At the Bay by Katherine Mansfield

At the Bay Reviews

• 
  Annelies

  What a beautiful short novel this is. It's like the sea breeze that refreshens all it touches. It's the description of one day in the life of a family that stays at a bungalow in a bay. Every word has its place; there isn't a word too much in the novel. Minimalistic avant la lettre but with a lot of sensitivity and beauty.
• 
  Tuğcan Taşlı

  Bu kitabı zevkle okudum. Keşke biraz daha uzun anlatsa diye düşündüm. Anlatımı beni oralara,sakin ve huzurlu bir Yeni Zelanda kasabasında bir eve götürdü. Sanki ben de oradaymışım gibiydim. Hikayedeki karakterlerden biri de benmişim gibi. Ufak hacimli bir kitap fakat okunması kolay ve bize pek çok güzel izler bırakacak
• 
  Ana

  The Burnell family and their neighbors are at the heart of this story. We spend a day with them, each character being the focus only for a few paragraphs at a time. Father, brother, mother, son, grandmother, daughter-in-law and and so on and so forth, they're all interesting in an ordinary way. The summer day is hot and languid, until night falls. At times, tense, searching, calm, the ending is oddly bracing.
• 
  Steven Godin

  
  My fave Mansfield story. I really loved it!
  
  An excerpt -
  
  "Dazzling white the picotees shone; the golden-eyed marigold glittered; the nasturtiums wreathed the veranda poles in green and gold flame. If only one had time to look at these flowers long enough, time to get over the sense of novelty and strangeness, time to know them! But as soon as one paused to part the petals, to discover the under-side of the leaf, along came Life and one was swept away. And, lying in her cane chair, Linda felt so light; she felt like a leaf. Along came Life like a wind and she was seized and shaken; she had to go. Oh dear, would it always be so? Was there no escape?"
• 
  Masteatro

  Una verdadera belleza.
  La descripción de la atmósfera es tan maravillosa que te parece estar oyendo el mar y que las olas acarician los dedos de tus pies.
  Los pasajes protagonizados por los niños nos hacen viajar en el tiempo a nuestra infancia. Además hay también pasajes más profundos que nos sumen en nuestros pensamientos.
  En definitiva, una delicia.
• 
  Himanshu Karmacharya

  Katherine Mansfield dives into the ocean of literature and from the ocean, she picks up just the perfect drops of beautiful words and pours them in this novella.
• 
  Claudia Pastor

  Qué maravilloso primer acercamiento a la autora Katherine Mansfield. En la bahía es una historia en la que conocemos un día de la vida de los pobladores de la bahía de Crescent, sus deseos y sus secretos. El trabajo de las descripciones es increíble. Viajé por lugares, olores y personajes. Viajé a través de cada palabra.
• 
  Kelly Furniss

  A charming novella set in a New Zealand small beach side community. I chose to read this after it was one of many books mentioned in a book I was reading - Small Bodies of Water by Nina Mingya Powles.
  The book was based on a day in the life of a family and their friends during the summer on the beach.
  Quite a classic, the language was gentle and the story well written.
• 
  EmeJota

  "En la bahía"
  "Preludio"
  "Garden-Party"
  "Las hijas del difunto coronel"
• 
  Sidik Fofana

  SIX WORD REVIEW: Neighbors aren't chosen--they are loved.
• 
  Laura

  Another brilliant short story by Katherine Mansfield; she knows how to captivate the reader.
• 
  belisa

  incelikli hoş bir kitap, bir çırpıda okudum
• 
  mora

  si leo otro libro sobre envejecer no m va a quedar otra que morirme
• 
  Andrea

  OPINIÓN TRAS SU RELECTURA:
  
  Empiezo mencionando un dato curioso. Y es que en la contraportada de mi edición te encuentras lo siguiente: "De Katherine Mansfield dijo Virginia Woolf que era la única escritora que tenía un estilo que envidiaba".
  
  Realmente creo que esas palabras pueden vaticinar la maravilla que se encontrará uno cuando se sumerge en las poquitas páginas que componen En la bahía.
  
  Sin duda alguna Katherine Mansfield hace magia con las palabras y crea un ambiente agradable, acogedor y bello. Repleto de delicados detalles en los que perderse con gusto es cuanto menos una delicia para saborear poquito a poquito. Con todo ello parece que el lector escuche el sonido del mar a lo lejos. Que sienta verdadera admiración por la pequeña belleza que se puede encontrar uno en algo tan cotidiano como lo son esas diminutas gotitas de rocío sobre los pétalos de las flores cuando recién da comienzo un nuevo día. Claramente En la bahía es un sinfín de sensaciones. Sensaciones de verano. De olor a salitre. Un viaje al pasado. Al recuerdo de tu propia infancia.
  
