0
0
Penrod (1922) by Booth Tarkington ⭐⭐⭐
Our latest book read is Penrod. As you can see, someone put their drinking cup on the top of the book at some point, making a lovely ring on the front. I got this book from my dad’s inventory when he had a booth at an antique shop in NJ.
Penrod was first published in 1914. This is the 1922 photoplay edition that was published by Grossett and Dunlap! This was the first time that Penrod was filmed. It has been filmed numerous times in different variations since. This version was directed by Marshall Neilan, and produced by Associated First National Pictures. See here if you recognize any of the actors’ names. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penrod_(film) There are some very cool photos of the film in the book. It is, unfortunately, a lost film, though. Here are the photos:
There are also lots of regular illustrations, these being a few:
Notice on the above picture it is phrased ‘ten of the clock’ rather than ‘ten o’clock’. I thought that was curious.
From what I am reading about the movie, the events in the book are quite different from the film, but it seems that the main point is the same. 11 year old Penrod, dubbed Worst Boy In Town, runs around creating all kinds of havoc. He’s still a well-loved playmate, though, and transgressions are easily forgotten, especially by his best friend Sam.
There are lots of characters in this book, all with their own distinct personalities.
Maurice Levy: The Rich One
Marjorie Jones: Penrod’s Crush
Herman and Verman: The local black children and frequent playmates of Penrod
Sam Williams: The Best Friend
Georgie Bassett: The Best Boy In Town/The Little Gentleman
Duke: Penrod’s Dog
Penrod Schofield: Worst Boy In Town/Our Protagonist
He also runs into a few others, two of them being a bully from Number Three (a school on the other side of town) and Fanchon, the cute society girl who, though only 12 years old, has travelled the world.
The book is very simple, and portrays the trouble Penrod gets himself into throughout the summer. One paragraph that stood out to me:
“They were upon their great theme: ‘When I get to be a man!’ Being human, though boys, they considered their present estate too commonplace to be dwelt upon. So, when the old men gather, they say: ‘When I was a boy!’ It really is the land of nowadays that we never discover.”
I struggled between two stars and three stars, because, while I enjoyed the book and the shennanigans therein, there are so many questionable ethnic descriptions and racist depictions that I just wasn’t sure what to rate Penrod. In the end, I decided to go with three stars, because I’m rating the overall book and story, not the unfortunate views of the past.
At the end of the book, my edition also had an interesting biography written by Asa Don Dickinson. It isn’t your stuffy run-of-the-mill old timey biography, either. It’s exactly what you’d think you’d see in an old 1920s film magazine. It’s fun and cute and totally worth reading!
Speaking of reading, if you’re interested in the antics of Penrod, it’s on gutenberg. It’s part of a 3 book series, so stay tuned. https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/402
This sounds quite interesting! 🙂 I love the photos and illustrations. It must be a story with lots of potential and entertainment value to have been adapted into films so much.