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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
Struck with the perfection of this book - the story told and the art of its telling. Beautifully written, deeply insightful.
“How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these?” Asks the narrator. Nothing very dramatic happens here; no shocking twists or reveals, no terrible betrayals are committed nor deeply held dark secrets revealed; and it’s delightful and sad. The lives of two couples as they mature together, experiencing the ebbs and flows, ups and downs and small triumphs and tragedies that mark a life are beautifully captured in Stegner’s wonderful language. I want to live in this Vermont retreat and dine with these wonderful people, their warts and foibles and human failings.
I couldn’t ever fully engage myself with this book. I generally can enjoy a “slow burn” but… not this one. The narrator felt like someone I’ve met many times but have no desire to meet again. The story didn’t pull me in. The female characters were much more intriguing than the males, but we weren’t granted any access to their internal lives… which felt like it was possibly because the author hasn’t ever considered that women do have internal lives.
The writing itself was great - there were certainly moments where I smiled to myself about the words themselves. That’s what saved the book from a dreaded two star review.
The writing itself was great - there were certainly moments where I smiled to myself about the words themselves. That’s what saved the book from a dreaded two star review.
The writing is so beautiful and relatable. You see the hope of youth and how life forks and turns and it's all how you approach them whether or not they run you down or make you stronger.
The ending gutted me. I wanted these people to rise up, but in the end they remained consistently human. And there in lay the beauty.
The narrator was perfection. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as well had anyone else done it.
The ending gutted me. I wanted these people to rise up, but in the end they remained consistently human. And there in lay the beauty.
The narrator was perfection. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as well had anyone else done it.
I enjoyed the nature writing, and the narrative gifts of the writer. I was compelled to keep reading in spite of whiffs of anti-Semitism and a decided imbalance in the treatment of male and female characters--the former being fully developed as complex human beings and the latter much less so. The sensibility of the book seemed so "old school" to me I was really surprised to see it had been published in 1987, as opposed to, say, 1967.
At first I had to put the book down at about half way. This was probably due to Stegner‘s eloquent, yet excruciating detail. He revealed the development of an almost perfect friendship of two couples while they experienced the typical hardships of building a career and a family. Not engaging, however, I did appreciate the author’s way of placing me in each particular setting. For example, the first chapter or so provided a nice escape into the woods when I was unable to get there in real life. Although the beginning of his story did not pique my interest, I still decided to give the book another chance. Finally the last half unveiled the struggles, survival and challenges of life, as well as the death of a lifelong friend and a spouse, which understandably made the first half necessary.
A novel about two couples lives from the late 1930's until early 1970's. Both of the men meet when they were professors of English and the book follows their lives and marriages, friendships, hardships and the end of life decisions. A well written and often too wordy and sad novel that is not the type of novel I enjoy reading.
Life and death and all that happens in between-- marriage, children, friendship, illness, careers. No one truly knows what goes on in another persons marriage, but Stegner finds the perfect words somehow. I want to read more from this author.
Please find my book review in my blog.
https://thecuriouspolymath.substack.com/p/book-review-crossing-to-safety-by
https://thecuriouspolymath.substack.com/p/book-review-crossing-to-safety-by