New England: A Collection From Harper's Magazine

by Harper's Magazine

New A Collection From Harper's Magazine

Genres: History

538 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1990

Reviews

[E Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I have a few problems with the book itself. It is formatted in two columns per page which is how it would have appeared in the magazine, but it made the print quite small. Also, only a handful of articles had an author or date attached. Perhaps, the original articles did not have a by-line, but the date of publication should have been available. I was able to construe the approximate dates and even the authors on a few articles. I believe all the articles were written in the last decades of the 19th century. An index would have been extremely helpful.
I almost knocked this down to one star. It was more of a chore to read than a pleasure. The writing was the verbose and flowery style of the times. Every sentence embellished with a profusion of adjectives. The authors seemed to concentrate more on exhibiting their style than getting their point across.
The last article, "The White Mountains" went on for 64 pages describing streams, peaks, waterfalls and ravines, over and over again. This was before photojournalism and the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is certainly apropos.
The redeeming quality was that I did get a significant amount of knowledge about the people and area of the time. I learned that Vermont was an independent republic for fourteen years. I learned there was adamant and violent action against abolitionists even in Northeastern cities prior to the civil war. There are accounts of Emerson, Longfellow, Hawthorne, Oliver Wendall Holmes, and other notable authors of the time, written by contemporaries who knew them personally.

[Len Lira · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another book from the library of the Inn on the Sound-hey, it was raining and 48 degrees while we were there-what else is a book worm to do? Nonetheless, was looking for a history of the region, and this one promised historical essays that offered a history of the New England region. Would skip it. Boring, trite, and elitist, read the article The New England Negro, and it’s patronizing treatment of enslaved humans and bucolic institutions of slavery (sure, they were considered part of the family because they lived with the family…ok…but what about the part where the New Englander “knew how to train the negro”…”with fear then love”…whatever, probably better to keep an eye on their investment. Nonetheless, it did give credibility to the 1619 project given that the article was published in 1894.

Would only recommend if you need help sleeping while on vacation.