Post by nancy on Feb 19, 2006 10:54:24 GMT -7
I have been meaning to post some notes about novels I have read that have Polish immigrants, or Polish-Americans, as the central characters. Since I am not going to ever get the whole list together at once, I thought I would do one at a time (in no particular order).
Pears on a Willow Tree by Leslie Pietrzyk
"The old ways did not follow us here. We brought them, carrying them with us as any piece of china ... wrapping them carefully as we did all our treasures..." (from the front cover)
Originally published as a collection of short stories, this book is the story of four generations of women, beginning with Rose, the original emigrant in 1919, and ending with Amy, teaching English in Thailand.
The most emotional and evocative chapter contains Rose's letters, written in 1919 just after she arrived in American. The letters are addressed to her Matka, whose voice is never heard, but whose image is clear and indelible. It is this chapter in particular that has brought me back to this book more than once. Some of the other chapters seem a little disconnected to the book as a whole, and each character is not as fully developed as I would prefer.
Each of the four generations has to reject or embrace, to whatever extent they must, the traditions of the family, and learn for themselves what it means to be both Polish-American and female.
I doubt that men would like this book, but women will, and I rate it 3.5 (out of 5).
Pears on a Willow Tree by Leslie Pietrzyk
"The old ways did not follow us here. We brought them, carrying them with us as any piece of china ... wrapping them carefully as we did all our treasures..." (from the front cover)
Originally published as a collection of short stories, this book is the story of four generations of women, beginning with Rose, the original emigrant in 1919, and ending with Amy, teaching English in Thailand.
The most emotional and evocative chapter contains Rose's letters, written in 1919 just after she arrived in American. The letters are addressed to her Matka, whose voice is never heard, but whose image is clear and indelible. It is this chapter in particular that has brought me back to this book more than once. Some of the other chapters seem a little disconnected to the book as a whole, and each character is not as fully developed as I would prefer.
Each of the four generations has to reject or embrace, to whatever extent they must, the traditions of the family, and learn for themselves what it means to be both Polish-American and female.
I doubt that men would like this book, but women will, and I rate it 3.5 (out of 5).