Particularize Books In Pursuance Of Memoirs of a Midget
| Original Title: | Memoirs of a Midget |
| ISBN: | 1589880129 (ISBN13: 9781589880122) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction (1921) |
Walter de la Mare
Paperback | Pages: 379 pages Rating: 3.68 | 197 Users | 35 Reviews
Identify Appertaining To Books Memoirs of a Midget
| Title | : | Memoirs of a Midget |
| Author | : | Walter de la Mare |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 379 pages |
| Published | : | January 1st 2004 by Paul Dry Books (first published 1921) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Novels. Literature. European Literature. British Literature |
Chronicle As Books Memoirs of a Midget
Miss M., the narrator of these fictional memoirs, is a diminutive young woman (though just how diminutive, the author never says) with a “passion for shells, fossils, flints, butterflies, and stuffed animals.” Miss M. tells of her early life as a dreamy orphan and, in particular, of her tempestuous twentieth year—in which she falls in love with a beautiful and ambitious full-sized woman and is courted by a male dwarf. Concluding that she must choose either to simply tolerate her difference or grow callous to it, Miss M. resolves to become independent by offering herself up as a spectacle in a circus. [Walter de la Mare (1873–1956) wrote numerous novels, short stories, essays, and poems. He was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Memoirs of a Midget. Other major works include the children’s novel, The Three Royal Monkeys, Henry Brocken, The Return, and Desert Islands.] [Alison Lurie is the author of many highly praised novels as well as two collections of essays on children’s literature, Don’t Tell the Grown-Ups and Boys and Girls Forever. She has taught children’s literature and folklore at Cornell University.]Rating Appertaining To Books Memoirs of a Midget
Ratings: 3.68 From 197 Users | 35 ReviewsAssessment Appertaining To Books Memoirs of a Midget
I love the writing style; it somehow reminds me of intricate pretty old-fashioned things. It's very introspective and the book's real strength is that it's one of those that really get across an individual's experience; the particular way they think and interpret the world. The descriptions felt very vivid to me. There's a heavily hinted romantic fascination with another woman, and that's quite good if you like beautiful, enigmatic, existentially angsty and spiteful characters. What I didn'tI tried very hard to read this book, but just could not complete it. I found it too dragging and uninteresting.
Cast off into the world with a modest income following the deaths of her parents, the narrator finds a kindly landlady/caretaker. Major adventures at this location were sneaking out at night to view the night sky and forming an emotional attachment to the beautiful daughter. I initially did not realize that the mysterious male suitor there was a dwarf until Miss M refers to him as "the hunchback." Not surprisingly when she is swept up into London aristocracy (by a daughter of "Lord B."), she
Not what I anticipated when I picked it up, but very good nonetheless. I had expected it to be much more based on the physical circumstances of being of very small stature in Victorian times - and to some degree it was - but the focus was really more psychological/social, exploring the inward struggles of an individual who is cut off from nearly all of humanity because of its perception of her as somehow less, and therefore not to be taken seriously. de la Mare creates a beautifully complex
"When one speaks of de la Mare one must go heavy on the cream..." I miss this book. But I dont miss it like I missed Don Quixote or The Book of Ebenezer Le Page when I finished them. Those two books for me were the embodiments of two people; two people I dearly missed as soon as I finished reading the final page. I missed their presence as people in my life. I still miss them! even though theyre ever within arms reach right there on my shelf The way I miss Memoirs of a Midget is different. I
A forgotten gem, poetic and strange -- if not as successful as his short fiction, still very beautiful.
English lit...1890s? England...solitude and society from Miss M pov. More like 2.5 stars - heavy on the ruminations, short on activity.
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