Customer Reviews

Seventeen

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I read "Seventeen" because in a letter to a friend F. Scott Fitzgerald said he thought the book the funniest ever written; having read it, I agree with him--it is the funniest book ever written. Tarkington kept up the entire thing the whole book through and does not take a breather or pull any punches but gives it to you straight. The characters put things inwardly where things are put inwardly and blurt out what is blurted out, and there is not that feeling of being fake that one can often get from an author when he has written a funny book. But what else is there to say? Read this book if you have ever been in love or seventeen. You will not believe how hilarious being those two things are.

This is the best Tarkington book I've read yet. Booth captures the essence of the 17-year-old youth in love in this fictional account of a group of 17-year-old boys mooning over the neighborhood girl. He's got the emotions, the irascibility and the hormones all in one story. This book is a stitch as well -- humor similar to The Little Rascals is also included that had me chuckling from time to time. In addition, it gives the reader a view of what dating was back in that era. Attitudes, liberties and customs have certainly changed... Easy to read, light-hearted, and fun...

William Baxter, aged seventeen and convinced of his own perfection and general superiority, falls madly in love with a baby-talking girl who visits a friend. Nothing goes right, ever. Booth Tarkington has perfectly captured and depicted the torture that every young man goes through in his late teens. William and the surrounding characters are all so real that it's almost painful. I laughed out loud on the train so often that my fellow riders must have thought I was crazy.

This is a sweet story, set in the American heartland at the turn of the 20th Century. The focus is the group of people and the very region which created the American nation as the greatest country in the history of the world. The rhythms of life vastly were different a hundred or so years ago, the dreams were more simple, the morality clearer-cut. Anyone reading SEVENTEEN needs to understand that this book is about a time and place now so far away and different from what we have come to know that it could be science fiction. Yet people remain the same, emotions remain the same. As a result, SEVENTEEN holds its value as the prototypical coming-of-age novel. Booth Tarkington was one of the premiere authors of his era and that is the reason why, decades later, SEVENTEEN remains worth reading. It is the definition of a classic.

Alas, Tarkington is probably doomed to become a literary footnote. And that's a very sad thing. His characters are memorable, and his writing is charming, witty, fun, and speaks directly to the heart. But his easy use of words like "darky" and the "n-word" almost guarantees that only the most committed readers ever hear of him and seek him out. And that's too bad. Because he's one of the Great American Writers.

Seventeen is about William Baxter, a seventeen year old boy who is smitten with the lovely Lola, a girl from out of town who is spending the summer with a neighboring family. William his head over heels about this visionary beauty, with her pastel dresses, her omnipresent lap dog, and her saccharine baby talk. The book chronicles his misadventures as he attempts to woo her and one-up all of the other lads who have the same intentions.

Naturally, William is self-conscious and impatient, as all seventeen-year-olds are. He is constantly worried that his mom, this younger sister, and the family's black workman are going to cramp his style. Briefly, the book is an engaging and hilarious tale of how William tries to put on his best face for Lola, while attempting to minimize the "damage" he thinks his family is doing to his style and reputation.

I believe Seventeen was first published in 1915. It's tempting to think of that time as simpler and more innocent. Perhaps in some ways it was. But reading it now, I was struck with how the concerns, turmoil and awkwardness of youth haven't really changed much over the last 90 years. I definitely found it taking me back to the cares and embarrassments of my own teen years. While Seventeen is not one of Tarkington's most relevant works, it is still the work of a master and certainly worth a read.

I have had the pleasure of being many of the male characters in "Seventeen." My 17th year seems ages ago but while reading this book, I WAS 17. I am currently the father of teenagers--one of them is 17--and enjoyed the story from that point of view as well. Tarkington caught the essence of what "Dion and the Belmonts" would sing about 55 years later. ("Why Must I be a Teen-ager in Love?")
In my opinion that would be enough to make this a classic. But, as the book has stood still and Time has not, it has also now become a sort of time machine to the way we were in the early 1900's. Whether we have lost or gained something in almost 100 years is up to the reader to decide. But, whether the reader would want to stay 1n 1905 or not, I can almost guarantee a wonderful visit to that time and place.

A warm and witty look at turn of the century middle America with the central character a self focused teen aged boy and his first summer love, a "ditsy blonde" from down the street. He IS a classic, self absorbed, rediculous teen aged boy, but that is his charm. You feel pity for him but you'll laugh as the author gently makes him the butt of all his jokes. Only problem is the predjudiced view of African Americans (which was probably the norm in Tarkington's time). Other than that, this book is a great, funny read. Don't miss it (and don't take it so seriously, William)!