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Available
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Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (2005), Edition: First Edition. 1 in number line, Paperback, 320 pages
Description
Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML: Though not as well known as the writers she influenced, Sarah Orne Jewett remains one of the most important American novelists of the late nineteenth century. A Country Doctor, Jewett's first novel, is a luminous portrayal of rural Maine and a look at the author's own world. In it, Nan's struggle to choose between marriage and a career as a doctor, between the confining life of a small town and a self-directed one as a professional, mirrors Jewett's own conflicts as well as eloquently giving voice to the leading women's issues of her time. Jewett's perfect details about wildflowers and seaside wharfs, farm women knitting by the fireside and sailors going upriver to meet the moonlight convey a realism that has seldom been surpassed..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member majorbabs
Not as good as the Pointed Firs, but still very readable.
LibraryThing member franoscar
This book is a character study of a country doctor, modeled after the author's father. It is also a story characterized by a vrey deterministic view of the world, about a girl with some "bad genes" who is raised by the Doctor plus her maternal relatives and goes into Doctoring. The horrifying part
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is that she decides she is unfit to be a wife and mother because of those "bad genes." Show Less
LibraryThing member vesnaslav
Through the dialogue and incidental plot progression, even through the characterization of major and minor characters, it is easy to see Jewett's great influence on the Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery. As we read the opening chapters of Anne of Green Gables, we see so much of Jewett's small
Through both Dr. Leslie and Marilla Cuthbert we eventually see the hopes and dreams they harbor for Nan and Anne, respectively. These are cherished aspirations which go far beyond their tiny societies. Both Jewett and Montgomery were keenly aware of the roads they were paving for future female writers and thinkers. Both authors loved their heroines and sent them out in to the world to succeed. Marilla had no qualms about Anne studying to be a teacher, for "it is an uncertain world." She was of the opinion that a girl should be able to earn a living. Dr. Leslie, likewise stated, "It's a cold, cold world....only one thing will help [Nan] through safely, and that is her usefulness. She shall never be either a thief or a beggar of the world's favor if I can have my wish."
Praise are due both to Jewett and Montgomery. Neither heroine has weakened and paled with time. Neither writer has become less significant to women's studies.
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northern world coming through in the guise of Prince Edward Island. Dr. Leslie's maid (interestingly enough named Marilla) is concerned one day over the doctor driving in to town, although the "leisurely way" has "assured her of safety." We see this charmingly busy-body attitude with Montgomery's Rachel Lynde. When shy, taciturn Matthew Cuthbert is all dressed up, driving his buggy, Mrs. Rachel Lynde will not have a moment's peace until she has wrung the truth from her neighbor, the good man's sister, Marilla Cuthbert. "Oh, my afternoon is spoiled!" she exclaims.Through both Dr. Leslie and Marilla Cuthbert we eventually see the hopes and dreams they harbor for Nan and Anne, respectively. These are cherished aspirations which go far beyond their tiny societies. Both Jewett and Montgomery were keenly aware of the roads they were paving for future female writers and thinkers. Both authors loved their heroines and sent them out in to the world to succeed. Marilla had no qualms about Anne studying to be a teacher, for "it is an uncertain world." She was of the opinion that a girl should be able to earn a living. Dr. Leslie, likewise stated, "It's a cold, cold world....only one thing will help [Nan] through safely, and that is her usefulness. She shall never be either a thief or a beggar of the world's favor if I can have my wish."
Praise are due both to Jewett and Montgomery. Neither heroine has weakened and paled with time. Neither writer has become less significant to women's studies.
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LibraryThing member LukeS
Nan Price was orphaned in infancy, then raised by her grandmother, until her upbringing is finished by Dr. John Leslie. A case can certainly be made that the eponymous doctor is our Dr. Leslie, rather than the heroine. But I won't make that case now.
Definitely a product of its time, "A Country
The other reasons are that the author's descriptions are full, her characters are deep and well-shaded, and she delivers a life-affirming outcome. I don't know that I would necessarily term this book a classic, but it's certainly worth your while, not only for the historic interest, but also the simple appreciation we take in a well-told, satisfying story.
