Peyton Place

Rating:
Summary: Still as Nasty Now as Ever!
Review: This book has still got it!! Steamy, shocking, a page turner! Ok, there's a lot of unintentional humor now that times have changed, but there's never a dull moment. As is always the case, far superior to the movie adaptation.

Rating:
Summary: Staying in with the dog
Review: This had got to be the grandmother of "trashy" paperback bestsellers. PEYTON PLACE has a strong mix of heart and scandal, stereotypes and solid wisdom. Everyone to whom I mentioned this book remarked, "oh, I read that when I was a teenager, for the parts with the sex in it." There's some of that, but what surprised me was how scary it is, in particular, involving the drunken stepfather's repeated raping of his stepdaughter, her abortion and his murder. Juxtaposed against this small town, its people and their problems, is the teenage Allison's quest for her own self-realization as a fatherless child and blooming writer which serves as a nice counterpoint to the whole creaky sonata and gives relief to the intense isolation and myopia of this New England town.

The title alone is synonymous with small-town mentality and scandal. Even though I've never seen the movie nor the TV series I've known Peyton Place all my life, it's such a part of our American folklore. I found a hardcover copy of the original British edition of PEYTON PLACE at a flea market (or marché aux puces, to use the local term) in Geneva, Switzerland, stamped, remarkably enough, with a bookseller's address in New Delhi so evidently this very American tale has literally travelled the world. This is a fine way to pass a rainy, cold Friday night when you don't have a date and are recharging your batteries.

Rating:
Summary: Staying in with the dog
Review: This had got to be the grandmother of "trashy" paperback bestsellers. PEYTON PLACE has a strong mix of heart and scandal, stereotypes and solid wisdom. Everyone to whom I mentioned this book remarked, "oh, I read that when I was a teenager, for the parts with the sex in it." There's some of that, but what surprised me was how scary it is, in particular, involving the drunken stepfather's repeated raping of his stepdaughter, her abortion and his murder. Juxtaposed against this small town, its people and their problems, is the teenage Allison's quest for her own self-realization as a fatherless child and blooming writer which serves as a nice counterpoint to the whole creaky sonata and gives relief to the intense isolation and myopia of this New England town.

The title alone is synonymous with small-town mentality and scandal. Even though I've never seen the movie nor the TV series I've known Peyton Place all my life, it's such a part of our American folklore. I found a hardcover copy of the original British edition of PEYTON PLACE at a flea market (or marché aux puces, to use the local term) in Geneva, Switzerland, stamped, remarkably enough, with a bookseller's address in New Delhi so evidently this very American tale has literally travelled the world. This is a fine way to pass a rainy, cold Friday night when you don't have a date and are recharging your batteries.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read!!!!!!
Review: This was a great read in any era!!! A lot of readers who read the sequel ask how come the character of Tom Markis was changed to Mike Rossi. Grace Metalious was taken to court by some one who she knew who's real name was Tom Markis. So when the sequel "Return To Peyton Place was written, the characters name had to be changed so
Grace wouldn't be back in court. In Emily Toth book" Inside Peyton Place", she writes about Graces professional and private life. This was great!!! She could have been a character out of her own book!!!!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Forget scandel!!! This book is a forgotten classic.
Review: Well, I've just finished reading Peyton Place, and I have to say that I went into it thinking that I was going to read a cheap and sordid novel; the one that I had always heard about. The one that no one would ever admit to reading. Ok, it does have its steamy sections, but what should be closely look at is how well the whole novel is structured. We have a microscopic glimpse into a small town. We see their triumphs, their falls, their sadness, and most of all their loves. Metalious, should not go down in history as the author of a novel that shocked the United States. She was a talented young author who would probably have written many more novels of merit if she hadn't died so young. Check this book out. You are in for a surprise if you've only seen the movies and TV Soap Opera

Rating:
Summary: Small Town America in the 1940's
Review: What a wonderful book about small town America in the early 40's. The characters in this book are very well developed, so that you almost feel you are living in the town with them. The people from the good side and the bad side of town. The two most dislikeable characters in town are of course from entirely different sides. The richest man in town who is a greedy man born into family money, with no feelings for other people except for what they can give him. In this era it was entirely possible to manipulate workers in your factory to do your bidding because you could fire people for any reason whatsoever back then. And Rodney Harrington does just that. He raises his son to be even worse than himself, with no regard for anyone except himself and what others can bring to him or give to him.

And Lucas Cross, from the poorest part of town, who drinks, beats his wife and children, and even worse. These characters are painted well, and you will despise both for what they are. There is the kindly doctor, the newspaper editor, the spinster schoolteacher, the crazy old lady and her cat, the busybodies, and more.

