Maine
A literary syllabus about this complex state compiled by somebody who knows it well.
The following is a list of books about Maine compiled by my first cousin and life long Maine resident, Ben Swan. He is a great reader, loves his complicated and beautiful state, ran a great summer camp for much of his life while spending the temperate months of the year on an island without electricity or running water. The ones that I have read include an italicized comment from yours truly.
Thank you Ben …
Arundel, Kenneth Roberts, Doubleday, 1929. Historical fiction. Beautifully written. A surprisingly modern story in many respects. A page-turner. Lots of action, romance, and attention to the setting and time period. (This is among the best pieces of historical fiction I have ever read. The true story of Benedict Arnold and the cameos of Aaron Burr and others are gripping instances of well-rendered historical fiction. However, it is the wilderness of Maine, the different rough-hewn soldiers from the various colonies and the love story at its heart that gives this book a “classic” designation. Roberts is very old school and his other works do not come close. But this one is a gem.)
Country of the Pointed Firs, Sarah Orne Jewett, Various publishers. Originally published 1896. A novella published along with several unconnected short stories. This is a beautiful portrait of Maine at the turn of the last century. (A beautiful book of another time and place. Among my mother’s favorites).
Charlie York: Maine Coast Fisherman, International Marine, 1974. An oral history of a man born in 1880 who made his living from the sea for his entire life in mid-coast Maine. Very straightforward writing with some use of dialect that is not overwhelming or confusing. It is a very accurate portrait of life on the coast in the early part of the 20th century, including the transition from sail to motor powered boats and ships.
When We Were the Kennedys, Monica Wood, Houghton Mifflin, 2012. A memoir of growing up in a Maine mill town in the 1950s and 1960s. Beautiful writing and a very accurate and clear picture of a town completely dominated by the mills. A moving story well told. (One of my favorite reads. I did not want it to end. Gracefully written and poignant to the end, its is an elegiac “remembrance” of a time where the air and water might be killing you but the job was great, a road trip was a big deal and you had only two choices of tennis shoes.)
We Took to the Woods, Louise Dickenson Rich, J. B. Lippincott, 1942. A memoir of a couple who move to the Maine woods in the 1930s to operate what were called sporting camps for wealthy hunters and fishermen (known as “sports”) from New York, Boston, and other cities. The sports came in the summer but Rich and her husband stayed all year. (“Staying all year” is an understatement … this is an adventure story in the backwoods of Maine that puts a lot of things into perspective. It is fun, almost unbelievable at times, and guaranteed to make you feel pretty soft.)
The Beans of Egypt, Maine, Carolyn Chute, Grove Press, 1985. A novel about the down and out of rural Maine. Far from the coast and the other features of the state that attract tourists, the Beans and their acquaintances live desperate lives defined by poverty, ignorance, fear, and anger. It is a grim story and an accurate portrayal of a sizeable part of the Maine population.
Salem’s Lot, Stephen King, Doubleday, 1975. One of King’s earliest novels about vampires who live underneath their mobile homes. It is so realistic and frightening that, after reading it and not being able to go in my basement for months alone, I vowed never to read another Stephen King book. (I felt the same way but I didn’t get more than 100 hundred pages into it before pulling the rip chord.)
Firewater Pond, Michael Kimball, Putnam, 1985. An outrageous tale of goings on at a really down at the heels campground on a pond in Maine. As far-fetched as it is, it gives accurate and hilarious portraits of some Maine characters. It was Kimball’s first book. Stephen King (Maine’s bard?) reviewed it and loved it.
Time of Wonder, Robert McCloskey, Viking, 1957. This is a children’s book by the author of Make Way for Ducklings. It is a beautiful portrait of the end of a summer on a Maine island, punctuated by a hurricane. Big watercolors and poetic text. (It remains on a side table in our bedroom and I revisit it frequently. A bit of magic …)
One Morning in Maine, Robert McCloskey, Viking, 1953. Another children’s book, this one a humorous and simple tale of a summer morning and a family on vacation.
Island Boy, Barbara Cooney, Picture Puffins, 1988. A children’s book. The life of a boy who was born on and lived his entire life on a small island in Maine. Very charming.
