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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
It was ok. I cried near the end, so I guess I could say it moved me. However, I expected more plot and less philosophy.
I think I was all of 30 pages into "A Gate at the Stairs" when I knew I was going to love the novel. "Gate" is a joy to read, with it's narrator, Tassie Keltjin, bringing a playful, insouciant (but hardy uninformed) wit to her initial years at college. Lorrie Moore captures everything that is clever about early adulthood: the joy of discovery, the playfulness with identity, and eagerness to explore and experience with an almost unnatural confidence and optimism. Keltjin tells her tale with a clear but unspoiled look backward through time, but in a manner that never sours the moment, or ruins the sense that we are experiencing post-9/11 college life alongside Tassie, instead of askance.
When Tassie is formally integrated into the transplanted family whose daughter she is caretaker for, the more maturing lessons of adulthood arrive, and the tone becomes more serious. Here too Lorrie Moore avoids weighing the novel with anything more than it needs: the lessons are sharp but human, and judgment is never passed so much as the lesson feels shared. Without spoiling anything of the story, you should know the scenes set are original, unpredicted, and wholeheartedly memorable.
A brilliant novel, worth every word.
When Tassie is formally integrated into the transplanted family whose daughter she is caretaker for, the more maturing lessons of adulthood arrive, and the tone becomes more serious. Here too Lorrie Moore avoids weighing the novel with anything more than it needs: the lessons are sharp but human, and judgment is never passed so much as the lesson feels shared. Without spoiling anything of the story, you should know the scenes set are original, unpredicted, and wholeheartedly memorable.
A brilliant novel, worth every word.
Lorrie Moore’s writing is often as witticism-laden as Juno or something, but I’m ok with that since it’s Juno for someone exactly at my level. Here, however, it clashes badly with the overripe subject matter, handled without that the grace and, frankly, authority needed.
I enjoyed this book a lot - Moore has a terrific sense of humor and a real dexterity with prose. She writes about the natural world and weather better than most, in my experience only Annie Dillard does that as well as Moore.
The last line of the book totally slayed me and I wish I could have started another book by the author right away!
The last line of the book totally slayed me and I wish I could have started another book by the author right away!
I'm not sure what I thought of this book. The protagonist was my age in 2001, and some parts really resonated with me, but I had a hard time getting into it. I always wonder, when books are written from the perspective of a narrator recalling things from 10 years before, how they can remember so much detail. So, beautifully written, but didn't feel authentic in that sense.
i feel like the ideas of this were good, but the execution was weird. the stories didn't seem super connected. but i did like a lot of things about it - language, good story, and depiction of midwest college town life - very true to my experience. i'll read more from her.
A great coming of age story and witty, believable writing. Be careful; it just might break your heart a little.
i really liked this. i liked the small moments and the writing.
A little weird, a little funny, a little sad. The cover is bad. (That wasn't supposed to rhyme.)
It's hard to describe but this was definitely one of those books that will stay with me. I may not want to read it again just because it was a bit emotionally taxing but totally recommended.