Rating: 
Summary: all time favorite
Review: "A Girl of the Limberlost" is a book in the same genre of "Anne of Green Gables" and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm."Elnora Comstock has Anne's spirit and Rebecca's pluckiness, but she is quite a different character altogether in totally different circumstances. Her story is charming to read and yes, perhaps unrealistic. But that is its secret. This is, after all, a story, and one that was undoubtedly written to inspire young women to achieve their intellectual and moral potential in the years just before the role of women began to change rapidly. Look at this book in its historical context. Read it, and come back to it years later. You will be echanted. You will hear and feel and smell the Limberlost and its secrets.
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Summary: A Girl of the Limberlost
Review: A Girl of The Limberlost is about a girl who at the beginning of the book is about 16 and at the end of the book is a woman around 20. It starts out in the Limberlost with this girl, Elnora who lives with her Mom, Her Father was killed by a drowning in the swamp near their house. A few houses down live a man and wife named Wesley and Margaret Sinton. They had two little girls who both got sick and passed away. They end up adopting a little boy named Billy. Mr. & Mrs. Sinton were always like family to Elnora.
Elnora decided that she wanted to go to high school. She had always been a curious little girl, and now she wanted to go to the city and go to high school. Her mother, who never had liked her very much and blamed her for her Father's death, said she did not care if she went to high school but not to ask for any financial help from her. So Elnora went off to school. The first day she was made fun of terribly and she was not sure that she wanted to return. She talked to Mr. Sinton and he told her to tell her Mom about everything. So she went home to tell her. That day Elnora had found out that she had to pay a $20.00 fee because she was a city girl. She also had to pay for her own books, which she did not know about. Well Elnora was a very poor girl and would not accept anything as a gift from anybody. Mr. & Mrs. Sinton went to town and asked some girls Elnora's age how they did their hair and who made their clothes and what kind of lunch box should Elnora have. They got her all of these things plus and umbrella, boots, new shoes, and a coat. They went to take it to Elnora and when they got there they had a wonderful surprise. Elnora had gone to town to figure out a way for her to pay for her school. She went to the bird woman because all Elnora's life she had collected moths and other insects. The bird woman said she would pay her for everything she could collect for her. Well, Elnora's second day of school was a little better. She got to wear her hair like all the other girls, and had on a nice dress just like all the other girls. Also, nobody pointed her out because she was different. They all liked her and she began to make a lot of friends. Also, she was able to pay her tuition and one of the teachers called up a sophmore and asked her to bring in her used books so that Elnora could have them to study with. So things started to look up for Elnora. The only thing was that her Mom did not know how great of a person Elnora was turning out to be or how hard she was working and how much she needed her Mothers love. For four years Elnora had kept this life pretty much a secret. She had learned to play the violin, she had taught other students about science, and she had earned all the money to pay for whatever she wanted. When she graduated Mr. & Mrs. Sinton who had been there all along to support her, made her Mother go to town to see her daughter graduate. When Elnora played the violin her Mother was so proud and realized how wrong she had been in treating her daughter. She then began to love and do things with Elnora and they lived on as friends instead of strangers.
Elnora had met a man named, Ammon. He at once fell in love with Elnora, but it took Elnora awhile to come around to liking him. He was engaged to a girl named Edith, who was very self-centered and did not care about anyone but herself. They were definitely a wrong fit. Elnora told Ammon that she could not be with him until she was positive that he was not in love with Edith. So, he went back to Illinois and Elnora went to a secret place where nobody would know where she was. Ammon soon realized that there was no future for him and Edith, and got very sick because he could not find Elnora and did not know what to do. His best friend, Phillip found Elnora in a country side house not far from where Ammon was. When Ammon found Elnora she decided to marry him. First their was a surprise visit from Edith. She swore on her life that she could get Ammon back and that he was hers, but it did not work. Ammon proved to Elnora that she was the one and they were going to get married.
Rating:
Summary: A charming old fashioned book.
Review: A lovely early 20th century book about a girl who lives in a rural area, catching rare moths to put herself through high school. This book is perfect for a girl in her young teens- an innocently romantic tale that focuses a on girl's growing understanding of her own role in the world. While the book's language and setting might seem outdated to some, the theme and plot are timeless classics.
This is a book that I have loved reading and re-reading for the past 20 years, since I was about 13 years old.
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Summary: A country girl overcomes obstacles to get a diploma.
Review: Elnora Comstock , despite country schooling, lack of money, and a mother who despises her, uses her wits and character to get an education. Her absolute understanding of right and wrong may seem quaint to a reader today, but it earns her education, money, and the love of all who meet her. The moral values exemplified by Elnora are refreshing to read about. She blames no one for her hardships, but works with all possible verve to overcome them. The ecological issues, which were emphasized in the very inferior made for tv movie, seem to presage our present day concerns. The Bird Woman is even then trying to preserve nature for the city folk who cannot enjoy it. I first read by grandmother's falling apart copy about 55 years ago. Once a decade I would locate the book somehow. Once I got it from a high school student who had inherited it from her great grandmother. Recently it showed up in the public library, but ABRIDGED.I was delighted when I discovered it had been reprinted in its original form. This book casts a strange spell over me. Edith Carr's final act of graciousness is a masterpiece of imagery.
