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179 reviews for:

Ladder of Years

Anne Tyler

3.63 AVERAGE


Very disappointing. I have read almost all of Anne Tyler's books, and have loved most of them, but every once in a while she writes a stinker, and I would put this on in that category (sorry Sarah!). I found it very slow and uninteresting, and I know we were supposed to find Delia quirky and charming and feel bad that her family doesn't appreciate her, but I just couldn't feel good about the story of a woman who abandons her family, and then finds a new family, and then abandons them too. Why was I supposed to like this person, exactly?
sonia_reppe's profile picture

sonia_reppe's review

4.0

I don't have anything against passive characters; I like their unique issues. Nor do I have anything against a woman leaving her husband and kids who take her for granted and don't appreciate her, as is evident from my enjoyment of [b:Leave Me|28110865|Leave Me|Gayle Forman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466324857s/28110865.jpg|48118999]. BUT I was exasperated with Delia, she never grew confident. It seemed like she was heading for a make-over but she never went there. The beginning was promising when it looked like she was going to enter into an affair. Yet she didn't. She didn't grow or change.

Tell your husband what you're feeling, yell at him or something, don't just disappear without explanation. When he talks down to you, speak up for yourself. And when your daughter tells you she's is planning to get married, go home and help her. Don't stay away until the ceremony and say "no one asked me."

The bulk of the book is mainly Delia making a "fresh start," living by herself and waiting for her husband to come after her.
He should come after her, win her back,
Spoiler but he doesn't, he's a jerk
. The most aggravating part: when Delia goes home for the wedding and her husband is cold to her. She lays in bed alone, thinking, "It was ridiculous of her to feel so wounded." NO IT WASN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. Four stars because I was interested in what Delia was going to decide for herself, how it was going to play out. But disappointingly, even at the end, she catches her reflection and "loses her confidence."

If her character wasn't so well-written with a full background, I wouldn't have kept reading. She annoyed me. Yet I loved the energetic and cleverly-written family scenes, with all the different personalities.
emotional reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

One of Tyler's best
funny lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous challenging emotional reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated

Heb ik nu alle boeken van Ann Tyler gelezen? Vast niet. Ook weer een heel bijzonder verhaal. Er zijn vast mensen die zo resoluut hun partner en kinderen verlaten, maar het blijft toch een wat vreemde keuze. In plaats van zelf dingen te veranderen hoef je toch niet direct weg te gaan. Wel heerlijk om zo’n saai leven te leiden en er tevreden mee te zijn.

With Anne Tyler, it's all about the characters--eccentric, dysfunctional, banal, improbably real, like the situations they get into. While I love some of her books a lot more than others, I haven't found a single one that wasn't well worth the read. Ladder of Years happens to be one of my favorites for reasons I can't really explain.

the ending was missing some umph but for some reason i really sympathized with delia even though she’s a mother and wife i understand her urge to drop all responsibilities and restart her new life it wasn’t like she didn’t have any responsibilities or worries it’s just now she had something completely different which i would enjoy