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Sisters by a river Tekijä: Barbara Comyns
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Sisters by a river (alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi 1947; vuoden 1987 painos)

Tekijä: Barbara Comyns

JäseniäKirja-arvostelujaSuosituimmuussijaKeskimääräinen arvioMaininnat
23610113,049 (3.96)72
Mammy had her excape in her imaginary lovers, we children did not have much excape in the winter, but when the summer came there was the sun and river, some mornings I would get up at five and row up the river before anyone else had been on it, and the larks would be singing and the cows standing together in the little bays where the water was shallow, and everything would seem so good and clean, I felt I wanted to cry with so much hapiness' The first of Barbara Comyns's eight novels, SISTERS BY A RIVER is told through the eyes (and spelling) of a young girl. Vivid, funny and quite unique, it evokes the author's own extraordinary childhood. Some of the whimsical chapters: The Roly Poly Field, God in the Billiard Room, The Maids' Lav, It Wasn't Nice in the Dressing Room, As If She Had No Ears at All, The Field that Was Stiff with Skeletons, Gather Your Hats While You May, Aunts Arriving.… (lisätietoja)
Jäsen:sriq
Teoksen nimi:Sisters by a river
Kirjailijat:Barbara Comyns
Info:New York : Penguin Books -- Virago, 1987.
Kokoelmat:Oma kirjasto, Main Library
Arvio (tähdet):
Avainsanoja:english literature, novel, Virago Modern Classics, fiction

Teostiedot

Sisters by a River (tekijä: Barbara Comyns) (1947)

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Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 10) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)
This is a strange little book. I kept thinking of this as Little Women turned on its head. This is the story of five sisters told by the one in the middle. The river in reference here is the Avon, and the family is an upper class family that is apparently barely hanging on to its status and properties. It is told in an episodic fashion, non-linear, vignette-style. While the forward said it was semi-autobiographical, I kept hoping some of these events never occurred, particularly those in which animals and children were subjected to cruelty. Instances of both occurred a bit too often for my taste, but I tried to read it with a sense of humor, because otherwise it was a wee bit dark. I mean, any way you stack it, these are at worst abusive parents and at best apathetic ones.

then she (Granny) would say we were no better than Street Arabs or Charity Winks and should be horsewhipped, once Daddy took her at her word and did horsewhip me, it was so dreadful I couldn’t even cry out, then Granny got frit (frightened) and kept shouting, “No more, you will kill the child, stop, stop...”

The same father who beats Barbara for accidentally breaking an egg on a wall, throws a baby down the stairs because she will not stop crying and only the quick catch of a nursery nanny prevents a tragedy. His gardener disposes of unwanted kittens by cutting off their heads, which is over the top for me.

These kinds of passages made this a bit hard, but there were also funny episodes since the children were mischievous and less than angels and some of their hijinks were humorous. There is no Marmie handing out sage advice, no Meg loaning gloves so that her sister will be presentable, and certainly no Beth spreading sweetness and light in this novel. The oldest girl, Mary, refuses to allow the other girls to wear any colored dresses, they are forced to wear drab brown, so that she alone will shine and strictly forbids them to read any book that she loves, so Wind in the Willows is off limits. I will admit, however, that the girls’ relationships with one another seemed quite realistic and genuine to me. I grew up in a family of girls, and there are surely those moments between the older and younger that are neither kind nor fair.

In the end, I am leaving it with mixed feelings. I actually liked parts of it very much and, despite the passages that I objected to, I never considered putting it aside. So, I’m plotting it right in the middle...didn’t hate it, didn’t love it.




( )
  mattorsara | Aug 11, 2022 |
An anecdotal collection of childhood memories written in a childlike conversational tone that simultaneously captures the fragmentary nature of a childhood in recollection, as well as casually and straightforwardly - without sympathy or even acknowledgement - reveals the darker abusive environment in which the narrator and her sisters grew up.

In fact, Comyns' deliberate choice of run-on prose and occasional misspellings was very effective in distracting me from the horrific anecdotes until I was about midway through. In this way, I felt I was sucker-punched similar to that time I read Karen Russell's Swamplandia! Or perhaps I'm only reminded of it because the river played a significant part in both stories.

As with my first Comyns, I loved how she captures the way that childhood days seem to all blend together into one long long long day, or season, or event. There's no real structure to the overall story, with the barest of story progression happening in the final pages.

Aside: Apparently this book was very autobiographical and Comyns wrote it as a record for herself. After The Skin Chairs, I felt certain that Comyns will be a favourite. I'm still certain, but feel that this book would be perhaps better read last in my pursuit of Comyns. ( )
  kitzyl | Jul 7, 2020 |
Barbara Comyns has a unique style which runs through all the 3 books I've read by her so far. It's very matter of fact, somehow childish, and with dark undercurrents. Here she tells autobiographical stories from her childhood as if she's telling of a rural idyll, but there's a dark undercurrent with neglect, violence and general unpleasantness. ( )
  AlisonSakai | Oct 17, 2018 |
My reading during work breaks in the canteen. ( )
  lydiasbooks | Jan 17, 2018 |
Humour and horror juxtapose'
By sally tarbox on 18 Dec. 2011
Format: Paperback
Lovely book, that can only be described as the literary form of naive art! Comyns recounts episodes from her childhood, brought up in a genteel if debt-laden family. It put me in mind of Nancy Mitford's account of her own family. Irascible Daddy, vague, deaf Mammy, and six children who for want of outside company spend much time together.
Comyns writes in a unique child-like style, with eccentric spelling and an antipathy to semi-colons, so that phrases run into each other:

'Mammy had always looked and been rather vague, she had a kind of gypsoflia mind, all little bits and pieces held together by whisps' (sic)

Far from being a sentimental account, Comyns recalls the horrific alongside the magical- villagers drowning in the floods; her father's violence; ill-treatment of animals.
I LOVE Comyns' work ! ( )
  starbox | Jul 10, 2016 |
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» Lisää muita tekijöitä

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Comyns, Barbaraensisijainen tekijäkaikki painoksetvahvistettu
Holden, UrsulaJohdantomuu tekijäeräät painoksetvahvistettu
Trapido, BarbaraJohdantomuu tekijäeräät painoksetvahvistettu
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It was in the middle of a snowstorm I was born, Palmer's brother's wedding night, Palmer went to the wedding and got snowbound, and when he arrived very late in the morning he had to bury my packing under the wallnut tree, he always had to do this when we were born - six times in all, and none of us died, Mary said Granny used to give us manna to eat and that's why we didn't but manna is stuff in the bible, perhaps they have it in places like Fortnham & Mason, but I've never seen it, or maybe Jews shops.
Anyone with a gothic streak will be gripped by this vivid autobiographical novel about five sisters struggling to bring themselves up - with a high degree of ingenuity - as they dodge the fall-out created by their ill-matched and violent parents. (Introduction)
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Mammy had her excape in her imaginary lovers, we children did not have much excape in the winter, but when the summer came there was the sun and river, some mornings I would get up at five and row up the river before anyone else had been on it, and the larks would be singing and the cows standing together in the little bays where the water was shallow, and everything would seem so good and clean, I felt I wanted to cry with so much hapiness' The first of Barbara Comyns's eight novels, SISTERS BY A RIVER is told through the eyes (and spelling) of a young girl. Vivid, funny and quite unique, it evokes the author's own extraordinary childhood. Some of the whimsical chapters: The Roly Poly Field, God in the Billiard Room, The Maids' Lav, It Wasn't Nice in the Dressing Room, As If She Had No Ears at All, The Field that Was Stiff with Skeletons, Gather Your Hats While You May, Aunts Arriving.

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