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Summary: a survival guide on becoming a woman..
Review: Marjorie Morningstar is an interesting, albeit somewhat dated, story about a Jewish girl dreaming about becoming actress. Along the way she meets an assortment of (mostly unsavory) people who challenge her conviction, and alter her journey on becoming a woman. The story takes place in NYC in the 1930s with much emphasis being made to Marjorie's religious background, the anti-semitism of the times, and the challenges of a young woman maintaining her virginity. At times the novel reads like a soap opera. However there are several vignettes which are quite moving, where Marjorie's beliefs collide with the changing values of American society on the whole.Marjorie Morningstar is the perfect read for the older person who can recall the time when women were expected to be virgins until marriage, and respecting the beliefs of one's parents was the norm. And for those from NYC and/or who are Jewish will find this novel to be a fascinating trip down memory lane. Besides, Herman Wouk's gift for prose is a pleasure in by itself.
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Summary: Marjorie Morningstar
Review: Marjorie Morningstar is my all-time favorite book! I can't immagine another book being written quite like Marjorie Morningstar. It's a classic novel that will never be replaced. Marjorie Morengstern is a beautiful young girl filled of the dreams and desires of being an actress. Along the bumpy road that Marjorie takes to try to start her career, she meets Noel Airman at a famous acting camp. Noel is a play/song writer who seems to be perfect in every way. He's blonde, lean, intelligent, and works wonders at anything he puts his mind to. To Marjorie he's Apollo. Marjorie and Noel begin to have an affair and Marjorie discovers just how irresponsible Noel can be. He doesn't want to grow up but of course love blinds beautiful Marjorie. Tragic events throughout the book will bring tears to your eyes. In the end, the book takes a surprising turn and by the time you flip the last page you will be crying even more. I was quite upset about how the book ends but if you think about it there was no other way. The book ends in reality not a fairy tale.
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Summary: Marjorie Morningstar
Review: Marjorie Morningstar...The title of Herman Wouk's book makes me smile, and as I remember the vivid characters that live inside this book, I smile again. This is a bittersweet tale of youth, love, the stage, and New York at the beginning of World War II. It sounds like a simple story, an upper-middle class Jewish girl in New York, her struggles to become a stage actress and to separate from her oppressive parents who are deeply settled in the protocols of their faith. Yet, as Marjorie's life unfolds on the pages of this book, we fall in love with not only Marjorie, but the wonderful cast of characters who make up her life. Marjorie Morningstar should be listed as one of the greatest books of the past century and I urge anyone who is interested in great writing by a master craftsman to read this much-cherished novel.
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Summary: Marjorie Morningstar
Review: Marjorie Morningstar...The title of Herman Wouk's book makes me smile, and as I remember the vivid characters that live inside this book, I smile again. This is a bittersweet tale of youth, love, the stage, and New York at the beginning of World War II. It sounds like a simple story, an upper-middle class Jewish girl in New York, her struggles to become a stage actress and to separate from her oppressive parents who are deeply settled in the protocols of their faith. Yet, as Marjorie's life unfolds on the pages of this book, we fall in love with not only Marjorie, but the wonderful cast of characters who make up her life. Marjorie Morningstar should be listed as one of the greatest books of the past century and I urge anyone who is interested in great writing by a master craftsman to read this much-cherished novel.
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Summary: An American Treasure
Review: Marjorie Morningstar...The title of Herman Wouk's novel makes me smile, and as I remember the vivid characters that live inside this book, I smile again. This is a bittersweet tale of youth, love, the stage, and New York at the beginning of World War II. It sounds like a simple story, an upper-middle class Jewish girl in New York, her struggles to become a stage actress and to separate from her oppressive parents who are deeply settled in the protocols of their faith. Yet, as Marjorie's life unfolds on the pages of this book, we fall in love with not only Marjorie, but the wonderful cast of characters who make up her life. Marjorie Morningstar should be listed as one of the greatest books of the past century and I urge anyone who is interested in great writing by a master craftsman to read this much-cherished novel.
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Summary: An American Treasure
Review: Marjorie Morningstar...The title of Herman Wouk's novel makes me smile, and as I remember the vivid characters that live inside this book, I smile again. This is a bittersweet tale of youth, love, the stage, and New York at the beginning of World War II. It sounds like a simple story, an upper-middle class Jewish girl in New York, her struggles to become a stage actress and to separate from her oppressive parents who are deeply settled in the protocols of their faith. Yet, as Marjorie's life unfolds on the pages of this book, we fall in love with not only Marjorie, but the wonderful cast of characters who make up her life. Marjorie Morningstar should be listed as one of the greatest books of the past century and I urge anyone who is interested in great writing by a master craftsman to read this much-cherished novel.
