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Title: The House by the Sea: A Journal by May Sarton, Beverly Hallam ISBN: 0-393-31390-5 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: January, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An Most Interesting Read
Comment: The House by the Sea: A Journal
After Nelson, New Hampshire, Sarton sought what she thought would be a totally "different" life as far as neighbors, company and the like in York, Maine. She was in her mind seeking "personal space". In this succinct journal Ms. Sarton chronicles her "new home" and life in Maine with often great detail and a wide range of emotions. While I am not particularly found of Journals, this one drew me in. I, too, yearn for the harsh ocean environment that the house at York afforded Sarton; the seasons; working in the garden(s);and, relaxing in those veranda recliners and gazing out over the field of tall grass to the ocean(glass of wine in hand). A most excellent piece. If you are not a Sarton reader, this will bring you into the fold.
Rating: 5
Summary: Beauty by the Sea
Comment: Sarton's masterworks are her journals -- all of them. In many respects, she defines the difference between the diary form and the journal form by exploring the great abstractions and mysteries of life itself, rather than a day-to-day exploration of events, people and places. Sarton is unflinching in exploring ugliness, loneliness, frustration, and the pain of growing older, but as she says in her introduction, writing about the negative aspects of life is much easier than exploring the beautiful aspects of life. This journal, unlike her earlier 'Journal of a Solitude,' explores, defines, and comes to grand resolutions regarding beauty. May Sarton well deserves to be classified as the major journal writer of her era.
Rating: 4
Summary: A companion piece to A Journal of a Solitude
Comment: Interesting about the mixed results that Sarton achieved when she began this journal, which was intended as a journal of happiness and a kind of counterweight to her book A Journal of a Solitude which was clearly, well, *not* about happiness.
I can see why some people find it irritating to read, although I never do. She contradicts herself frequently-- complains of how she never gets time to herself and then runs around the Eastern seaboard like a bandersnatch. She's often pray to muddled thinking and faulty logic and sounds as though she'd be a real pain to be around much of the time.
But still, it's inspirational to read as someone who wants to keep a journal. It's not a constantly ecstatic experience in the way that Annie Dillard can be or an idea journal in the vein of Walden, it's more like reading somebody fumbling through towards bigger ideas and willing to expose the joints and creaky bits in the process. There are moments of vision and transcendence, but also a lot of the petty crap that gets people down from day to day.
I like reading Sarton because she is so human. I feel like I miss her even though I never knew her, and reading her is like getting to know her-- in all her fulness as a flawed and talented human being.
I'd probably begin with A Journal of a Solitude, as I think it's the more complete work, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this as a follow-up.
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Title: Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton ISBN: 0393309282 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: October, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Plant Dreaming Deep by May Sarton ISBN: 0393315517 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Recovering: A Journal by May Sarton ISBN: 039331717X Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: December, 1997 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: At Eighty-Two: A Journal by May Sarton ISBN: 039331622X Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Fur Person by May Sarton ISBN: 0393301311 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: December, 1983 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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