  

  Dejaba pasar la mañana fantaseando. [...] Contemplaba las hojas oscuras, cerradas, secas, de la manuka, los intersticios azules, y de vez en cuando una diminuta flor amarillenta caía sobre ella. Hermosas -sí-, si se cogía una de aquellas florecillas en la palma de la mano y se la examinaba atentamente, eran una cosita deliciosa.

  
  
  Por último diré que comprendo el que este relato no tiene acción alguna y que las descripciones tan minuciosas pueden convertirse en un gran pero para algunas personas, pero de todas formas animaros. Animaros a leer En la bahía. Es un regalo que no se puede dejar en el olvido.
  
  .
  
  OPINIÓN TRAS SU PRIMERA LECTURA:
  
  

  La playa quedaba sembrada de pequeños montoncitos de vestidos y zapatos; los grandes sombreros veraniegos, sujetos con piedras para que el viento no se los llevase, parecían enormes conchas. Era curioso pero incluso el mar parecía oírse distinto cuando todas aquellas figuras saltarinas y risueñas se adentraban en las olas.

  
  
  ¡Bendito el día en que descubrí este relato! ¡Benditas recomendaciones que se va encontrando una a diario!
  
  Confieso que Katherine Mansfield me ha conquistado gracias a pequeños detalles. Pequeños detalles que van dándole forma a En la bahía. Pero ya se sabe que la belleza (o felicidad) reside en los pequeños detalles, ¿no? Pero, ¡ay! ¡Cuánto me habría gustado vivir ese día de verano junto a todos los personajes! Y no sé (tengo que dejar enfriar esta primera e intensa impresión para intentar ver todo de manera más objetiva) por qué, pero gracias a esta lectura retrocedí por momentos (a esos momentos en los que un simple día de playa era toda una aventura) a mi infancia. Y por ello creo que le terminaré cogiendo cierto cariño a esta pequeña historia. Además de que recordaré esa colonia vacacional de Nueva Zelanda durante bastante tiempo.
  
  Y bueno... Ahora mismo no estoy viviendo una de esas aventuras de la infancia, pero aquí empieza mi aventura con Katherine Mansfield, oye.
• 
  Paola

  Mai letto niente di KM prima d'ora, ma incuriosita dall'apprezzamento manifesto della Woolf Virginia mi sono detta che forse valeva la pena conoscere qualcosa delle sue opere.
  Ho iniziato con questi tre racconti, il primo é semplicemente perfetto. Una baia la protagonista dalla mattina all'alba alla notte. Durante il giorno i comprimari umani fanno delle cose, microeventi che si inseriscono nel lento scorrere del giorno.
  Una prosa piana e dolce con un'attenzione ai minimi dettagli, un sentire il minimo vibrato del sentimento, una sensibilità acuta e profonda.
  Il secondo e il terzo sono meno compiuti, meno elaborati, comunque lo stile rimane.
  Quando il leggere é un vero piacere.
  Naturalmente altro di suo sicuramente leggerò.
• 
  Laura

  One of the most beautiful stories I have ever known. Beautiful words, beautiful pictures, beautiful emotions. A brief passage of bliss & mystery. A book to own. If you want to look straight into the eyes of the world, then this is it. Life, fallen tender and bitter, at its best.
• 
  Nadia Al-Mousa

  My first Katherine Mansfield's read and definitely not the last. A very good short story incredibly writing the language was so very rich and brilliant
• 
  Agustina de Diego

  ¡Que sensibilidad! Bellísimo
• 
  Alex

  Impresionante cómo escribe esta mujer.
• 
  K.D. Absolutely

  My first time to read a story written by
  Katherine Mansfield (1888-1933). I had a nice reading experience but I thought that I was affected by its fragmented structure. This short story has 13 parts and they jump from one character to another and in the end you are supposed to put the pieces together and see it as a diorama of what life is (your life) or was, actually, in the middle-class Britain family or a circle of families living by the bay. Dominant among these pieces are: the story of Linda and Stanley who seem to be in-love with each other but Linda is having a second thought because Stanley is married; the story of the aging Mrs. Fairfield or Aunt Beryl who are both afraid of dying alone. The image of the small girl Kezia who asks Mrs. Fairfield to promise not to die is so endearing that if it was an actual scene that I happened to witness, I would take a snapshot of it and post it on Facebook. Mansfield was able to describe the girl's innocence and left imprints of it on my brain; and of course the plays that the children do at the bay make you want to go there, if you have the resources to do so, on a summer season and frolic on the sand and bask under the sun.
  
  I also had a nice time reading the Wiki entries about Mansfield. I normally do that the first time I read a work of an author. I did not know that Mansfield had lesbian lovers and she was a contemporary of Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence. This reminded me to line up my second book by Lawrence soon. It's been a long while since I read
  Lady Chatterley's Lover (3 stars).
  
