Mary Antin The Promised Land

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"The Promised Land" by Mary Antin was published 1912, and information technology narrates the story of a Jewish family immigrating from Russia to the u.s...

In fact it is the autobiography of Antin, she put it in this way: " I was built-in, I have lived, and I accept been made over.."
A very touching and beautiful written autobiography which reads like a novel!!

My paperback edition contains an awesome introduction past Werner Sollors, and also reproductions of eighteen black-and-white photographs from the book first editi

"The Promised Land" by Mary Antin was published 1912, and it narrates the story of a Jewish family unit immigrating from Russia to the u.s.a...

In fact information technology is the autobiography of Antin, she put it in this way: " I was born, I have lived, and I have been made over.."
A very touching and cute written autobiography which reads like a novel!!

My paperback edition contains an crawly introduction by Werner Sollors, and as well reproductions of xviii black-and-white photographs from the volume first edition..
Also included are the two short stories "Malinka'south Amende" and "The Lie"..

I've enjoyed it indeed, a very enlightened book by which I have acquire and then much!!
I'thousand happy to take come beyond this beauty because it has given me something of import for my understanding of immigrants and the value of education..

I do recommend information technology to all of you who are interested in Jewish history and would like to read an interesting and gripping biography!!

Happy readings..

Dean;)

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January 03, 2011 George rated it information technology was astonishing

Possibly THE BEST MEMOIR I'VE EVER READ.

"I take never had a tiresome hour in my life…"—folio 246

I similar memoirs. I like stories, particularly kickoff-hand accounts, of the immigrant experience in America. I particularly like stories almost the lives of bright and adamant people.

Mary Antin'south memoir, 'The Promised Land,' delivers total measure out, on all of this and more.

From the starting time half of the book, equally a young girl in the settlements of the Russian Pale, to her early adolescence as an immigrant in and arou

Perhaps THE Best MEMOIR I'VE E'er READ.

"I have never had a wearisome hour in my life…"—page 246

I like memoirs. I like stories, peculiarly first-paw accounts, of the immigrant experience in America. I peculiarly like stories about the lives of bright and determined people.

Mary Antin's memoir, 'The Promised Country,' delivers full measure out, on all of this and more than.

From the starting time half of the book, equally a young daughter in the settlements of the Russian Pale, to her early boyhood as an immigrant in and around Boston, Massachusetts, in the late nineteenth century, this is a conspicuously written, energetically compelling, richly enlightening and very enjoyable archetype read.

Recommendation: The very highest. (And it's available equally a digital book from either Barnes and Noble, or Amazon.com, for just 99¢.)

I call up I would have very much liked meeting this lady:

"I became a student and philosopher by force of circumstances."—page six

"It was non my way to accept unchallenged every superstition that came to my ears."—page 60

NookBook from Barnes and Noble, 258 pages. [Originally published in 1912.]

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iii stars.

"Had I been brought to America a few years before, I might have written that in such and such a yr my father emigrated, just equally I would land what he did for a living, as a matter of family history. Happening when it did, the emigration became of the well-nigh vital importance to me personally. All the processes of uprooting, transportation, replanting, acclimatization, and development took place in my own soul. I felt the pang, the fright, the wonder, and the joy of it. I tin never forget,

3 stars.

"Had I been brought to America a few years earlier, I might have written that in such and such a year my male parent emigrated, just as I would country what he did for a living, as a affair of family history. Happening when it did, the emigration became of the almost vital importance to me personally. All the processes of uprooting, transportation, replanting, acclimatization, and evolution took identify in my ain soul. I felt the pang, the fear, the wonder, and the joy of information technology. I can never forget, for I conduct the scars."

I read The Promised State for my history courses, then I'm not going to review. I did enjoy this, though, just not as much equally I expected to. I wasn't a huge fan of Mary Antin's writing, so it was a little hard to get through this i.

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In the introduction to this, the autobiography of her youth and emigration from Russia to America in the decades straddling the 19th and 20th centuries, Mary Antin writes:

'Although I have written a genuine personal memoir, I believe that its chief interest lies in the fact that information technology is illustrative of scores of unwritten lives. I am simply one of many whose fate it has been to live a page of modern history. We are the strands of the cable that binds the Old World to the New.'

And, of course, it is a

In the introduction to this, the autobiography of her youth and emigration from Russian federation to America in the decades straddling the 19th and 20th centuries, Mary Antin writes:

'Although I accept written a genuine personal memoir, I believe that its chief interest lies in the fact that it is illustrative of scores of unwritten lives. I am only 1 of many whose fate it has been to alive a folio of modern history. We are the strands of the cable that binds the Old Earth to the New.'

And, of course, information technology is a story familiar to countless thousands of lives: the story of the exile from certain prejudice to the immigrant of uncertain ones.

Yet Mary is, above all else, every inch the individualist. A fervent believer in, and living embodiment of the American Dream, over the class of her memoir Mary likewise reveals herself to be an atheist, as well as something of an enemy of what she refers to equally the 'pet institution' of family.

Such costless-thinking unconventionality would have been impossible for a young Jewish girl from Polotzk, a ghettoized region 'within the Pale' of Zsarist Russia.

Jewish communities were highly regimented, with the sons destined to study the Torah at 'heder'(scripture schoolhouse), and daughters attached to dowries in search of a favourable spousal relationship from an early age.

Prophylactic from pogroms in Polotzk but even so routinely abused past Gentiles, she grew up literally afraid of the Christian cross, behind which the priests would incite the peasants to violence, 'insisting that we had killed their God'.

