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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
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.
I was surprised by how much I loved this book - while it was written in the 80's and is about two couples who began their friendship in the 30s - it felt so fresh and even progressive (with some exceptions, of course.) What I liked best of all were the main characters, all very flawed, but how they take care of and love each other over the decades.
oh this is a fine fine book. particularly if you are somewhat an academic at heart [closeted might be better]. these are complex, rich, motivated, hearty characters, who deal with DAILY life - the turmoils and struggles and potential downfalls in their own individual ways.
the writing is so good. so subtle, so rich, and full. you KNOW charity, sid, sally and larry.
this is also a book about bigger pictures : ambition, careerism, relationships, caring for those you love, family, control - the stuff that makes up our lives and drive us.
particularly i was drawn to pages that spoke of the act of creating, ambition - in essence our personal goals:
Thinking about it now, I am struck by how modest my aims were.... I respected literature and its vague addiction to truth at least as much as tycoons are supposed to respect money and power.... Ambition is a path, not a destination, and it is essentially the same path for everybody. No matter what the goal is, the path leads through "Pilgrim's Progress" regions of motivation, hard work, persistence stubbornness, and resilience under disappointment, Unconsidered, merely indulged, ambition becomes a vice; it can turn a man into a machine that knows nothing but how to run. Considered, it can be something else - pathway to the stars, maybe.
I suspect that what makes hedonists so angry when they think about overachievers is that the overachievers, without drugs or orgies, have more fun.
there's also a wonderful passage about why writers write [and for me i immediately translate it to why artists make art]. this discussion of what is good and meaningful and necessary for creators is an interesting one and i enjoy steger's perspective immensely.
i also loved this line:
She will burn bright until she goes out; she will go on standing on tiptoe till she falls
this book has been on my to-read list for a long time, and now i am sure to seek out more stegner.
the writing is so good. so subtle, so rich, and full. you KNOW charity, sid, sally and larry.
this is also a book about bigger pictures : ambition, careerism, relationships, caring for those you love, family, control - the stuff that makes up our lives and drive us.
particularly i was drawn to pages that spoke of the act of creating, ambition - in essence our personal goals:
Thinking about it now, I am struck by how modest my aims were.... I respected literature and its vague addiction to truth at least as much as tycoons are supposed to respect money and power.... Ambition is a path, not a destination, and it is essentially the same path for everybody. No matter what the goal is, the path leads through "Pilgrim's Progress" regions of motivation, hard work, persistence stubbornness, and resilience under disappointment, Unconsidered, merely indulged, ambition becomes a vice; it can turn a man into a machine that knows nothing but how to run. Considered, it can be something else - pathway to the stars, maybe.
I suspect that what makes hedonists so angry when they think about overachievers is that the overachievers, without drugs or orgies, have more fun.
there's also a wonderful passage about why writers write [and for me i immediately translate it to why artists make art]. this discussion of what is good and meaningful and necessary for creators is an interesting one and i enjoy steger's perspective immensely.
i also loved this line:
She will burn bright until she goes out; she will go on standing on tiptoe till she falls
this book has been on my to-read list for a long time, and now i am sure to seek out more stegner.
Great story, terrific characters. Writing wasn't outstanding but the story was very compelling.
This was not a book I likely would have picked up on my own. Though it was published in 1987, I had never heard of the book or Wallace Stegner. Thank you Pittsburgh Goodreaders for suggesting it! Crossing to Safety is the story of two couples: Larry and Sally Morgan and Sid and Charity Lang. Both men are college English professors and writers. They meet at a Wisconsin university where both men work for a time and both women are pregnant at the same time. At first, it seemed that the Morgans idolized or envied the Langs; they even name their daughter Lang. But the somewhat unlikely friendship lasts many years, through illnesses, job losses and life. The end was especially touching.
“Youth hasn’t got anything to do with chronological age. It’s times of hope and happiness.” (202)
“Living through a war, you have lived through drama and excitement. Living through what we had been given to live through, we had only bad luck or personal inadequacy to blame for our shortcomings.” (218)
“We live as we can, we do what we must, and not everything goes by either Freudian or Victorian patterns. What I am sure of is that friendship – not love, friendship – is as possible between women as between men, and that in either case it is often stronger for not having to cross sexual picket lines. Sexuality and mistrust often go together, and both are incompatible with amicitia.” (234)
“I thought of how it might be to look at the face of the woman you loved and had lived your life with, and know that this might be the last, or the next-to-last, or the next-to-next-to-last time you would see it.” (263)
“Survival, it is called. Often it is accidental, sometimes it is engineered by creatures or forces that we have no conception of, always it is temporary.” (275)
The story was beautifully told, well-written and, for me, contained many truths, much I could relate to, though occurring in a very different time. I will look for more by Wallace Stegner.
“Youth hasn’t got anything to do with chronological age. It’s times of hope and happiness.” (202)
“Living through a war, you have lived through drama and excitement. Living through what we had been given to live through, we had only bad luck or personal inadequacy to blame for our shortcomings.” (218)
“We live as we can, we do what we must, and not everything goes by either Freudian or Victorian patterns. What I am sure of is that friendship – not love, friendship – is as possible between women as between men, and that in either case it is often stronger for not having to cross sexual picket lines. Sexuality and mistrust often go together, and both are incompatible with amicitia.” (234)
“I thought of how it might be to look at the face of the woman you loved and had lived your life with, and know that this might be the last, or the next-to-last, or the next-to-next-to-last time you would see it.” (263)
“Survival, it is called. Often it is accidental, sometimes it is engineered by creatures or forces that we have no conception of, always it is temporary.” (275)
The story was beautifully told, well-written and, for me, contained many truths, much I could relate to, though occurring in a very different time. I will look for more by Wallace Stegner.
Crossing to Safety is a deceptively simple book. On the surface it is simply a story of friendship, of bonds forged through both the best of what life has to offer and the worst, of commitment, understanding, love and forgiveness. Yeah, ho- hum, where is the excitement, the scandals, the infidelities, the drunken debaucheries, the betrayal?
Then you realize it's all life. No matter what actually happens its all a part of being alive, the human experience. It's about the choices we make, the will of commitment, the glue of love that holds life together and makes for a meaningful existence. And the reckoning that one day we will either be the one who has to leave or the one that is left. And most importantly how to continue.
Then you realize it's all life. No matter what actually happens its all a part of being alive, the human experience. It's about the choices we make, the will of commitment, the glue of love that holds life together and makes for a meaningful existence. And the reckoning that one day we will either be the one who has to leave or the one that is left. And most importantly how to continue.
Apparently I am the only one but I didn't really like this book. It was just too wordy without enough story. When there was story, I enjoyed it, but I just don't like books that use sophisticated words and go on and on about nothing just to sound important.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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
Re-readable.
Read this for the tenth time (or thereabouts). Stegner's writing is delicious.