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jennifer_mangieri 's review for:
The Spectator Bird
by Wallace Stegner
Three and a half.
What I liked:
It's by Wallace Stegner - though previous to this I've only read Angle of Repose, I loved that book!
This is a quiet, character-driven novel focused on an older adult couple in a long, successful marriage.
Stegner's insights about marriage and aging are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, sometimes sharp as a knife and just as devastating.
What I didn't like as much:
The character of Joe Allston himself is sometimes very annoying! He's definitely a curmudgeon, he's crotchety, he complains a lot, and he doesn't have much nice to say about some women or many young people. He did make me cringe from time to time, and I'm really not sure how his wife Ruth puts up with him. But, having this many strong opinions about him demonstrates what a masterful job Stegner has done in creating him.
The central idea behind this book is that Joe (age 70+) is looking back on his own life and feels he's been a spectator in it, not making many momentous decisions, not making waves, not leaving anything behind. He has found his own diaries he kept 20 years earlier when he and Ruth took a trip to Denmark; Ruth requests that Joe read the diaries out loud to her each evening so they can relive some of their memories.
They went on the trip because Joe's late mother had been from Denmark and they go to the town she grew up in; the trip was also a recovery period for Joe and Ruth following the death of their only son as a young adult. So, the book goes back and forth between time periods based on whether we're in Joe/Ruth's "present time" or their past time in Denmark.
In his mother's village, Joe and Ruth stay with a financially distressed Danish countess. The story of the countess and her family is needlessly confusing within the framework of this short novel, and the sudden introduction of some disturbing and potentially triggering topics was, I felt, not handled well. Ha, for once, I would have liked some foreshadowing! I'm just not sure all of it was necessary. The countess could have remained beautiful, poor, and mysterious, and the quiet little plot would have been just as poignant.
Through the process of reading the diaries together, Joe and Ruth connect to one another about an episode they had glossed over, and Joe realizes that perhaps he has made some big life decisions after all.
What I liked:
It's by Wallace Stegner - though previous to this I've only read Angle of Repose, I loved that book!
This is a quiet, character-driven novel focused on an older adult couple in a long, successful marriage.
Stegner's insights about marriage and aging are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, sometimes sharp as a knife and just as devastating.
What I didn't like as much:
The character of Joe Allston himself is sometimes very annoying! He's definitely a curmudgeon, he's crotchety, he complains a lot, and he doesn't have much nice to say about some women or many young people. He did make me cringe from time to time, and I'm really not sure how his wife Ruth puts up with him. But, having this many strong opinions about him demonstrates what a masterful job Stegner has done in creating him.
The central idea behind this book is that Joe (age 70+) is looking back on his own life and feels he's been a spectator in it, not making many momentous decisions, not making waves, not leaving anything behind. He has found his own diaries he kept 20 years earlier when he and Ruth took a trip to Denmark; Ruth requests that Joe read the diaries out loud to her each evening so they can relive some of their memories.
They went on the trip because Joe's late mother had been from Denmark and they go to the town she grew up in; the trip was also a recovery period for Joe and Ruth following the death of their only son as a young adult. So, the book goes back and forth between time periods based on whether we're in Joe/Ruth's "present time" or their past time in Denmark.
In his mother's village, Joe and Ruth stay with a financially distressed Danish countess. The story of the countess and her family is needlessly confusing within the framework of this short novel, and the sudden introduction of some disturbing and potentially triggering topics was, I felt, not handled well. Ha, for once, I would have liked some foreshadowing! I'm just not sure all of it was necessary. The countess could have remained beautiful, poor, and mysterious, and the quiet little plot would have been just as poignant.
Through the process of reading the diaries together, Joe and Ruth connect to one another about an episode they had glossed over, and Joe realizes that perhaps he has made some big life decisions after all.