The Jews had to prevarication to get by, and as Mary notes: 'I knew how to dodge and cringe and dissemble before I knew the names of the seasons.'

And so the Jews clung even closer to the condolement to be institute in their ancient compact with God. But 'Mashke'due south' family were a piffling different, her male parent having abandoned his pious study after traveling to less orthodox places, her female parent being a woman of business rather than of the home, so the makings of a willing exile were there in her parents, whose fortunes had too suffered a terrible reverse later a prosperous commencement.

Even and then, outwardly at to the lowest degree it was too risky for a family to flaunt convention within the community, and so Mary had no proscribed means of instruction while in Polotsk, despite her father'due south wishes and the occasional private lessons he could beget.

Whereas for her blood brother Joseph, who 'was the best Jewish male child that ever was born', his preordained lot but brought him suffering, for 'he hated to go to heder, so he had to be whipped, of course.'

That would change in America, of course.

But not straight away. The families financial difficulties hardly did better, her father failing to lift them out of the Boston slums they started from, only moving them from one quarter to another, always in hoc to landlords and grocers, some more than understanding than others, i.e. those who happened to be fellow Jews.

Simply information technology'southward more than than worth the struggle, to see how her mother 'gradually divested herself ... of the mantle of orthodox observance', and the joy of her begetter, reflected in the face of the teacher as he finally gets to deliver his children to the free school:

'I think she divined that by the simple act of delivering our school certificates to her he took possession of America'.

The to the lowest degree appealing part of the book was the constant patronization of her older sister, who had to work like an adult from an early on historic period while Mary indulged herself in daydreams. If I were the sis, Frieda, I may take felt insulted by my sister's portrayal of me as someone whose 'elementary listen did not busy itself with self-analysis'.

The best part of the book by far though, is the recollections of her girlhood in Polotsk. The stoicism in the face up of abuse past authorities and neighbors, the dodges and coping mechanisms of an unfairly persecuted race, all start by the solidarity and the sacredness of a family Sabbath celebration.

Sure, America'south far from perfect; nor is my country, England.

But whenever I read immigrant literature, or run into migrants interviewed on Television, talking virtually the racial persecution and lack of opportunity that they have faced in the countries of their nascence, I can't assist simply feel that I am lucky to be a native of a land where I can succeed or neglect, by and large, on my ain terms, certainly without daily fear of subjection.

This is how Mary Antin characterizes the status of women in her adopted homeland:

'A long girlhood, a free choice in wedlock, and a brimful womanhood are the precious rights of an American woman.'

She would have been denied all those basic rights if she had remained an orthodox Jewish girl in Polotsk, Russian federation. By writing this autobiography, at the age of just thirty, she wanted to requite thanks for that and hope to others.

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Jul 17, 2022 Aubrey rated it liked information technology

Sometimes 2 women in search of pails lay agree of the same pail at the same moment, and a wrangle ensues, in the course of which each disputant reminds the other of all her failings, nicknames, and undesirable connections, living, dead, and unborn; until an bellboy interferes, with more than muscle than argument, punctuating the judgement of justice with newly coined expletives suggested by the occasion.

If there'due south ane thing my land of nativity is skillful at, it's setting up Potemkin "melting pots"

Sometimes two women in search of pails lay hold of the same pail at the same moment, and a wrangle ensues, in the course of which each disputant reminds the other of all her failings, nicknames, and undesirable connections, living, dead, and unborn; until an attendant interferes, with more musculus than argument, punctuating the judgement of justice with newly coined expletives suggested by the occasion.

If there's 1 matter my country of nascency is good at, it's setting upwardly Potemkin "melting pots" by letting in merely enough of the marginalized to make for a good song and dance but not and so many that said temporary members of the elect can't be spat dorsum out and/or digested and evacuated when the activity proves most beneficial. Today it's the current VP and various other diverse representatives of the Us kyriarchy, but in yesteryear when participants in the US ceremonious war were still amidst the living, it was the odd immigrant schoolchild of the slums, extremely bright in the ways almost suited to a capitalist meritocracy but not and so much equally to recognize the futility of overcoming i's status every bit dinner when i is not a member of the table. And so, when one Maryashe (surnames not of frequent usage) of Russia is called Mary Antin upon taking up residence in Russia, there is hardship, at that place is effort, there is joy, but all of information technology equally close contained and handpicked nearly as much every bit is a typical prepare piece on the television evidence Sesame Street, as if information technology were possible to travel more than 4000 miles and accept experiences equally similar to, and every bit limited, that of a white child who resides their commencement 18 years in 20 mile radius of redlined suburbia. For me, this meant my enjoyment straight hinged on the corporeality of time the text spent beyond the borders of my land, for while that meant systematic depredation and apple-polishing poverty, at least I knew that, so long as the setting wasn't the United states, the realities of such would exist acknowledged. Then, while I greedily imbibed the beginning and the centre in its form as an enjoyably novel nevertheless still comfortably familiar incarnation of the (bildungs/künstler)roman, by the end, this piece had turned into blatant apologism, if non propaganda, for the author's precious military industrial complex, and the best I could practice was get through it with as much contextualized equanimity every bit possible. It means that I'll write every bit fair a review as I tin, merely not that I'yard going to question the piece of work'south low boilerplate rating much.

To be a Jew was a costly luxury, the toll of which was either money or blood. is it any wonder that we hoarded our pennies?

