The Complete Writings of Emily Carr [Paperback]

Doris Shadbolt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1997

Emily Carr was a supremely gifted writer and artist. This volume, originally published in 1993 as The Emily Carr Omnibus, makes available all seven of her books: Klee Wyck, The Book of Small, The House of All Sorts, Growing Pains, The Heart of a Peacock, Pause, and Hundreds and Thousands.

"Emily Carr (1871-1945), Canadian painter and writer, was the most beloved and mythologized American type: a frontier character. Pioneer artists, harbinger of the advanced American style not yet called Abstract Expressionism in her time, she was also a mighty grouch, given to sulks and breakdowns and, by contrast to fits of coy girlishness and pantheistic enthusiasm. She lives on, the complete if problematical feminist model, in the delectable self-portraits that pepper the pages of this collection." -Los Angeles Times Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 900 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295976268
• ISBN-13: 978-0295976266
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Canadian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A visionary before her time, May 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Writings of Emily Carr (Paperback)

Emily Carr has been a most critisized and misunderstood woman of her day. Born in the late 1800's. She did not fit the mold of the Victorian woman. Instead of staying home, raising children, and attending social functions, she befriended the often shunned Native population of Canada, most notably the Queen Charlotte Islands. She traveled to remote places by way of canoe with the Natives of the land. There, she lived in their homes, sketched and eventually painted their totems, their people. She captured their spirit, both in her heart and on canvas. Emily's art was not acceptable to the Victorian art patrons as women were not "real" painters - it was a mere hobby. She was not taken seriously. She always heard and saw what most people could not. She inhaled the woods, the land, and the Native peoples. She followed her own mind and heart, which put her in a position of being called "difficult". Emily Carr is still a breath of fresh air, a maverick of her day. Her view of the world, and how she translates a forest into words and canvas is truly an amazing experience. Her books will give you a walk through the forest, her life as a child, and her views on people as well as her affinity with the Native population. Emily will open your world up into a new appreciation for life itself.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the best writing ever, March 26, 2009

By 

Karen S. Soro "always curious" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Writings of Emily Carr (Paperback)

Emily was an exceptional talent. I savor each story- and try not to go too fast hoping the book will not end. She is remarkable. I love her paintings, but the painting that she does in my mind may be even better! She brings even the most mundane event to life in living color. One of my favorite books is "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith I Capture the Castle....I have been looking for another writer who can so vividly 'take me there' and Emily Carr is it. In her biography, it says she read very few books but her favorite was "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman- It shows.The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics)]

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lovely!, September 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Writings of Emily Carr (Paperback)

Lovely stories of growing up in British Columbia, of the native Americans and her efforts to capture their art of totem poles. Humorously told stories by a great Canadian artist of the boarding house she opened and ran to make a living. Simple language with lovely metaphors.