The Country of the Pointed Firs : And Other Stories [Paperback]

Sarah Orne Jewett (Author), Willa Cather (Preface)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 11, 1954

Sarah Orne Jewett's place in American letters was assured when this acclaimed collection of stories about her native state of Maine was first published in 1896. Her crisp style and skillful observation of people and places gives her work lasting appeal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jewett's 1896 novel and selected stories about the fictional town of Dunnett Landing in rural Maine.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

Sarah Orne Jewett draws the reader into The Country of the Pointed Firs with scenic descriptions, honest characters, and conversations written with true dialect and emotion. While you'll find no adventure within these pages, the series of everyday events which are recounted create a warm and enchanting tale of simpler times. The female narrator speaks in the first person, inviting you to see her world through her eyes as she observes life in the New England seaside village where she is spending the summer in the late 1800s. During her stay she develops a friendship with her hostess, as well as her hostess's mother and brother who live on a nearby island, and learns much about the history and dwellers of the town. Each person, including the narrator, seems to find satisfaction in his or her life's course, while never quite believing that neighbor or kin holds the same contentedness. At the reunion of a local family the narrator comments, "More than one face among the Bowdens showed that only opportunity and stimulus were lacking - a narrow set of circumstances had caged a fine character and held it captive." The bonds and love of community and kin are clear and strong, and it is difficult to leave these people at the end of the book, yet the narrator's words offer assurance and a final challenge: "Their counterparts are in every village in the world, thank heaven, and the gift to one's life is only in its discernment." -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Suzanne Leslie Simmons

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; New edition edition (February 11, 1954)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385092148
• ISBN-13: 978-0385092142
• Product Dimensions: 4.8 x 0.4 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,662,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No Hollywood, no car chases, just fine reading..., May 28, 1999

By 

Mark Valentine (Port Angeles, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Country of the Pointed Firs (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

I found this to be an extraordinary novel because it really didn't seem like fiction at all. No plot, no bodice ripping, no contrived literary conventions, nothing; Sarah Orne Jewett constructs each episode to blend into the next as seamless as a conversation with a close friend, and the overall effect makes something like a landscape painting, only in print form. Each character she writes about was deformed by the weather, the soil, the isolation, the struggles, and the sea, yet in their faults, they are human and thus dignified--it is beautiful in a simple way.

I would recommend reading this book some afternoon with the telephone unplugged, sitting on a porch with a teapot full of Earl Grey nearby, with your feet propped up and your cares let down. It's as subtle and delightful as a waft of air from the garden after an afternoon shower. It's a haiku in prose--the memory of the book is better than the reading. Enjoy!

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balm for the soul, January 13, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

I'd have to disagree that this title is for older readers. But I can see how, in general, a more sedate pace is required to truly enjoy the read.

I'm 27 and currently undergoing chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer. I'm an avid reader, but since treatment began I haven't been able to focus so well.

I happened to pick up this book on a whim, and I do no regret it. While there is no plot, and the chapters are really just a series of character sketches, this book is pure magic. You have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it though.

I've been sick a lot through treatment and when I've tried to read "lighter" books, they've barely aroused my interest for long.

This book is in no way light. It is quiet and subtle and still and profoundly deep. It is exactly what I needed, a literary balm for the soul--taking me to a place and allowing me to meet people long lost to time, immersing me in a beautiful world I don't really wish to leave.

It draws you in, as if it's winter and you are welcomed into a warm room with a cozy fire--and it wraps around you with all the comfort of heaven.

I'll be disappointed when I reach the last page and thus the end of this particular journey.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Visit the Country, April 15, 2005

By 

Maren Robinson (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

Sarah Orne Jewett's THE COUNTRY OF POINTED FIRS is a visitor's tale. Set in the fictional Maine coast town of Dunnet Landing where the author/narrator has settled for the summer to write. As a visitor, the narrator inevitably recounts only the pieces of history she comes in contact with through her landlady and the people she meets in the community. The stories are portraits, bits and pieces, of lives that exist outside the narrator's brief visit. As a result, the reader feels like a companion on this holiday. The novella moves at the pace of a quiet seacoast village, and is refreshing to read for that very reason. Like a vacation, outside cares fade while focusing on the lives, habits and landscape of this place. The writing is finely wrought. A real affection for a place and people one knows briefly shines through the work and makes one wish for a time and place when travel, life and writing unfolded at a the speed of a long walk.

Some editions incorporate other stories written about Dunnet Landing into the body of the novella. This can lead to a change in the narrator's voice that is incongruous with the rest of the work. Look for a version that preserves the order of one of the early publications with other short works in a separate section.