Rating: 
Summary: A good, light summer read!
Review: I read the book and did find some parts that were somewhat entertaining. However, after reading the previous reviews I can't add a great deal more. Yes we know there is wealth, yes we know that you basically created a city around you and you would think the people of Pleasantville were on their knees everyday thanking God for the Kordas.I am sure they are nice family, and as a past city dweller some things I can relate too, however not enough to keep me interested. What really set me on age was the constant name dropping. Passages that had nothing to do with the subject at hand. Out of nowhere you would see things, "I can remember my father and John Huston, the famous director of.., blah blah blah, or some clche would be thrown out and he would say, So and So of such and such film studios would be described that way (sorry I can't quote directly here I don't have the book in front of me), I found it annoying and pompous. The book would have been better had he stuck to the subject, not mentioned 14 times his wealth and went off on tangets (Like I seem to be doing now.. LOL) and do we really care that his wife would ride her horse in the rain in a bikini? Too many pointless comments and aimless directions.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Much Name Dropping
Review: I read the book and did find some parts that were somewhat entertaining. However, after reading the previous reviews I can't add a great deal more. Yes we know there is wealth, yes we know that you basically created a city around you and you would think the people of Pleasantville were on their knees everyday thanking God for the Kordas. I am sure they are nice family, and as a past city dweller some things I can relate too, however not enough to keep me interested. What really set me on age was the constant name dropping. Passages that had nothing to do with the subject at hand. Out of nowhere you would see things, "I can remember my father and John Huston, the famous director of.., blah blah blah, or some clche would be thrown out and he would say, So and So of such and such film studios would be described that way (sorry I can't quote directly here I don't have the book in front of me), I found it annoying and pompous. The book would have been better had he stuck to the subject, not mentioned 14 times his wealth and went off on tangets (Like I seem to be doing now.. LOL) and do we really care that his wife would ride her horse in the rain in a bikini? Too many pointless comments and aimless directions.
Rating:
Summary: Very funny but not in the way the author intended
Review: If you have read A Year In Provence or any other of the many books of this genre you already know what this book is about. Instead of laughing at the locals and the countryisms I was laughing at the author's unbelievable name dropping and snobbery. His every extravagant expenditure is detailed in order for you to be sure of his status in the community. The other things he thinks will interest you are his showbiz friends, his English ancestry, his horsey activities, etc. In fact as I read the book I found myself betting when the next boastful statement would pop up. However, I would say it's a good read if only for those reasons. The author can be happy now in the knowledge that all of neighbors now what a grand person they have in their midst.
Rating:
Summary: An Affair of the Heart
Review: Like an affair, a relationship with this country house was quickly made and not admitted-for a long time. But Korda grows to be a quirky, appreciative, open admirer of the old farmhouse and the local people. As befitting an editor, the author's style is fluid with a gently humorous viewpoint.
Famous people, as guests, are mentioned, sometime hilariously. The changing scene from rural to suburban in this and other areas is considered, along with the tendency of Americans to pursue the last, 'unchanged' home locale. Still Dutchess County retains a feel at least in Pleasant Valley, of country land and people.
Korda's deeply felt respect for the wiles and wisdom of local
people and his willingness to eat at The Diner, go to the Fair,
raise pigs, run a cross-country event on his property, trade car stories and employ half the county wins him respect from these people. Perhaps in the end, he knows he belongs to the house more than it belongs to him and his wife. The place is at last called 'the Korda farm."
Rating:
Summary: An Affair of the Heart
Review: Like an affair, a relationship with this country house was quickly made and not admitted-for a long time. But Korda grows to be a quirky, appreciative, open admirer of the old farmhouse and the local people. As befitting an editor, the author's style is fluid with a gently humorous viewpoint.
Famous people, as guests, are mentioned, sometime hilariously. The changing scene from rural to suburban in this and other areas is considered, along with the tendency of Americans to pursue the last, 'unchanged' home locale. Still Dutchess County retains a feel at least in Pleasant Valley, of country land and people.
