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chelseamartinez 's review for:
The Spectator Bird
by Wallace Stegner
I learned what a reje sandwich is (Danish shrimp salad) and a lunar rainbow from this book. The rest of it was not for me, and I hope it's not ageist to say so. The entire eugenicist storyline seems like a buffer from the infidelity storyline, and although the former was initially surprising, it only prolonged the expected unfolding of the latter. Does Astrid's plight make her more attractive? I searched for her irresistable appeal, or even hints of attraction, before their island tryst, and other than pitifulness I don't see what draws them together.
I appreciated the skillful story within a story and even the "reading aloud my journal to my wife" conceit, but ultimately the protagonist's perspective, unless it is deliberately corny ("martial is the anagram of marital" ugggh), is too antagonistic towards everything around him, despite every freedom other than an aging body. I guess I take away from it some scenes and strategies of a long marriage.
The depiction of Stanford as a hippie den in the 70's is amazing to imagine though!
I appreciated the skillful story within a story and even the "reading aloud my journal to my wife" conceit, but ultimately the protagonist's perspective, unless it is deliberately corny ("martial is the anagram of marital" ugggh), is too antagonistic towards everything around him, despite every freedom other than an aging body. I guess I take away from it some scenes and strategies of a long marriage.
The depiction of Stanford as a hippie den in the 70's is amazing to imagine though!