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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
A beautiful and realistic story about the dynamics between friends and spouses. It touches on the love and ambition/competition that can exist side by side in both amorous and platonic relationships.
Another author I admire had recommended this book as one to study for the elegance of the writing. The novel tells the story of a lifelong friendship between two couples, Larry and Sally Morgan and Sid and Charity Lang. On one hand, the descriptive writing is gorgeous. On the other hand, there's not a great deal of tension and minimal plot to keep the reader reading. I did end up enjoying the novel, but I felt it was a bit slow. I'm curious to read more of his short stories and perhaps the novel for which Stegner won a Pulitzer.
This book is beautifully written and that is the only thing that kept me reading. The story just wasn’t for me, but in no way do I think it’s a bad book.
I just COULD NOT bring myself to like this book. Stegner had a lovely turn of phrase and did tell a good story, but so much angered me. Charity was an absolute asshole. And I almost just stopped reading the book when the narrator said that his polio-stricken wife would have been just a "stick with eyes" without her crutches. I'm sure I took that differently than it was intended, but it infuriated me nonetheless. (I only continued because I was so near the end and just wanted to see what the ultimate point was of this book--turns out, none, apparently.) Also, I am sorry, but I could not get past the fact that during the Depression, when these people were struggling to get by, they still had a "hired girl" to help with their child, when the mother didn't even work! What even is that?! (And let's not go into how the parents never actually interacted with their children almost at all...why did they become parents?) Perhaps it's my jealousy over being a working mom with no help, but I also feel like it's frustrating white privilege BS. Granted, I know, this was written "as the times", and generally I'll let books get away with that. I think, compounded, so much of this just didn't sit right with me. And I didn't really like any of the characters except maybe Sally. (And her only real "personality" seemed to be her illness, according to her husband.)
I know this is a classic of literature. I just wouldn't recommend it, myself. Despite some beautiful, and true-to-human-nature writing.
P.S. Let me just add that I really enjoyed the book in the beginning--following the trajectory of two couples as they found their way in early academia and navigated a new friendship when they were both in love with each other...that made for a really enjoyable book. It just sort of felt like two different books, in the end.
I know this is a classic of literature. I just wouldn't recommend it, myself. Despite some beautiful, and true-to-human-nature writing.
P.S. Let me just add that I really enjoyed the book in the beginning--following the trajectory of two couples as they found their way in early academia and navigated a new friendship when they were both in love with each other...that made for a really enjoyable book. It just sort of felt like two different books, in the end.
I finally got around to this after it was mentioned in The End of Your Life Bookclub by Will Schwalbe. I guess the best description is quiet and melancholy, but enjoyable. It definitely reminded me to plan more time making memories with our own group of friends!
Once again book club has delivered a wonderful book I would never have picked up. Lots of things speak to me in this book, being a young couple expecting their first child, a hopeful writer, an academic, Wisconsinite, a friend, someone who has lost family.
the writing gets a bit frilly, but what do you expect from an English professor whose also a writer? Very lovely to read. I admit I cried.
the writing gets a bit frilly, but what do you expect from an English professor whose also a writer? Very lovely to read. I admit I cried.
I read this book on the recommendation of my wife. It is a favorite of hers. The book follows the friendship of two couples over a 40 year period. I enjoyed the reflections of academic life in the 1930s, and I appreciated the balanced views of main character who narrates the book through reflection and memories. The book is full of poignant insights into topics such as friendship, love, nature, and marriage. While examining marriage, Stegner writes about the long-term consequences of subtle control - and the outcome is as sad as the act itself. The story moves slowly (difficult for someone like me with a short attention span), but there is a beauty in that and I enjoyed taking my time going through the 40 years with these two couples. I envied many elements of their friendship. One of the strengths Stegner has as a writer is his ability to show the multi-faceted nature of human beings. How can someone be a friend who give so much, and also be a spouse who gives so little? I think this book more than adequately answers that. Most of my favorite parts came from the insights the narrator provided while reflection on life through 64 year old eyes. I don’t know much about the history of this book, but I think Stegner wrote this when we was 78 and the wisdom accrued over a lifetime comes through on most pages.