At the beginning, this work runs rather gloriously. The list of gaps in my knowledge in regards to history runs every bit long as the Congo and as deep every bit the Mariana Trench, and whenever I can fill in some of them in every bit insightful, unflinching, and rich a manner as Antin allows me to practice in regards to beingness Jewish in Russia afterward the beginning of the 20th c. and earlier the Bolsheviks, I do so with especial pleasure. I rode out this rightfully engaged feeling as long equally I could (even making note of the foreboding similarities between an anti-cholera mass shower Antin underwent in Germany while immigrating and what was to come up for her people one-half a century subsequently), but eventually that inquisitive gaze turned inwards, that righteous distrust of the national system turned complacent, and Antin ended up just some other white daughter crowing over winning against a Black child in a US court of law. What makes it an actress shame is the cognition, delved into to an appreciable degree by the introduction, of how the rest of Antin's life and career went during the convulsions of outset WWI, where she barbarous out of the way of the US' aggression, and so WWII, when she and her people were consigned to the empire's bad faith negligence. Then, if you're thinking well-nigh reading this, simply know that a happy catastrophe will simply come from stopping your read correct where this text ends and never pursuing in any form a sequel or a description of subsequent events. Judging past the bursts of cynical self-mockery excerpted from Antin's later writings in the introduction, subsequent to this work'southward publication, she came to some breed of realization of how she had ultimately been played by her supposed saving grace of a country. It's an disturbing matter to contemplate if thought about it for besides long, and while I would like to render to a more in depth view of Antin's later views (if tangentially through a biography of her rather interesting husband), the fact that I probable won't come across anything plumbing fixtures for a while is a boon, to put it mildly.

Taking a chance on a piece of literature only because it'south put out by one of those "classic" imprints and was written past a member of one of those underrepresented demographics is always going to be a shot in the dark. What I don't tend to expect from such choosings of mine is a read with context veering headlong into the realm of the tragic, and the history of this piece was upsetting plenty that I'm more than a trivial glad that I'thousand reviewing it on the weekend, where the remains of my permitted potable with dinner buzz me by the shipwrecks of pathos and allow me to experience in my writing, merely non too much. Just as there'southward more one way to skin a cat, in that location'southward more than i way to hollow out a soul, and I tin merely hope that someone somewhere is doing something more interesting with Antin'southward legacy than churning out a trite reprint and assigning it for diverse academy courses as an interested, but extremely dated relic in the chat about The states immigration and the Jewish diaspora. For, like many souls caught in the machinery that educated them just enough for them to mothlike fly into the fire of their own, burning at both ends will, Antin could have done and then much more with her enthusiasm, dedication, and experiences, and in sure places of her memoir, for all her sometimes offensive levels of myopia, I sympathized and then much it injure. So, a lesson in history in many a manner. Simply likewise a demonstration of the kind of bait-and-switch that continues to this day whenever a cannibal system decides to prop itself up with the latest fad in equitable inclusion, and all I can say is, I hope that future Antins are able to discover a customs that they truly belong to when the nation state has one time once again grown bored of their toys.

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November 17, 2014 Skye rated information technology information technology was astonishing

I saw this book and picked it up because it was a Modernistic Library Classic (I've constitute a lot of off-the-beaten-track-but-incredibly-fantastic books through them, including Nella Larsen'southward "Passing" and G. Thousand. Chesterton's "The Human being Who Was Thursday). I love history and actually trace my passion for the past to my high school obsession with American immigrant stories, fueled by the cute actors in my favorite movie at the time, "Newsies."

The book seemed like it would be entertaining because it was writ

I saw this book and picked it up because it was a Modern Library Classic (I've found a lot of off-the-browbeaten-track-but-incredibly-fantastic books through them, including Nella Larsen's "Passing" and M. 1000. Chesterton's "The Man Who Was Thursday). I love history and actually trace my passion for the past to my high schoolhouse obsession with American immigrant stories, fueled by the cute actors in my favorite movie at the time, "Newsies."

The book seemed similar it would be entertaining because information technology was written in a conversational style and included reference to then many landmarks in Boston that I love (BPL, Revere Beach, and the Downtown Crossing area, to proper name a few). I would definitely recommend this to anyone who lives in or is going to visit Boston, because Antin's heart just absolutely soars as she looks upon Boston for the first time.

I was extremely impressed by the quality of the writing, which read and so much similar poetry. I didn't originally think this was a book I'd need to underline, but I felt every bit though there wasn't a unmarried chapter that didn't have a quote of immense personal meaning for me. I teach middle school girls and I wish they taught this book because it completely captures the essence of 12 twelvemonth old girls, who are seeing the whole world open.

This has, therefore, fabricated its way onto my list of absolute favorite books. Books to be stranded on a desert island with. I'll return to it again and again not just for entertainment but for its depth and wisdom. I felt I had been given an enormous souvenir past Antin. I'm always going to remember that little girl who sat on the steps of Boston Public Library in 1894 and felt ecstatically happy simply to have been given an teaching and a building full of books.

