‘Peyton Place’ fue escrito en los años 50; el éxito fue tan grande que luego llegó una secuela. Después, la novela se convirtió en película, y finalmente en serie de televisión, que probablemente es la forma que más le pegue a esta historia, porque al fin y al cabo es un culebrón. Lo sabía antes de empezarlo, pero aún así me esperaba más. No sé, esperaba engancharme más y empatizar más con los personajes. Tiene las virtudes de un culebrón: se lee rápido, y no aburre sino que entretiene. Pero también sus defectos: personajes horriblemente planos y unos clímax histéricos y manidos que caen en un ridículo bastante estrepitoso.Supongo que se tiene que reconocer el valor de la propuesta, que tiene algo de fundacional. Quiero decir que debe de ser uno de los primeros libros que explota el ahora tópico esquema de pueblo aparentemente idílico de familias modélicas de puertas afuera pero que esconden secretos más o menos escabrosos de puertas adentro. Así, se atreve a tocar temas como el sexo prematrimonial, el incesto, el aborto, los abusos sexuales, el caciquismo de los poderosos, etc. Y él que a mí más me ha parecido más interesante (por más poco habitual): la sexualidad femenina, desde el despertar hasta el redescubrimiento pasando por la represión.Se tiene que reconocer que Grace Metalious sabe escribir y prueba de esto es la manera deliciosa en la que describe el paso de las estaciones, que además le dan al libro una estructura circular y bien cerrada. También me ha gustado mucho como describe el día a día intrascendente del ambiente de pueblo, los abuelos sentados siempre en el mismo sitio marujeando, los tejemanejes del cacique que tiene a todo el pueblo sometido, o la amistad entre el director del diario local y el doctor del pueblo. Me han gustado menos los amoríos y otros tópicos culebronescos, que son demasiado previsibles y gastados. En este sentido, a Metalious le preocupa más la acción (que pasen cosas, muchas cosas, y que sean muy fuertes, y no importa si parecen forzadas) que no construir unos personajes con verdadera entidad, y es una pena, porque esta novela podría haber sido muy grande, pero sólo se queda en correcta.
"O amor não é estático. Muda, pode crescer, pode mingar, e até desaparecer. O importante, quando o amor se extingue, é recordar o que tivemos e esquecer o que perdemos."Grace Metalious expõe a falsidade de uma pequena cidade chamada Peyton Place, denunciando as diferentes camadas sociais que se destacam pelo poder económico, mas que se assemelham nos comportamentos hipócritas. A autora sabia o que queria dizer sobre os boatos, a vergonha e as relações de uma cidade pequena e foi, com alguma ousadia, que o fez."Os boatos são como as amigas. Multiplicam-se, dividem-se e tornam a multiplicar-se."Entre as personagens principais encontramos um médico dedicado à sua profissão, uma viúva solitária, vários adolescentes confusos, uma mulher vitima de violência doméstica e um marido pobre e bêbado. Apesar de Selena Cross, a rapariga das barracas, assumir um papel de destaque, não posso deixar de dizer que a minha preferida é a aspirante a escritora, a Allison (mesmo tendo em conta a sua personalidade complicada e valores ainda mais difíceis de compreender)."Filhos de uma cadela. Todos. Homens e mulheres. Mulheres e homens."Tendo em conta que li este livro 59 anos depois da sua primeira publicação, tenho de louvar os temas abordados que, provavelmente, escandalizaram os leitores em 1955. O incesto, aborto, assassínio, sexo, alcoolismo, violação, violência doméstica, suicido e abuso de poder são alguns dos assuntos mencionados, ainda que de uma forma suave e sem diferença de tom em relação à restante narração. Grace Metalious é constante no ritmo e se a pudéssemos ouvir, a sua voz manteria-se inalterável durante toda a história, que apesar de não me alterar ou envolver, me fez admirar a autora pelo atrevimento perante a sociedade em que estava inserida. Há livros que mantém o impacto muitos anos depois, mas "Amar Não é Pecado" é como uma brisa: passa por nós, mas não volta."Anda sempre com o nariz metido nos livros e a cabeça nas nuvens."
Do You like book Peyton Place (1999)?
I had to go down to four stars because I thought the ending fizzled, but this was darn close to a five-star read. I was expecting something lurid a la Jacqueline Susann, but this is actually more like a New England-y version of To Kill a Mockingbird -- class conflict, racism, and closely-kept secrets in a small town. The other closest comparison would be to Stephen King, in that Peyton Place features an enormous cast of very New England-y characters, as well as many digressions into their thoughts and plans, no matter how unflattering some of these may be.There are a lot of things I want to say about this book, but I don't want to give any spoilers (since I myself have such an intense aversion to them). Suffice to say I'm going to be combing the racks of my local used bookstores for copies of Return to Peyton Place. I don't care if sequels are rarely as good as originals, I'm going back!One additional point I thought was worth mentioning -- it's a shame that this book has a reputation as being Valley of the Dolls-esque, because it's not lurid or sexual in the same way. In this way, I feel like it's a similar book to Lolita in that the title has become a shorthand for people who haven't read it to refer to something that the book is not about at all. Lolita isn't a youthful seductress; what Nabokov puts across again and again in his prose is that she's a child who is being sexually exploited. Similarly here, we get actually a pretty well-rounded spectrum of (hetero)sexuality, from abuse and rape to positive, woman-friendly sex. If you're looking for lesbian incest and nuns being gang-raped, don't read Peyton Place (instead read Jacqueline Susann's Once is Not Enough, in which all of the above and way, way more occur).
—Tiny Pants
Wow-I know I read this many years ago & parts of it felt like I had just read it last week & other parts I had no recollection of at all....this must have been sizzling hot when it came out!!!I felt a little bit To Kill A Mockingbird, a little of A tree Grows In Brooklyn, some Valley Of The Dolls & a little wee bit of Owen Meany....a very well written story, the descriptions of New England & small town life felt spot on to me....& I loved the character development.....You can tell was written pre Women's Rights Era-so many angry, pent up, frustrated women!!!!Everyone comments on the wild & reckless ways of our youth today-they have always been wild & reckless!!!
—Becky
SCANDALOUS! Yes, even by today's standards this book is quite the scandalous read. I've heard it spoken of with winks and nudges since I was a kid, and finally decided to read it and . . . . well! Affairs, abortions, drunken benders, legal and political machinations, unhappy marriages, abuse, swears, religious crises, it's all there! Peyton Place seems like a nice, quiet little town, until you peer behind the curtains, and then the ugly underbelly is revealed. The book was highly addictive, told in a gossipy style that was like reading a tabloid or listening to a nosy neighbor dish the dirt. The one thing I didn't really like about it is that very few of the stories really resolved. It follows a handful of Peyton Place residents over ten years, but then it just . . . ends. Not that I thought all their problems should be neatly tidied away, but most of the characters drop off the face of the earth and there's no real resolution for the others, either. I was also a little annoyed at the fact that she set the book during the mid-thirties, early forties, but didn't bother to do any research. Girls are described wearing halter tops and short shorts during the summer (in 1937?! I don't think so!), and no one mentions the stock market or banks failing or anything like that. If she didn't keep telling the reader the year, you would think it was the 1950's, when the book was written.
—Jessica
