Peyton Place (Hardscrabble Books-Fiction of New England) by Grace Metalious Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.69 You Save: $8.26 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.68 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Peyton Place (Hardscrabble Books-Fiction of New England)
Book Review: Surprisingly Gripping
Summary: 5 Stars
When I purchased this book I thought I'd be reading an outdated view of a small New England town. Well, I was incapable of putting this book away. There's no murder mystery, etc. but it's still just as exciting! Not everyone's speed since there are several excerpts of sex and molestation. Nonetheless, it's a well-written novel.Book Review: The book that lifted the lid off a New England town
Summary: 5 Stars
Years ago, after I first read this book, I recommended it to a friend. Not expecting much from such an old novel, he picked it up and a week later he told me that darned if he couldn't stop reading it, with each page bringing new revelations and shocks.
If you only know "Peyton Place" from the defanged 1957 Mark Robson film, then this book will be an eye-opener. The movie discarded most of the truly sensational bits, softened up the characters - even changing their fates - and the result was a movie that, due to the censorship of the time, wasn't anywhere near as much fun as it could have been. Grace Metalious's novel, on the other hand, still retains its ability to shock and remains the quintessential page-turner and its influence on other writers is evident. (Think "'Salem's Lot" without the vampires but all the scandal.)
As with any book, there are some drawbacks. Metalious, a famously complex human being in her own right, mercilessly skewers almost all the female characters. The women of Peyton Place are a collection of petty, shrewish, abominable characters with very few redeeming qualities; even the book's main female characters, Constance and Allison MacKenzie are icy and whiny, respectively. Allison especially never gets over being a snivelling, whiny young woman and I lost sympathy for her as the novel progressed. The only two female characters who are sympathetic are the spinsterish, sharp-as-a-tack schoolteacher and the tragic Selena Cross. The men of Peyton Place fare much better under Metalious' gaze and, despite their flaws, all stick together and form a brotherhood of loyalty.
Metalious went on to write a forgettable sequel (much of which was ghostwritten anyhow after Metalious had trouble completing it) and two other novels before she died, but none had the impact of this. I would love to go back in time to when the book was originally published to get people's reactions. Despite the outcry and savage reviews over the book, it became a phenomenal bestseller, prompting Metalious to say, "If I'm a lousy writer then an awful lot of people have lousy taste." "Peyton Place" is far from being the product of a lousy writer and is a darn good (in fact, great) read that is just as appealing now as it was upon its original release.
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: Unexpected pleasure
Summary: 4 Stars
I groaned when I heard Peyton Place was the next book club selection. I'd seen the movie. It was just about sex, right? Promiscuity. The skeletons in small town closets. What would I want to read it?
I couldn't have been more wrong.
Well, it did deal with sex. Promiscuity. The skeletons in small town closets, but the introduction by Ardis Cameron placed the book in the context of the times - both societal and literary. It wasn't the smut I dreaded but social commentary on small-town life in the late 30s and early 40s.