Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town Stephen Leacock 9781463796792 Books
Download As PDF : Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town Stephen Leacock 9781463796792 Books
This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare s finesse to Oscar Wilde s wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library.
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town Stephen Leacock 9781463796792 Books
I'm an admirer of Garrison Keillor's "Lake Wobegon" novels, but I can't be the only reader who senses a lot of anger, bitterness, and contempt running deep beneath their surface. Some of the reminiscences are whimsical and affectionate, but there are also some very thorny little pricks and hidden gievances. Which brings us to this book, which is gentle and slightly mocking, and always in the sunshine, but also smart and shrewdly insightful.Stephen Leacock was a tremendously well regarded humorist in the early part of the twentieth century, (no less an eminence than Robertson Davies declared him a true "genius"). And, thankfully, his good natured, but penetrating and ironic, pieces are as fresh and entertaining today as they were when published. It's a shame that this great Canadian writer is no longer appreciated in the U.S. As a consequence of that, though, careful Kindle searchers will find that many of Leacock's works are in the public domain and are available as perfectly readable and well-formatted Kindle freebies.
One of the interesting aspects of Leacock's work, and this book in particular, is that you can read it in any number of ways. If you want a light, humorous, entertaining tale, then this is it. If you want something more than a mild pastoral comedy, maybe a little along the lines of "Our Town"", then this is it. If you want to deconstruct an old work to see how humor worked in the early twentieth century, well have at it. The book is good enough to withstand and reward any and every reader. Heck, think of it as Thomas Hardy, in Canada, with jokes.
I'm always looking for interesting Kindle freebies, and my best find to date has been the Leacock works in general and this collection in particular. A nice book to recommend.
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Tags : Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town [Stephen Leacock] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past,Stephen Leacock,Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town,CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,146379679X,Literature & Fiction General,FICTION Classics
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Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town Stephen Leacock 9781463796792 Books Reviews
I'm a Stephen Leacock fan. This is not my favorite, but it's an interesting comic riff on life in a small Canadian town around 1890-1900..
lovely little stories
This is in response to a previous review, which criticized not the work, but the kindle edition. Contrary to what the reviewer says this is NOT a scan of a hard copy book, but is a fully functional kindle edition. The transfer is of excellent quality and highlighting, dictionary, and table of contents all work. The previous reviewer must be referring to a different edition. At $.99 this is a fine value.
As to the text, this is a fine, lighthearted, if not profound, collection of stories about small-town Canada. Recommended.
Perhaps the finest comment about Stephen Leacock in the last half century is that "he is a
Will Rogers for the 90's."
Rogers, of course, is one of the most beloved of American humorists -- he was killed in
1935 when his plane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska. Leacock died on March 28, 1944.
Like Rogers, he had been Canada's favorite humorist for decades.
Sunshine Sketches is about Orillia, Ontario, Canada, where Leacock had his summer home
on Brewery Bay (he once wrote, "I have known that name, the old Brewery Bay, to make
people feel thirsty by correspondence as far away as Nevada.") His home is now maintained
as a historic site by the town of Orillia. I lived there for almost 30 years, and the people of Orillia are still much the same as Leacock portrayed them in 1912.
These stories about various personalities in town were printed in the local newspaper in the
1910 - 1912 era, before being compiled into this book which established Leacock's literary
fame. The people portrayed really lived, though some are composites; the events are of a
kindly humorist looking at the foibles of small town life. Once they came out in book form
and soared to national popularity, everyone in town figured the rest of the country was
laughing at them because of Leacock's book and he was royally hated in Orillia to the end
of his life.
Gradually, and this took decades, Orillians came to recognize that genius had walked
amongst them for several decades. (It's hard to recognize genius when your own ego is so
inflated.) Orillia now awards the annual "Leacock Medal for Humor" -- Canada's top literary
prize for the best book of humour for the preceding year.
Leacock died when I was six, but I did know his son, who still lived in town. I delivered
papers to the editor of the "Newspacket," Leacock's name for the Orillia Packet and Times
(where I worked) and the rival Newsletter. The Packet had the same editor in the 1940's as
when Leacock wrote about him in 1910.
But the book is more than Orillia; it is a wonderfully kind and humorous description of life in
many small towns. The American artist Norman Rockwell painted the same kinds of scenes;
it is the type of idyllic urban life so many of us keep longing to find again in our hectic
urban world.
Leacock realized the book was universal in its description of small towns, and in the preface
he wrote "Mariposa is not a real town. On the contrary, it is about seventy or eighty of
them. You may find them all the way from Lake Superior to the sea, with the same square
streets and the same maple trees and the same churches and hotels, and everywhere the
sunshine of the land of hope."