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Jan xviii, 2012 James rated it did not like information technology

"For there is nothing more tragic in the annals of the Jews"
While Antin writes this in 1912 long before the retrospective reader knows of the holocaust, I cannot aid feeling that in 1912 Jews had been through worse things than an exodus to 'The Promised Land'. Antin begins the novel with her upbringing in Polotzk, the Jews are discipline to persecution in Russian federation which is far worse than anything that happens to her in America. She is a vain writer and irritating narrator, the thing is an autobiogr "For there is nothing more than tragic in the annals of the Jews"
While Antin writes this in 1912 long before the retrospective reader knows of the holocaust, I cannot assist feeling that in 1912 Jews had been through worse things than an exodus to 'The Promised Country'. Antin begins the novel with her upbringing in Polotzk, the Jews are subject to persecution in Russia which is far worse than anything that happens to her in America. She is a vain writer and irritating narrator, the thing is an autobiography of a woman who had aught to remark on. Had I not been obliged to read this for university I would accept put it downward long ago, but every bit compulsion fabricated me terminate the book, it does get ameliorate toward the end and is the only matter that motivated my 2 star rating of Antin's dull memoir. ...more

Jun 15, 2017 John Senner rated it really liked information technology

This is a story of the immigration of a smart nervy Jewish girl from Belarus and her transformation into an American. She begins with several chapters of life in a ghetto in Russian federation and her beginnings into learning and questioning. Her begetter goes to America and afterwards several years the family joins him. He is non successful and experiences considerable financial stress in the slums of Boston. Nevertheless, he is determined that his girl volition get an education. She makes friends who become equa This is a story of the immigration of a smart nervy Jewish girl from Republic of belarus and her transformation into an American. She begins with several chapters of life in a ghetto in Russia and her beginnings into learning and questioning. Her father goes to America and afterwards several years the family unit joins him. He is not successful and experiences considerable financial stress in the slums of Boston. Nevertheless, he is determined that his daughter will get an education. She makes friends who become equally adamant that she will succeed. Public schools and the Public Library become her means of rising out of the slums. ...more

This felt similar the kind of volume that I read, passively enjoyed, and will probably forget in two years or less. Antin was a expert writer, with prose that flows well, lovely descriptions, and an unending cheerfulness despite grim circumstances. It was fascinating to learn almost Jewish life and persecution, and I was pleased to read an immigration novel that wasn't vastly depressing (looking at yous, The Jungle). Despite this, the novel wasn't particularly ground breaking or memorable, but information technology is a ni This felt like the kind of book that I read, passively enjoyed, and will probably forget in two years or less. Antin was a good author, with prose that flows well, lovely descriptions, and an unending cheerfulness despite grim circumstances. It was fascinating to acquire near Jewish life and persecution, and I was pleased to read an clearing novel that wasn't vastly depressing (looking at y'all, The Jungle). Despite this, the novel wasn't peculiarly footing breaking or memorable, just information technology is a nice historical read. ...more than

February 19, 2014 Chaim Rube rated it it was amazing

Fascinating insight into the of life an immigrant from the stake of settlement in Russia to the The states at the turn of the twentieth century. A poignant perspective of the Jewish-American experience for many at the time, providing perspective on both the meaning of beingness Jewish and being American.

In the autobiography of Mary Antin, The Promised Country, she automatically describes her babyhood memories of how she became aware of her situation and of all those living in Belarus. Initially, Antin gives the reader a broad scope of how she sees life in Polotzk and how she slowly begins to realize that she and those living exterior of Russia are unlike from the Russians. 1 particular aspect of how Antin begins to differentiate betwixt her and those in Russia is how she realizes that she tin In the autobiography of Mary Antin, The Promised Country, she automatically describes her childhood memories of how she became aware of her situation and of all those living in Belarus. Initially, Antin gives the reader a broad scope of how she sees life in Polotzk and how she slowly begins to realize that she and those living outside of Russia are different from the Russians. One detail attribute of how Antin begins to differentiate betwixt her and those in Russia is how she realizes that she cannot do anything virtually the awful way she is treated by others. Unlike a newspaper article, through this autobiography Antin shows how she has to cultivate a certain indifference to those who torment her considering she is a Jew.
Every bit opposed to a newspaper narrative, Antin'south emotions are clearly represented every bit she shows how she slowly realizes that the persecution she experiences cannot be prevented. Fifty-fifty the one person, her mother, who should exist able to protect her, cannot practice anything about information technology. A newspaper commodity does not have the capacity to illustrate the full story, from childhood to adulthood, how the person offset realizes the gravity of his situation. A newspaper commodity may be more concerned with the person'due south actual divergence from the place he is leaving, but information technology will not get into too much detail how the person came to the consciousness of injustice. That is what the beginning of Mary Antin's autobiography depicts: the realization of prejudice. Antin realizes that the "globe [is] divided into Jews and Gentiles," however, the "knowledge came and so gradually that information technology could not shock [her]" (Antin eight). When she first has her run in with Vanka, her female parent tells her "How can I assist y'all, my poor child? Vanka is a Gentile. The Gentiles do as they like with u.s.a. Jews" (Antin 8). This piece of data from her mother shows that even the i person who should protect her, cannot. This blazon of information is not likely to be conveyed in a newspaper where much of the space is dedicated to inform the reader about current events, and how Antin copes with the segregation when she is a child is not exactly a electric current upshot.
The autobiography of Mary Antin shows certain emotions and aspects that a newspaper narrative is conventionally not supposed to do. The way Antin processes the information about how she has to take unfairness tin can only be related through a narrative. The autobiography allows the reader to become dorsum in time and meet how Antin is exposed to the discrimination in Republic of belarus.
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Jul 27, 2019 katie rated it it was amazing

fantastic personal story of a Jewish immigrant woman to the US at the finish of the 19th century. Mary Antin was born in what is now Belarus (and then part of the Russian empire) and immigrated with her family unit to the Boston expanse as a young teen, who loved school and writing and became a famous writer and lecturer. This volume gives the story of living in the Russian Pale (the segregation and oppression of Jews in the 19th century), and the contrasts with cosmopolitan New England, and how a immature girl fac fantastic personal story of a Jewish immigrant adult female to the US at the terminate of the 19th century. Mary Antin was born in what is now Belarus (and then part of the Russian empire) and immigrated with her family to the Boston area as a immature teen, who loved school and writing and became a famous author and lecturer. This volume gives the story of living in the Russian Pale (the segregation and oppression of Jews in the 19th century), and the contrasts with cosmopolitan New England, and how a immature girl faced a new world, and developed her new personal identity as a writer and equally an American. Her writing is compelling, a fantastic rest between giving the details of day-to-twenty-four hour period life, and insightful cocky-examination of what is is like to offset to create your sense of self as a young adult.

