Product Description

In this classic story of the Baxter family of inland Florida and their wild, hard, satisfying life, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings has written one of the great novels of our times. A rich and varied story - tender in its understanding of boyhood, crowded with the excitement of the backwoods hunt, with vivid descriptions of the primitive, beautiful hammock country, with humor and earthy philosophy - The Yearling is a novel for readers of all tastes and ages. Its glowing picture of life that is far and refreshingly removed from modern patterns of living becomes universal in its revelation of simple courageous people and the abiding beliefs they live by. Winner of Pulitzer Prize in 1938, The Yearling was made available the following year in a special edition illustrated by the distinguished American artist, N.C. Wyeth. The original paintings have been re-photographed and new plates made for this handsome volume.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #380369 in Books
• Published on: 1988-03-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 428 pages

Customer Reviews

Glad I read it when I was older
I give this one 5 stars. It's one of the best books of its kind that I have ever read. I missed reading it when I was young and now I am glad that I did. Reading it at 50+ years of age, I think I appreciate it more than I would of at 12 or 13 and if you notice these reviews, that's the age of most of those giving the book 1 star. That's somewhat understandable though as this book is often required reading in school, and books you're assigned and tested on never go down as well as the ones you pick up on your own.

As I understand it, Rawlins did not specifically write this book targeted at what's now called the young adult market. I don't believe that market had really come into its own back in the 1930s. I think she intended it for adult readers and maybe that's the reason for the length, which can intimidate some younger readers (heck, I almost wondered if I wanted to deal with it when I first picked it up). But her description of life in the Florida back country in the years immediately following the American Civil War is so meticulously put together that a person may not really appreciate it until they have read a lot of books. She obviously did a great deal of research on the flora and fauna of the region, and from what I gather even went on an actual bear hunt to gather information for her book. The dialog is a foreign to us today, and even some of the words may not be familiar (e.g. how many kids today know what a 'shoat' is?). But you get used to it the further you get into the book, and I found some of the dialog between Penny and Ory (his wife) almost comical in places.

By the way, I did read one letter somewhere in this group from a 12 year old who had given the book 1 star after complaining that his teacher read this book out loud to the class over several weeks time. For shame, if I had to listen to this book read aloud every day by a teacher I'd probably rate it 1 star too.

For now though, The Yearling is definitely on my 'reread before I die' list and has been placed on the shelf alongside my collection of Hemingways in my Florida room.

Part of growing up
I read this book as a young person while still in school. Now, while picking some books for a 10 year old nephew who is becoming an avid reader, I read it again. It is a beautiful book but it made me cry at 74 as well as when I first read it at about 14. I now live close to the Rawlings home in Cross Creek and have a keener apreciation of the setting but the writing itself is what makes the book. Of course the story represents another era and a poor southern family but the characterizations are well drawn and universal. Fodderwing and his family are people that every young person should meet.
Just as the opening words, to my mind, of "Mr. Roberts" transcend good writing and are superb, so the final few sentences of "The Yearling" speak to me in universal terms about youth and "where has it all gone?"

the yearling
received my books in excellent condition as described and in a reasonable amount of time