Title: In America
Author: Susan Sontag
Pages: 387
Grade: B
Summary: (From the Publisher)
In 1876 a group of Poles led by Maryna Zalewska, Poland's greatest actress, travel to California to found a "utopian" commune. Maryna, who has renounced her career, is accompanied by her small son and husband; in her entourage is a rising young writer who is in love with her. The novel portrays a West that is still largely empty, where white settlers confront native Californians and Asian coolies. The image of America, and of California-as fantasy, as escape, as radical simplification-constantly meets a more complex reality. The commune fails and most of the émigrés go home, but Maryna stays and triumphs on the American stage.
My thoughts: While not a page turner, the summary really does it little to no justice. The writing was superb. Because while I don't know that the story really thrilled me...the writing kept me reading. The use of words, the flow. The sometimes poetic nature of it. The ease with which it switched point of view. I adored that. And I also loved a bit near the end...which spoke of an American actor of the theatre compared to a European one...at the same. It spoke of how in Europe...acting was still an art. While in America, it had become an interest story. What actress is throwing a fit over what? Who is sleeping with whom? And I realize the American fascination with celebrities has almost always existed. And it is largely just here...even now...that it really occurs. I mean sure the need to know has branched out...hello internet..but nonetheless. The point remains...that as Americans...we do tend to need and want a bit more than most.
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