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Title: The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner ISBN: 0-14-013940-0 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.47 (17 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Another Good Stegner Novel
Comment: Why have I revisited Stegner so soon after reading "Angle of Repose"? I don't really know. I cannot say "Angle of Repose" is excellent literature, although I do say that it is very good. I guess I just wanted to give Stegner another chance. I chose to read this book, "The Spectator Bird," in order to try and understand Stegner a bit better and give him that chance. For those who don't know, Wallace Stegner wrote many books, both fiction and non-fiction, with the American West as their theme. "Angle of Repose," his best known work (it's on that top 100 list from a few years ago), won the 1971 Pulitzer Prize. Stegner died in a car accident in 1993, at the age of 84.
"The Spectator Bird," written five years after "Angle of Repose," tells the story of Joe Allston. Allston, a retired literary agent, lives in California with his wife Ruth. Life has not been good for Allston; he had a son that died, he's been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and his life has been one uninteresting blur. His work as a literary agent left him on the sidelines, as a spectator to the success of others. Except for one event: a trip to Denmark some 20 years prior, when Allston and his wife tried to track down the village where Joe's mother came from. A postcard from Astrid, the Danish woman that the Allstons stayed with on the trip, arrives in the mail and inspires Allston to dig up a journal he wrote while in Denmark. Joe reads the journal to his wife, and together, they relive their journey. Just as in "Angle of Repose," a dark secret emerges at the end of the journal. This leads to revelations that improve the relationship between Joe and Ruth.
That's it, in a nutshell. I have to say that "Angle of Repose" is the better of the two books. "The Spectator Bird" is much shorter, for one thing. It also is not nearly as rich, in its prose, as "Angle of Repose." While this makes "The Spectator Bird" somewhat more accessible, it also lessens the effect of the work. In "Angle of Repose," Stegner's ability to create atmosphere and character depth is simply breathtaking. This does not happen as often in "The Spectator Bird."
Wallace Stegner is probably best described as a reactionary. He often places his characters in opposition to the 1960's counterculture movement. Stegner tries to show that old values are not worthless, but rather the correct and healthy ones. It is these values, if studied and listened to, which can solve problems in the present. It's not hard to imagine that Stegner, with his novels and writings, represented the "silent majority" of Richard Nixon fame.
I apologize for comparing "The Spectator Bird" with "Angle of Repose." Many of the reviews on Amazon seem to make similar comparisons, and many of the readers seem to start out with "Angle of Repose," just as I did. While "The Spectator Bird" isn't on the level of "Angle of Repose," it is still entertaining reading. Enjoy!
Rating: 5
Summary: Profound and Moving
Comment: I had to read another book by Wallace Stegner after reading Angle of Repose. I didn't think this would have a chance of measuring up to Angle of Repose, and it didn't. That's not a put-down though because that just means it is around number two on my all-time favorite list. One reason I thought I would have trouble with The Spectator Bird is that it is about aging and about a long marital relationship, and I'm eighteen. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to relate to its themes. I was very wrong. Even though I haven't lived seventy years and do not know many of the feelings Joe Alston had, I was able to learn from the novel. The Spectator Bird gave me many insights into the live of my grandparents and even my parents. I have seen my family members grapple with the questions about their own lives that Joe fought with in The Spectator Bird. I have also witnessed relationships like that between Joe and Ruth. The book has helped me to see some of what their existance is like and also what mine will look like in the future. The Spectator Bird is just an amazing book. Nobody writes as well as Stegner. I don't know how many lines of his prose I have written down so that I can remember them. The characters are also so multi-dimensional. It seems like you know them (and the author) so well. The Spectator Bird is just a beautiful and satisfying read which I plan to revisit in the future and which I plan to recommend to any intelligent readers. Stegner needs to be read more often.
Rating: 5
Summary: Very highly recommended
Comment: When people ask who my favorite author is, Wallace Stegner is invariably one of the four or five names I toss out. And often I get the same response... "I've never read any Stegner" or even "I don't know the name". Stegner seems to be one of American literatures best kept secrets.
This book won the National Book Award in 1977. It's about Joe Allston, a retired literary agent, who lives with his wife in California. He is 69 years old and looking back at his life with a sense of discontent. He and his wife relive a trip they took to Denmark 20 years before, by reading a journal that Joe kept while they were there. The plot line switches back and forth from the present to the past.
This book is about the choices we make in our lives and how they affect everything that comes after. It's about aging and death, and foremost about life. Stegner writes about real life in such intimate terms that it makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck (at least it does that to me). Needless to say, a very highly recommended read.
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Title: All the Little Live Things by Wallace Earle Stegner ISBN: 0140154418 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1993 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner ISBN: 014016930X Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 1992 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Earle Stegner ISBN: 037575931X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner ISBN: 0140139397 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Remembering Laughter by Wallace Stegner ISBN: 0140252401 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1996 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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