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The Man who Loved Children
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
20 posts | 7 read | 29 to read
The Man Who Loved Children is Christina Stead's masterpiece about family life. Set in Washington during the 1930s, Sam and Henny Pollit are a warring husband and wife. Their tempestuous marriage, aggravated by too little money, lies at the centre of Stead's satirical and brilliantly observed novel about the relations between husbands and wives, and parents and children. Sam, a scientist, uses words as weapons of attack and control on his children and is prone to illusions of power and influence that fail to extend beyond his family. His wife Henny, who hails from a wealthy Baltimore family, is disastrously impractical and enmeshed in her own fantasies of romance and vengeance. Much of the care of their six children is left to Louisa, Sam's 14-year-old daughter from his first marriage. Within this psychological battleground, Louisa must attempt to make a life of her own. First published in 1940, The Man Who Loved Children was hailed for its satiric energy. Now its originality is again lauded by novelist, Jonathan Franzen, in his illuminating new introduction.
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Dulcinella
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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@tricours @Jen Great package, tricours! ❤️.
Thank you ever so much. I love the colours and the design of the purse and towel. Very curious about the book. #1001bookswap @BarbaraBB @Sarah83

Bookladylinda Is that a tote on the left?? So cute!!!! 6y
Dulcinella @bookladylinda it‘s a towel! 😃 I look forward to do the dishes. 6y
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tricours Have you still got this one, or someone else? 5y
Dulcinella I still have it @tricours . I asked who to send it to, but still unsure who wants it next? 5y
tricours Ask again! 😊 5y
Dulcinella @BarbaraBB @tricours @sarah83 Who wants 1. The man who loved children and 2. Red harvest (edited) 5y
BarbaraBB I haven‘t read The Man who loves Children, you can send it to me! @tricours is the only one who still has to read Red Harvest so that one you can send to her! 5y
Dulcinella Thank you @BarbaraBB Will let you know when in mail. 5y
tricours @Dulcinella have you sent this one? 5y
77 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
tricours
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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Mehso-so

I DID IT! I finished this beast. Sam‘s silly speech and overall ridiculousness and stupid cruelty really got on my nerves throughout the book, and Henny‘s weird exclamations often made no sense to me. Why is this lauded as a great book?? Ok so who wants it next 😅 @Dulcinella ? Since I think @BarbaraBB and @Sarah83 are swapping theirs #1001bookswap #stdb2018

BarbaraBB Oh man, this sounds like a tough read... 😬 6y
Dulcinella You can send it my way😃 Do I send you mine? 6y
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Dulcinella 😃 Getting ready for a chunkster then. Mine is a short read. 6y
tricours @Dulcinella I‘ll send it next week, I‘m going away on a short holiday today! 6y
JenP I loved this book. Sorry you didn‘t. 6y
tricours @JenP what did you like about it? 6y
JenP @tricours I reviewed it a while ago on my blog so don‘t remember all the reasons but here is my review: https://thereadersroom.org/2015/07/27/the-man-who-loved-children-by-christina-st... (edited) 6y
tricours @jenp the things you mention are pretty much all the things I disliked! But yes, Henny gets increasingly sympathetic and in the end I was happy for her. 6y
tricours @Dulcinella have you received the book? I think I sent it at the beginning of June. 6y
Dulcinella @tricours thanks for letting me know. I just went to ask the neighbours and sure enough, it was delivered there end of last week. They probably forgot it over the weekend:-) so: Pictures will come tomorrow. And thank you! Mine is on his way too. Asked someone to send it end of last week. It is a very short one! 6y
42 likes11 comments
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tricours
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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A big thank you to @Texreader for these lovely bookmarks! Now I can finally replace the letter from the bank that has been my bookmark in this (oh so slow) book! #stdb2018

peacegypsy Beautiful! So cheery! 😊👍🌺🌸 6y
Sarah83 You don't enjoy it? 6y
Texreader Glad to see they arrived! 6y
tricours @sarah83 I‘m finding it pretty horrible 😐 6y
Sarah83 Oh no. So sorry for that. 😕 6y
37 likes5 comments
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MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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#OldCoolBooks #Tome

I‘ve read these tomes so far in 2018. All were ‘picks‘. Well, they‘d wanna be picks when you put in all that effort! 😊📚👍

@Linsy Did you intend that all the posts in your challenge this month be old books? If so, I might be pushing it with this one 😜. Although A Fine Balance is 20-odd years old 🧐.

