Thursday, February 28, 2008

Samantha at The World's Fair

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I've had this book for a while on my shelf. I bought it because it is an antique book and because it was written by Marietta Holley, who was a friend of Clara Barton and Susan B. Anthony. Holley wrote about women's rights and other social wrongs.

In this book she spoke out about slum lords, the mistreatment of native Americans, women's rights, and the government, and temperance doctrines among other things. She gave wonderful descriptions of buildings, displays and artwork found at the World's fair. Throughout the book Samantha and Josiah visit most sections of the fair with entertaining conversations and confrontations.

One of my favorite quotes is when Samantha was unhappy with Josiah. "I looked at him witherin'ly, but he didn't seem to wither any."

I loved this discription: And pretty soon the White City riz up like a city of dewilderin' beauty and enchantment, with the sun a-lookin' down from a blue sky, and lightin' up the tall, white walls, and gilded domes, and towers, and minarets. And as we floated along by jackson Park, and could git a plain view of the perfect buildin's - the lagoons with fairy boats a-skimmin' over the sparklin' serface - in fact, in plain view of the hull vast, bewilderin' seen of matchless splendor - why, I declare I felt almost as if I wuz took back clear into the Arabian Nights Entertainments, and magic seens wuz bein' unfolded before my enraptured vision.

All in all I liked this book because of the discriptions, but it seemed that that was all the book was. It was a slow go. One of the reasons I read "The Devil in the White City" was because I already had this book.
2 (694 pages)

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