{"id":4430,"date":"2017-11-18T17:07:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-18T16:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=4430"},"modified":"2020-05-30T22:27:12","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T20:27:12","slug":"lieber-daddy-long-legs-jean-webster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2017\/11\/daddy-long-legs-jean-webster\/","title":{"rendered":"Daddy-Long-Legs \u2022 Jean Webster"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Book blogs are always a great source of good reading tips, and that\u2019s how I came across Karin\u2019s blog<\/a> and the book Daddy-Long-Legs<\/em>. Karin always stages her book photography beautifully, and the elegant design of this edition caught my eye. The K\u00f6nigskinder Verlag, an imprint of Carlsen Verlag aiming to bring stylish young adult literature to readers, had not really been on my radar so far. But it just goes to show that it\u2019s worth wandering off the beaten path now and then \u2014 this imprint hides a wonderful new edition of a classic that was originally published back in 1912. The blurb reminded me a bit of Great Expectations<\/em> by Dickens, which made me twice as curious.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The story itself is quickly told: the young orphan Judy Abbott grows up in an orphanage and stands out for her literary talent. At almost 18, she is too old to stay there, and a mysterious benefactor finances her studies at a university. The only condition: she must regularly write letters to her unknown sponsor, who will never reply directly to her, and when he does, it\u2019s only through his secretary. Only the first few pages are written in the omniscient narrator\u2019s voice and briefly describe Judy\u2019s sudden stroke of luck. The rest of the novel consists entirely of Judy\u2019s letters, written over the four years of her college life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I really enjoyed the lively and simple style of the letters \u2014 it perfectly suits a young girl taking her first steps into the wider world. While they aren\u2019t particularly profound, they are very entertaining. Once you start reading, it\u2019s both relaxing and fun to follow Judy\u2019s thoughts and experiences, and in the end, it feels like a good TV series night \u2014 at some point, you just can\u2019t stop reading. Loosened up by sketches and many half-filled pages created by the letter format, it only takes an evening to read the roughly 250 pages. It\u2019s a perfect book for in between, for unwinding and relaxing.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Jean Webster was an American author and journalist who mainly focused on women\u2019s issues. Reading her biography, it becomes clear that she wove her own college experiences into Daddy-Long-Legs<\/em>. After graduation, she moved to New York to become a writer \u2014 so it\u2019s no surprise that her protagonist shares the same ambition. As the niece of Mark Twain, Jean Webster was certainly in good literary company.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The book\u2019s design is definitely worth mentioning. It\u2019s lovingly crafted, and the dust jacket alone is beautifully done. The hardcover is decorated with a delicate floral pattern that is also echoed inside. Even the spine title is elegantly framed, and overall, the book is a pleasure to look at. It also includes illustrations by Franz Regner, which are quite simple but match Judy\u2019s style and character perfectly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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With its beautiful design and the lightness that this classic carries, this edition really impressed me. Apparently, producing more elaborate and high-quality books was one of the K\u00f6nigskinder Verlag\u2019s goals \u2014 a vision that led to several awards and attracted a dedicated readership. Unfortunately, it seems there weren\u2019t enough buyers, and according to what I read here<\/a>, the publisher will be releasing its final program next spring. Aside from cookbooks, beautifully made books don\u2019t seem to be in great demand, which I find a real shame. As regular readers of my blog know, I love beautiful, well-crafted editions \u2014 and looking at the current selection, there are simply too few of them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> I really enjoyed Daddy-Long-Legs<\/em>. It was very entertaining \u2014 light reading for an evening and perfect for a relaxed reading session in between. The story is quite predictable, and the letters aren\u2019t particularly deep, but with Judy\u2019s refreshing tone and cheerful style, I was completely drawn in. The design is excellent \u2014 with its subtle floral patterns, lovely color choices, and fitting sketches, this edition truly won me over visually. It definitely has a permanent place in our bookshelf. Anyone who enjoys young adult literature will surely like this book, and it also makes a perfect gift.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book information: <\/strong>Daddy-Long-Legs \u2022 Jean Webster \u2022 K\u00f6nigskinder Verlag \u2022 256 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783551560445<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Book blogs are always a great source of good reading tips, and that\u2019s how I came across Karin\u2019s blog and the book Daddy-Long-Legs. Karin always stages her book photography beautifully, and the elegant design of this edition caught my eye. The K\u00f6nigskinder Verlag, an imprint of Carlsen Verlag aiming to bring stylish young adult literature … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Daddy-Long-Legs \u2022 Jean Webster”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Lieber Daddy-Long-Legs \u2022 Jean Webster - lesestunden","description":"Buchblogs sind immer wieder ein Quell f\u00fcr gute B\u00fcchertipps und so bin ich auf Karins Blog  auf das Buch Lieber Daddy-Long-Legs gesto\u00dfen. Fotografisch von K"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"_slim_seo_primary_term_category":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_post_tag":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[46,10,18,20],"tags":[151,152,150],"class_list":["post-4430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-young-adult","category-classics","category-romance","category-reviews","tag-franz-regner","tag-ingo-herzke","tag-jean-webster"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/lieber_daddy_long_legs_beitrag_2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}