Gentle Julia

by Booth Tarkington

Superciliousness is not safe after all, because a person who forms the habit of wearing it may some day find his lower lip grown permanently projected beyond the upper, so that he can't get it back, and must go through life looking like the King of Spain.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Humor

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1922

About the author

Newton Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams. He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction/Novel more than once, along with William Faulkner, John Updike and Colson Whitehead. Although he is little read now, in the 1910s and 1920s he was considered America's greatest living author.

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Booth Tarkington must have been a very versatile writer. Not only did he win two of the first four Pulitzer Prizes ever awarded, but he did so with two very different novels -- The Magnificent Ambersons (the second book of his Growth Trilogy, about the effect of industrialization in the American Midwest) and Alice Adams (the struggle of the family of a young middle-class Midwestern woman to gain acceptance for her among her wealthy acquaintances). Tarkington continued for years to churn out novels -- no more prize-winners but many best-sellers. Gentle Julia was one of them, grabbing a place on the American best-seller list and staying there for 20 weeks (8 weeks in the #1 spot) in 1922.

Gentle Julia is an entertaining and amusing novel, filled with characters who are easy to like. The beautiful Julia Atwater is indeed gentle - kindness personified, in fact - graciously "entertaining" the crew of eccentric suitors who gather on her front porch every summer evening, hoping to be the lucky one to win her heart. Always keeping an eye on Julia and her suitors is her 14-year-old niece, Florence, who tries hard to be "grown-up" but, more often than not, is involved in a mischievous plot or a contentious dispute with her slightly younger cousin, Herbert. The antics of these three and the supporting cast of family and friends keep the pages flipping and the laughter rolling.

Yes, this book was fun -- most of it, that is. Had I been alive and reading it in the 1920's, I would be giving it four stars. However, I find the manner in which the author portrays black people to be most offensive. Although such stereotypes were undoubtedly accepted at the time of publication (a fact borne out by the book's status as a best-seller), I feel that lowering my star-rating is an appropriate way to flag this issue for potential readers.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excluding bad cooks and the dangerously insane, the persons most disturbing to the serenity of households are young lovers.

Julia Atwater is the belle of her town, with dozens of smitten suitors haunting her front porch and showering her with candy, pet animals and poems of their own manufacture. She also has an irascible father who can't stand most of her suitors and their intrusion on his peace; and a large family of aunts, uncles and cousins who discuss her affairs freely and derive both entertainment and exasperated head-shakings from them. The story mostly concerns what happens when Julia's thirteen-year-old niece Florence takes a shine to the most ungainly, unlikely, and most smitten of her aunt's suitors, a young man called Noble Dill, and decides she wants to do something to help his cause. Between squabbles with her cousin Herbert, that is. Eventually, Florence and Herbert between them manage to bring about an occurrence that affects Julia and her suitors with a vengeance!

Tarkington covers a bit of the same territory as he did in The Flirt , with a town belle and mischievous children, but here in an entirely comedic vein. Julia is incorrigible, but not in the least malicious—her family avers that her failing is being entirely too kind-hearted; she simply can't bear to hurt any of her suitors' feelings, so she has to encourage all of them! It's probably the funniest Tarkington book I've read yet. Some scenes—the incident of the umbrella, Noble getting dressed for the dance, Mr. Atwater's introduction to the poodle—had me literally shrieking with laughter. And it has that lovely atmosphere of a pleasant Edwardian-era town with tree-lined streets, gracious old brick houses, front-porch social calls in the evenings and children's backyard pranks that Tarkington is so good at evoking. It's perfect for a charming, light summer read.

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of American humour, but this book was hilarious. Florence behaves a little young for a 13-year-old, but she's an unforgettable character - an imaginative blunderbuss of a little girl who takes a sudden shine to her pretty Aunt Julia's most hapless, helpless suitor (named, of you can credit it, Noble Dill) - and whose matchmaking attempts, assisted by Noble's wonderful gormlessness, weak havoc upon the whole town.

I laughed out loud right through this book, but as time passed I became less convinced Tarkington would be able to give us a satisfying ending, given that the limp Dill is the closest thing we have to a hero. Indeed, the ending, while it made a decent punchline, and was pretty realistic, didn't satisfy.

Recommended if you want a good laugh and don't mind the weak ending.

