Collection
Description
Sixteen-year-old Marjorie Morgenstern lives a quiet life in New York City. Her mother hopes for a glittering marriage to a good man, but Marjorie has other ideas. When she falls desperately in love with Noel Airman, a musician as reckless as he is talented, Marjorie dreams of defying her destiny as a wife and mother to become a star of the stage. Why should she settle with being just another Mrs Morgenstern if she can succeed as Marjorie Morningstar?
Awards
National Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 1956)
User reviews
LibraryThing member santhony
I must confess to having read this novel shortly after Youngblood Hawke. As a result, roughly 1,000 pages of 1930-40s New York City dialect and social mores tends to grate after awhile. The result was, that about halfway through the book, I found myself not only failing to care about the "heroine",
Perhaps if I'd read it first, it would have created a more favorable impression. As it was, I thought if I read the expletive "Gad" one more time, I'd vomit.
In a nutshell, the novel follows the adolecent and early adult years of a Jewish American princess in 1930s New York City. Mildly entertaining at first, for me the book dragged and fell into a vicious cycle of relationship and career events that became repetitive at best. I've read most of Wouk's work and for me, this was the weakest.
Show More
but actually beginning to dislike her quite a bit. Once that point was reached, I simply began to look forward to the end of the book. Perhaps if I'd read it first, it would have created a more favorable impression. As it was, I thought if I read the expletive "Gad" one more time, I'd vomit.
In a nutshell, the novel follows the adolecent and early adult years of a Jewish American princess in 1930s New York City. Mildly entertaining at first, for me the book dragged and fell into a vicious cycle of relationship and career events that became repetitive at best. I've read most of Wouk's work and for me, this was the weakest.
Show Less
LibraryThing member juniperSun
Slow start. Good.
Noted during my 1980's attempt to read every book in my small town library.
Noted during my 1980's attempt to read every book in my small town library.
LibraryThing member GramLouise2
I read this book in 1957 when I was 17 and impressionable. How things have
changed, but the feelings I felt at 17 were pretty much the same as Marjorie's.
changed, but the feelings I felt at 17 were pretty much the same as Marjorie's.
LibraryThing member jayne_charles
Wouk doesn't just do good war novels. This is a very readable story about a young Jewish girl growing up in America, the trials and tribulations of finding a suitable bloke, and trying to become an actress. Lots of philosophical monologues from her on-off boyfriend who has verbal diarrhoea! I had
Show More
the feeling that this was the author getting a lot of things off his chest, but none the worse for it Show Less
LibraryThing member gbelik
I was led to read this book because it was one of the books that Will Schwalbe and his mother read in The End of Your Life Book Club. Published in the 50's, but about the 30's and 40's, it's attitudes were dated, but it remains an absorbing story.
LibraryThing member Schmerguls
This is quite a good book and memorable, though the morals of the characters leave much to be desired.
LibraryThing member carolvanbrocklin
This was an OK book in spite of Noel and his diatribes that not only were excessively boring but also just didn't make sense most of the time.
I enjoyed watching Marjorie as she "grew up" and while I agreed with her assessment of her life there in the end, it was interesting to read the last
A little editing would have made this book brilliant.
I enjoyed watching Marjorie as she "grew up" and while I agreed with her assessment of her life there in the end, it was interesting to read the last
Show More
chapter and find that she really hadn't grown up all that much after all. She still believed that she and only she knew all the answers and how dare you insinuate that she did not. A little editing would have made this book brilliant.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Jacqklueh
Read this book as a very young teenager and fell in love with the story line.
LibraryThing member Jacqklueh
Read this book as a very young teenager and fell in love with the story line.
LibraryThing member Jacqklueh
Read this book as a very young teenager and fell in love with the story line.
LibraryThing member Jacqklueh
Read this book as a very young teenager and fell in love with the story line.
LibraryThing member Jacqklueh
Read this book as a very young teenager and fell in love with the story line.
LibraryThing member Jacqklueh
Read this book as a very young teenager and fell in love with the story line.
LibraryThing member AliceAnna
What an odd book to have been written by the author of The Caine Mutiny. It was like the story of Fanny Brice in reverse almost. It wasn't a bad book, but just so awfully dated.
LibraryThing member sandra.k.heinzman
I read this book in high school and liked it; 45 years later I loved it. I read half and listened to the second half and loved the narration. It is one of my all- time favorite books and I really like Herman Wouk's writing. It takes place mainly in the 1930's and then jumps to 1954. I recommend
Show More
this old classic, published in 1955. Now I want to see the movie! Show Less
LibraryThing member burritapal
I liked this book, and hated it at the same time. I liked it for a good read, but here we have this "the man and the girl," again, or as I'd rather have it: "the boy and the woman." Disgusting double standard going on throughout the book.
Subjects
Publication
Doubleday and Company, Inc.
Original publication date
1955
Pages
472