He is troubled by the death of his son and the tense relationship they had had. I love his writing!
He and his wife Ruth have retired to Palo Alto, California. The lines had me alternately thinking or smiling.I wonder what I would have made of this book and Joe Allston if my younger self had read it when it was initially published.
So, about a week ago I walked over to the library and this book sort of jumped out at me. "The truest vision of life I know is that bird in the Venerable Bede that flutters from the dark into a lighted hall, and after a while flutters out again into the dark. I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book. A postcard from an old acquaintance leads Joe to locate the journal he kept when the couple traveled to Denmark twenty years before, after the tragic death of thIntrospective novel about long-term marriage and aging. It is something--it can be everything--to have found a fellow bird with whom you can sit among the rafters while the drinking and boasting and reciting and fighting go on below; a fellow bird whom you can look after and find bugs and seeds for; one who will patch your bruises and straighten your ruffled feathe"The truest vision of life I know is that bird in the Venerable Bede that flutters from the dark into a lighted hall, and after a while flutters out again into the dark. He and his wife Ruth have retired to Palo Alto, California. while those around them drop off one by one. The lessons of life amount not to“The lessons of life amount not to wisdom, but to scar tissue and callus.” The lines had me alternately thinking or smiling.I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book.
Not sure why. Approaching 70, our narrator is squarely in the latter category. Read 649 reviews from the world's largest community for readers.
Actually, hate is too strong a word, even when it’s combined with a good thing. But Ruth is right. The Spectator Bird is a story of people on the cusp of “old age,” questioning the value of life’s work, remembering adventures and opportunities that ended up being near misses. Ever notice how, on rare occasions, certain writers really stand out for their ability to capture the subtle and complex ways of folks? I wonder if I could have understood exactly where Joe was in life and how inescapable looking back is from that vantage point, or how poignant. The Spectator Bird (1976) Wallace Stegner (1909-1993) “The Spectator Bird is a powerful, important work. Despite his and his wife's relatively good health, an accomplished career as a literary agent, and a suburban villa an hour from San Francisco, he is filled with guilt for driving away hiThey say that as we approach old age, some look back with satisfaction and contentment about the life path they followed, and some reflect with regret and guilt, and, in hindsight, wish they had followed other paths to supposedly greener pastures. Wallace Stegner's 1976 novel, The Spectator Bird, follows the marriage of Joe Allston and his wife, Ruth.They live as retirees in rural California. He's also one of those honourable men whom I always find so very endearing and his wife Ruth of forty years or so understands him very well indeed.They say that as we approach old age, some look back with satisfaction and contentment about the life path they followed, and some reflect with regret and guilt, and, in hindsight, wish they had followed other paths to supposedly greener pastures. Both are excellent.Just finished this book and loved it. I have to say that I enjoyed Crossing to Safety more. I have had a bunch of Wallace Stegner's works in my library for a few years but never got around to choosing one. So, about a week ago I walked over to the library and this book sort of jumped out at me.
Start by marking “The Spectator Bird” as Want to Read:
Joe’s interior monologues are delightfully curmudgeonly. Despite his and his wife's relatively good health, an accomplished career as a literary agent, and a suburban villa an hour from San Francisco, he is filled with guilt for driving away his only child, a son who became a surfer bum and drowned. Even though it was written almost forty years ago, the relevance of the issues it dealt with shone through the pages with contemplative resonance.Joe Allston, a retired literary agent, is an observer: of his past, of the current society, of life in general. He is troubled by the death of his son and the tense relationship they had had.
I should say I felt twinges of disappoiEver notice how, on rare occasions, certain writers really stand out for their ability to capture the subtle and complex ways of folks? Joe is 70 years old and looking old age squarely in the face. Apparently he was a tennis player and I found this (Just finished this book and loved it.
He reads the journal to his wife, and as he does, it brings back memories of a time when their marriage seemed in peril. But it may be a source of distress if what’s revealed is a difficult truth. His persona may not be one of joviality but it is not that of a crank.Perhaps more than most of Wallace Stegner’s novels, this one might be read differently by readers of different ages. Stunning writing. It is something--it can be everything--to have found a fellow bird with whom you can sit among the rafters while the drinking and boasting and reciting and fighting go on below; a fellow bird whom you can look after and find bugs and seeds for; one who will patch your bruises and straighten your ruffled feathers and mourn over your hurts when you accidentally fly into something you can't handle". Joe is worried about aging, and his complaints have become self-fulfilling prophecies. Surely old-fashioned camps had exactly what we need today: simplicity, gentle fun and a sense of community. He feels his body winding down, "sees" that he is becoming invisible to younger people. When do we cease to be actors in our lives to become mere spectators?
Wallace Stegner’s previous novel, Angle of Repose, earned a Pulitzer Prize.
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