10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Novel of the Emotional Life of Adolescence, January 9, 2003
Writing novels about adolescence is difficult; either because the writer in intimately involved in the business of being an adolescent and has not as yet acquired the narrative skills, or because the adult writing about that developmental stage retrospectively colors his memories of how things were. (Françoise Sagan's BONJOUR TRISTESSE is a happy example of a book written by an adolescent that effectively addresses that period.)
Newton Booth Tarkington had produced the PENROD series of juvenile novels before writing SEVENTEEN. In this work, he narrates the summer of love (lower cased letters then) of William Sylvanus Baxter, who is smitten with Miss Lola Pratt, also known as "the Baby Talk Girl" because of her talking baby talk, endearing to William, but grating on the father of the girl whom she is visiting for the summer. I read this book when I was an early teen; and years later read it to my then pre-teen daughter. On both occasions I found it to be amusing and insightful.
William is a typical young boy who goes through a series of pratfalls and misadventures. Like many of his status, he is clueless. He tries to write, um, poetry. A sure sign that his is smitten. Tarkington is able to straddle the fence of finding humor in William's behavior without being unduly condescending.
A young reviewer commented earlier that the emotions and behaviors of his characters where more like fourteen- or fifteen-year old adolescents. I would have to agree with that perspective: from the standpoint of today's teens, if Tarkington's book were written recently, it would probably merit the title "FOURTEEN." Nevertheless, I think that SEVENTEEN was an accurate depiction of middle adolescents of that upper middle social class in that era in history. Certainly, the average mid-teen is more worldly nowadays than back in the early part of the twentieth century (or even back in the 1960's).
Readers fond of esoterica might find it interesting that Lola is based on Rose O'Neill, who later on developed the Kewpie dolls that were so popular in the early part of the twentieth century.
A caution should be made at this time: there are some passages in this book in which African-Americans are depicted cruelly and in an unnecessarily unflattering light. We maybe should regard this book as reflecting too-typical of attitudes prevalent in that time, but not encourage the emulation of these attitudes.
I did find the device of the omniscent narrator to be intrusive at times, and Tarkington's way of tying things up at the end to be unconvincing, but still this is a great book. I can truly say that it offers something for both the young reader and the adult.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
READ THIS BOOK!, August 24, 1999
By A Customer
This is honestly the funniest book I have ever read- it's the kind that makes you laugh out loud till the point of humiliation. A definite must for any reader with a sense of humour- Tarkington captures every moment in perfect language and real life scenes. This is the book I pick up when I'm depressed or need to laugh- it works every time.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Proving the Obvious, December 20, 2001
By A Customer
I shouldn't do this...but...
That review up there by our 17-year-old critic simply
proves that Tarkington is *exactly* on target in his
novel "Seventeen." Aforementioned critic could *be*
William Baxter...William would have reacted almost exactly
like this to Tarkington's portrait of him, is my guess.
"Seventeen" is still one of the funniest books ever
written, allowances made for time and place. Tarkington
was always a sly fellow, and he's in top form here.
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