[Arthur Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gentle Julia of the title may be the object around which the plot of this novel revolves, but she doesn't come across as being the main character at all. That honor goes to her 13-year-old niece, Florence. Consequently, this feels rather like something resembling this author's Penrod stories. It is pleasant but not profound, one of Mr. Tarkington's lighter works.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knowing full well that Booth Tarkington is about as current as a butter churn, I will defend my choice to review his Gentle Julia by pointing out that he was a two-time Pulitzer winner (think Faulkner or Updike) and that this particular book has been republished in literally dozens of editions. Among other things Tarkington was either naturally literate or very well educated; his grammar is flawless, making reading him a pleasure. Although our culture has changed beyond recognition* since Gentle Julia was written, its humor about the ways children think and act is undimmed. I realize that it wouldn’t be every Goodreader’s cup of tea, but I’ve read this book 5 or 6 times and it still makes me laugh out loud. An added plus are a couple of his observations that he puts much better than I could. The one in chapter 21 on the nature of coincidence/miracles is too long to quote; the other says “The quality of savagery, barbarism, or civilization in a tribe may be tested by the relations it characteristically maintains with domestic animals.”
Even though I’m a voice crying out in the wilderness here, Gentle Julia is highly recommended .

*Tarkington’s ideas about parents, women, Blacks, etc. reflect those that were prevalent a century ago

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Thurber, I read, advised his daughter to read this book. I don't know how old she was then. Liking Thurber and Tarkington, I tracked it down. The library's edition was published in 1920 or so, still going strong. Tarkington was a talented writer, immensely popular in his heyday but now largely forgotten. He got two of the first four Pulitzer prizes in fiction, for Alice Adams and The Magnificent Ambersons. Gentle Julia is less serious than those two; it's in the comic mode of Penrod, Seventeen and Little Orvie.

This book, like the other comic novels, is a fond, mischievous portrait of small city middle America early 20th C. The writer shares with Dickens and P.G. Wodehouse a gift for funny phrases and describing laugh-aloud moments. The real protagonist of Gentle Julia is not Julia herself, but her 13-year old niece, Florence Atwater, close cousin to Pippi Longstocking, or a feminist Penrod. I enjoyed the novel but found the ending inconclusive and annoying.

As with the Penrod trilogy, this book is marred for 2020 readers by an affectionate but now almost intolerable portrayal of an African American cook who speaks what we have to call "Darkie." I choked that down as a time capsule, but doubt Charles M. Blow would.

[Dystopian Mayhem · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve never hated a 13 year old character as much as I hated Florence, and her aunt “Not gentle Julia” is even worse. In fact, I didn’t like any character in this book, except Katie Silver, she’s the best written character in this book. But I liked Tarkington’s sense of humor, whether it’s about children antics or grown ups sufferings.

[Freeda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had some sweet/charming characters, but at times the dialogue seemed a bit aimless and difficult to follow, leading the whole thing to be a bit "flat." There were a few mildly humorous situations, and the troubles between Florence and Herbert were relatable. I held out hope for a satisfying ending, but it was more confusing and abrupt than I'd expected.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very easy reading apart from the need to adopt an excruciating accent to understand the cook, mildly amusing, and perceptive about pre-adolescent attitudes. Not something to ever read again or even to remember, really.

[Raoul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous story with insights to the culture of the 1920s era.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was all right. It didn't end the way I thought it would, and I thought the title was misleading. But nonetheless, I love books from this period, and I love Booth Tarkington.

[Phillip Hardy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Astoundingly boring

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Booth Tarkington's Gentle Julia is a light, dare I say gentle, comedic novel. I could easily envision the book adapted into a Will Rogers-type Americana movie. There are lots of parts for colorful character actors, plus some real gems for Our Gang kids. In fact, even though their Aunt Julia is the title character, the kids tend to drive the plot. There were several hilarious scenes, some that made me laugh out loud. Remembering the kid-published newspaper in particular still makes me laugh.

Although I found Gentle Julia delightful for the most part, it had a glaring flaw. Though it does not come across as malicious, Tarkington's portrayal of Kitty Silver, a Black maid, relies heavily on stereotypes. It is a shame in an otherwise wonderful book.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book right up to the ending, which was rather silly and kind of a let-down. I enjoyed the old-fashioned nature of the book and the hijinks Florence and Herbert got up to, as well as Julia's indecisiveness. It's fun to read a clean book-although it had some rather un pc parts due to it's age.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical Booth Tarkington book which takes us back into a different time where lifes expectations were at a different level.

[Hermien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lighthearted easy read.

[Joseph Durham · Rating 4 out of 5]

engaging and humorous tale in the tradition of Mark Twain.