Synopsis
Originally published in 1896, THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS concerns a young woman writer, summering in the Maine fishing village of Dunnet Landing. As she stays there, she becomes closer to the people of the village, and to the power of the land and sea that surround her. The characters include an ancient sea captain who claims to have once explored the Arctic, a shepherdess who has resisted marriage to the man she loves for 40 years, Mrs. Todd the herb expert, and a legendary hermit.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2000-02-01 | | Edition Description: | Reissue |
| Size | | Length: | 234 pages | | Height: | 6.8 in | | Width: | 4.3 in | | Thickness: | 0.5 in | | Weight: | 4.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
Complete with introduction by Anita Shreve, this compilation offers a collection of tales that captures the charm of the people and natural beauty of New England. Reprint.
Industry Reviews
"If I were to name the three American books which have the possibility of a long, long life, I would say at once 'The Scarlet Letter', 'Huckleberry Finn', and 'The Country of the Pointed Firs'. I can think of no others that confront time and change so serenely. The latter book seems to me fairly to shine with the reflection of its long, joyous future. It is so tightly, yet so lightly built, so little unencumbered with materialism...I like to think with pleasure of what a sense of rich discovery the young student of American literature in the far distant years to come will take this book up and say, 'A masterpiece,' as proudly as if he himself had made it."
Preface - Willa Cather
"...[I]mmense--it is the very life...."
Book Jacket - Rudyard Kipling
"...[S]o absolutely true--not a word overdone--such elegance and exactness."
Book Jacket - Henry James
"I can think of no other [American novel] that confront[s] time and change so serenely."
Introduction - Willa Cather
"...[T]he book is a triumph of style, a precise and delicate style such as we seldom find in nineteenth century American prose....[T]here is much to be gained from a study of her finely modulated prose, which never strains for effects beyond its reach and always achieves a secure pattern of rhythm."
New Republic - Irving Howe (05/17/1954)
"In a few pages Jewett establishes forever the substantial reality of Dunnett's Landing. We know it, we have been there, we have walked up the steep streets, we know the sea air...."
Books & Company - Penelope Fitzgerald
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