While not particularly shocking in this day and age, in the late 40's the small town issues that are addressed out in the open in this novel were strictly taboo to discuss at the time. Constance and her carefully orchestrated lie about her past. Poor Norman, who you know will never escape the clingy, desperate clutches of his mother. Selena, who bears more than her share of tragedy with dignity. Ted, who in the end lost his honor but was not even aware of it, becoming a replica of his own deceitful parents.
And Allison, who the book follows most closely. She is the Daughter of Constance, and the story starts with her just entering high school and follows her through graduation and moving to New York for a brief period of time.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, it seemed to pull me into the story of the town and kept me there by peeling back the layers of the town a little bit at a time. Not an action packed book, but certainly not boring. You will find yourself becoming involved in the characters lives, and by the talent of good author you will either care a great deal about them or hate their guts.

As a footnote, to the questions regarding the Tom Makris/Mike Rossi issue, I have the 1956 paperback publication of Peyton Place, and Constance's husband's name is Mike Rossi. The name change may have been done only in the more modern releases of the book. Why? I have no idea.

Rating:
Summary: Peyton Place revisited is a different place!
Review: When I first read Peyton Place upon its publication in 1956 this book was considered highly immoral and downright trashy. What kind of woman must this Grace Metalious be to pen such a book? Sinful, sinful was the common consensus. It is a pity that Metalious did not live to see its reprinting. Reading it now from the vantage point of almost 2000, one is shown the underbelly of a small New England town, with all its conflicts and crosscurrents. The story is told simply, with clarity and truth. Shining through is a deep compassion for the weaknesses and failings of humankind. Living in such a town as Peyton Place, the author knew what she was writing about and it shows. Read this book again if you read it before. First time readers, see how simple honesty, skillfully portrayed in the stories of small town life spun here, makes for an exceptionally well written book even in 1999!

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Gripping
Review: When I purchased this book I thought I'd be reading an outdated view of a small New England town. Well, I was incapable of putting this book away. There's no murder mystery, etc. but it's still just as exciting! Not everyone's speed since there are several excerpts of sex and molestation. Nonetheless, it's a well-written novel.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, That Wicked Coquette, Indian Summer
Review: When I was a kid, "Peyton Place" was not a book; it was a phrase that meant either a town with a proper facade and a scandalous hidden life, or a trashy, shallow, titillating soap opera or movie -- any such soap opera, no matter its actual title.

A couple of years ago, though, I heard Emily Toth, Grace Metalious' biographer, on NPR. She spoke of Metalious, and "Peyton Place," with respect. Metalious, she said, had made a serious effort to address ethnicity, class, and incest. Since I'm a writer myself who has addressed these same issues, I decided that one day, I had to read "Peyton Place."

I picked up a copy and fell in love with the first page. It is a description of Indian Summer. This description is lush and beautiful and displays a love and sympathy for the natural world that can't be faked. I put the book down, resolving more firmly to read it someday.

We're having a beautiful autumn, and so I went back and picked up "Peyton Place," still a bit intimidated, expecting to find the trashy, titillating romance novel I expected it to be. I never encountered that book.

I didn't encounter a deathless classic that moved me deeply, either. What I did encounter was a very well written book that depicts a small New England town and its small-time characters with intimacy, familiarity, and unfailingly consistent, well-crafted prose.

A few features stood out. First, Metalious' familiar, unflinching, loving tone. Metalious' writerly touch is like the touch of a nurse. She is on the clock; she can't go too slow. She's done this before; she knows what she is doing. She touches spots you normally hide. Metalious knows the citizens of Peyton Place inside and out, how they present themselves in public, and what they think in their private thoughts. Some writers, this familiar with their characters, learn to hate them, and teach their readers to hate them, as well.

Not Metalious. Even as she describes men and women doing the most venal things imaginable, she conveys her patient love for these characters. She seems to love them just because they are hers. This love, and sense of possession and belonging, comes out most strongly in the book's climactic trial, when Peyton Place is overtly pardoned for its sins, and loved for its community.

Two, Metalious's style impressed me greatly. This book would be ideal for adult readers with poor literacy skills. Metalious never gives the impression of being less than intelligent and penetrating, and yet she uses very consistent short sentences, short vignettes, and easy vocabulary.

Here, this straightforward style is not off-putting, any more than it is in a fairy tale. One gets the sense that there is more here than meets the eye. These brief vignettes, or portraits of small town types, reminded me of "Spoon River Anthology." Third, Metalious escapes into nature.

(...)

For example, as in an urban legend, one very brief moment of sexual thrill - - a boy gets a glimpse of a girl's naked breast - - is followed immediately by his accidental death.

Some complaints with the book. I don't think it will stay with me; none of the characters moved me that much. At times the piling of one gossipy tale on top of another got to be a bit much. Did the high Protestant minister really have to have a secret, illicit craving for Papism?

I would have preferred that the author stuck with one thread a bit longer and allowed the characters to blossom a bit more under her touch. And, the book is misogynist; in a series of merciless characterizations, Dr. Swain and Tom Makris are simply too heroically male to be real, and the female characters tend to be silly nellies that just need a good slap and a good lay.

(...)

All in all, though, I do recommend this book. It's an easy read, and it really is not what pop culture might lead you to expect. It's better.