Elsie Venner


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(4.4 stars; 8 reviews)

Bernard Langdon is close to earning his degree in medicine when his family finds itself in financial difficulties, forcing Langdon to interrupt his studies for a time in order to earn money with which to fund the rest of his degree. He therefore leaves Boston in order to teach at a school in a village in the area. One of his students is Elsie Venner, a seventeen year-old girl, who is avoided by her peers and keeps apart. Somehow, Elsie exerts a great fascination on Langdon, as there is something distinctly different about her with her strangeness and quick temper.
Elsie Venner is one of Oliver Wendell Holmes' "medicated novels", in which he explores a medical condition of a character. Holmes was teaching at Harvard Medical School when this book was published, and he chose to let a professor of medicine narrate the story. Elsie Venner is notable for its strong Boston local colour, being at the same time the book in which Holmes coined the term "Boston Brahmin". - Summary by Carolin (15 hr 57 min)

Chapters

Prefaces 8:32 Read by BettyB
The Brahmin Caste of New England 10:26 Read by BettyB
The Student and his Certificate 24:40 Read by Ashley M.
Mr. Bernard tries his Hand 37:36 Read by Deon Gines
The Moth flies into the Candle 23:25 Read by Deon Gines
An Old-Fashioned Descriptive Chapter 29:34 Read by Deon Gines
The Sunbeam and the Shadow 23:20 Read by Deon Gines
The Event of the Season, part 1 38:23 Read by Deon Gines
The Event of the Season, part 2 35:57 Read by Deon Gines
The Morning After 31:11 Read by Deon Gines
The Doctor orders the Best Sulky 9:13 Read by Deon Gines
The Doctor calls on Elsie Venner 19:03 Read by Deon Gines
Cousin Richard's Visit 30:51 Read by Deon Gines
The Apollinean Institute 26:12 Read by Deon Gines
Curiosity 30:41 Read by Deon Gines
Family Secrets 22:13 Read by Deon Gines
Physiological 30:36 Read by Deon Gines
Epistolary 28:22 Read by Deon Gines
Old Sophy calls on the Reverend Doctor 36:59 Read by Deon Gines
The Reverend Doctor calls on Brother Fairweather 18:21 Read by Deon Gines
The Spider on his Thread 25:24 Read by Deon Gines
From without and from within 24:54 Read by Deon Gines
The Widow Rowens gives a Tea-Party, part 1 29:59 Read by Deon Gines
The Widow Rowens gives a Tea-Party, part 2 26:28 Read by Deon Gines
Why Doctors differ 32:23 Read by Deon Gines
The Wild Huntsman 27:53 Read by Deon Gines
On his Tracks 23:18 Read by Deon Gines
The Perilous Hour, part 1 24:49 Read by Deon Gines
The Perilous Hour, part 2 22:59 Read by Deon Gines
The News reaches the Dudley Mansion 35:14 Read by Deon Gines
A Soul in Distress 20:45 Read by Deon Gines
The Secret is Whispered, part 1 25:13 Read by Deon Gines
The Secret is Whispered, part 2 26:12 Read by Deon Gines
The White Ash 21:00 Read by Deon Gines
The Golden Cord is loosed 32:09 Read by Deon Gines
Mr. Silas Peckham renders his Account 33:45 Read by Deon Gines
Conclusion 9:30 Read by Deon Gines

Reviews

Unique blend...


(3.5 stars)

This story is a unique blend of medicine, melodrama, romance, social satire, scientific speculation, and theology; something for everyone! (Attention Editors: in several places, between chapters mostly, the narrator is heard practicing a phrase several times or clearing her throat. )