Linsy Lol, that is a really good point. Impressive! 6y
Linsy Oh, I don‘t really think it matters. I just love seeing everyone‘s interpretations. I‘m going to try to make all of my posts old books, but my collection only reaches so far. 😅 6y
43 likes2 comments
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tricours
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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I‘m halfway through it and I can‘t say that I agree... #stdb2018 #1001bookswap

Sarah83 Good or not so good? 6y
tricours @sarah83 can‘t say I like it very much 😕 6y
Sarah83 So you feel like I feel about 'magic mountain'? Something like 'it has to be read'? 6y
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tricours @sarah83 Yep, and i never got past page 130 of that one... 6y
Sarah83 I am on page 699 now. 🙈 6y
tricours @sarah83 does it ever get any easier? 6y
tricours @sarah83 now I see why you asked! The t fell off from my “can‘t” in the post!! 6y
Sarah83 Hmmm.. not really. It's so long-winded. 😒 6y
tricours @Reggie FYI, typo in the post, I do NOT agree 😂 6y
Sarah83 🤗👍 6y
Reggie Lol, well, thanks for the retraction. 6y
37 likes1 stack add11 comments
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tricours
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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This is quite weird so far 🙄 #stdb2018 #1001bookswap I‘m learning to drive and just had a rather horrible session with my boyfriend where I kept stalling the goddamned thing. I need wine now.

Chelleo Are you learning how to drive a manual? It‘s tough but once you get use to it it‘ll be second nature. 6y
tricours @Chelleo yep, it felt a bit stupid to only get a driving license for automatic, which was my first idea! 6y
Alfoster It gets easier. But wine always helps!😂😂 6y
hilded Good luck! Definitely go for the manual, you're gonna need it 😂 6y
43 likes4 comments
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tricours
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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It‘s here and I‘m ready to start reading,
@Sarah83 @Dulcinella @BarbaraBB ! I had no idea it was so huge though 😱 Perhaps we should establish our own tag?

Sarah83 How many pages? Which tag do you prefer? 6y
tricours @sarah83 525! And the tag should be something short and easy to remember, but also unique so that no one else uses it... #stdb2018? (First letters of our nicks, which happen to spell std + b 😁) 6y
Sarah83 Wow. That's a huge one. ☺️ I like the hashtag. 🤗 What about you @BarbaraBB @Dulcinella ? ☺️ 6y
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BarbaraBB Hashtag is perfect and what a chunkster! Mine is only 200 pages but I haven‘r started yet. I will, later this month! @Sarah83 @Dulcinella 6y
Dulcinella For me hashtag Ok too:-) My book is way shorter too and I‘ll read it this week. 6y
Sarah83 Mine is about 200 pages. ☺️ I will start with it next month. 🤗 6y
37 likes6 comments
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MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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#MarchMunchies Day 6 #Yoghurt

This is a repost of my breakfast & book from two months ago.

We buy sensational Jalna pot set Greek yoghurt by the 2 kilogram tub because we eat so much of it. I can‘t bear to eat any other yoghurt since I discovered this one. Yum 😋👏.

Cortg I started making yogurt about a month ago. Yum! 6y
MrsMalaprop @Cortg oh wow. Is it difficult? And more importantly, is it delicious? 6y
Cortg @MrsMalaprop I use my Instant Pot. It has a yogurt setting. There are 2 ways to make it. I use the cold start method which is super easy, just dump ultra pasteurized milk in, set it and go to bed. I wake up to fresh yogurt. It‘s like magic! 6y
44 likes3 comments
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MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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1. What are Cheetos?
2. Tagged (I‘ve only read two).
3. The movies & the beach with the kids & hus.
4. Speak every language for sure.
5. System is different here 🇦🇺. I trained in psychology then education to become a school psychologist.
#friyayintro @jesshowbooks

Cathythoughts Good question ! the only ones I like are Marks & Spencer‘s ( I think they are called cheese puffs. Not sure). They are probably really synthetic & also delicious I think. I‘d be fussy about the brand tho. I only like M& S ones. (edited) 6y
jhod Totally agree @cathythoughts I am addicted to m and s cheese puffs! Nom nom! 6y
Jeg Cheetos are like our Cheesels I think. Full of stuff you really don‘t want to eat. 6y
53 likes4 comments
review
MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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Pickpick

In his introduction Franzen asks, “Why would you bother?” reading this tome on family life. And I can see why some would not bother. It‘s such a depressing, long book, with irritating & extraordinarily unlikeable characters.

