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readings_musings2002's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
"I have never liked dolls. Somehow they have always frightened me a little because they are like cartoons of all that is cold and unloving and uncaring in people."
“What are you doing all alone in the dark?”
“Just looking at the rain.”
“That’s a melancholy business,”
"A nice thing about Luisa and me—we both like sandwiches for breakfast and we like cereal before we go to bed at night."
“But you’re not a child any longer,” Jacques told me.
I said, in an ice-cold voice, as cold as an outer planet, “I am a child. I do not intend to grow up.”
“But there are compensations,” Jacques said, “I promise you there are compensations.”
Also Frank was a creep.
“What are you doing all alone in the dark?”
“Just looking at the rain.”
“That’s a melancholy business,”
"A nice thing about Luisa and me—we both like sandwiches for breakfast and we like cereal before we go to bed at night."
“But you’re not a child any longer,” Jacques told me.
I said, in an ice-cold voice, as cold as an outer planet, “I am a child. I do not intend to grow up.”
“But there are compensations,” Jacques said, “I promise you there are compensations.”
Also Frank was a creep.
annebennett1957's review against another edition
3.0
For some reason I ended up reading this book, originally published in 1951. It wasn't very good..the plot and the character development being sub-par. Yet I still love the author and it was while I was researching information on this book that I learned of L'Engle's death. Sigh.
kricketa's review against another edition
2.0
i thought i had read this before as a teenager but since i had no memory of anything after the first two chapters, i think in retrospect it is more likely that i tossed it aside. all the earnest discussions of parental behavior and growing up and frank's fierce denouncements of death put me off this one. and how creepy is it that camilla's mother tries to hide her affair with jacques by saying he's there to see camilla? gross. i powered through, but this isn't one of l'engle's best.
chooper454's review against another edition
1.0
I automatically abandon books where a character’s full name is repeatedly mentioned in dialogue. Nobody does that. Major pet peeve. So, DNF.
manda_d's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
kather21's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting peek into YA literature in the 1960's and 1950's wealthy NYC life.
readingrosie's review against another edition
5.0
The thing about Frank is that he's not the best at all, but Camilla's so in love with him that she doesn't notice his flaws. I can't tell if Madeleine L'Engle meant Frank to be a paradigm of romance, but I don't care. To me, the fact that Camilla thinks Frank is perfect is the point. This is her first love, and she's trying so hard to be grown up, and those two things mix together.
Even though Frank is a flawed person, the moments of romance were still really exciting because they made me feel like I did when I was a little kid reading these books. They made my heart so warm. I seriously felt Camilla's emotions.
A lot of this book went over my head when I read it in elementary school, I think. It's very cool to return to it years later and understand it on a different level. Like realizing that Frank kind of sucks a little. I used to accept Frank with blind wonder just like Camilla, but now I'm like, Frank, stop throwing temper tantrums and shaking your girlfriend.
So many times I'm disappointed with books from my childhood, but the writing in this is so beautiful. Camilla's burgeoning awareness of her parents' interiority propelling her entrance into adulthood feels so painful and so real.
There's also the fact that the book is set in Manhattan in the 50s. It makes the city feel so exciting again. I love when Camilla rides the subway. Also, the Met is described in such loving detail. Actually, most of the outdoor setting is described lovingly.
Even though Frank is a flawed person, the moments of romance were still really exciting because they made me feel like I did when I was a little kid reading these books. They made my heart so warm. I seriously felt Camilla's emotions.
A lot of this book went over my head when I read it in elementary school, I think. It's very cool to return to it years later and understand it on a different level. Like realizing that Frank kind of sucks a little. I used to accept Frank with blind wonder just like Camilla, but now I'm like, Frank, stop throwing temper tantrums and shaking your girlfriend.
So many times I'm disappointed with books from my childhood, but the writing in this is so beautiful. Camilla's burgeoning awareness of her parents' interiority propelling her entrance into adulthood feels so painful and so real.
There's also the fact that the book is set in Manhattan in the 50s. It makes the city feel so exciting again. I love when Camilla rides the subway. Also, the Met is described in such loving detail. Actually, most of the outdoor setting is described lovingly.
eupomene's review against another edition
4.0
This very cerebral story of a teenaged girl growing up in Manhattan and coming to terms with her parents' shortcomings has a slow start, but is worth sticking with for all that. The writing is beautiful and thoughtful and the earnest feelings and ideas shared between Camilla and Frank are honest and true. Even if her dialogue is a bit stilted and dated I find her storytelling to be, as always, gripping. This is one of those books that I have dog-eared and underlined. I can't help it with L'Engle and I always enjoy re-reading her.
bookitchewie's review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75