Korda's deeply felt respect for the wiles and wisdom of local
people and his willingness to eat at The Diner, go to the Fair,
raise pigs, run a cross-country event on his property, trade car stories and employ half the county wins him respect from these people. Perhaps in the end, he knows he belongs to the house more than it belongs to him and his wife. The place is at last called 'the Korda farm."
Rating: 
Summary: Conspicuous consumption in the country
Review: My name is Kathy Hewlett, wife of a family member who use to live on "the old Hewlett farm". Mr. Korda must be mistaken. As I read page 22 of Mr. Korda's book I have to disagree with his reference to "but the Hewlett's had long since fallen on hard times, either through improvidence or bad farming, sold off their land in bits and pieces until there was nothing left, and now lived in trailers scattered all over the local country-side." Some of the Hewlett's are alive and well in upstate NY living on a thriving dairy farm in Otego, NY. The farm was not sold off bit by bit, it was sold to purchase the upstate NY farm. The owners of "The Hewlett Farm" since then have sold it bit by bit. I would be pleased to hear from Mr. Korda to learn more about where he researched his project. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Country Matters
Review: My name is Kathy Hewlett, wife of a family member who use to live on "the old Hewlett farm". Mr. Korda must be mistaken. As I read page 22 of Mr. Korda's book I have to disagree with his reference to "but the Hewlett's had long since fallen on hard times, either through improvidence or bad farming, sold off their land in bits and pieces until there was nothing left, and now lived in trailers scattered all over the local country-side." Some of the Hewlett's are alive and well in upstate NY living on a thriving dairy farm in Otego, NY. The farm was not sold off bit by bit, it was sold to purchase the upstate NY farm. The owners of "The Hewlett Farm" since then have sold it bit by bit. I would be pleased to hear from Mr. Korda to learn more about where he researched his project. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Starts with Promise and runs out of Steam
Review: The New York Times sparked my interest in this age-old literary subject--city dweller finds renewal in the country, with all the highs and lows and informative or interesting tidbits of making the transition. My interest in this subject goes all they way back to Crazy-White-Man (Sha-ga-na-she Wa-du-kee) by Richard Morenus, published by Rand McNally and Co. in 1952. So, I am not a newcomer to the genre. In fact, my wife and I recently put the finishing touches on a 3-year restoration of a century-old lodge on an island in Maine. Therefore, I do not place a low rating on this book without careful thought and regret. Usually, one thinks that if the Times views a book as newsworthy, it will be a bit special. In this case, I think it is Korda's professional connections in the publishing industry (and not the merit of the piece) which earned the publicity, and possibly the initial printing. Korda would like the reader to believe that he is about to introduce them to the quaint, evolutionary transition of a (very, very sophisticated) city couple and a country estate from strangers to partners, each helped to reach the synergy by a cast of colorful local citizens with special skills and memorable characters. The book fails, however, to continue its early, promising pace, and eventually trails off into a series of random recollections, failing to develop the supporting characters in favor of repetitive, gratuitous references to Mrs. Korda's achievements as a horsewoman, and Mr. Korda's irrelevant pride in having read the classics. In the end, the country life which Mr. Korda portrays seems as shallow and trite as the city life he almost left behind. He is more often a disconnected observer than influential participant, and leaves the reader wondering whether, for the Kordas, the country really matters.
Rating: 
Summary: Delightful!
Review: This book will make you laugh out loud; I'm buying extras for gifts. Korda's writing is always splendid (albeit perhaps a few too many commas jump forth in this work). Another Life remains one of my favorites--if you're interested in the publishing world, buy that one too. Thanks Michael for hours of informative enjoyment.
Rating: 
Summary: A touch of snobbery
Review: Witty and hilarious anecdotes, well observed and cleverly described, make up the first part of this book. Apparently Mr. Korda ran out of material, for he has resorted to a series of faintly condescending tales of how his presence elevated the tone of the neighborhood to extend to book length what should have been an amusing article. There is a distinct sense of "not quite our class, dear" in his descriptions of his neighbors, his adopted countryside, the available local food, and the level of ambient taste. A bit less self-congratulation would have made this book more palatable.
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