First published in 1979, Vida is Marge Piercys classic bookend to the sixties. Vida is full of the pleasures and pains, the experiments, disasters and victories of an extraordinary band of people. At the centre of the novel stands Vida Asch. She has lived underground for almost a decade.
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First published in 1979, Vida is Marge Piercys classic bookend to the sixties. Vida is full of the pleasures and pains, the experiments, disasters and victories of an extraordinary band of people. At the centre of the novel stands Vida Asch. She has lived underground for almost a decade.
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Add this copy of Vida to cart. $1.15, good condition, Sold by Jenson Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Logan, UT, UNITED STATES, published 1980 by Summit Books.
Add this copy of Vida to cart. $2.28, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1980 by Summit Books.
Add this copy of Vida to cart. $2.50, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2011 by PM Press.
Add this copy of Vida to cart. $2.50, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2011 by PM Press.
Add this copy of Vida to cart. $2.50, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2011 by PM Press.
Add this copy of Vida to cart. $3.74, very good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1979 by Summit Books.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Vida to cart. $3.75, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1979 by Summit Books.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Vida to cart. $5.00, good condition, Sold by Poquette's Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dewitt, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1981 by Fawcett.
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Add this copy of Vida to cart. $5.49, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1980 by Summit Books.
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Good. Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
There is so much divisiveness and polarization today in our country. I was in college and graduate school during the 1960's -- 70's and remember the demonstrations, the student protests, the anger, the Vietnam War, the assassinations and more. It troubled me when young, and it troubles me more now.
Marge Piercy is a prolific American poet and novelist who wrote "Vida" (1979) as her sixth novel relatively early in her career. I read and greatly enjoyed a volume of Piercy's poetry, "The Art of Blessing the Day" many years ago., "Vida" was the first of her novels I have read, and I liked it far less.
This is a novel of 1960s radicalism and its aftermath. The primary character is Vida Asch, 37, a leader of the student radicals in the 1960s. Late in the 1960s, the student movement divided with a small splinter group, called the Weathermen, going underground and perpetuating acts of violence. Vida is a leader of this underground or 'Network" and a member of its governing board.
The novel moves back and forth in time, both in its sections and in flashbacks. Some of the sections show the protest movement of the 1960's and Vida's involvement. But the larger part of the book shows Vida's years as a fugitive through about the time the novel was published in the late 1970s. Vida goes underground after a series of bombings. The novel describes the painstaking care she and her comrades must take to avoid detection and arrest. The novel is thickly and realistically textured and shows a committed, difficult, lonely, and claustrophobic life.
The novel shows something of the bombings or "actions" that made Vida a fugitive and that she continues to undertake as most of her generation fades away or moves on to other things. But most of the book is about Vida herself, the places she visits as a fugitive, the way she manages to support herself, her extensive sex and love life, and her love of food and clothes. The book includes many characters all of whom Piercy convincingly describes. The other major characters include a younger man, Joel, who becomes a love interest of Vida early in the novel, and Vida's sister, Natalie, in the middle of getting a divorce. The book and the frame of political interest gradually move from the Vietnam protests through other critiques of social and economic conditions in the United States. It emphasizes how, in the 1970s when the Network was reduced to a dwindling number of fugitives, the Network became the source of a strong feminism, based on the way the male leaders of the Network treated its women members, including Vida. Feminism and sexuality ultimately become a major theme of this book.
The novel is multi-textured and written with great details and powers of observation. Piercy writes with a great deal of sympathy for her characters. The book is dedicated to the "street and alley soldiers" and Piercy describes the work on her webpage as "the most important novel yet written about the political 60's and 70's [and] at the same time a sensual and moving love story."
I was reminded of the 1960's and 70's by Piercy's novel and developed feeling for the characters and their plight. In my view, the author's admiration for her characters and their political commitments was misplaced. I didn't find this admiration supported by the book and I don't share it, beyond the human sympathy for lost, lonely, probably misplaced lives. In my view, Piercy gives 1960s radicalism and its adherents more credit than they deserve. Her novel is indeed about the "political" 60s and 70's and may not appeal to readers without a commitment to the ideals of that era. "Vida" is a lengthy book; while I enjoyed it in sections, it did not bring back fond memories of an earlier time or make me wish that the ideals of that time had been realized. The book reminded me of large, continued divisions in our beloved country and of the continued and growing need for healing and for a renewed spirit of patriotism.
