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Title: Country Matters: The Pleasures and Tribulations of Moving from a Big City to an Old Country Farmhouse by Michael Korda, Success Research Cor ISBN: 0-06-095748-4 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.07 (15 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Starts with Promise and runs out of Steam
Comment: The New York Times sparked my interest in this age-old literary subject--city dweller finds renewal in the country, with all the highs and lows and informative or interesting tidbits of making the transition. My interest in this subject goes all they way back to Crazy-White-Man (Sha-ga-na-she Wa-du-kee) by Richard Morenus, published by Rand McNally and Co. in 1952. So, I am not a newcomer to the genre. In fact, my wife and I recently put the finishing touches on a 3-year restoration of a century-old lodge on an island in Maine. Therefore, I do not place a low rating on this book without careful thought and regret. Usually, one thinks that if the Times views a book as newsworthy, it will be a bit special. In this case, I think it is Korda's professional connections in the publishing industry (and not the merit of the piece) which earned the publicity, and possibly the initial printing. Korda would like the reader to believe that he is about to introduce them to the quaint, evolutionary transition of a (very, very sophisticated) city couple and a country estate from strangers to partners, each helped to reach the synergy by a cast of colorful local citizens with special skills and memorable characters. The book fails, however, to continue its early, promising pace, and eventually trails off into a series of random recollections, failing to develop the supporting characters in favor of repetitive, gratuitous references to Mrs. Korda's achievements as a horsewoman, and Mr. Korda's irrelevant pride in having read the classics. In the end, the country life which Mr. Korda portrays seems as shallow and trite as the city life he almost left behind. He is more often a disconnected observer than influential participant, and leaves the reader wondering whether, for the Kordas, the country really matters.
Rating: 5
Summary: Laughed Off the Bed
Comment: I bought this book as one of several dealing with moving to the country and what you'll encounter there. It was informative in that regard, but also surprising. It is incredibly funny. I was reading it at night and found myself laughing so much I almost fell out of bed. It is simply hillarious. Whether you are laughing at Korda or his neighbors is hard to tell, but there is a certain sweetness and regard for others suffusing the story. As a guidebook it is best for those with LOTS of money. I think I'll go into book editing. Korda appears to have inexhaustible supplies of cash and a very wry, but complacent, attitude toward parting with it. This book covers a period of about 25 years and, of course, the early ones are most interesting. It also offers a glimpse into the personal lives of what appears to be a most interesting couple. Whether or not you've read anything else by Korda, you deserve to read this...especially if you need a quick spirit pick-up.
Rating: 4
Summary: An Affair of the Heart
Comment: Like an affair, a relationship with this country house was quickly made and not admitted-for a long time. But Korda grows to be a quirky, appreciative, open admirer of the old farmhouse and the local people. As befitting an editor, the author's style is fluid with a gently humorous viewpoint.
Famous people, as guests, are mentioned, sometime hilariously. The changing scene from rural to suburban in this and other areas is considered, along with the tendency of Americans to pursue the last, 'unchanged' home locale. Still Dutchess County retains a feel at least in Pleasant Valley, of country land and people.
Korda's deeply felt respect for the wiles and wisdom of local
people and his willingness to eat at The Diner, go to the Fair,
raise pigs, run a cross-country event on his property, trade car stories and employ half the county wins him respect from these people. Perhaps in the end, he knows he belongs to the house more than it belongs to him and his wife. The place is at last called 'the Korda farm."
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Title: Horse People: Scenes from the Riding Life by Michael Korda ISBN: 0066212529 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Charmed Lives: A Family Romance by Michael Korda ISBN: 0060085568 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Hold Your Horses: Nuggets of Truth for People Who Love Horses...No Matter What by Bonnie Timmons ISBN: 0761115366 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: May, 2003 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: Another Life : A Memoir of Other People by Michael Korda ISBN: 0385335075 Publisher: Delta Pub. Date: 09 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: A Year at the Races : Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money, and Luck by JANE SMILEY ISBN: 1400040582 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 13 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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