Polly Page's Mountain Crafts
Pleasant Hill, TN
The history of Pleasant Hill and its craft program
represented in hand-carved dolls, plus a variety of woodcarvings.
**34 Page Cir.
Pleasant Hill, TN 38578 Phone: 931-277-3402
Hours Open to the Public Mon. - Sat. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Dates Closed Jan. 1 - March 21
~The Dollmaker~
This movie, and it's accompanying soundtrack, are just achingly beautiful. Each character in this movie is lovingly depicted, even the children (there are such exquisite performances by the children too). You would hardly recognize Jane Fonda not necessarily because of her looks but because her demeanor and accent is so spot on. She really shows just how great of an actress she can be in this role because she couldn't get any further from her real life background than this role and yet there isn't even one second of her portrayal that will have you doubting. She completely inhabited Gertie down to the fabric of her very soul. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone
who gets the chance to see it.
~Well Worth a Read~
**The movie was based on the book....
Harriet Arnow’s unforgettable yet tragic novel, The Dollmaker, was published in 1954 to immediate success and critical acclaim. A bestseller and runner up for the 1955 National Book Award (to William Faulkner’s The Fable) The Dollmaker has been largely forgotten in contemporary American literary discourse. However, as Joyce Carol Oates claims in her afterword “There are certainly greater novels than The Dollmaker, but I can think of none that have moved me more, personally, terrifyingly, involving me in the solid fact of life’s criminal exploitation of those who live it—not hard, not sentimental, not at all intellectually ambitious, The Dollmaker is one of those excellent American works that have yet to be properly assessed”
In unadorned yet powerful prose, Harriet Arnow tells the heartbreaking story of the Nevels family and their quest to maintain their values and their family amidst the turmoil of war. As the novel opens, we are introduced to Gertie Nevels, a strong, self-reliant woman who performs a tracheotomy on her dying son in order to save him while she tries to get him to a doctor. Unfortunately, this brave act seems to be the last time that she follows her own instincts. Forced by social mores to follow her husband, Clovis, from the Kentucky backwoods she loves to the foreign and oppressive city life of Detroit, Gertie struggles between her desire to keep her family together and her yearning for the lifestyle and the land she loves.
Arnow’s masterful novel is realistic in style, full of regional dialect and finely crafted characters. In The Dollmaker, Arnow explores many compelling themes relevant to American life during World War II. She examines the roles of women in society, the struggle to uphold family values, the role of the war itself on rural and urban life, the way that religious beliefs inform one’s choices in life, among many others. The Dollmaker is a novel that makes one think as well as feel, and it has a surprising amount of relevance to our own time.
A sprawling book, full of vividly drawn characters and masterful scenes, The Dollmaker is both a passionate denunciation of industrialization and war, and a tribute to a woman's love for her children and the land.
Harriet Arnow was born in 1908 into a family whose roots reached back for five generations of Kentucky’s history. From this rich background, she inherited a bountiful storytelling tradition that provided inspiration for her acclaimed novels: Mountain Path, Hunter’s Horn, and The Dollmaker, the last considered her masterpiece and a landmark of American fiction. She died in 1986.
9 comments:
The book sounds fantastic...the dolls look wonderful...can't say the same about Jane, however. Hope all is well. We are still flooding here in TX.
I just called and spoke to Miz Polly...she is a sweet soundin' lady but she doesn't have a catalog but told me the shop's open all tha time...I just loved her accent...made me homesick...
Just consider yourself very blessed to have this handsome pair in your Hoover Cabinet!
:)
I've heard of this movie but have never seen it or read the book! Now you make me want to go out and find both!!! Those dolls are just fabulous and I will certainly check out Polly's site!! xox
wow...sounds good! i kinda remember watching the Dollmaker on TV, not that it wasn't so long ago *cough*.
The first chapter - about saving her son - was done as a story in itself in Readers Digest Condensed Books. I read it when I was a kid -
However, I never bought the book to read it.
I loved the movie, I absolutely loved it. I haven't seen it in quite some time but just thinking of it and all they went through, well I may have to see if it's available on CD to rent. I didn't realize it was from a novel(will have to check that out). The doll making was thrilling to watch and it's interesting to know who taught her.
Did you write that review of the book and story? If so, my dear SusieQ you should be writing for Amazon or even the NYTimes!
XOXO
Oh goodness, yes I remember seeing this movie years ago and loved it. I would love to see it again. I have the book somewhere, but never read it. Me thinks I should dig it out.
oh I LOVE the dolls.
I loved this movie and just recently picked up a copy of the book at a yard sale. The statue of Christ that she was carving in the movie was done by a woodcarver from around here somewhere. It used to sit in a store over in Gatlinburg with a picture of Jane Fonda and the woodcarver together. I haven't seen it in years so I'm not sure it is still there. I hope they put the DVD out because I would love to see it again.
This is fascinating. I will look for the film and the book.
When I first saw the original post I thought they were apple dolls. Have you ever made those..!
xo
Post a Comment