A novel about the nineteeth century commune of the great Polish actress Helena Modjeska-- in the era of Bernhardt. It was located near Anaheim California. What an outrageous boatload of bohemians! The commune predated the progressive era's burgeoning of California cults and communes by thirty years. Susan Sontag only wrote two novels, both of them historical, and her sense of character, her ability to bring to life such a wacky crew of intelligentsia utopians, is to be treasured. That Sontag was...

In America was an amazing historical fiction novel by Susan Sontag that was so original in its format that it was hard to put down. This book won the National Book Award in 2000. It embraced America in all of its promise and its rawness as it struggled towards modernity in the late nineteenth century in such an engaging way. In 1876 one of Poland's greatest actresses, Maryna Zalezowska led a group of fellow emigres from Poland to the United States bound for California to a vast farmland and vine...

I had never read Susan Sontag before but ‘In America’ is historical fiction, with the heavy emphasis on fiction, done right. The drama in this book was underplayed so it’s not an “entertaining” read in the conventional sense. There are probably three unique points that I took from reading this book. First Sontag focuses on a Polish stage princess, Helena Modjeska known as Maryna in the book, who is of serious renown and wealth and who immigrates to California with her gang of industrious Bohemia...

Let me be perfectly clear——I am a huge fan of Susan Sontag's criticism. "Against Interpretation and Other Essays", "On Photography", and "Regarding the Pain of Others" are books I go back to repeatedly for their ahead-of-their-time provocative points of view. After finishing "In America," I feel it's the critical side of Sontag that makes her fiction suffer. The writing is accomplished and refined, and, formally, the constantly shifting points of view rendered through various writing forms such

I want to re-read this novel. It’s gorgeous.

Like Walking in MudI have always wanted to read this book so when I saw it at a school fair I was happy to buy it. On the cover it says it won the National Book Award of 2000 and awards mean a good read. The plot is great - a famous Polish actress decides to emigrate to America with her family and friends and start a community in southern California. The story follows their decision to move to America and the eventual failure of their community and the reinvention of self - a homage to the Ameri...

Forget the old boys club: The most engaging historical fiction is being written by women. What's worse, they have the audacity to make it fun.In Ahab's Wife, Sena Jeter Naslund dared to revise Melville's classic "Moby Dick." Anita Shreve re-created a tense custody battle at the turn of the 20th century in Fortune's Rocks. And Tracy Chevalier painted a stirring portrait of a maid in Johannes Vermeer's house.These recent books share the same strengths: All of them are carefully researched, lavishl...

This is neither a plot-driven nor a character-driven novel. Despite the decades that the story spans, little seems to happen, or what does happen never conveys any real plot tension. The characters never change or develop beyond the incremental alterations of age and experience. I suppose I would have to describe this as a novel of ideas, a chance for the highly regarded essayist to discuss her thoughts on the nature of theatrical performance, the essential differences between the European and A...

I came for the reputation, stayed for the form and history, stayed til the end for the attention to detail and plot & character development, and was glad to leave when the experiment had run its course.I am charmed by the peculiar metafiction in this book, but I think it works against itself. Chapter Zero conjures a fictional dinner party that the invisible narrator haunts, observing Polish intellectuals who are based on real historical figures. The titular character, Maryna Zalezowska, derives

Ugh, one of the most dismally boring books I have ever read! Why can I not just discard it? Somehow I always think it will get better and I drag myself through to the bitter end.What is up with Susan Sontag here? This must be some secret passion she always had...telling the story of a Polish "theataaah" actress. It's like Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho...huh? What was he thinking!Unless you are truly into "Theataaaah" and I mean in the WORST way, then this book is for you!The main character is

I'm waiting for the Literature Police to knock down my door for 3-starring a National Book Award winner. I was sure I would love this book, but not so much. The paragraphs sometimes last for pages at a time, and this is dense, tiny print that takes up the whole page with very small margins, too. The protagonist feels dull to me, and the narrative wakes up in places, but mostly it drones. I soldiered through it to page 80, and then I just.

Review published: https://chronicbibliophilia.wordpress...“In Poland, you were allowed some practice of the arts of self-indulgence, but you were expected to be sincere and also to have high ideals – people respected you for that. In America, you were expected to exhibit the confusions of inner vehemence, to express opinions no one need take seriously, and have eccentric foibles and extravagant needs, which exhibited the force of your will, your appetitiveness, the spread of your self-regard – a...

This might have been a worthwhile read if the book was primarily concerned with actual storytelling than an exploration of themes and ideas. Much was discussed (and none of it particularly insightfully) by the narrator, and what served as artificial dialogue between characters, on acting, writing, the arts, immigration/migration, Polishness, Americaness, and Jewishness. What then is lacking is a story where character and plot are central, and the themes are background and implicit. The story gli...

This book is so full of intelligence. Her literary and historic references enlighten. Her character's introspection gives the reader questions to ponder and profundities to wrestle with. I liked her different uses of voice and narrative style throughout the book. It distinguished quite a bit between characters and between acting and living. The book gave Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" new meaning. I absolutely was enchanted by the first 3/4 of the novel. I wouldn't say that I was disapp...

Well, that was a whole lot of words. About 400 pages where pretty much nothing of interest happened, internally or externally to any of the characters. Was this a story about a marriage? Not really. Story about an immigrant family? No, not quite. Story about America in 1876? No, not exactly. It just seemed like a ramble. The first chapter is Sontag imagining herself being a fly on the wall at a party given by this family/friend group. They are based on real people, though she changes their names...

In America is an historical novel, yet it is more. It is a novel about identity, about names and words and people who leave their homeland for a new unknown and undiscovered land called America. The novel is one where the stage and all that it represents mirrors life -- a story set near the end of the nineteenth century. On the first page of the novel the motif of the stage is hinted at by how snow flakes seen through a window are described as a "scrim" for the moonlight in the background. The u...

Susan sontag is one of the most influential critics of the 20th century, she did quite A lot in her career~ filmmaker, teacher, and political activist she even wrote her own fiction. Unfortunately this book is pretty bad. It suffers from two main issues, it doesn't have it's own identity and it's also incredibly boring.

If you're Susan Sontag, this probably counts as an adventure novel. We follow famous Polish actress Maryna Zalenska through the 1870s in America.Omniscient point of view is all over the place. Maryna, her husband, son, inept maid, and a group of close friends buy a farm in Annaheim California and try to live well and simply there. No one finds happiness and the work is too hard, so she tries out for a part in a local theater and becomes famous all over again, here in America.She tours constantly...

Being a reader of Sontag’s literary criticism and theory, I thought this would fit in a kind of formal writing exercise in the field of fiction or perhaps towards a view on the feminine emancipation and the XIX century. The novel is an historical romance and belongs to a more traditional side of Sontag’s work. Although the author did a good job reading about life after the American Civil War the novel is far from engaging. This book is mostly – and unfortunately only – a fictionalized biography

I don't think this book would be everyone's cup of tea; it's long, dense and difficult to read in that Sontag's language is intricate and intellectually sophisticated, at least by my standards. I am very proud of myself for getting through it, and yes, I liked it! Part of the draw is that it is a very interesting story about a real and fascinating woman character in history; I love that sort of stuff! Also, I wanted SO badly to be able to say I had read a Susan Sontag, whose prose is not for the...