A Death in the Family

Rating:
Summary: Eerie Insight into Human Nature
Review: Agee has done something utterly amazing through this lyrical, slow-moving work. You often feel as if you moving through a dream - or, perhaps, a world running in slow motion where you can anticipate what will happen but you can't do anything to stop it.

As the book starts off, a boy is making a trip to town with his dad. The boy worries about making his dad proud. The dad worries about his boy's perception of him. The dad is also incredibly lonely...and you begin to get attached to him, but you don't want to get too attached because you know he won't be around too much longer. (My apologies if this ruins the story, but I'm pretty sure this is well known.)

As you become introduced to the rest of the characters, you realize that everyone is honorable (for the most part) and that their internal concerns & worries just comes out of their being human. For example, though the father is lonely, it's not because he has a horrible wife. In fact, he has a wonderful wife...but he is trying to wade through the complexity of relationships, internal peace and life in general. And so are all the characters.

The story progresses slowly, predictably, and you watch as the characters all act & react in various ways. Agee allows you to see the world through each character's eyes, and then how the world perceives that character. This narrative style leaves you feeling compassionate for each member of the family whereas it would normally be easy to be annoyed with or dismissive of many of the characters.

It is also worth mentioning how honest and thoughtful Agee is in showing his characters' motivations and flaws. When the little boy learns that his father has died, the loss completely goes over his head. Instead, he tries to leverage this event for popularity from the schoolchildren. "Surely they will be nice to me today," he thinks.

Later, when the mother kneels to pray, her aunt has amazing insight that the mother is praying not from her heart but rather from pride - praying what she thinks a holy woman would pray in such a circumstance. Such commentary on our actions and motivations can hit a little close to home...but I believe it must have come from his own experience. He never condemns his characters...he just lets them be fully human.

As I said in the beginning, I believe this work to be a true masterpiece. Though I was often horrified by the true despairing picture he portrayed, my mind was also deeply impressed by the truth he conveyed. And he does give hope, after his own fashion.

Rating:
Summary: Eerie Insight into Human Nature
Review: Agee has done something utterly amazing through this lyrical, slow-moving work. You often feel as if you moving through a dream - or, perhaps, a world running in slow motion where you can anticipate what will happen but you can't do anything to stop it.

As the book starts off, a boy is making a trip to town with his dad. The boy worries about making his dad proud. The dad worries about his boy's perception of him. The dad is also incredibly lonely...and you begin to get attached to him, but you don't want to get too attached because you know he won't be around too much longer. (My apologies if this ruins the story, but I'm pretty sure this is well known.)

As you become introduced to the rest of the characters, you realize that everyone is honorable (for the most part) and that their internal concerns & worries just comes out of their being human. For example, though the father is lonely, it's not because he has a horrible wife. In fact, he has a wonderful wife...but he is trying to wade through the complexity of relationships, internal peace and life in general. And so are all the characters.

The story progresses slowly, predictably, and you watch as the characters all act & react in various ways. Agee allows you to see the world through each character's eyes, and then how the world perceives that character. This narrative style leaves you feeling compassionate for each member of the family whereas it would normally be easy to be annoyed with or dismissive of many of the characters.

It is also worth mentioning how honest and thoughtful Agee is in showing his characters' motivations and flaws. When the little boy learns that his father has died, the loss completely goes over his head. Instead, he tries to leverage this event for popularity from the schoolchildren. "Surely they will be nice to me today," he thinks.

Later, when the mother kneels to pray, her aunt has amazing insight that the mother is praying not from her heart but rather from pride - praying what she thinks a holy woman would pray in such a circumstance. Such commentary on our actions and motivations can hit a little close to home...but I believe it must have come from his own experience. He never condemns his characters...he just lets them be fully human.

As I said in the beginning, I believe this work to be a true masterpiece. Though I was often horrified by the true despairing picture he portrayed, my mind was also deeply impressed by the truth he conveyed. And he does give hope, after his own fashion.

Rating:
Summary: An important work.
Review: Agee is clearly a master wordsmith, as demonstrated by his ability to move freely among sharp reportage, dialogue, and impressionistic fantasia. But what distinguishes this book as a meaningful contemplation of the impact of death upon the lives that continue, and not just a well-crafted exercise in sentimentality, is Mr. Agee's exploration of how personalities of varing temperments, maturities, and religious perspectives react to both the death itself and to the other characters' responses to the tragedy. My only real criciticism is that some passages illustrating the children's perspective lapse into excesses of wonderment and, if you would, "childlikeness." Too much of a cute thing, but it doesn't spoil the book.

