Margaret Fuller (1)Critiques

An "early" feminist book that could have been written much more recently than 1855, filled with clear, specific goals and recommended means.

Almost my brand of feminism... Minus a couple of things.

"These Sad But Glorious Days" is a series of columns published in the New-York Tribune, collected together. The bits where Fuller was in England were among the more interesting, as she relates a first-person, outsider perspective on many of the issues that I study. Her time in France is okay, but the book really picks up when she gets to Italy, since revolution is brewing. Again, the first-person perspective is great, especially once Rome comes under attack. On the other hand, she prints too many long speeches which I just skipped over.

The book's introduction, by editors Larry J. Reynolds and Susan Belasco Smith, annoyed me. No, it's not a crime against literature to republish something in a new context, and you don't need to apologize for it.

I'm afraid I grew rather tired of this. I might have enjoyed it in small doses since much of the writing is worthwhile and graceful, but as a single work read in consecutive pieces, it just grows rather repetitive in subject-matter and randomness. My recommendation would be to read it in chapters as you might wander through an anthology of stories--I think it might stay fresh and not become exhaustive in that case. Otherwise, for someone who enjoys the other transcendentalists, this is probably worthwhile; for me, it was a bit longwinded. I'd love to follow in her footsteps and visit some of these sights, but that's about all I can say at this point. Just not for me.½

DNF at...I dunno, like 20%? I just can’t. Half of it is either Greek mythological stories told in the most boring way, or poetry written in another language. The actual content of her own was dense and difficult to understand. If it wasn’t for a class, I would never have picked this up willingly....