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Summary: the greatest book i've ever read
Review: my mother recommended this book to me at the beginning of 8th grade, and at first i was hesitant to read it due to its size. i finished it wishing it would be longer! the experiences marjorie has are extremely interesting, and she is an amazing and inspiring character. her relationships are particularly fun, and full of surprises. i will never love a book as much as i love this one, and ever since i've had trouble enjoying what i read. this book truly had an impact on me, and i'll never be the same. readers will treasure it for years to come.
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Summary: My Sister Marjorie
Review: My REAL sister has often remarked to me that I read "Marjorie Morningstar" so many times during my early years, I literally became her. Well...possibly, but I'll settle for the idea that, in some weird way, she became my role model. And that has to be a tribute to Herman Wouk, who tells a tale like no other. I had nothing in common with Marjorie, whose story takes place in the Thirties, and who is the product of a rigidly structured conservative Jewish life in New York City. I, on the other hand, grew up in California several decades later, Jewish in name only. But I too felt that I was chafing at the bit to get out and be "free." Marjorie, who is 17 when we meet her, is a spoiled-rotten beauty whose hard-working parents have lifted themselves from their Orthodox roots and become "upwardly mobile" in a time when that phrase was unknown. Uncomfortable in their new world, the parents enforce the same rigid rules upon Marjorie that they grew up with themselves. Paramount to this mind-set is the implacable requirement that a girl remain a strict virgin until marriage. And the corollary: marriage and a family are the only things to which a girl should aspire--all else is superfluous. But Marjorie wants to be an actress, and in her naivete, believes that she will become the diva of her dreams. As she sets out on her quest, she meets a number of people from what would later be known as the counterculture. And she sees life as it is outside her very structured and safe world, falls in love with it, and with the highly unsuitable man who represents all of her hopes and dreams: a bipolar song writer named Noel Airman. Marjorie's genuine and deep struggle to adopt her new world while unable to shed the old forms the crux of the story. I was rooting for her--every time I read the book, I wanted her to conquer Broadway, run away with Noel, and leave her upbringing behind. At the time, I was bitterly disappointed in the ending. In fact, I used to skip it! But now, with many years of some Marjorie-like adventures behind me, I see that Wouk could have ended it no other way. He remained true to his character, and true to his voice. I re-read this book with the idea of writing a glowing review. But time has worked its changes on my psyche. And what I considered perfectly normal in the days when I was a teen under the same sexual and marital restrictions as Marjorie, I now see from a modern perspective. There is a part in the book where the loss of a woman's virginity outside of marriage is described as a "deformity," never to be healed or overcome. That's strong stuff. It scared me to death as a girl, and angers me now. But that does not take away from Wouk's talent. Read it as a period piece, and rejoice that Marjorie turns out alright in the end.
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Summary: Timeless Classic
Review: Not often does a book come along that chronicles the experience and events of a fictional character's life so intricately, that you feel as if your family photo album is just not complete without a picture of that person. That, in a nutshell, is Marjorie Morningstar. Written by an author whom I consider to be one of the very best to come out of the 20th century, Herman Wouk offers a window into the soul of a young female actress growing up in New York City in the pre-World War II era. There, we vicariously live through the life of young Marjorie, her conservative Jewish parents, her comical Yiddish uncle, and her painstaking trials and tribulations in dealing with the elusive concept of love. But what makes this book so unique and wonderfully rich is that Wouk has made this novel a timeless classic, in that the themes which were prevalent back in the 30's are still alive and vibrant today. The overbearing "we-know-what's-best" parental figures. The embarrassing relatives. The ethnic cultural rules and traditions that clash so vehemently with American mainstream. After half a century when this book was first published, the it continues to hold a firm grasp on the ideology of what comprises the American family structure today. Wouk has masterfully penned a novel about a young woman that erases the boundaries of religion, location, and era. Through Marjorie, he writes about human nature, our fears, our aspirations, and our beliefs. I first read this book 10 years ago, and after many readings I continue to discover new things about the characters, and myself. It is treasure, and simply put, a literary masterpiece. What are you waiting for? Go read it.
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Summary: This review talks about how I liked the book and its content
Review: Note that I have not yet finished this book. This book seems like a soap opera to me. There are so many characters that piece together to one girl: Marjorie Morgenstern (the main character. (Her stage name in "Marjorie Morningstar" so that is why the book is called that). I am enjoying this book for its characters, and its full flavor of the thirties and (I think) forties. I was not alive for those two exciting decades so it is quite enjoyable to read about them. This book can not fulfill five stars for me yet, because I have not finished this book; which is five hundred plus pages long. This is a good summer read, so you can fully focus on it (which I am using it for now). If you enjoy "classics" make sure not to miss "Marjorie Morningstar".
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