Rating:
Summary: Okay, he's a good writer--but I still didn't like this book
Review: Agee was an excellent writer, and in this book he evokes both the joy of living and the numbness of loss masterfully. But after rereading this book a couple times (I felt its reputation warranted another chance), I cannot shake my initial impression that his portrayal of wife and daughter were a bit on the sentimental side. Mary in particular drove me crazy. Her sweetness was cloying, her strength undermined by breathy speeches--which are emphasized with too many italics for my taste. I wish I could agree with all the positive reviews, but for me the quality of writing could not make up for characters and dialogue that drove me bats.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Handful of Great American Novels
Review: Agee, who gave us the words to Walker Evans' photoessay "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" and the script for the African Queen, was a genius. Like may geniuses he was erratic. I cannot read Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. I find it Joycian in all the worst senses of that word. But A Death in the Family is a different story.
If you read this and have the courage to really let it sink into you, you will feel the extraordinary pain of a family torn apart by a pedestrian but tragic event - an automobile crash. The shock hits you. The grief overcomes you. You feel the loss. In short, you understand. That is what all artists strive to do and what Agee stunningly succeeds at here.
The beauty here is the beauty of truth, mainlined slowly into your being. This is a book that can and probably will change the reader.
Several reviews have mentioned the breathtaking prelude "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" and some mention the Samuel Barber soprano version of this. To me that Barber piece ranks as one of the great American musical moments. That two such enormous accomplishments should derive from one small book is a tribute to the power and brilliance of James Agee at his finest.

Rating:
Summary: Catholic? Maybe, but not Roman Catholic
Review: As with other reviewers of this book, certain passages will remain with me a long time as descriptions particularly well done , e.g., Ralph agonizing over his manhood and his alcohol in the room with family members as his father lies ill in bed. The picture Agee paints of Jay's daughter, Catherine, whether dealing with eternal questions or merely trying to color in spite of her bothersome brother, also are priceless.

With regard to questions of the church, which is so obviously Roman Catholic as evidenced by references to the rosary, Hail Marys, and family members 'crossing' themselves, one wonders why Agee included two distinctly Anglican prayers at the end. On p. 302 of the paperback edition, Mary and Hannah seem to recite the prayer For All Sorts and Conditions of Men ("O God, the creator and preserver of all mankind....") and The General Thanksgiving (Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thine unworthy servants do give thee most most humble and hearty thanks...") - both found in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (p. 58 and p.814).

Rating:
Summary: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Review: Boring. That's about all there is to say about it. So it won a pulitzer prize -- so what? The guy spends two pages eating breakfast! And another two pages getting dressed! I don't know about you, but I really don't want to know all the details, and I really don't care to know that he "finished buttoning his fly." This information is totally unnecessary, and does not add to the book, but rather, detracts from it. I also know over twenty other people who were falling asleep while reading this. I really don't know what was so great about it that it won an award, but if any of you know, and leave a positive review, please say why.

Rating:
Summary: a'ight
Review: For the most part I thought this book was very descriptive. The way he was able to put the character's emotions in words was amazing. The only thing I didn't find so interesting was the stroyline. The book never gets anywhere; it never moves.All in all it was a terrific book and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes affectionate types of stories.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest American novels
Review: I am currently "re-reading" this book in audio, by Recorded Books, Inc. The reading, by Mark Hammer, is superb. But what I really want to say is that, as a writer, I was shocked to realize that this book was a great influence on my own writing. I first read it when I was in my early twenties; now I am fifty and it is as exquisite as ever, and influencing me just as much as it did in my youth.

It is the mysterious, hushed intimacy of the book; the perfect dialogue of grieving people; the child's view of huge loss; the minute-by-minute telling of a story that must unfold slowly. Wow. I recommend it highly to all those who love literature. Just one warning: lay in a store of tissues. It's a two-box-er, at least.

Rating:
Summary: there's something more to the book than just the words.
Review: I am currently in the middle of reading this book and I have found I can greatly empathize with the characters. Not because I have experienced a death but simply because there is a certain lonliness each character has that I can relate to. I'm just not sure adding in those extra parts was a good idea, they don't go with the book.It creates too much confusion. Overall the book has so far proven to be a great book. I would definitely recommend it.