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This book is wonderful for many reasons. First, it gives us more insight into Carney Sibley, always one of the most interesting characters in the series. It answers the question that the other books leave us wondering about: whatever happened with Carney and Larry? Carney's devotion to Larry was one of the mainstays in the Betsy-Tacy high school books, and readers will thoroughly enjoy seeing how the relationship plays out.
It is also fascinating to see Deep Valley through another character's eyes, and to see other characters' opinions of Betsy Ray (the Betsy-Tacy books were largely autobiographical, and Betsy, the main character in most of the books, is Lovelace's fictional alter ego). Since the book has been out of print for so long, many readers will be thrilled to see new episodes involving the Crowd. Sadly, Herbert and Tacy do not figure in, and there's not enough of Cab, but, happily, Joe Willard makes a brief cameo.
Lovelace's stories wear so well; Carney's experiences at Vassar, her uncertainty about how well she fits in in the East, and her emotional turmoil (well, as close as Carney will ever come to emotional turmoil) over Larry are all still engaging and relevant. The Crowd is wonderful as always, with lots of singing, dancing, and inside jokes (young Lochinvar!). Don't miss this bonus trip to Deep Valley!
This book made me feel like I was right there at the house party, with my good pals from high school Betsy and Carney and Bonnie. I hope the publisher sees fit to reissue this title, as well as "Emily of Deep Valley" and "Winona's Pony Cart," so that those of us that are B-T nuts can finish our collections.
Only thing is that I wished there had been more about Tacy, since she always was my favorite character. But a very small flaw, indeed. The Betsy-Tacy world is a magical place, and very soothing to read about.
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the high school and beyond ones, are books I
return to again and again with sentiment.
Though written in 1947 and set in the early
1900's, there is a timelessness to the frank
emotion and lush description of the teenage
adventures of our heroine, Betsy Ray. Betsy
is a good role model for today's young girls,
for though she is understandably interested
in boys and being well liked and known at
school, she is smart and has great ambitions
to be a great writer and a good sister.
Set in fictional Deep Valley, Minnesota but
based somewhat on the author's life and her
journals, the book is written with sweet
sentimentality and vivid memory of the
joys and heartaches of young adult life. It's
amazing how the feelings are very much the
same, though the 1900's were a different time
with different dress and customs. Readers
will love looking at Vera Neville's beautiful
drawings which should have been kept on the
paperback covers, and imagine a time when
lunch was called supper, boys came to "call",
all skirts came down to your ankles, and
friends sang around the piano knew how to waltz.
You will fall in love with the Ray family--
their fun traditions, the benign and joking
father, laughing and beautiful mother, sedate
Margaret the little sister, and of course
Julia, the lovely and soulful singer sister
who is always understanding and warm. Here
are parents still very much in love, sisters
who stopped fighting once they started high
school and actually support each other
.
The Ray family that welcomes visitors any
any time of the day, so their home is always
brimming with fun.
Heaven to Betsy is about Betsy's freshman
year in high school, when she discovers boys
and has her first crush on mysterious and
worldly Tony Markham, becomes active in
school societies in performance and competing
in the Essay Contest. It is a wonderful
portrait of mainstream America in the 1900's
as well as a book young women can relate to
as they struggle with their own pains and
enjoy the thrills of growing up.
Betsy-Tacy, Betsy, Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown, Heaven to Betsy, Betsy in Spite of Herself, Betsy was a Junior, Betsy and Joe, Betsy and the Great World, and Betsy's Wedding.
I recommend these books highly; everybody should read them.
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Set near the turn of the century, around WW1, this is a view of every young woman's dream of marriage-a fun, intelligent, strong husband who adores you. Betsy and Joe are friends first, lovers second, something which is always important. At one point, Joe states that he can talk to Betsy, and that he fantasizes about their home life. A lot of guys could take a page from Joe's book!
This book is in no way dated, bringing Betsy to the close of her girlhood and teenage years. If you liked "Anne of Green Gables" or other books by Montgomery, check out Lovelace, for both your little girls and not-so-little girls.
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Moscow to the End of the Line was written in 1970. During this time, Erofeev, himself, was traveling around the Soviet Union working as a telephone cable layer. Erofeev's friends have said the author made the story up in order to entertain his fellow workers as they traveled, and that many of these fellow workers were later incorporated as characters in the book.
The text of the novel began to be circulated in samizdat within the Soviet Union and then it was smuggled to the West where it was eventually translated into English. The official Russian language publication took place in Paris in 1977. With glasnost, Moscow to the End of the Line was able to be circulated freely within Russia, but, rather than stick to the original form, the novel was abridged in the government pamphlet Sobriety and Culture, ostensibly as a campaign against alcoholism. Finally, in 1995, it was officially published, together with all the formerly edited obscenities and without censorship.
Although he is an alcoholic, Venichka never comes across to the reader as despicable. Venichka is not a man who drinks because he wants to drink; he drinks to escape a reality that has gone beyond miserable and veered off into the absurd. He is not a stupid or pitiable character, but rather one who has no outlet for his considerable intelligence. That Venichka is very educated is obvious; he makes intelligent and well-read references to both literature and religion. However, in the restrictive Soviet Union of his time, there was no outlet for this kind of intelligent creativity; Venichka is forced to channel his creative instincts into bizarre drink recipes and visions of sphinxes, angels and devils.
