure, so this review is more a reminder to myself than gospel for others. I love flying and inspiration from history, so a narrator who seems to emphasize the color of her own hair over the blowing wind directing take-off is a let-down.
January 2, 2015
Wow, what a brilliant re-imagining of Amelia Earhart story. I loved how distant the characters were from their own lives even before they got into the air and vanished forever. And then the way they work to save their subterfuge at the end...it's all beautiful and well written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2008
I love the language of this book. It is hard to follow the plot and story but the language is amazing and sucks you in. Very well written.
May 27, 2024
I Was Amelia Earhart by Jane Mendelsohn is a historical fiction/alternate reality novel that follows aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, as they attempt to circumnavigate the globe in her Lockheed Electra 10E plane. After disappearing on July 2, 1937, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, Amelia and Fred's plane runs out of fuel and they crash, finding themselves stranded on an island.
What I found to be the biggest flaw in this novel was the constant perspective change. It goes from third-person to first-person (as Amelia) almost every other paragraph and is incredibly jarring and makes little narrative sense. At first, I thought it was because we are seeing two Amelias- one is the personal, true Amelia and the other is the one seen by the public, but as the novel progressed, and especially after Amelia and Fred are alone, I felt like the constant switching stopped making any sense. I preferred the third-person, anyway.
I would have loved more self-reflection from Amelia. I also would have loved Fred's perspective. It became less historical fiction and more survive-on-the-island and the ending was confusing. However, this was a short read, at 146 pages, and it was entertaining to read.
What I found to be the biggest flaw in this novel was the constant perspective change. It goes from third-person to first-person (as Amelia) almost every other paragraph and is incredibly jarring and makes little narrative sense. At first, I thought it was because we are seeing two Amelias- one is the personal, true Amelia and the other is the one seen by the public, but as the novel progressed, and especially after Amelia and Fred are alone, I felt like the constant switching stopped making any sense. I preferred the third-person, anyway.
I would have loved more self-reflection from Amelia. I also would have loved Fred's perspective. It became less historical fiction and more survive-on-the-island and the ending was confusing. However, this was a short read, at 146 pages, and it was entertaining to read.
September 17, 2018
4.5 maybe 5 ⭐️
March 23, 2020
She lived, and she loved.
March 15, 2021
What a creative story! What did happen to Amelia? Was she crashed in the ocean or living a life somewhere not wanting to be found? I love that someone wrote this book.
April 30, 2018
A wonderful story about what might have been for Amelia Earhart on her fateful journey. Delightfully written. Smart. Different. Fun. And a little bit sad.
September 29, 2010
There is something a little bit 'college lit mag' about Jane Mendelsohn's "I Was Amelia Earhart", but minus the few little quirks that reveal her inexperience as a novelist, the book actually holds up rather well.
Mendelsohn definitely has a poet's sensibility and the fluid and ethereal manner in which she guides the reader through Earhart's life is engaging and beautiful. As short as the novel is, the author uses only half of her page count to paint a portrait of Earhart's actual biography, deftly portraying the aviatrix's passion and obsession with flying and her complicated releationship with navigator, Fred Noonan.
The second half of the novel deals with a fictitious account of Earhart and Noonan's life after an emergency landing in a tiny Pacific island where they are unlikely ever to be found. Again, in a very small space, Mendelsohn creates a dreamlike existence for the two explorers, inserting their factually based personalities into more fantastically exotic circumstances, then extrapolating from them a hasty yet believable love/hate relationship which she then carries out to an almost-logical end.
As mentioned above, there are a few little glitches. The switching from 1st to 3rd person, for instance would not bother most people, as it fits nicely with the dreamlike qualities of the narrative. But the author draws undue attention to it at the outset by trying explicitly to explain the shifts in point-of-view. There is also a bit of repetition with some of Mendelsohn's pet imagery which feels a bit like an undergrad showing off a neat line they wrote.
But these little niggles are minor in what is otherwise a beautifully written short novel that blends a little fact and a little speculation into a refreshing portrait of a complicated woman. A cool breeze on a warm summer day.
Mendelsohn definitely has a poet's sensibility and the fluid and ethereal manner in which she guides the reader through Earhart's life is engaging and beautiful. As short as the novel is, the author uses only half of her page count to paint a portrait of Earhart's actual biography, deftly portraying the aviatrix's passion and obsession with flying and her complicated releationship with navigator, Fred Noonan.
The second half of the novel deals with a fictitious account of Earhart and Noonan's life after an emergency landing in a tiny Pacific island where they are unlikely ever to be found. Again, in a very small space, Mendelsohn creates a dreamlike existence for the two explorers, inserting their factually based personalities into more fantastically exotic circumstances, then extrapolating from them a hasty yet believable love/hate relationship which she then carries out to an almost-logical end.
As mentioned above, there are a few little glitches. The switching from 1st to 3rd person, for instance would not bother most people, as it fits nicely with the dreamlike qualities of the narrative. But the author draws undue attention to it at the outset by trying explicitly to explain the shifts in point-of-view. There is also a bit of repetition with some of Mendelsohn's pet imagery which feels a bit like an undergrad showing off a neat line they wrote.
But these little niggles are minor in what is otherwise a beautifully written short novel that blends a little fact and a little speculation into a refreshing portrait of a complicated woman. A cool breeze on a warm summer day.
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