Her writing was eloquent, funny, and insightful about our internal selves. It's articulate that this is a woman's perspective on the Immigrant Memoir, every bit she spends more than time on the difficulties of poverty specific to women, especially Antin's female parent and sis. And she gives so much credit to the various adults who saw her potential and encouraged her.

There is some awful, coincidental racism when Antin talks most the African-Americans in her neighborhood, which is disappointing, if not surprising.

Simply it's peculiarly relevant today, as the cardinal philosophy of the book is that immigrants bring value to the U.s.a. and should be given the opportunity to prove what they add to our society and culture. As Lafayette would say "Immigrants, we go the job done!"

Love this volume, highly recommend information technology!! And then sad that Antin has fallen into obscurity, afterward beingness so in demand and famous in her lifetime, and this book was apparently assigned in many schools to teach the immigrant experience for many decades. I wish I'd known of this volume much sooner, and call back nosotros should bring information technology back to the high school curriculum!

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October 12, 2012 Thom Swennes rated it it was amazing

Almost autobiographies are written at the finish of the writer's life. This seems a logical premise simply the old adage, quality outweighs quantity isn't integrated into the hypothesis. One only has to recollect of the unforgettable diary of an even younger Jewish girl to realize that years lonely aren't the only prerequisite for an fantabulous narrative. The Promised Country past Mary Antin was written before the author had reached her thirtieth birthday. Mary Antin (1881-1949) was born in a pocket-size Russian town an About autobiographies are written at the end of the writer'due south life. This seems a logical premise merely the quondam aphorism, quality outweighs quantity isn't integrated into the hypothesis. One only has to think of the unforgettable diary of an even younger Jewish girl to realize that years alone aren't the only prerequisite for an excellent narrative. The Promised Land by Mary Antin was written before the writer had reached her thirtieth birthday. Mary Antin (1881-1949) was born in a small Russian boondocks and her primeval memories were of harassment and persecution of Jews. The gentile attitudes and consequent discrimination of the Jews paled but slightly by those inflicted fifty years later by Germany'due south Third Reich. A Jew'south life under the Tsar was hard and few prospered. This, as other difficulties throughout the world, was i of the main reasons a copious number of immigrants fled to the "Promised Land" of the United States.
Mary Antin was blessed with a quick and rare intellect and a male parent that recognized and nurtured it. Poverty and hardship plagued this family equally it had and so many of their young man immigrants but served to only slow down only non terminate her evolution. Her talent with the written word was discovered at a very early age and the complimentary education in her new land did the rest. This inspiring story of a immature girl'south life serves also as a attestation to the teachers that helped her along. She had the good fortune to accept a number of these and took full advantage of the organization offered. This is a story of transition. What else is an autobiography? Information technology is the evolution from young to old; from neophyte to professional. Information technology serves as an inspiration to all and well worth the time to read.
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February 08, 2021 Aly Orvis rated it really liked it

I read The Promised Land for a class on Jewish Literature in Diaspora and I really actually, actually enjoyed it! I'm non a Russian Jew, didn't grow up around many Russian Jews, and never got a very extensive education about Russian Jewry beyond maybe a form or ii at Hebrew school, so the beginning part of this book was the most in-depth information I have ever received about it. Mary Antin wrote with extreme detail and emotion about awe tribulations equally a Jew growing upward in Russian federation in the times of I read The Promised State for a class on Jewish Literature in Diaspora and I actually really, really enjoyed it! I'm not a Russian Jew, didn't abound up around many Russian Jews, and never got a very extensive education about Russian Jewry beyond maybe a class or 2 at Hebrew school, so the beginning part of this book was the nigh in-depth data I have ever received about it. Mary Antin wrote with farthermost detail and emotion about awe tribulations every bit a Jew growing upwards in Russia in the times of pogroms and terrible bigotry from Christians - "to worship the cross and to torment a Jew was the aforementioned thing". I matter that I felt was a petty offputting was her enamorment with America, which I think is interesting considering I've learned (and experienced) that typically Jews attempt not to assimilate completely (although arguably just by remaining Jewish they are resisting assimilation). However, this did help to highlight how drastic she was fleeing exile into the new Promised State. Much of the 2d portion of her book alludes and runs in parallel to Shemot/Exodus in the Torah when the Jews escaped Arab republic of egypt to return to Israel, the Promised Land. ...more

