Title: Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
Author: Eric
Hodgins
Genre: Fiction, Comedy
About the book…
Originally written as the article, “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Castle”, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, published
as a full length novel in 1946, is a comical story of everything going as wrong
as it possibly can. When Jim and Muriel Blandings discover they can afford to
move out of the city their search for houses leads them to the Old Hackett Property,
which has all the trimmings of a proper country space. Falling in love with a
house that has rustic and historical charm, though, has its down side, in fact,
so much so that they’re told they “should ought to tear it down”. Thus, the
Blandings embark into the world of house building and all its troubles from well
digging to water softeners.
This book is the basis for the 1948 movie starring
Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, as well as an episode on Lux Radio Theatre in 1949.
What I think…
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is
one of my most favorite movies and this book is a great favorite of mine as
well.
For those familiar with the movie it is a fairly close match to the
book plot wise. A lot more time is spent building up how badly the Blandings
want the house, which I think makes all the problems they end up facing even
funnier. There is also a charming episode in the book not in the movie where Mr.
Blandings becomes enraged with a neighbor for building something that ruins his
view.
Hodgins was supposedly inspired by his own house building troubles
when writing the original story and I feel like it really carries over to the
book, as it’s quite detailed when it comes to some of the problems they face.
Accompanying
my edition of this book are illustrations by William Steig (of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and Shrek! fame). These whimsy little
sketches add to Hodgins delightful prose.
To sum it all up…
As
amusing as can be, this book is at the top of my list when it comes to comedic
40’s fiction! ♥
:)
ReplyDeleteI just nominated you for a Liebster Award! http://phyllislovesclassicmovies.blogspot.com/2015/07/liebster-award.html
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like such a fun book - just the kind of lighthearted read that would be perfect to pack up and off for a day spent reading on the beach or in the shade at a park.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
Those would absolutely be two of the most perfect places to read it!
DeleteThis actually reminds me of our own money pit.
ReplyDeleteOh no, I'm sorry to hear that!
Delete