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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
emotional
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
This was a beautiful read. It’s about two couples who meet during the Great Depression and is filled with the stories of their lives... the struggles, the triumphs, the health scares... all while depicting intimate relationships between spouses and between friends. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be “comforting”.
I finished reading Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner for my book club last week, but never got around to writing about it. I really enjoyed the book, but we all know I'm not very picky...I don't think I've written a bad "review" yet :-). This book however caught my interest right at the beginning unlike most of our book club selections. It is the story of 2 couples and the friendship they build together - examining the relationships between the members of the 4 over time. I felt there were parts of each person that I could identify with and as a result that causes you to evaluate yourself in a way that I felt was very cathartic. Our book club discussion about the characters was interesting as well. I commented that reading about this strong friendship made me wish Mike and I had a couple we were such close friends with. Another woman from the group said that she doesn't think it is healthy for a marriage to have such a tight bond with another couple though, which I found interesting and have thought about since. I think in her opinion it can cause distance in your marital relationship when you are possibly turning to a friend for your emotional needs and support before your spouse, and I can agree with that. I'm not very good at writing reviews because I never know how much is too much to say about a story without giving something away. I would definitely recommend the book. You truly get to know and understand the characters in a way that causes you to forgive most (not all) their flaws because you understand why they have them. You also get to see how the roles in the friendships change as circumstances do and how those circumstances really develop us into the people we ultimately choose to become.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
on my list as book 2 for our bookclub, ABC 1 First Tuesday Bookclub reviewed it and proposed by Charlotte Wood, had not previously heard of Wallace Stegner or Charlotte Wood. So new ground. I enjoyed it, found the writing easy and crisp, no lazy waffling - very visual; in the first few pages when Larry walks up thr hill in John Wrightmans' ruts..a road he has walked hundreds of times.. and there is the whole sky, immense and full of light.. its edges are piled with hills. Hooked by page 6. I have never visited Vermont and the description reminded me of wonderful Australian places where I recollect the vibe.
In the first part (there are 3) we meet Larry and Sally, now middle aged, and learn about the family of Charity Ellis - Emily Ellis and George Barnwell and their family compound at Battell Ponds Vermont - just a few miles from Canada.
Into the picture comes young Sidney Lange and the story entwines his life with Charity, Sally and Larry - and luckily us. Following along on a walking holiday, learning the family lore, resiliently adjusting to lost opportunities and revelling in a year in Italy. The reader shares the experiences. And like the characters can draw their own conclusions. Some readers will love the characters, and find reading about lives although lived a generation or more ago familiar and comfortable. As one reviewer describes an ambience oozes from the pores of the book. For those of you tempted to give this books a miss because it is outside your normal preferences you might well be surprised if you take a chance. You can find connection with the values and attitudes, sympathise with lost career opportunities, revel in the strong family traditions, even reflect on traits and roles evident in your family.
And the section of the Robert Frost poem Stegnar quotes at the start of Crossing to Safety? - you will scroll through at least a full google search page of links to Crossing to Safety the book until you find a link to the poem. Did someone cross to Safety keeping those things important to them?
In the first part (there are 3) we meet Larry and Sally, now middle aged, and learn about the family of Charity Ellis - Emily Ellis and George Barnwell and their family compound at Battell Ponds Vermont - just a few miles from Canada.
Into the picture comes young Sidney Lange and the story entwines his life with Charity, Sally and Larry - and luckily us. Following along on a walking holiday, learning the family lore, resiliently adjusting to lost opportunities and revelling in a year in Italy. The reader shares the experiences. And like the characters can draw their own conclusions. Some readers will love the characters, and find reading about lives although lived a generation or more ago familiar and comfortable. As one reviewer describes an ambience oozes from the pores of the book. For those of you tempted to give this books a miss because it is outside your normal preferences you might well be surprised if you take a chance. You can find connection with the values and attitudes, sympathise with lost career opportunities, revel in the strong family traditions, even reflect on traits and roles evident in your family.
And the section of the Robert Frost poem Stegnar quotes at the start of Crossing to Safety? - you will scroll through at least a full google search page of links to Crossing to Safety the book until you find a link to the poem. Did someone cross to Safety keeping those things important to them?
A must for any bibliophile living in Madison. Especially if you moved to town and the beginning of your "real" life, and that life had anything at all to do with academia, then the book will ring especially true. Stegner gets very close to his characters here. The book feels very personal and deeply explores the randomness that brings friends into our lives and the steadfastness of the ties that result.
I had never read any Wallace Stegner and I thought this was a great introduction into his work. This novel is rich and so well-written.
This is a book with lofty goals, chronicling the lives of two couples from the time they meet at the University of Wisconsin in the 1920's when the husbands, Sid and Larry, are colleagues in the English Department. The book follows pregnancies, children, job loss, promotions, illness, and, always at the forefront, the complexities of deep friendships and married life. I kept waiting for something to happen, while expecting nothing to happen, other than the things that make up a life. Not to say that nothing happened, but there wasn't one event to focus on because it covered 40 plus years of people's lives.
I had a major problem with the way the author dealt with a character's cancer diagnosis, which soured the whole book for me. I didn't love the book to begin with, but that really affected my rating of the book.
I had a major problem with the way the author dealt with a character's cancer diagnosis, which soured the whole book for me. I didn't love the book to begin with, but that really affected my rating of the book.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character