Definitely a product of its time, "A Country
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Doctor" recounts the massive 19th Century roadblocks standing the the way of a young woman ambitious to be a doctor, and how she overcomes them. Jewett unfolds her story with abstract expositions that deal with specific emotional and interpersonal interactions. It reminds me (on one level) of Henry James, except that Ms. Jewett's way is plainer and clearer, and just as deep. The author portray's Nan's choice as a test of not only perserverance, but also of conscience, in a way that simply would not apply today. That is one of the reasons, obviously, to read this book.The other reasons are that the author's descriptions are full, her characters are deep and well-shaded, and she delivers a life-affirming outcome. I don't know that I would necessarily term this book a classic, but it's certainly worth your while, not only for the historic interest, but also the simple appreciation we take in a well-told, satisfying story.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
Nan Price is adopted by a doctor as a young orphan (there's a lot of them around in nineteenth-century women's literature) and grows up to become a doctor herself. Despite the title, which might make you think this book is about a country doctor, this actually happens in the last chapter. So is it
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about her going to medical school? Not really, as that all transpires "off camera" so to speak. Mostly it's about her adoptive father the doctor, who is admittedly fairly cool, but tends to talk a lot about the dangers of medical science. I do not think I have ever read a book where so many pages went by yet so little happened-- but inexplicably I was almost never bored! The pages just rolled by, and I read them. On the other hand, I never got excited either. There's some interesting, if muddled, discourse about inheritance here: Nan has to have negative, unmotherly traits because of her mother, but she also has to be a doctor because of her environment... and yet her being a doctor is also a calling from God. Nature, nurture, or divine influence? Who knows. Show Less
LibraryThing member etxgardener
Somehow I had never read a book by Sarah Orne Jewett, so I was glad to be introduced to her through a book group as this book is a remarkable feminist novel for being written in 1884.
Anna Prince is brought to her grandmother's house in Maine by her dying mother, and then is taken to live with the
Her interest in medicine increases as she grows older. Although the ladies in the town do not approve of her pursuing such an unladylike profession, she remains adamant in her choice of a vocation and goes off to medical school after high school.
Halfway through her studies, she receives an invitation from her her father's sister, Nancy, to visit in the seaside town of Dunport. Her aunt, who has been sending the doctor checks for her support her whole life has never shown any interest in her niece, but now seems to want to connect with her only living relative. Aunt Nancy is stern and austere, but is quickly charmed by Nan's generous spirit and begins to hope that Nan will marry her protege, George Gerry and settle down in Dunport.
Nan, however, has other ideas. and how she stands up for what she wants would make any feminist today very proud.
Anna Prince is brought to her grandmother's house in Maine by her dying mother, and then is taken to live with the
Show More
town doctor when her grandmother dies. She is a charming little girl, but serious and bookish and becomes interested in medicine at an early age. Her interest in medicine increases as she grows older. Although the ladies in the town do not approve of her pursuing such an unladylike profession, she remains adamant in her choice of a vocation and goes off to medical school after high school.
Halfway through her studies, she receives an invitation from her her father's sister, Nancy, to visit in the seaside town of Dunport. Her aunt, who has been sending the doctor checks for her support her whole life has never shown any interest in her niece, but now seems to want to connect with her only living relative. Aunt Nancy is stern and austere, but is quickly charmed by Nan's generous spirit and begins to hope that Nan will marry her protege, George Gerry and settle down in Dunport.
Nan, however, has other ideas. and how she stands up for what she wants would make any feminist today very proud.
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LibraryThing member m.belljackson
Beautiful descriptions of country locales in all the seasons interweave with a gradually
evolving feminist plot.
Still wonder why Nan could not combine her chosen Country Doctor career with an eventual marriage
as did her guardian and wise teacher, Dr. Leslie. Grandmother Thatcher and Marilla are
evolving feminist plot.
Still wonder why Nan could not combine her chosen Country Doctor career with an eventual marriage
as did her guardian and wise teacher, Dr. Leslie. Grandmother Thatcher and Marilla are
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also memorable. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1884
Physical description
320 p.; 7.7 inches
ISBN
0143039261 / 9780143039266