Barren Ground

Rating:
Summary: Reader
Review: Excellent. One of her best novels. The prevalent element of naturalism strongly reinforces the theme and setting of the story, giving the reader a good taste of southern literature. The growth of Dorinda's character can be measured by the symbolism of each of the three parts of the novel (broomsedge, pine, and life-everlasting). A wonderful addition to women's literature as well as southern literature.

Rating:
Summary: Want to be depressed. Need to cry. Read this.
Review: This book is very depressing. The girl at the beginning is full of hope and she is a little naive. Then the world begins to crash down upon her. Almost everything bad that can happen does.
I almost had a nervous breakdown reading this. It makes you lose faith in the world and in man.

Rating:
Summary: Great Glasgow book
Review: This lengthy story covers the life of a farm girl in rural Virginia around 1890 through the early 1920's. The novel starts out with her madly in love with another villager. A day before her wedding she is dumped. Her financee decides he is going to marry another villager.

She decides she is through with love and finds that men are more trouble than they are worth. The character's reasons, resoltuions, and actions are extremely admirable. Not focusing on relationships, she is able to rise from poverty to run a successful dairy farm. On the other hand, just about everyone else in the town become failures and poor (including her financee and his wife).

Sometimes, I found myself admiring the main character, Dorinda, and other times feeling pity that her loveless life was filled with work only. It seemed one-faceted and at times filled with biting man-hating resentment. There was a lot of substance to this book and much could be written and studied about it. Another book to be filled under "read again."

This is definitely one of Glasgow's best pieces of work.