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Summary: No Angst, Just Pathos
Review: Everyone knows that teenage girls are supposed to experience extreme mood swings, be obsessed with their appearance and have romantic notions filling their remaining thoughts. As Henry Higgins says, their minds are full of "cotton, hay and rags." At least that is the popular stereotype, reinforced by the shallow portrayals of young girls in movies and television, who, when they aren't preoccupied with the mirror are busy trying to save the earth. That is why this book's heroine is a refreshing example of a young woman whose real attractiveness lies with her courage and intelligence, especially in the face of suffering, while she still has a healthy concern about how she is "carpentered." She also embraces a deep love for God's creation without being a rabid environmentalist.
Elnora Comstock is a 16-year-old girl who lives on the edge of a swamp called the Limberlost with her widowed mother. Elnora's life is difficult because her mother has retreated from the world since the tragic death of her beloved husband when Elnora was only a baby. Mrs. Comstock has become hardened and unloving, and Elnora's only affection is from a neighboring couple who have no children of their own. In this cold atmosphere, Elnora blossoms into a rare jewel of a person; rather than becoming embittered like her mother, she returns love for her mother's negligence and shows remarkable resourcefulness in meeting the challenges of pursuing her dreams while trying to remeain faithful to her mother's commands.
Gene Stratton Porter has written several popular novels which were bestsellers in the time they were first published in the early part of the 20th century. Freckles was somewhat of a prequel to A Girl of the Limberlost, and both books are full of accurate natural history, especially about moths and butterflies in the Limberlost Swamp in Indiana, while asserting that the wonders of nature could only have come from God's creative Hand (the author was actually married to someone named Charles Darwin Porter!)
Elnora is remarkably patient and loving while undergoing difficult trials, but rather than being an unbelievable, sickeningly-sweet character, she exhibits temper, anguish and sometimes walks a fine line between being obedient to her mother and justifying hiding certain things from her. Yet as Elnora grows into graceful maturity, her mother softens, and the reconciliation between mother and daughter is a touching reminder of how God would have us respond to providential trials. Even though we can't presently know the outcome of our daily battles, we can trust that He is lovingly guiding us to a wonderful end.
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Summary: A wonderful book which conjures up vivid images.
Review: I can tell from A Girlof the LimberLost that Porter is going to be one of my favorite authors. Her writing takes the reader back to a very different time, but her characters are easy to connect with because of the timeless human qualities she describes. I really enjoyed this book and plan to read more of Gene Stratton Porter's works. Looking for them in my local bookstore was fruitless, so here I am on Amazon.com!
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Summary: A Pleasurable Read
Review: I was given this book by a missionary years ago; and find myself going back to re-read it at least once a year - a wonderful story with a great moral.
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Summary: Favorite book of my childhood
Review: I've lost track of the number of times I've read this book, thirty at least. I have worn out two copies and am on my third. Elnora's courage in the face of adversity and humiliation, her unfaltering pursuit of her goals, her love of nature and music, and her unflinching honesty all inspired me. Elnora's rocky relationship with her difficult mother got me through my own teenaged years with a much nicer mother I was equally convinced didn't understand me. I read this aloud to my own young daughters, determinded they would not miss this experience so fundamental to my own life.
Please do not judge this book by the inferior WonderWorks production of it on public TV. They missed the entire flavor of the story. An extra bonus of the Library of Indiana Classics edition is the original illustrations.
Rating:
Summary: a book you will fall in love with!
Review: It's hard not to fall in love with Elnora. Not only is her character development a journey of delight, you are allowed into the lives of the other characters of the book and feel their joys as well as pain. The story line is simple although deeply moving and best of all...REAL.
Elnora's bitter mother does worse than MIStreats her, she barely treats her with any reagard AT ALL! Kindly neighbors know the real truth about her father's death and do their best to love this sensitive and bright girl. The mother goes through a life-changing series of events that transform her from a hard, compassionless shell of a woman into a truly repentant softened heart eager to love her estranged daughter. Her change is so heart-wrenching, I usually have a gut-ache by the end of those chapters.
If you have a love for nature and boast a colorful imagination, Porter lays before you a smorgasboard of descriptions of Limberlost life in the woods. I have been to Porter's Limbelost cabin in Geneva. It's lovely. And there's actually a mounted specimen of the Yellow Emperor! (Read this book and that last statement will thrill you!)
This book can help teach you the meaning of self-respect, determination, perseverance and love. Elnora does not throw herself at her boyfriend, rather allows him to persue and woo her after he discovers his fiancee is a manipulative shallow child he has only worshiped and not loved. The story flows with honor and respect.
Please read you will not be disappointed!!
Rating:
Summary: A Heroine among Heroines!
Review: It's hard not to fall in love with Elnora. Not only is her character development a journey of delight, you are allowed into the lives of the other characters of the book and feel their joys as well as pain. The story line is simple although deeply moving and best of all...REAL.
Elnora's bitter mother does worse than MIStreats her, she barely treats her with any reagard AT ALL! Kindly neighbors know the real truth about her father's death and do their best to love this sensitive and bright girl. The mother goes through a life-changing series of events that transform her from a hard, compassionless shell of a woman into a truly repentant softened heart eager to love her estranged daughter. Her change is so heart-wrenching, I usually have a gut-ache by the end of those chapters.
If you have a love for nature and boast a colorful imagination, Porter lays before you a smorgasboard of descriptions of Limberlost life in the woods. I have been to Porter's Limbelost cabin in Geneva. It's lovely. And there's actually a mounted specimen of the Yellow Emperor! (Read this book and that last statement will thrill you!)
This book can help teach you the meaning of self-respect, determination, perseverance and love. Elnora does not throw herself at her boyfriend, rather allows him to persue and woo her after he discovers his fiancee is a manipulative shallow child he has only worshiped and not loved. The story flows with honor and respect.
Please read you will not be disappointed!!
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