Audiobook · read by volunteers
Peterkin Papers
Lucretia P. Hale (1820–1900)
Read by entada · 12 chapters · 4 h 24
About the book
The Peterkin family is not stupid. In fact, the Peterkins are full of ideas, energy and resourcefulness. They simply lack the one ingredient that would make them useful: common sense. When Mrs. Peterkin puts salt in her coffee instead of sugar, the whole household convenes a council; when the council cannot find an answer, the family goes looking for ever more learned advice. Lucretia P. Hale's comic tales of this earnest and bewildered family have delighted children and grown-ups for well over a century. The humour is gentle, the logic is wonderfully circular, and the scenes are small and domestic. Each story sets a simple problem and lets the Peterkins find the longest and most amusing way to solve it, or to fail. Cows, pianos, picnics, a Christmas tree and a summer journey all become occasions for earnest debate.
Introduction
Lucretia P. Hale (1820-1900) was an American author from a literary New England family. She wrote a number of books and articles, but her best-known work is the series of stories about the Peterkins, which began appearing in children's magazines in the 1860s and was collected in book form in 1880 as The Peterkin Papers.
The stories follow a simple formula. A small difficulty arises in the household, whether a matter of etiquette, clothing, weather or travel, and the family responds with great seriousness and no practicality at all. Their solutions are often ingenious and always beside the point. In the end the problem is resolved by an outside figure, usually the lady from Philadelphia, who offers advice so obvious that it causes mild astonishment.
The comedy is that of the absurd made respectable. The Peterkins are never mocked unkindly: they are affectionate, polite and entirely sincere, and that is what makes the tales so endearing. Hale keeps a deadpan manner throughout, and the fun lies in the family's perfectly logical muddle.
This recording has twelve chapters and lasts about four and a half hours. It is read by a LibriVox volunteer, and it suits both younger listeners and adults who enjoy a quiet, old-fashioned kind of laughter. The stories are best enjoyed a few at a time, since the formula, though never tiresome, depends on the pleasure of anticipation. They make a delightful read-aloud choice for families, and they will appeal to anyone who enjoys a mild and gentle brand of absurdity.
Public domain
Lucretia P. Hale died in 1900: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text