And I am so glad I read it! It was hard work & could‘ve done with some serious editing, but holy crap, what a book! What a world Stead created. I have the Pollits in my head & I‘m not sure I‘ll be able to get them to leave.

SusanInTiburon Great review. Almost makes me want to give it another try. 6y
51 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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Can you believe this is where my son (in the white rashie) is doing 2 weeks of summer swimming lessons?

I sit & read while he has a lesson, then we have a swim together. #Aussiebeachbookbliss 🏊🏻‍♂️😎📚☀️

#Janinbooks18 #createyourownhashtag

Cathythoughts How lovely is that ! All of it ❤️ 6y
Jerdencon Gorgeous! Much better view than I have currently! 😉 6y
Mdargusch I‘m so jealous! Enjoy! 🐬🌴🌊🌞 6y
erzascarletbookgasm Love it! Enjoy! 6y
MeganAnn Gorgeous!! I'm definitely jealous since all I see out my window right now is snow! ❄️🏝 6y
66 likes5 comments
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MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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My current favourite summer breakfast: diced mango cheek, dollops of full fat Greek yoghurt, fresh local walnuts, Banksia honey drizzle and cinnamon sprinkle. With a book side of course.
😋😋😍😍📚📚

shawnmooney Loved this novel! 6y
MrsMalaprop @shawnmooney I‘m a hundred odd pages in. Yowza! It‘s not a novel so much as an immersive, life-altering experience 😳. 6y
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MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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The family in my #1stbookof2018 are totally #beserker . #NuYear #NewYearReads
In this scene two brothers are encouraged to fist fight by their father.
@Cinfhen @TrishB @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @bookloo

TrishB Clever 👍🏻 6y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Hmmmm 🤔🤔🤔 6y
Cinfhen Nice polish 😊💕 6y
40 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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First read for 2018. Have been meaning to read this for ever.
#Australianclassic #ozfiction #currentlyreading

CarolynM I'll be really interested to hear what you think. 6y
MrsMalaprop Have you read it @CarolynM ? 6y
CarolynM I tried, didn't get very far. I couldn't cope with the phonetic dialogue. 6y
Jeg So have I , been meaning to read. Will be interested in how you go. 6y
55 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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MrsMalaprop
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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I have a little problem that I'm sure some of you will relate to. I just keep on buying books, much faster than I can read them.

Dinner tonight with the husbro ended with a little trip to the book store. Just had to buy this #Australian #classic that I've been meaning to read forever 🤓🐨📚😘.

shawnmooney It's weird and wonderful - I really liked it! 7y
LeahBergen Yeah. I may have that problem, too. 😉 7y
Jeg I understand fully. 😊😊📚📚 7y
26 likes3 comments
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shawnmooney
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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This weird, wonderful 1940 novel from Australia is the first one I thought of for the #SweetChildOfMine prompt for #LyricalApril.

JenP Such a great book 7y
saresmoore Oooooh, I like the blurb for this one. 7y
Cinfhen That cover is hilarious 💕and the book has been stacked! 7y
65 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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smccallum
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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Celebrating the end of another #readathon with some new books! It's a poor excuse but better than no excuse 😆 #bookstacks

Reviewsbylola Any excuse to buy books! Liar's Club is fantastic. 7y
36 likes1 comment
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RobinGustafson
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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Latest mail delivery.

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Paperclypse
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead

This book is bonkers, y'all! Full of strangely charming hateful people.

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shawnmooney
The Man who Loved Children | Christina Stead
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A wonderful cover for an obscure, wonderful novel. New edition from Apollo Classics.

Imagineannie This looks like a great read. Thank you! 8y
17 likes4 stack adds1 comment