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A review by amyvl93
Golden Age by Jane Smiley
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have really enjoyed this trilogy, so it feels like a bit of a shame that this third and final installment fell a bit short for me.
The books have followed the Langdons from their rural farm as they disperse across the US - this final installment finds the family living in New York, Washington DC, California and, of course, still in rural Iowa. Opening in the late 1980s, Smiley takes us through to an alternative 2019 (this novel was published in 2015) - with characters being touched by all the main events of the past 30 years.
As the families have expanded there are therefore more and more viewpoints, even as characters pass away which does make the pacing feel a little slow, which was also impacted by Smiley packing in much more contemporary thinking on climate change in particular which whilst interesting did feel like it detracted from the growth of characters.
I felt that Smiley's writing was most impactful when she was writing about Guthrie, who enlists in the military and finds himself fighting in Iraq, and then attempting to manage returning to civilian life. The twins arc also continued to be interesting, though I felt got a little too on the nose towards the end.
Overall, I did enjoy this series and I'll definitely be picking up more Jane Smiley in the future.
The books have followed the Langdons from their rural farm as they disperse across the US - this final installment finds the family living in New York, Washington DC, California and, of course, still in rural Iowa. Opening in the late 1980s, Smiley takes us through to an alternative 2019 (this novel was published in 2015) - with characters being touched by all the main events of the past 30 years.
As the families have expanded there are therefore more and more viewpoints, even as characters pass away which does make the pacing feel a little slow, which was also impacted by Smiley packing in much more contemporary thinking on climate change in particular which whilst interesting did feel like it detracted from the growth of characters.
I felt that Smiley's writing was most impactful when she was writing about Guthrie, who enlists in the military and finds himself fighting in Iraq, and then attempting to manage returning to civilian life. The twins arc also continued to be interesting, though I felt got a little too on the nose towards the end.
Overall, I did enjoy this series and I'll definitely be picking up more Jane Smiley in the future.