Customer Reviews

The Promised Land (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is hard to believe I never was required to read this wonderful book, and I am thankful to have discovered it as a result of reading a children's book based on it (by Rosemary Wells, also highly recommended) to my children. The circumstances of its writing are remarkable; the images luminous and the prose unbelievably beautiful for any author, especially for a recent immigrant. But it is the insight into her personality, culture and psyche which appeal to me the most. You will also like the personalities you meet through her. This book should be read by anyone who loves the English language, loves America, or just loves a window into the soul of another.

I remember reading this work years ago in connection with the study I was then making of American Jewish Literature. My impression was much that of another Amazon reader. It is at times a vivid account of a new immigrant experience, but the tale is not told with the deepest intensity of feeling. It may be unfair but the comparison which comes to mind is with Henry Roth's "Call it Sleep" which is a fictional work but one which goes deep into the soul and consciousness. This work is a more externally directed narrative, and has its virtue in giving a picture of one person's move to the New World.

Mary Antin's experiences presumably match the experiences of many immigrants coming to America in the heady days just before the dawn of the twentienth century. The Promised Land, for that reason, holds a high degree of historical interest for anyone with a fascination for this period and the process of an immigrant's journey from their mother country to their new home. I wish I could recommend it more highly but it is written in such drippingly purple tones that at times it comes close to being cringe worthy. The author did possess a high degree of self awareness but an often low degree of awareness of others that makes her endlessly new revelations about herself seem more and more self-centred. This book is of its time with its concern for the early progessive movements' ideas about cleanliness and the prose stylings from the end of the nineteenth century. It can a little hard going but is worth the effort for a look at one woman's journey to an America that once followed the words written on the Statue of Liberty.

This was a very interesting account of an immigrant girl's life in America. The first half of the book is about her life in Russia and it is helpful in explaining what type of world the author came from and why America was such a new world to her. I found the factual accounts in this book fascinating but when Ms. Antin started spouting her theories about life and about herself (which she does quite a bit), she appeared to me to be tiresome and conceited. I would recommend this book because it does give an interesting perspective on the life of an immigrant, although it can get very bogged down in places.