Green Dolphin Street

Rating:
Summary: Moving and enlightening
Review: "It is tasty as a marshmallow, and practically written in Technicolor," said Time Magazine of Elizabeth Goudge's Green Dolphin Street. The other contemporary reviews of the novel seemed to agree with Times' analysis. Most agreed that Green Dolphin Street was well written, imaginative, and readable, only lacking in some way in each of their eyes. The New Yorker called it, "A soundly conceived, well-constructed historical tale, diligently supplemented by poetic observations that hit the reader with all the force of a wet sponge." And Harrison Smith, writing for the Saturday Review of Literature, wrote, "We can only hope that the enormous prize it has won will not induce its promoters to call it the greatest novel of the day." This was prefaced however, by his saying "The reader can only view this newest contender for best-selling honors with awe and respect, and wish it as many scores of thousands of readers as it can find, and finally as many breathless and emotionally damp audiences as the producer can draw into the movie theaters."

Time and the Saturday Review's discussion of the movie version of the book in the book review was not unusual in the reviews, since Green Dolphin Street was published because it had won the MGM Award, and was to be promptly made into a movie. In fact, M. L. Becker, for the Weekly Book Review, wrote of the book, "A right romantic tale set in strange places, not without violence, crowded with real people, it moves from scene to scene through evocations of loveliness explicit as stage directions. To touch but one of them, Midsummer Day on the island provides not only an episode of vivid beauty but a moment such as a star might covet and every young woman in the audience desire."

Beyond the film version, however, the quality of the book that most critics seemed to praise was the narrative descriptions that seemed to take on life in the book. William Du Bois wrote for the New York Times, "Most of the punches are telegraphed; like the author's view of life, they seem to come right out of the Victorian hope chest. But the few chapters dealing directly with St. Pierre are alive with beauty and a sense of the pictorial line and poetry of background. Miss Goudge writes from her heart when she describes these islands, as we can see from her fresh-tinted picture of Militia Day and the choosing of a village Flower Queen, or of the picnic that ends with Marguerite's climb to the convent."

The critics also agreed on the result of the moral themes running through the novel. The New Yorker said, "[it] would have been more effective, and certainly more readable, had the author been more willing to let the moral implications of her story speak for themselves." The Times (London) agreed, calling the novel outside of the New Zealand scenes, "an undistinguished mixture of conventional romantic incident and a conventional moral piety." However, the Times adds an admiration for "the author's steady perseverance."

All in all, Green Dolphin Street, to the critics at least, was as the Times put it, "lack[ing] the sterner virtues of good literature," but still enjoyable none the less. (Time referred to the entertainment value of the book with the "tasty as a marshmallow" quote mentioned above.)

SOURCES: From a compilation of book reviews in BOOK REVIEW DIGEST 1944:
1. New York Times September 3, 1944: 5. (William Du Bois)
2. New Yorker September 2, 1944: 20:66.
3. Saturday Review of Literature August 26, 1944: 27:7. (Harrison Smith)
4. Time September 4, 1944. 44:95.
5. Times [London] Literary Supplement November, 18, 1944: 563.
6. Weekly Book Review August 27, 1944: 4. (M. L. Becker)

Subsequent reviews are less prevalent than contemporary reviews for Green Dolphin Street. Elizabeth Goudge's obituary notice, run in the Times (London) on April 3, 1984, and the New York Times on April 27, 1984, calls Green Dolphin Street, "her most famous work," and goes on to describe how it "won a Literary Guild Award and was adapted as a motion picture." Her work is described as "depicting life in British small towns through accurate descriptions of individuals and locations, thus evoking her reader's sympathy for her characters."

Reader's that filled in customer review on Amazon.com seemed to agree with Goudge's obituary. One describes it as "a story of ultimate love, determination, devotion and forgiveness," and adds that it is "powerfully and yet beautifully written."...

Rating:
Summary: So good they made a movie of it
Review: Green Dolphin Street competes with the best of the modern classics. I read this book when I was a teenager and since have read it at least 3 more times. I often get lost in the beautiful scenery and highly imaginative descriptions. The main characters are wonderfully put to life by Ms. Goudge. The love, conflict and fate each one feels is fully alive throughout the reading. If you have ever wondered if fate passed you by and are in the mood for a long-lasting love story... this book is for you!

Rating:
Summary: So good they made a movie of it
Review: Green Dolphin Street competes with the best of the modern classics. I read this book when I was a teenager and since have read it at least 3 more times. I often get lost in the beautiful scenery and highly imaginative descriptions. The main characters are wonderfully put to life by Ms. Goudge. The love, conflict and fate each one feels is fully alive throughout the reading. If you have ever wondered if fate passed you by and are in the mood for a long-lasting love story... this book is for you!

Rating:
Summary: To: Teenage Dream Met
Review: Green Dolphin Street is full of adventure, love, romance, great relationships and amazing insights. Ms.Goudge's insightfulnes into people and relationships is only surpassed by the great light she shines into that mysterious misty place where deep spiritual secrets are kept. In reveling secrets, which is often done in such a subtle way as to be easily missed, many facets and views of spirituality are reveled--pagan, evangalicalChristian, ESP, prayer, but without degrading anyone. Everyone seems to be given value. I only had one problem with the book and that was the old British (and American) attitude towards other races, but these were the attitudes of the times. I think I would want to discuss that with a young person reading this book for the first time. I plan on giving it to my grandaughter for her birthday. But it is a great adult book too. Maybe even a good marriage manual. I found it because it's my best friends favorite book, and has been since she was a very young woman.