What's to dear about Melting Pot literature? Antin adheres strictly to the assimilation of immigrants into American society. She believes with confidence the American experiment, and sets herself up as a type for other immigrants. In that, she is beauteous in her diligence to learn a new language, but I experience her memoir does not adequately demonstrate the trials of assimilation. She does not mention the linguistic struggles of learning English. Yet, she does enlighten the reader of cultural diffe What'south to love virtually Melting Pot literature? Antin adheres strictly to the assimilation of immigrants into American society. She believes with conviction the American experiment, and sets herself upwards as a type for other immigrants. In that, she is admirable in her diligence to acquire a new language, but I feel her memoir does non adequately demonstrate the trials of absorption. She does non mention the linguistic struggles of learning English. Yet, she does enlighten the reader of cultural differences between the Old and New Worlds; she uses her family equally the dividing indicate.
I feel she is patronizing in her portrayal of her father, female parent, and older sister every bit also Old World to truly become American. She goes so far equally resigning her sis to the factory, while she glories in her educational opportunities. While I believe the The states is a skillful nation, I have trouble with authors who set this nation as the ideal, which is oftentimes at the expense of the oppressed and silenced. Antin, I fright, is one of those authors. ...more

A lyrical memoir that sings of America

This astonishing book, written more than a hundred years ago, captures an immigrants experience, the immigrant experience. Antin expressed the exuberance of innocence, undaunted optimism, intimate moments of self doubt.

She writes of her childhood from the perspective of a young woman, only she captures the emotions and confusion of growing up in a strange land she immediately possesses.

This is not your grandmother's story, but it might exist.

A lyrical memoir that sings of America

This amazing book, written more than a hundred years ago, captures an immigrants experience, the immigrant experience. Antin expressed the exuberance of innocence, undaunted optimism, intimate moments of self doubt.

She writes of her childhood from the perspective of a young woman, but she captures the emotions and confusion of growing upwardly in a foreign state she immediately possesses.

This is not your grandmother'southward story, but it might be.

...more

Mar 22, 2008 Melissa rated it really liked it

It'southward a fabulous memoir, first published in 1912. Information technology's an immigrant story, but I loved the fashion so much of the book is set in Russian federation and that not simply is there the challenge of adjusting to America, merely also quite a bit of religious questioning (Antin is Jewish). And it was far more entertaining than I imagined. This book had been languishing on my shelves for years, and I'm slightly boot myself for not pulling it downwards sooner. Read information technology, if this sounds the slightest bit intriguing! It's a fabulous memoir, beginning published in 1912. It's an immigrant story, but I loved the way so much of the book is set in Russia and that not only is there the challenge of adjusting to America, but also quite a scrap of religious questioning (Antin is Jewish). And information technology was far more entertaining than I imagined. This book had been languishing on my shelves for years, and I'm slightly kicking myself for non pulling it down sooner. Read it, if this sounds the slightest bit intriguing! ...more

Jul 18, 2011 Marcelle rated it it was astonishing

This is the 2nd fourth dimension I've read this book. I decided to read it again because information technology is budgeted the 100 year anniversary of publication. Who doesn't dearest a story about a poor girl from the ghetto using teaching to pull herself out? It was also interesting to see what life was like for the orthodox Russian Jew (prior to her coming to the states). I'm amazed at how Antin maintains her upbeat nature throughout some difficulties (like hunger!). This is the 2nd fourth dimension I've read this book. I decided to read information technology again because information technology is approaching the 100 twelvemonth anniversary of publication. Who doesn't dear a story about a poor girl from the ghetto using teaching to pull herself out? It was as well interesting to see what life was like for the orthodox Russian Jew (prior to her coming to the States). I'k amazed at how Antin maintains her upbeat nature throughout some difficulties (like hunger!). ...more than

Mar 05, 2019 Karen Miller rated it really liked it

It is an interesting start person narrative of a girl who moves from a region of Russian federation that is now Belarus to Boston. Funny, I always imagined Russian Jews going to New York. Information technology jumps around a bit, and I was left with many questions about all that happened to her after she arrived in the The states. Never the less, I found the early part of the volume to exist fascinating in its description of the life of Jews in a little settlement in the Stake. It was her feel, and very interesting to me.

Non a flawless volume, only the history of a Jewish childhood in the Russian Pale of Settlement is extremely interesting, and the writer won me over with her sturdy determination to be an American writer. A good immigrant story, peculiarly because the context of its publication (described in the introduction past Oscar Handlin).

Sep 26, 2017 Harpoon rated it it was ok

This has some worthwhile observations most growing up in a ghetto, subject to hardships and persecution; and the difficulties and joys of assimilating to a new country. Information technology'south a valuable perspective past someone who lived through both experiences. On the downside, the prose gets a flake literary at times and I found that it dragged in spots. This has some worthwhile observations about growing up in a ghetto, discipline to hardships and persecution; and the difficulties and joys of assimilating to a new country. It'south a valuable perspective by someone who lived through both experiences. On the downside, the prose gets a bit literary at times and I establish that information technology dragged in spots. ...more

Jul 08, 2019 Kay rated information technology liked it

We read excerpts of this for a course I took in Uni.

I loved the beginning few chapters: Mary Antin's telling of the Jewish customs'southward history/life and difficulties in Europe. I didn't take to her American story every bit much. It might be her writing style or the fact that I didn't accept the whole volume, only I appreciated the European chapter more than than her American clearing. The history book over the memoir.

These were my favorite parts:
From Chapter 1 Inside The Pale

When I was a little girl, the wor

We read excerpts of this for a course I took in Uni.

I loved the outset few chapters: Mary Antin'due south telling of the Jewish community's history/life and difficulties in Europe. I didn't have to her American story as much. It might be her writing style or the fact that I didn't have the whole book, but I appreciated the European chapter more than her American immigration. The history book over the memoir.