True enough, which gives this book continuing appeal nearly a century after it was written.
All great writing is about topics you know, and as a longtime resident Leacock knew Orillia
well. As for Leacock himself, he wrote, "I was born at Swanmoor, Hants., England, on Dec.
30, 1869. I am not aware that there was any particular conjunction of the planets at the
time, but should think it extremely likely."
He says of his education, "I survived until I took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
1903. The meaning of this degree is that the recipient of instruction is examined for the last
time in his life, and is pronounced completely full. After this, no new ideas can be imparted
to him."
In reviewing Charles Dickens' works in 1934, Leacock wrote what could well be his own
epitaph "Transitory popularity is not proof of genius. But permanent popularity is." The fact
his writings are still current illustrates the nature of his writing.
In contrast to the sometimes sardonic humor of modern times, Sunshine Sketches reflects
Leacock's idea that "the essence of humor is human kindness." Or, in the same vein, "Humor
may be defined as the kindly contemplation of the incongruities of life, and the artistic
expression thereof."
Granted, this book is not what he recognized to have widespread appeal to modern readers.
In his own words, "There are only two subjects that appeal nowadays to the general public,
murder and sex; and, for people of culture, sex-murder." Yet, anyone reading this will
remember scenes from it for much longer than anything from a murder mystery.
In today's world, where newspapers almost daily track Prime Minister Tony Blair's dash to
the political right, Leacock wrote, "Socialism won't work except in Heaven where they don't
need it and in Hell where they already have it."
He described his own home as follows, "I have a large country house -- a sort of farm
which I carry on as a hobby . . . . Ten years ago the deficit on my farm was about a
hundred dollars; but by well-designed capital expenditure and by greater attention to
details, I have got it into the thousands." Sounds familiar to today's farm policies ?
It's what I mean by this being a timeless work.
Leacock himself noted, when talking about good literature, "Personally, I would sooner have
written 'Alice in Wonderland' than the whole of the 'Encyclopedia Britannica'." This is his
'Alice' and it well deserves to be favorably compared to Lewis Carroll's work.
By all measures, it is still the finest Canadian book ever written.
Leacock wrote in the introduction that Mariposa represented seventy or eighty different towns throughout Canada. The residents were composite characters of people he knew. Leacock did a great job of making the town seem alive. I wished I were there for the picnics, the cruises on the lake and the poker games. The plots of vignettes were good. The writing was too cute sometimes. His classical references were over my public school education at times. The characters were drawn fairly well. What the author did very well was the throw away descriptions of the characters. He would almost insult the characters he was describing in such endearing terms that I immediately felt drawn to the character.
Leacock was amazing talent. The book wasn't deep, but it was a fun, enjoyable ride down memory lane.
Canada's greatest humorist creates an unforgettable portrait of small town life in Ontario. He fills the streets, shops, and houses with characters who might live next door to you, described in a gentle irony that probes their shortcomings and hangs them from the clotheslines and windowsills for the reader to enjoy. It also serves as a historical record, truer and any formal history or dusty books filled with statistics. Leacock presents us with a living snapshot of a vanished era more vivid and complete than any film or any contrived modern period piece. Here is the real stuff. If you have the great gift of appreciating the humor of bygone days, this is for you. Do not overlook it.
I'm an admirer of Garrison Keillor's "Lake Wobegon" novels, but I can't be the only reader who senses a lot of anger, bitterness, and contempt running deep beneath their surface. Some of the reminiscences are whimsical and affectionate, but there are also some very thorny little pricks and hidden gievances. Which brings us to this book, which is gentle and slightly mocking, and always in the sunshine, but also smart and shrewdly insightful.
Stephen Leacock was a tremendously well regarded humorist in the early part of the twentieth century, (no less an eminence than Robertson Davies declared him a true "genius"). And, thankfully, his good natured, but penetrating and ironic, pieces are as fresh and entertaining today as they were when published. It's a shame that this great Canadian writer is no longer appreciated in the U.S. As a consequence of that, though, careful searchers will find that many of Leacock's works are in the public domain and are available as perfectly readable and well-formatted freebies.
One of the interesting aspects of Leacock's work, and this book in particular, is that you can read it in any number of ways. If you want a light, humorous, entertaining tale, then this is it. If you want something more than a mild pastoral comedy, maybe a little along the lines of "Our Town"", then this is it. If you want to deconstruct an old work to see how humor worked in the early twentieth century, well have at it. The book is good enough to withstand and reward any and every reader. Heck, think of it as Thomas Hardy, in Canada, with jokes.
I'm always looking for interesting freebies, and my best find to date has been the Leacock works in general and this collection in particular. A nice book to recommend.
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