  Thank you for this small book, Sir Egay.
• 
  Sandra

  Tre brevi racconti, di cui uno, “Ferragosto”, talmente breve che non mi ha lasciato nulla. Gli altri due, “Alla baia” e “Garden Party” sono soffici ed impalpabili come un arcobaleno che spunta sul mare dopo il temporale: piccole pennellate di colori tenui formati da miriadi di gocce d’acqua.
  Il primo racconto, soprattutto, l’ho sentito così: uno scampolo breve, della durata di un giorno, di vita di mare di madri, padri, bimbi e nonne. Una natura rigogliosissima e un mare luccicante accompagnano gli stati d’animo dei protagonisti, che sembrano come attutiti, privi di contorni definiti, immersi in una magica vaghezza.
  Il secondo racconto, “Garden Party”, è il mio preferito. Una festa in giardino: fanciulle che corrono nel parco, operai che montano tendoni, cameriere che cucinano piatti golosi, l’orchestra, il buffet. Tra di essi un’avvenente fanciulla, Laura, con un elegante cappello nero ornato di margherite dorate e un lungo nastro nero, ancora non avvezza alla vita, fa il primo incontro con ciò che è inscindibilmente connesso con la vita, la morte. Un racconto, poche parole sufficienti per rimanere impresse nel lettore.
• 
  Marts (Thinker)

  Short story by Katherine Mansfield...
• 
  emily

  “A cloud, small, serene, floated across the moon. In that moment of darkness the sea sounded deep, troubled. Then the cloud sailed away, and the sound of the sea was a vague murmur, as though it waked out of a dark dream. All was still.”
  
  Got a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’; and I can see why it may appeal to certain readers, but I am not charmed. I cannot even compare it to ‘The Waves’ (Virginia Woolf) without insulting Woolf’s masterpiece. I’m shocked that Woolf had once been ‘jealous’ of Mansfield’s work – that is some real impostor syndrome right there.
  
  ‘At The Bay’ is simply a bunch of boring and bored family having a little holiday by the sea. For me, the scenes with the children screaming and running around were particularly pointless and lacklustre. Definitely wasted time reading this, thankfully it’s short. I love Virginia Woolf, thinking I’ll like Mansfield too, but how wrong was I to make such an assumption. However, I wouldn't call it bad writing, just painfully dull – so I have to give it a generous 2 out of 5.
• 
  Buket Arslan

  Kitabın arka kapağındaki kısa tanıtıcı yazının fontunun inanılmaz derecede büyük olması ilk ve kitabı her kenara koyuşumda dikkatimi çeken şey oldu.
  
  Öykü bir ailenin yazlık evlerinde sıradan bir günü anlatıyor. Ailenin annesi, büyükannesi, babası, çocuklar ve baldız hikayede hareketleri, hareketlerin odakları ve düşünceleri ile var oluyor. Etkileyici ve sıkıcı olabilecek bir günü dikkat çekici kılan ise betimlemelerin başarısıydı. Değişen manzaranın betimleme farklılıkları kadar birey hareket ve karakter betimlemelerinin mesafeli ancak tanıdık gelebilmesi de çapıcıydı. Öyküde deniz çekilirken kaya üstlerinde beliren yosunların kokularını burnumda hissederken, çocukların hava karardığında korkması, karanlıkta unutulmuş hissinin onları sarması gerçekçi ve tanıdık bir his olarak geldi.
• 
  Andrew

  Sublime.
  
  What must be the inspiration for the style of Woolf's To The Lighthouse (the greatest novel in the English language), Mansfield's short novella is vibrant with colour, intimacy, life, light, all the deliciousness of gorgeous, scintillating, evocative prose that conjures the spaces between relationships, the detail of a landscape peopled with histories, the mood of the hot day and the spent evening, the words applied like a painter applies daubs of colour on a canvas encompassing the sandy bay and its splash of characters.
  
  This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.
  
  You must read it.
• 
  Alexis Jackson

  I wanted so much to like this, but as a short story I had trouble falling into it. The fragmented snippets we get out of these domestic lives are not enough for me. It is hard for me to fall for it when not much time is invested there. This is both a strength and a weakness.--her ability to piece it all together, to focus on so many is attractive, and light reading, but the other part of me wants more.
• 
  icaro

  Leggere Ferragosto per capire qual è la differenza tra uno scrittore e uno no. Una modestissima, pura e semplice descrizione dei piaceri inconsistenti di una festa estiva, tra lecca lecca e maghi, venditori di piume e limonate fresche. Avrei potuto scriverlo anch'io. Potrei scriverlo anch'io! Ma provare se ci si riesce...
• 
  Dayna Smith

  A charming novella set in New Zealand in a small beach side community. This tale revolves around a day in the life of the Burnell family and their friends during the summer on the beach. It begins in the morning and ends at the end of the day. An interesting and beautifully written story about family dynamics.
• 
  Andrew Doran

  Like an impressionist painting. A day in the life of a bay and the people around it. Beautiful descriptive prose, but too short to feel much for the characters; we drop in like a silent drone and leave before we know who’s who.