Present Books Toward Barren Ground
| Original Title: | Barren Ground |
| ISBN: | 015610685X (ISBN13: 9780156106856) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Virginia(United States) |
Ellen Glasgow
Paperback | Pages: 540 pages Rating: 3.64 | 264 Users | 35 Reviews
Be Specific About Based On Books Barren Ground
| Title | : | Barren Ground |
| Author | : | Ellen Glasgow |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 540 pages |
| Published | : | November 15th 1985 by Mariner Books (first published 1925) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. American. Southern. Classics. Literary Fiction. Literature. Novels |
Representaion Supposing Books Barren Ground
A novel about a woman in turn-of-the-century Virginia who, after being jilted by her neighbor, must discover another means of making her life a success. 1925. Full review (and other recommendations!) at Another look book A wonderful read by an author who I'd never heard of until I found an entire shelf of her books in a local library. Beautiful writing to complement the kind of story you continue munching on long after you've closed the book. Not very light, but not too heavy either--just interesting and, at times, quite profound. If you enjoy reading rural stories of yesteryear featuring female protagonists (think Hardy, but American), or if you're interested in Virginian history, or just life in a small farming community around the turn of the 20th century, I think you'll eat this book up as wholeheartedly as I did.Rating Based On Books Barren Ground
Ratings: 3.64 From 264 Users | 35 ReviewsAssessment Based On Books Barren Ground
I have changed my mind on this novel. At first, I thought it was a little too deterministic and overwrought...then I realized it's brilliant how Glasgow critiques a chauvinistic economic system. The common arguments about the problematic loss or sacrifice of Dorinda's sexuality (or sexual desire) seem to miss the mark and Glasgow's ironic intent. Also, while some argue that "Barren Ground" is on board with Allen Tate and the Agrarians, I'm not sure I see the relationship existing so smoothly:It's really a 3.5 for me; certainly much better than a standard 3 but not outstanding enough to fully justify a 4 on my scale.The book is nicely written and will probably touch women of all ages a lot more deeply, since the theme is growing up in a woman's body and the thought processes that entails.The context is rural Virginia, USA over a period that covers the late 19thC, early 20thC, WWI and the post-war period and the book provides a fascinating insight into the hard rural life of those
Barren Ground is a more troublesome novel to the 21st century reader than I first thought. While Dorinda Oakley is certainly a complex, extremely human and even triumphant version of the early 20th century female public self, her private self is undernourished, mangled and stagnant. While Dorinda breaks gender norms and is able to thrive without the help of men, she is forever plagued by one defining incident from her past and is never able to heal. She is unable to accept the impermanence in
Ugh. After 80 pages of character descriptions I don't feel like going forward. I mean, seriously: how long can you describe one girl walking down a road and how she wants a boyfriend, basically, with absolutely no plot and no connection between the reader and the character? Glasgow tells us all about how Dorinda looks, but we don't really know anything about her beyond that. And descriptions of her hair, skin, mouth, etc. abound as do descriptions of her family. Ironically, despite these
A hard, bleak read but very memorable. As an Alabamian and oft-times Virginian, I love all of Glasgow's books that I've read. I thought I had read them all but have come to realize that I haven't even read half of them. Glasgow is taught, I am told, in Womens Studies classes which is a real way to kill an author but hasn't done that to Flannery O'Connor or Eudora Welty. Maybe we'll have a "groundswell" for Glasgow from the literary cultures; I support that.
tread-read, but for last chapter. not 1k predemise. but 2nd pres related
A girl in an orange-coloured shawl stood at the window of Pedlar's store and looked, through the falling snow, at the deserted road.Hard-hearted Hannah really does knock the frills off Scarlett O'Hara. brilliant.NB - There is a small amount of mild racism in this story that one could feel uncomfortable with but please bear in mind the vicinity and the times.
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