These were my favorite parts:
From Chapter one Inside The Pale

When I was a niggling girl, the globe was divided into ii parts; namely, Polotzk, the place where I lived, and a foreign land called Russian federation. (pg. 1)

At that place came a time when I knew that Polotzk and Vitebsk and Vilna and another places were grouped together every bit the "Pale of Settlement," and within this expanse the Czar commanded me to stay, with my father and female parent and friends, and all other people like us. We must not be constitute outside the Pale, considering we were Jews.
...The earth was divided into Jews and Gentiles. This knowledge came so gradually that it could not shock me. It trickled into my consciousness drib by drop. By the time I fully understood that I was a prisoner, the shackles had grown familiar to my flesh.
The first time Vanka threw mud at me, I ran domicile and complained to my female parent, who brushed off my dress and said, quite resignedly, "How tin I assist you, my poor kid? Vanka is a Gentile. The Gentiles do as they like with us Jews." The next time Vanka driveling me, I did not weep, just ran for shelter, proverb to myself, "Vanka is a Gentile." The third fourth dimension, when Vanka spat on me, I wiped my confront and thought nothing at all. I accustomed ill-usage from the Gentiles as one accepts the weather. The world was made in a certain way, and I had to live in it. (pg. 5)

*She goes on to draw hiding from the pogroms. And as horrifying as it is is to read (information technology didn't happen all that long ago...) I've never read most the persecution/disenfranchisement of Russian/Polish Jews, written/described in a memoir before, and I'one thousand happy for it here. Information technology'south an important and forgotten part of our history. The pogroms and restrictions on Jewish religious practices and living were precursors to The Holocaust that no ane actually talks most or acknowledges.*

Outside the Pale he (a Jew) could only go to sure designated localities, on payment of prohibitive fees, augmented by a constant stream of bribes; and even and then he lived at the mercy of the local chief of police...
There was a capemaker who had duly qualified, by passing an examination and paying for his trade papers, to live in a certain city. The chief of police all of a sudden took information technology into his head to impeach the genuineness of his papers. The capemaker was obliged to travel to Leningrad, where he had qualified in the first identify, to repeat the examination. He spent the savings of years in piffling bribes, trying to hasten the process, only was detained ten months past bureaucratic red tape. When at length he returned to his home boondocks, he establish a new primary of police force, installed during his absenteeism, who discovered a new flaw in the papers he had just obtained, and expelled him from the city. (pg. 22)

A Jew was a Jew, to be hated and spat upon and used spitefully. (pg. 24)

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Oct 02, 2021 kayleigh rated it it was ok

I had to read excerpts of this autobiography for my American Literature course, and to say it was painful to get through would be an understatement. I practise recall it's well-written for the well-nigh role, but the dullness of events and Mary Antin'southward desire to completely assimilate to American civilisation and bullheaded honey for American freedom and opportunity repelled me from this piece.

Jun 07, 2017 Sharples rated it did not like it

This book is a classic written effectually 1912. I love to read about history and european immigrant stories. But this is not your typical read. Its tone is harsh. Theres alot of writtings about Russian history. Overall, information technology put me in a bad mood.

Apr eighteen, 2020 Leah Griffith rated information technology really liked it

The author's writing style was very moving, and she spun her tragic tale into something beautiful. She bridged a gap others had not before and made something of herself. It'south not always that I like books I have to read for school, but I liked this i. The author's writing fashion was very moving, and she spun her tragic tale into something beautiful. She bridged a gap others had non before and made something of herself. It'southward non ever that I like books I have to read for school, but I liked this i. ...more than

This was some other signed text. Antin details her journeying of immigrating to the U.S from Russia & the American ideals she finds herself critiquing and conforming to. In doing so, she experiences emotions of feeling ostracized but comes into her ain sense of self.

2/five ⭐️

Sep 13, 2020 Hayley Shaver rated it actually liked it

I love this memoir of a Jewish immigrant daughter as she comes from Russia and learns to live in New York. If you similar memoirs, this is a volume for yous.

In this autobiography of a Jewish immigrant's experience, Antin gives a detailed history of her family's early success and after struggles while living in Polotzk, located in the Pale about Russia and her ain successes as a bright and hardworking student in America. Her introduction posits her phonation every bit an author as unique from her own self. The introduction is the near poetic and interesting component of the text, for her commitment to her Jewish people and her awareness of having multiple births In this autobiography of a Jewish immigrant'south experience, Antin gives a detailed history of her family's early success and later struggles while living in Polotzk, located in the Stake near Russia and her own successes as a bright and hardworking student in America. Her introduction posits her vocalization every bit an author every bit unique from her own self. The introduction is the most poetic and interesting component of the text, for her commitment to her Jewish people and her sensation of having multiple births through her experiences in dissimilar countries is interesting. Antin writes her autobiography when she is "not yet thirty" (thirteen). The bigotry she describes when living on the Pale is spooky; she sees the world "divided into Jews and Gentiles" (5) and is worried that "[t]hey might cognominate me," for this is a fate worse than decease or torture to the young daughter (ix). She understands her oppression as beingness involved in a state of war, and she explains Jewish business practices (and stereotypes) through this understanding (25). In describing a girl'southward education, she states: "A daughter's real schoolroom was her mother's kitchen. There she learned to bake and melt and manage, to knit, run up, and embroider; besides to spin and weave, in country places. And while her hands were decorated, her mother instructed her in the laws regulating a pious Jewish household and in the conduct proper for a Jewish wife; for, of course, every daughter hoped to be a wife. A girl was born for no other purpose" (34). In describing her own upbringing, she states: "I was fed on dreams, instructed by means of prophecies, trained to hear and run into mystical things that callous senses could not perceive" (forty). She teaches girls how to make Russian lace and feels the ability and independence earned with coin (160). By chapter xi, later a harrowing (and briefly described) journey through Germany and by gunkhole, Antin and her family have finally reached the shore. A father lives through his children as they receive free education in America (204). She states that she was "Jew enough to have an aptitude for language" (206). She besides feel powerful and successful through the publishing of a verse form she wrote chosen "Snow" in an educational periodical. So, a verse form she wrote about George Washington – which captured her acknowledgement of her commencement land (as, prior to living in America, "we did not know what my state could mean to a homo" (228) – was published in the Herald and gave her an intense corporeality of excitement. She demonstrates farthermost ignorance when she talks well-nigh a "great, hulky colored boy" (260). She describes what it means to her to be an American immigrant: "To be alive in America, I found out long ago, is to ride on the central current of the river of modern life; and to take a conscious purpose is to hold the rudder that steers the ship of fate […] A characteristic thing about the aspiring immigrant is the fact that he is not content to progress forth. Solitary success is imperfect success in his optics. He must have his family unit with him equally he rises" (356-7). In the concluding paragraph, she calls herself "the youngest of America's children" (364). ...more

