The Egg and I? Or Not?

I read The Egg and I as a young teenager back in the dark ages.

I remember liking it and so I read Betty MacDonald‘s sequels: The Plague and I and Onions in the Stew.

She wrote another memoir titled Anyone Can Do Anything, which I just discovered last week when I reread the first three and picked up the fourth book.

The books were interesting and enlightening, when they weren’t irritating.

The instigation

We recently returned from a fabulous trip to the Olympic Peninsula.

On the way back to the airport, we detoured through Port Townsend, an old frontier town on Puget Sound.

As we headed down a scenic two-lane highway, I remembered Betty MacDonald’s blockbuster bestseller, The Egg and I, took place just south of Port Townsend.

Bits of the story came to mind as I looked up at the Olympic Mountain backdrop she described as ominous.

I’d always considered them dramatic and friendly when I lived in the area.

My memory reminded me she thought the thick pine trees pushing up against the small chicken ranch were oppressive.

The books are old

The area near Chimacum is clear and open now, green pastureland dotted with cows and sheep. Beautiful to my city eyes.

MacDonald lived on a chicken ranch from 1927-1931, so things obviously have changed.

Here’s a description from the Port Townsend Leader newspaper website, about the book:

One of the book’s dominant tones is self-deprecating whining.

“On a chicken ranch,” she writes, “there never dawns a beautiful day that isn’t immediately spoiled by some great big backbreaking task.”

When we passed The Egg and I Road, I laughed.

(You can see a photo of the sign here, we past too quickly for me to get my camera out!)

Rereading the Books

More than The Egg and I, I remember being impressed by The Plague and I–the story of the year Macdonald suffered with tuberculosis and spent nine months in a sanitarium in 1938.

By Muhammad Mahdi Karim (www.micro2macro.net)

On rereading the four books, The Plague and I remained my favorite and worth rereading. I skimmed the other three books.

The books were written during World War II when a desperate MacDonald was in sore need of funds.

A 1945 surprising and immediate bestseller, The Egg and I and stayed on the list for more than a year.

It struck a humorous note in a difficult time for many.

Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray starred in a popular movie filmed the next year–a screwball comedy I preferred to the book. The film spawned the Ma and Pa Kettle sequels.

Unfortunately, MacDonald’s humorous takes on events wore thin. I tired of reading about endless cigarettes and ridiculous responses to tragedy.

She’s a clever wordsmith with a witty sense of humor. Her older sister Mary Bard got her the contract for The Egg and I and encouraged her to recount the experiences her Seattle family thought hilarious.

As a social history, the books work–though MacDonald’s depictions of Native Americans made my 21st century ears cringe.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Farm   (Wikipedia)

As a kid and a sometimes cynical parent, I liked her Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books.

In those children’s books, MacDonald applied her ironic wit into silly stories that taught lessons in a funny way.

They still make me laugh and I’ve never forgotten the way Mrs. Piggle Wiggle–a form of Nanny McPhee–taught a hapless mother how to get her kids to pick up their rooms.

Is it fair to reread books written for a different audience in a far different time and place?

The historian in me says yes.

And as the granddaughter of a chicken rancher–though in far more comfortable southern California–The Egg and I was worth a reread.

It may be worth noting my mother hated chickens.

Tweetables

The Egg and I as social history? Click to Tweet

Historian yes, reader no, The Egg and I. Click to Tweet

The Egg and I and its sequels. Click to Tweet