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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
Ah, how I do love Stegner! Although there is an unexpected twist toward the end of this story, the book is simply a beautiful and evocative account of a married couple late in life, infused with Stegner's passion and his brilliant insights of life, love and relationships (for example, "He says that when asked if he feels like an old man, he replies that he does not, he feels like a young man with something the matter with him." or "Ah, the complexity of being married to a woman you dearly love and automatically resist. . . . Martial is the anagram for marital.") Highly recommended.
Introspective novel about long-term marriage and aging. Protagonist Joe Allston is a retired literary agent who feels he has allowed circumstance, coincidence, and opportunism to govern his life. He and his wife Ruth have retired to Palo Alto, California. As he approaches 70, he looks back on his passive life with regret and bitterness. A postcard from an old acquaintance leads Joe to locate the journal he kept when the couple traveled to Denmark twenty years before, after the tragic death of their only son. He reads the journal to his wife, and as he does, it brings back memories of a time when their marriage seemed in peril. Joe finally discloses to Ruth what happened all those years ago. The reader learns of Joe’s family ties to Denmark and the difficult life of a countess they stayed with during that time.
Set in the 1970’s (and published in 1976), a running refrain is Joe’s discontent with the counterculture movement in which his son took part. Themes include aging, guilt, and regret. The book is structured to operate in two timelines, the present day and, with readings of the journal, flashbacks to the earlier time in Denmark. The main characters are deeply drawn, and the writing is erudite. This is a slow-burning build up to a reveal of one of the few times when Joe took a stand, making a crucial decision. Humor and descriptions of natural phenomena are interspersed throughout. Woven into the Danish saga is a story of eugenics, which may be disturbing to some readers. Recommended to those that enjoy quiet, reflective novels about the human condition or character-driven literary fiction.
Set in the 1970’s (and published in 1976), a running refrain is Joe’s discontent with the counterculture movement in which his son took part. Themes include aging, guilt, and regret. The book is structured to operate in two timelines, the present day and, with readings of the journal, flashbacks to the earlier time in Denmark. The main characters are deeply drawn, and the writing is erudite. This is a slow-burning build up to a reveal of one of the few times when Joe took a stand, making a crucial decision. Humor and descriptions of natural phenomena are interspersed throughout. Woven into the Danish saga is a story of eugenics, which may be disturbing to some readers. Recommended to those that enjoy quiet, reflective novels about the human condition or character-driven literary fiction.
In typical Stegner style, the book is introspective and subtle, yet complex. While I once again got lost in his description, this book is not my favorite of his. The storyline with the countess and the reveal concerning her life took a dramatic turn that seemed too sensational for Stegner.
A beautifully written book. Not much happens, exactly — old people get older and have regrets — but the situations are rich and emotional, and sentence to sentence, the book draws you on.
I read more than half of this novel but it didn't really hold my interest. I like the main characters Joe Allston and Ruth but neither like or care about 'the countess' and all the details of her relationship with Joe.
I won't call it a bad novel- which it is not. But, I would read something else that interests me rather than slogging through this one.
Anyway, fingers crossed for Angle of Repose.
“The difference between what we’d like to be and what we’re able to be. How to respect myself when I know I’m confused and cowardly. How to respect a world where nothing I believe in is valued. How to live and grow old inside a head I’m contemptuous of, in a culture I despise.”
I won't call it a bad novel- which it is not. But, I would read something else that interests me rather than slogging through this one.
Anyway, fingers crossed for Angle of Repose.
“The difference between what we’d like to be and what we’re able to be. How to respect myself when I know I’m confused and cowardly. How to respect a world where nothing I believe in is valued. How to live and grow old inside a head I’m contemptuous of, in a culture I despise.”
This is my third Stegner book, and I now love the man. I first met his protagonist Joe Allston in All the Little Live Things, the follow-up to this book, which ended in an earthquake. The Spectator Bird is much quieter but just as good a literary meal.
I finished this book just after attending my 50th high school reunion, and I could not have been better prepared to understand what Stegner grappled with and came to peace about in this National Book Award-winning novel. I came away from my reunion with a sweet sad happy sense that my life and even things that didn’t feel like choices at the time, but rather rejections, failures, and a hopeless inability to meet my own goals, were actually perfect choices—all leading to a life that I would not trade for any other. This is essentially what Stegner is writing about with such profound understanding in The Spectator Bird. I’m satisfied.
I finished this book just after attending my 50th high school reunion, and I could not have been better prepared to understand what Stegner grappled with and came to peace about in this National Book Award-winning novel. I came away from my reunion with a sweet sad happy sense that my life and even things that didn’t feel like choices at the time, but rather rejections, failures, and a hopeless inability to meet my own goals, were actually perfect choices—all leading to a life that I would not trade for any other. This is essentially what Stegner is writing about with such profound understanding in The Spectator Bird. I’m satisfied.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes