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Title: Hope Leslie, Or, Early Times in the Massachusetts (Penguin Classics) by Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Carolyn L. Karcher ISBN: 0-14-043676-6 Publisher: Penguin USA Pub. Date: November, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3 (6 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: The worst book written
Comment: This is possibly the worst book written all time. Why is it studied? Should we just Fahrenheit-451 this drivel? I think so!
Rating: 4
Summary: subtexts give women options
Comment: Written in the early 19th century and portraying the New England Puritan lives of the late 17th century, Sedgwick creates multiple patterns for what women can be, maneuvering between what is "appropriate" behavior according to men and the church and what is the motivation of the heart. Hope Leslie, the eponymous character, is almost always motivated by her heart rather than the rules of Puritan New England, and this lands her in all kinds of trouble. Still, her heart wins almost everyone despite her breaking of rules. Catherine Maria Sedgwick offended readers from the West when this was published because they felt her representation of Indians, through her female character, was too noble. But for women reading the novel today, almost 200 years later, the inspiration of this book lies in the many female characters, all of which represent some "pattern" or model that individual women may find themselves identifying with. There is not ONE model of womanhood, femaleness, but many. Interestingly, there are two women blown up on a ship near the end of the book. One is given a funeral ceremony (although she was Catholic, not Puritan, masqueraded as a male, and lived with a male lover unmarried); the other woman is never missed by anyone. Reading to find out who and why is worth the ride. Enjoy the book!
Rating: 3
Summary: Typical work by an un-typical author
Comment: This recently re-discovered novel appears to have garnered attention primarily due to the fact of its female authorship. While exceptional simply because female-authored stories about this time period are few and far between, the story itself leaves much to be desired. All too often, works created by women are touted as great not because they are worthwhile pieces of art, but because they were done by women, whose lack of access to education throughout history has greatly hampered their creative abilities. Thus, when a woman comes along possessing the necessary capabilities for hammering out a narrative, we feel compelled to praise her for it, regardless of whether or not it is fit for human consumption. "Hope Leslie" is notable because it was written by a woman who defied the conventional female stereotypes, not because it contains any ideas, plot, or themes that have never been discussed before.
It begins essentially as a narrative about the interaction between Puritan and Native American cultures, but is soon dissolves into an Austen-esque romance, though it lacks Austen's genius and unmistakable narrative voice. While the issues of interaction between disparate cultures still are raised, the primary action of the latter part of the story involves a struggle over marrying off the heroine. She raises some fairly compelling dust by making an Indian maiden and a white boy fall in love early on in the story, but she soon abandons that in the name of convention. Sedgwick appears to borrow the Austen motif of the dashing young suitor with a dark past in Sir Philip Gardiner, and makes three women fall in love with the same man, who wisely (of course) chooses the heroine for his wife. Sedgwick doesn't exactly keep you at the edge of your seat, but then again, she probably didn't intend to. And we'll continue to sing her praises simply because she was a woman with enough intellect to compose a mildly interesting story involving a slightly plucky and free-thinking heroine.
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Title: Hobomok and Other Writings on Indians by Lydia Maria Francis Child, Lydia M. Childs, Carolyn L. Karcher ISBN: 081351164X Publisher: Rutgers University Press Pub. Date: May, 1986 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
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Title: Edgar Huntly, Or, Memoirs of a Sleep-Walker by Charles Brockden Brown, Norman S. Grabo ISBN: 0140390626 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1988 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Female Quixotism: Exhibited in the Romantic Opinions and Extravagant Adventures of Dorcasina Sheldon (Early American Women Writers) by Tabith Gilman Tenney, Jean Neinkamp, Andrea Collins, Tabitha Gilman Tenney, Jean Nienkamp ISBN: 0195074149 Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr on Demand Pub. Date: February, 1992 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Kelroy: A Novel (Early American Women Writers) by Rebecca Rush, Dana Nelson ISBN: 0195077032 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: January, 1993 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Pioneers by James Fenimore Cooper ISBN: 0451525213 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: March, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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