Rating:
Summary: Making a good job of a
Review: I first read Green Dolphin Street as a teenager after seeing a television replay of the MGM movie version of the book and becoming curious about 19th century New Zealand and the Maori civil wars. Since then, IÕve reread it two or three times and always find myself engrossed in the characters and the wonderful descriptions of the landscapes they inhabit. Goudge is a very lyrical writer whose vivid portrayals of people, places, and things stimulate your imagination and make you feel you are right there living the story with them. A strong thread of spirituality or religion runs through her books, which isnÕt my personal cup of tea, but the author never lets these elements take center stage. Her focus is very much on character and character development, and she creates complex individuals who are multi-dimensional Ð never black and white. They keep you interested and turning the pages to find out whatÕs going to happen next.

The basic plot in Green Dolphin Street follows the life choices of two very different sisters, Marianne and Marguerite, and the man they both love, William Ozanne. All three form a bond as teenagers living on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel during the mid 1800s. The author does a truly marvelous job depicting the charm of the windswept city of St Pierre Ñ its sunny sheltered streets, high-walled gardens, and tall granite houses, all softened by roses, hydrangeas, lavender hedges, and tangled vines. Marianne at age 16 is dark, elfin, and intelligent: ÒThere might have been beauty in her black eyes had they not been so needle sharp under the heavy black brows . . . and so full of a hunger that disturbed one in the eyes of so young a girl . . . and the lips, folded in so mature a repression of her passionate temper, and the brain that was too quick and hard and brilliant for her years and sex.Ó Marguerite, at age 11, is gentle and easy-going: ÒShe had taken to herself her motherÕs fair beauty and as muchÑand no moreÑof her fatherÕs intelligence as it was desirable that a pretty child should have, and to them some good fairy had added something else, the best of all gifts, the power of enjoyment, not just animal enjoyment of good health and good spirits but that authentic love of life that sees good days.Ó

Each sister quickly and secretly determines that William is the love of her life. William, in turn, is immediately drawn to one of the girls, but he is a somewhat absent-minded and indolent lad and when as a young adult, making a living harvesting lumber in New Zealand, he sends for his true love, he writes the wrong name in the letter! The consequences of his mistake and how he and his new wife hammer out their relationship (over the next 40 years) is the focus of most of the book. The changes each of the three main characters goes through during the course of the novel reflect three deep cravings of the self: the restless craving that makes man a wanderer looking for a better country, the craving of the lover searching for the perfect mate, and the inner craving for perfection and spiritual purity.

In contrast to civilized St. Pierre, life in turn of the century New Zealand settlements was rough, crude, and often dangerous. Again, Goudge does a great job evoking the atmosphere of New ZealandÕs primitive forests and WilliamÕs lumber camp. ThereÕs also some great actionÑan earthquake and a frightening attack by rebellious MaorisÑas well as wonderful secondary characters, including the foul-mouthed parrot Old Nick, WilliamÕs mentor Tai Haruru (a former Englishman gone ÒnativeÓ), colorful Captain OÕHara and his glorious clipper ship, and the crippled fiercely loyal first mate Nat. For those who enjoy a complicated romance taking place in exotic historical settings (think Forever Amber and Gone With the Wind), I think youÕll like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Moving and enlightening
Review: I read this book to shreds when I was a teenager. It is quite old-fashioned in its setting, but the strong story and the personalities could never be old-fashioned. The two sisters, Marguerite and Marianne, are very different and represent two different possibilities for a woman's life. Strong-minded Marianne's personality is more stylish according to the standards of today, but gentle Marguerite has a strength and wisdom of her own that one could also learn from. The part where the sisters talk to each other as old ladies is one of my favorite things in all literature. I also love the depiction of the (really clueless) character William that the girls are both in love with and how he grows as a man, even though he is never that bright. If you read this, you won't be sorry. As one reader noted, there is some silly thinking about people from other races in certain parts of the book, but although I am black, I found this only mildly annoying and I think it can be easily skipped over.
And one of the most interesting sections in the book is when Marianne is forced to live as a Maori and learns a great deal of respect for them and their way of life, in spite of herself. The destruction of their culture is presented as a tragedy, in a very thoughtful way.
Goudge was a very intelligent writer and should be better known. You need to read this book with an open mind; the characters don't behave as we are taught to expect to in the late twentieth century, but there is much to think about and much to learn. Certainly it will make you question some of your assumptions about women's lives.

Rating:
Summary: Words That Touch Your Life
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I had kept this book around with many others in my library for years and finally read it this year. It was enscribed as a gift to my aunt in 1945.

Elizabeth Goudge has captured my heart in her writings of Green Dolphin Street. She offers an interesting story of two sisters in love with the same man and the twist this takes in all three of their lives, as well as an ability to express life philosophies that mirror what I have felt and believed throughout my life. I was so surprised to find these insights into human nature so wonderfully written in a novel, that I found myself marking pages to read again.

This book flowed well and kept my interest. Ms. Goudge's descriptions allowed me to be able to picture and share in the lives of the characters. I would look forward to reading it each evening and not skip to the end as I have done in the past with some books. If you want to experience what I call an opportunity to read a book that offers a depth of talent and character that I don't see today, then I recommend this book for a pleasant experience.

Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for the emotions it stirs
Review: When I first read this book, as a teenager, I just loved it. I reread it many times over the years, and my husband and I read it outloud while camping when we were young. Sooo romantic! So, it was with much sadness that, after a break of about 15 years, I tried again and found that it now seemed sadly out of date and old fashioned. Oh well. Still, there may be some souls out there who find this wonderful story, full of sweep, journeying from the channel islands to New Zealand, from youth to old age, from cluelessness to profound enlightenment, quite nice. One of the nicest things about this book was that it led me to find the little book Marguerite is given by the nuns, and that book changed my life, too. Happy reading!!