May 28, 2012 Kate rated it really liked it

This memoir, though occasionally overly-sentimental and purple-prosed, is quite touching and is a beautiful snapshot of what it was like to be a Jewish immigrant to America in the belatedly 19th Century. Antin'due south writing is lovely and self-aware--she oft acknowledges when she'due south being over-the-top in her descriptions--and her movie of America is very idealistic: it's what almost people think of when they hear the phrase "The American Dream." The idealism is what also makes the memoir fall short, thou This memoir, though occasionally overly-sentimental and majestic-prosed, is quite touching and is a beautiful snapshot of what it was similar to exist a Jewish immigrant to America in the late 19th Century. Antin's writing is lovely and self-aware--she often acknowledges when she's being over-the-top in her descriptions--and her picture of America is very idealistic: it'due south what well-nigh people think of when they hear the phrase "The American Dream." The idealism is what also makes the memoir fall brusk, though: despite her family'southward poverty, Antin is completely unaware of the systemic bug in America that continue the poor, poor. (She is enlightened of her family'due south sacrifices to help HER excel and go out of poverty, and her gratitude to them is profound and intense, but she is blind to the idea that not every family has a child to which they tin can pin their hopes, and not every kid is every bit lucky every bit she was to make influential and helpful friends.) She is as well blind to racial and ethnic strife, even though information technology existed and she would have at least SEEN some of it. The result is an odd duality where she realizes she's lucky, simply fails to realize that not anybody is going to get that aforementioned luck. The United States of America is non the same land of promise for everyone.

All of that said, I did actually relish this memoir. Every bit I said, Antin'southward writing is lovely, and in many ways her naive idealism is charming. While her story is far from universal in the way she seems to think information technology would be (at least for immigrants), it is, once again, a beautiful snapshot of what America was for her.

...more

Mary Antin, June 13, 1881 – May 15, 1949, was an American author and immigration rights activist.

Born to Israel and Esther Weltman Antin, a Jewish family unit in Polotsk, Republic of belarus, at that time part of Russia, she immigrated to the Boston area with her mother and siblings in 1894, moving from Chelsea to Ward eight in Boston'southward Southward End, a notorious slum, as the venue of her father'south store changed. She attended Girls' Latin School, now Boston Latin Academy, after finishing primary school.

She married Am

Mary Antin, June xiii, 1881 – May 15, 1949, was an American author and immigration rights activist.

Born to Israel and Esther Weltman Antin, a Jewish family in Polotsk, Republic of belarus, at that fourth dimension office of Russia, she immigrated to the Boston expanse with her female parent and siblings in 1894, moving from Chelsea to Ward viii in Boston's South Stop, a notorious slum, equally the venue of her father's store changed. She attended Girls' Latin School, now Boston Latin Academy, after finishing primary school.

She married Amadeus William Grabau, a geologist, in 1901, and moved to New York City where she attended Teachers College of Columbia University and Barnard College. Antin is best known for her 1912 autobiography The Promised Land, which describes her public schoolhouse education and assimilation into American civilization, equally well as life for Jews in Czarist Russian federation. After its publication, Antin lectured on her immigrant experience to many audiences beyond the country, and became a major supporter for Theodore Roosevelt and his Progressive Political party.

During World War I, while she campaigned for the Allied crusade, her married man'due south pro-German activities precipitated their separation and her physical breakdown. Amadeus was forced to leave his post at Columbia University to piece of work in China, where he was ane of the pioneers in Chinese geology.

She was never physically strong enough to visit him there. During the state of war, Amadeus was interned past the Japanese and died soon after his release in 1946. Mary died of cancer, May xv, 1949.

...more than

Born to a Jewish family in Polotsk, Mary Antin immigrated to the Boston area with her mother and siblings in 1894, moving from Chelsea to Ward eight in Boston's South End, a notorious slum, equally the venue of her begetter's store inverse. ... Antin is best known for her 1912 autobiography The Promised Land, which describes her public school educational activity and assimilation into American culture, as well as life Born to a Jewish family unit in Polotsk, Mary Antin immigrated to the Boston area with her female parent and siblings in 1894, moving from Chelsea to Ward 8 in Boston's South End, a notorious slum, as the venue of her father'south shop inverse. ... Antin is best known for her 1912 autobiography The Promised Land, which describes her public school didactics and absorption into American civilization, also as life for Jews in Czarist Russia. ...more

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