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Title: Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel
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Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
List Price: $14.00
Our Price: $7.55
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| Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel by Ballantine Books A WWII love story soaked in period ambiance | Elizabeth Berg's Dream When You're Feeling Blue (named after the WWII standard of the same name) follows the (mis)adventures of Kitty Heaney, one of three beautiful Irish-American girls growing up in the Heaney household during WWII-era Chicago. Kitty and her sisters Louise and Tish are all dating servicemen; Louise's fiance Michael is fighting in Europe, while Kitty's boyfriend Julian is fighting in the Pacific. The girls spend their time writing letters to servicemen, attending dances at the USO centers, and choking down experimental recipes resulting from strict rationing. Kitty is indecisive and can't figure out if Julian really loves her or not. She struggles to write even short letters to him, and finds herself falling for Hank, a serviceman she meets at a USO dance.
Berg loads the slim novel with nostalgia, from pin curls and dress fashions to radio dramas, dances, tunes, and film stars. Equally scattered throughout are references to Chicago landmarks such as the Christmas window displays and tearoom at Marshall Field's (now Macy's), Oak Park's Petersen's ice cream parlor and their turtle sundaes, and the Berghoff restaurant. However, the 1940s seems to be a more three-dimensional character than the narrator, Kitty, particularly in the final chapters.
My biggest gripe with Dream is the ending, which flies in the face of Kitty's established character. If Berg had simply chosen to end the novel minus the two short end chapters, it might have been for the better. As a narrator, Kitty is shallow and self-absorbed. Perhaps the most effective device is that of the reports of the front lines from soldiers' letters; they are a direct contrast to some of Kitty naive statements and the rose-tinted setting of Kitty's home front.
Still, Dream When You're Feeling Blue, is a slow, sentimental waltz to an early Sinatra tune that speaks volumes on the value of family, patriotism and sacrifice during wartime. | | Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel by Ballantine Books Looming Deadline? | | Let me start by saying that I love Elizabeth Berg. I have never finished one of her books without passing it on to a friend. However...this book just never hooked me. I didn't care about the characters and the ending was just ridiculous. This was a library book and I had to double check to make sure that someone hadn't cut out the second to last chapter! Maybe she was rushing to meet a deadline?! Hopefully her next book will wash this taste out of my mouth! | | Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel by Ballantine Books worst book she has ever written | | berg is such a wonderful author - this book was trite - poorly written and used evry cliche in the book - one of the most boring books ever in print. | | Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel by Ballantine Books A Wonderful Afternoon Read | Dream When You're Feeling Blue was a very quick and easy read, yet very well written by Elizabeth Berg. It's a perfect "long plane ride", "lazy afternoon", "day in the park" get-a-way.
I had many mixed feeling about Kitty and her behavior that ranged from down right thoughtless, immature, materialistic, and hurtful but yet, at times, would take a 180 degree bend in her character.
Admittedly, my perspective may be a bit skewed since my husband is in the service, and some of Kitty's actions/reactions due to her thoughtlessness and disregard for speaking up or thinking things through just left a bad taste in my mouth considering the circumstances. I couldn't even begin to imagine not taking things seriously, or putting on an act without even knowing your true self when these men at war and are counting on you to follow through with who and what you have impressed upon them. Or, as Kitty did, had expectations that she should have never had, yet didn't even know herself well enough to know if she really wanted them. In short, I found her exceedingly frustrating at times, but what's a good book without some conflicting feelings?
Having said that, this story is rich with a culture and time that has since passed with strong characters that you'll fall in love with (yes, Kitty too!), you will laugh with them, you will hope with them, and you will cry with them. This is a great WWII period novel that gives us a first hand glace into what it must have been like to live in the times, times most of us have not had to endure: from rations, to USO dances with men, many of whom would never come home, to the overwhelming sense of patriotism and unity in fighting along side "our boys", even us left behind on the home front that has been lost in many of our busy lives.
A truly wonderful read! | | Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel by Ballantine Books Disappointed | I've enjoyed Berg for many years, but this one was a disappointment on several levels. The characters just didn't appeal to me at all and WAY too much detail was included.
I listened to the audio version which Berg narrated and that was a mistake. Many author-read audios are good, but not this one. The voice just droned on and on and I could barely finish it. Plus, the ending was such a disappointment. | | Dream When You're Feeling Blue: A Novel by Ballantine Books Product Description | New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg takes us to Chicago at the time of World War II in this wonderful story about three sisters, their lively Irish family, and the men they love.
As the novel opens, Kitty and Louise Heaney say good-bye to their boyfriends Julian and Michael, who are going to fight overseas. On the domestic front, meat is rationed, children participate in metal drives, and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller play songs that offer hope and lift spirits. And now the Heaney sisters sit at their kitchen table every evening to write letters–Louise to her fiancé, Kitty to the man she wishes fervently would propose, and Tish to an ever-changing group of men she meets at USO dances. In the letters the sisters send and receive are intimate glimpses of life both on the battlefront and at home. For Kitty, a confident, headstrong young woman, the departure of her boyfriend and the lessons she learns about love, resilience, and war will bring a surprise and a secret, and will lead her to a radical action for those she loves. The lifelong consequences of the choices the Heaney sisters make are at the heart of this superb novel about the power of love and the enduring strength of family.
From the Hardcover edition. |
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