Peyton Place (Hardscrabble Books-Fiction of New England) by Grace Metalious
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.69 You Save: $8.26 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.60 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Peyton Place (Hardscrabble Books-Fiction of New England)
Book Review: Times change, people truely stay the same . . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
The clear, eloquent writing of Metalious immediately seized my attention. The steady, powerful development of characters aroused my interests and kept me eagerly anticipating their experiences. The damnation of this literary jewel in 1956 provides excellent insight to the era. Although much has changed since 1956; the scandals, struggles and experiences depicted in the novel seem to have remained the same. I read this book thinking that there would be vast differences in what would have constituted a scandal then versus now. What I learned is that people's behavior hasn't changed much at all but our reactions have become more muted, and our tolerance greater. Peyton Place is a depiction of life. Then and now. Change the publication date and the characters, and experiences are as true now as they were then. Mitalious managed to capture the essence of life conflict and struggle in a manner that is timeless and continuous. I'll read this book again in 20 years and I expect that it will still provide a realistic view of life experiences and behavior. This novel is a must in everyone's library!Book Review: Trashy fun --- better than Joan, Sidney, and Danielle!
Summary: 5 Stars
Having grown up watching the TV series based on this 1956 novel, this reviewer had always intended to someday read the book. I now can certainly see what all the furor was about. Metalious engaged in some very risky writing for that quieter, more conservative time. While anything in this novel seens tame to innocuous by today's standards, after the steamy potboilers of Jackie Collins and Danielle Steel, the author's insights into the makeup and less bucolic underpinings of small-town life ring as true as ever. The characters of Alison MacKenzie and her mother, Constance, are vividly alive and resonate with grace and humanity long after the book is through. Metalious' style is often overblown and purple prose abounds, but it is all rather fun and refreshing after much of the bleakness of contemporary fiction. Typically, the Kirkus review above pompously dismisses this as not being an "important" novel and decries its defender from academe as "puffery." Kirkus is well-known for such arrogant historionics and should be promptly ignored by the reading public.
Book Review: Compelling; not for the faint-hearted.
Summary: 5 Stars
Arguably, this is the darkest portrayal of human nature I have ever read. And yet also the author conveys a deep, almost fathomless compassion for human frailty. Grace Metalious, I believe, had the heart of a saint. She hated the sin, but she loved the sinner. This story evokes nostalgia, revulsion, incredulity, indignation, sympathy, sexual arousal--in short, the entire rainbow of human emotion. This is not a light-hearted Summer novel. It is sobering, disturbing, and riveting. Still, in spite of its heaviness, it ends victoriously, for Allison MacKenzie realizes that grown-up children are NOT doomed to repeat the mistakes of their parents. The author's portrayal of small town life is piercingly, painfully accurate, to wit: "...in very small towns malice is more often shown toward an individual than toward a group, a nation or a country." However, I do have one criticism: Her depictions of Peyton Place strongly echo those of William Faulkner, whom I believe is the master scribe of small town infamy.Book Review: Peyton Place revisited is a different place!
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first read Peyton Place upon its publication in 1956 this book was considered highly immoral and downright trashy. What kind of woman must this Grace Metalious be to pen such a book? Sinful, sinful was the common consensus. It is a pity that Metalious did not live to see its reprinting. Reading it now from the vantage point of almost 2000, one is shown the underbelly of a small New England town, with all its conflicts and crosscurrents. The story is told simply, with clarity and truth. Shining through is a deep compassion for the weaknesses and failings of humankind. Living in such a town as Peyton Place, the author knew what she was writing about and it shows. Read this book again if you read it before. First time readers, see how simple honesty, skillfully portrayed in the stories of small town life spun here, makes for an exceptionally well written book even in 1999!Book Review: LIFE IN A QUIET TOWN
Summary: 5 Stars
"Rodney Harrington, wearing a white jacket and with curly black hair well slicked down with water, sat on the edge of a chair in the Mckenzie living room. Constance had left him there while she went upstairs to see if Allison was ready, and now Rodney sat and stared morosely at the braided rug on the floor."
Thanks to Grace Metalious and Ardis Cameron we can now enjoy this book in print once again.
Peyton Place was one of the soap operas nobody wanted to miss when it was on televison. It was for this reason that I drew this book out to indulge in a bit of nostalgia.
It was a wonderful read with all our favourite characters, I could hardly put it down for too long. Hope others find that joy that I did reliving Peyton Place.
Reviewed by Heather Marshall Negahdar (SUGAR-CANE 11/04/07)