Although many will see Moscow to the End of the Line as satire, it really is not. Instead, it is Erofeev's anguished and heartfelt cry, a cry that demanded change. Venichka is not a hopeless character, however, the situation in which he is living is a hopeless one.
A semi-autobiographical work, Moscow to the End of the Line was never meant as a denunciation of alcoholism but rather an explanation of why alcohol was so tragically necessary in the day-to-day life of citizens living under Soviet rule.
Moscow to the End of the Line is a highly entertaining book and it is a book that is very important in understanding the Russia of both yesterday and today as well. This book is really a classic of world literature and it is a shame that more people do not read Moscow to the End of the Line rather than relying on the standard "bestseller." This book deserves to be more widely read and appreciated.
But (unlike Dante) Erofeev never seems to arrive. As he downs more and more hooch, the story becomes progressively more blotched and incoherent. It culminates in the Passion of Erofeev, in which our poor hero is driven up against the wall of the Kremlin (though whether its the Kremlin in Moscow or Petushki is unclear) and left screwed.
This is a story about mercy. Read it. It is easily one of the best books I've read in the past year. Then pass the word along, because it deserves to be better known.
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Besty was a Junior, by Muad Hart Lovelace, has its good and bad poitns. Some of the bad points were that charcters were always happy mopst of the time, and that was very unrealistic. The good points were thoguh, that it was a very fun book to read, and there never was a dull moment.
As a result I would rate this bok a 9 out of 10, mostly because it was very exciting, and captivating. I would definatly recomend this book.
These books reminded of the "Little House" books and I hope someone makes a TV series out of these stories. They are timeless.
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the death of Queen Victoria.
Every reader will be drawn into the honest and readable writing
style of Vera Brittain, who remembers the time of WWI when she
served as a nurse. As many other reviewers say, her momoir is simply stunning and even shocking in its description of her experiences during the tribulations. Though the some
descriptions about the hot, (or chilling) dirty hospitals, wailing patients, or stupid supervisers are understandably subdued, her feelings reacting to these surroundings are always touching, and sometimes even with some witty remarks.
On top of that, I was impressed with her daily way of life, which expeienced the rigid Victoraimism before the comrapatively free, modern post-war era. Some episodes are remarkable in telling us how a young woman had to live in a provincial town in England at the turn of the 19th century, when a die-hard Victorian conservative moral codes were still prevalent. In fact, Vera, rather humourously, recounts how travelling alone by train could be inappropriate for a lady at that time, and how she had to arrange the meeting with her love, Roland, using some skills.
Moreover, some readers may find this book interesting in different way;
that is, as this book was written during the time between WW1
and WW2, you get a strange feelings that something is missing
from the book that should have been there. For example, Hilter
is mentioned only once, but not the Nazi, and the name of
fascism appears, but very briefly (though she records one
episode in Italy which predicts the future events).
And the League of Nations, for which she passionately devotes
herself, was, as you all know, to collapse. Considering the
book alongside with the history WE know, the book becomes all
the more fascinating just because of the things the book could not tell at the time of writing.
And this strange sense leaves me wondering -- "What did Vera
Brittain do during the next world-war?" "How did she respond to
WW2 and possibly other big events in the world?" This is the
reason I didn't give 5 star rating, because the text itself is brilliant, the book gives me little information about the
author (anyway I will find it though, but...). Though a short
introduction by her daughter is attached, we know little about
her, and that is a shame, because this book is deserves much wider
range of readers, from those who remember the war to the students of Victorianism and feminism, and her life would
interest all those readers.
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The story is about a family of mother, grandmother and daughter (maybe 7 or 8 years old). The mother works as a waitress to support her family. The little girl realizes and appreciates how hard her mother works - she often helps out at the diner herself after school. She's learned from her mother the value of saving - when her mother's boss gives her some money for filling the salt shakers, she puts half in the big jar at home.
The little girl speaks of a fire that detroyed their home and all their possessions. Through the help of extended family and friends they are able to start over. However their new apartment lacks a place for her mother to "take a load off [her] feet" The family saves coins in a big jar for a year to be able to buy a new easy chair - from the mother's tips, from the grandmother's market savings, from the little girl's "earnings".
The pictures are beautiful - colorful, almost luscious. Our favorites are of the mother collapsed in a chair while the little girl counts her tips and a picture of the little girl's fantasy chair - huge, covered in velvet with roses on it.
The words are simple enough that beginning readers will be able to master it, especially after having listened to it being read aloud over and over again. My son has asked for it at least a dozen times in the last week!
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I'd been waiting ever since the introduction of Joe for Betsy and Joe to finally hook up. And they do! (Of course, we knew Maud Hart Lovelace wouldn't keep us hanging like that.) The Deep Valley world is perfect but still very real; all the characters come alive and you love them like your own family and friends.
I'm on a quest for the Betsy-Tacy High School books, but really, who designed these paperback covers?