Customer Reviews

The House by the Sea: A Journal

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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Simply a superb observation of everyday in an idyllic setting by an insightful and honest author. I agree with other reviewers that May Sarton's best work is in her journals. She allows herself to have all of her emotions, unabashedly vulnerable as they occur. She beautifully describes simple things we miss in our everyday life yet also explores to the innermost layers some of the complexities and ponderous questions life brings. I was fortunate to find a brief biography of May Sarton in a used bookstore some 15 years ago and she became an important part of my inner life since then. I have framed on my desk a card she wrote in response to letter from me. A gracious, courageous but very real woman who gave much to her art.

Gina -- like you I just discoverd May Sarton with A House By the Sea. I loved every word, every page. She expressed to me how hard it is to be aging, to be alone, to be an artist but she also showed how to LIVE and savor each day, each moment. I loved the joy she took in the little things of life. I wanted to be there with her, a silent companion. What a wonderful book, one I will share with all my friends and keep to go back to all my life.

The House by the Sea: A Journal

After Nelson, New Hampshire, Sarton sought what she thought would be a totally "different" life as far as neighbors, company and the like in York, Maine. She was in her mind seeking "personal space". In this succinct journal Ms. Sarton chronicles her "new home" and life in Maine with often great detail and a wide range of emotions. While I am not particularly found of Journals, this one drew me in. I, too, yearn for the harsh ocean environment that the house at York afforded Sarton; the seasons; working in the garden(s);and, relaxing in those veranda recliners and gazing out over the field of tall grass to the ocean(glass of wine in hand). A most excellent piece. If you are not a Sarton reader, this will bring you into the fold.

This is the book which introduced me figuratively and literally to May Sarton! I saw this title in a bookstore and looked through it. WHAT A TREASURE this book became. May Sarton has the ability to cast light across darkness in such a way that the reader is revitalized and nourished. Inner strength is rediscovered. Life is redefined - routine events reclaim their original joy. What is old becomes refreshed. What a gift May Sarton continues to give through her work: life is to be lived and used and appreciated and given for as long as one can. *The House By The Sea* celebrates life, its beauty, serenity and joy. Sarton was most alive when she created life through her work. This theme resonates in all her work and teaches by demonstration the importance of exploring the inner self to find abundance.

Sarton achieved some interesting mixed results with this journal, which was intended as a journal of happiness. She positioned it as a counterweight to her book A Journal of a Solitude which was clearly, well, *not* about happiness.

I can see why some people find it irritating to read, although I never do. She contradicts herself frequently-- complains of how she never gets time to herself and then runs around the Eastern seaboard like a bandersnatch. She can be prey to muddled thinking and faulty logic and sounds as though she'd be a real pain to be around much of the time.

But still, it's inspirational to read as someone who wants to keep a journal. It's not a constantly ecstatic experience in the way that Annie Dillard can be or an idea journal in the vein of Walden, it's more like reading somebody fumbling through towards bigger ideas and willing to expose the joints and creaky bits in the process. There are moments of vision and transcendence, but also a lot of the petty crap that gets people down from day to day.

I like reading Sarton because she is so human. I feel like I miss her even though I never knew her, and reading her is like getting to know her-- in all her fulness as a flawed and talented human being.

I'd probably begin with A Journal of a Solitude, as I think it's the more complete work, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this as a follow-up.

Sarton's masterworks are her journals -- all of them. In many respects, she defines the difference between the diary form and the journal form by exploring the great abstractions and mysteries of life itself, rather than a day-to-day exploration of events, people and places. Sarton is unflinching in exploring ugliness, loneliness, frustration, and the pain of growing older, but as she says in her introduction, writing about the negative aspects of life is much easier than exploring the beautiful aspects of life. This journal, unlike her earlier 'Journal of a Solitude,' explores, defines, and comes to grand resolutions regarding beauty. May Sarton well deserves to be classified as the major journal writer of her era.

I was so lucky to come across this book in the library. A sparkling gem amoung the dusty tomes! I savored every page, every image that May conveyed through her delicate, honest words. A beautiful book for anyone who seeks to know how a simple life can be so full. Highly recommended!

A journal of three years she lived alone by the sea in Maine in order to find her creativity and to come to the center of things. She has many beautiful insights on aging, writing, death, light, poetry, animals, gardening, food, friends. It's wonderful.

May Sarton, above all else, is one of the formost journal writers of our time. In "The House By The Sea," she chronicles her daily life from the end of November 1974 through August 1976. The reader is presented the opportunity to be part of her thoughts as she reveals her feelings about aging and the passing of friends, as disease - both mental and phsical - settle on those closest to her . Her thoughts do not, however, linger only on age. She glories in the wealth of beauty that surrounds her in her Maine home. She carries us along effortlessly from day to day, sharing her philosophy on friends, neighbors and strangers. We see her anger and love played out as these emotions occur. For anyone who has allowed their imagination to wonder what it would be like to live in a "...house by the sea," you won't want to miss this journal.

In the first year on the property, 1973, May Sarton lived alone except for her dog, a Shetland shepherd. The journal begins in 1974.

A longtime companion, Judith, is in a nursing home and visits holidays. The women enjoy a special program on television about Winston Churchill's life at Thanksgiving. In December Sarton reads poems at Westbrook College in Portland, Maine. Later in the journal it is reported she appears at Clark University more than once and Colby College where she receives an honorary degree.

In terms of literary work in this period, May Sarton is preparing a portrait of Elizabeth Bowen. The death of Julian Huxley leads to memories of him directly after the war when he and his wife were so courteous, so helpful to a very young May Sarton.

She brings herself to understand that Louise Bogan was never able to praise Sarton's work in poetry or in novels. In the end Louise Bogan received honors, but she was subject to failing creative powers at the same time. Thus, her circumstances were frightening.

Reading Melanie Klein's theories still May Sarton's sense of insecurity and neediness after she gave generously substantial gifts of money to others. The relentless truth of her former companion's, Judith's, condition hurts Sarton. She feels abandoned.

Notwithstanding the loss of friends through illness and death and the failure of an urge to write poetry, Sarton believes that the sixties are a good, comfortable age to be. The pictures in the book are excellent and very welcome.