The Country of the Pointed Firs

Rating:
Summary: Balm for the soul
Review: I'd have to disagree that this title is for older readers. But I can see how, in general, a more sedate pace is required to truly enjoy the read.

I'm 27 and currently undergoing chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer. I'm an avid reader, but since treatment began I haven't been able to focus so well.

I happened to pick up this book on a whim, and I do no regret it. While there is no plot, and the chapters are really just a series of character sketches, this book is pure magic. You have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it though.

I've been sick a lot through treatment and when I've tried to read "lighter" books, they've barely aroused my interest for long.

This book is in no way light. It is quiet and subtle and still and profoundly deep. It is exactly what I needed, a literary balm for the soul--taking me to a place and allowing me to meet people long lost to time, immersing me in a beautiful world I don't really wish to leave.

It draws you in, as if it's winter and you are welcomed into a warm room with a cozy fire--and it wraps around you with all the comfort of heaven.

I'll be disappointed when I reach the last page and thus the end of this particular journey.

Rating:
Summary: Did I Miss the Secret Chapter?
Review: In the novel "The Country of the Pointed Firs", Sarah Orne Jewett invites her readers to journey with her through rural Maine with its green landscapes, hushed scenery, and quaint townspeople. A place where nothing noteworthy or earth-shattering seems to happen. The author and her companions seem to drift through their days carefree, as they relish the simplicity of existing peacefully. The narrator spends her summer in a seaside New England village and develops friendships with her hostess and her family.

As with most novels, I read page after page anticipating the "big moment", the "turning point", a "climax", anything to cite as the work's purpose or point. I never did quite accomplish that.I found myself reading and rereading looking for the part that I must have skipped over accidentally. I have yet to find the secret chapter.

But what I accomplished wasn't known to me at the time but became clear after reflecting. The goal of the book is to help its readers acquire an inner peace within themselves; one that I found to be best appreciated in one's older years. I dont think that I was ready to read the book presently, but can see myself one day rocking in a glider totally enjoying and appreciating Jewett's novel.

Rating:
Summary: No plot and no action, but plenty of relaxing local color
Review: Perhaps the finest example of the type known as a "local colorist", this quiet book radiates peace, tranquility, warmth, and, at least implicitly, small town values. While the stories are sequential (at least in the work proper - this edition also includes some first-person narratives that fit contextually, but are actually outside the body of the original work) - and unified (all take place in a small portion of Maine, and takes place over the course of one summer), there's no real overlying plot or climax to the book, and blessed little action. Instead, the reader is treated to a few relaxing months in the country, with nothing to do but listen to the crash of the surf, breathe in the pungent smell of the herb garden, and enjoy the nodding conversations of the sparsely-drawn and just-sufficiently-colorful locals. Beloved and respected relatives abound, and one of the add-on stories even compasses a wedding. No stress, no worries, and no problems to solve - this is a book that could help one get to sleep on some too-tense evening. Of course if you're hoping for something a little more from a book, best look elsewhere. There's really nothing more than light, quiet entertainment here, but it's of such a refined and delightful quality as one rarely finds in the literary canon. As such, women will probably enjoy this book more than men, and mature readers will probably appreciate it more than young people. But when you've had enough excitement, and the toils of your savage work day are weighing heavily on you, don't forget that Mrs. Todd will still have a spare room waiting for you in her quiet New England home.