Grace Metalious's Peyton Place, published in 1956, was not only the inspiration for both a film and a television series; it was also such a blockbuster hit that the only book that sold more copies in the 1950s was The Bible.It was also one of the most controversial novels of its era, dealing with such issues as alcoholism, mental illness, extramarital affairs, teen pregnancy, abortion, rape, incest, suicide, and murder. Although I wouldn't call the way Metalious deals with such volatile issues shocking by today's standards, I can certainly see why the book was a hot potato in its time. Evidently, the book was banned in the entire Dominion of Canada when it was published.
I found the book fascinating, especially considering its context. Set during the Second World War, around the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the novel follows the seemingly sleepy small New England town of Peyton Place through the eyes of main character Alison MacKenzie. It begins when Alison is 13 years old and continues until she is away at college.
Now, I was in my teens thirty years after this book is set, and my experience was not nearly as steamy as that of the young people of Peyton Place, so I'm not sure this book reveals what lurked in the shadows of small town society of the day, as Metalious contended. I have a feeling it would be more accurate to say that it reveals what lurked in the shadows of Metalious's imagination. Still, it does make for a page-turner.
Some of the emotional explosions depicted in the book seemed a little over the top, and I didn't find Alison a truly likable character. I pictured her with a pout on her face through much of the book. However, I did enjoy many of the other characters, and, as we had seen the movie on television shortly before I read the book, it was interesting to see the changes the producers decided to make.
I wouldn't call Peyton Place fine literature, but it is well worth the read, especially given the history behind it.
5 comments:
Potamus Place was a better read. I felt the main character was a charming lad. He's got this Buddhist friend with a Christian wife. Heh...Buddhism.
You forgot to mention that he has a gorgeous Christian wife, Hippo! ;-)
Hi LM,
I didn't didn't read the book but watched the popular tv spin off series.
I saw Peyton Place many years later when the teens in the show were all grown up and then I was a teen.
I found it so exciting. It was possibly one of the first doors that led me and my schoolfriends to have ourselves a good giggle and dream about our grown up years.
Mia Farrow, Dorothy Malone, Barbara Parkins, Ryan O Neal & the lot were some of the cast who provided the magic.
Now, far from being shady when you think about those years, everything was really like a picket-fence rose-garden story.
love
Thanks for the birthday wishes!
I got a Jane Austen action figure and thought of you!
p.s. I LOVED Peyton Place (the book).
Susan - I wrote a witty, intelligent response to your comment when I was out at the school today, and I couldn't post it. Don't know if the problem was with Blogger or my work computer.
Anyway, I vaguely remember the tv series too. Like you, though, I must have been watching the show in reruns years after the original production.
I remember liking Peyton Place better than the soap operas my mom watched because some of its focus was on the teenagers. Nowadays, soap operas focus much more on the lives of teenagers - or so I'm told. ;-)
Sabatkes - Are you serious about the Jane Austen action figure? I am so jealous! Glad to hear you had a great bash - and that you lived to tell about it. ;-)
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