Crossing to Safety

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Summary: Made my all-time favorites list
Review: It's amazing how well Wallace Stegner develops the complexities of the relationships in this book. He doesn't ever take the easy route - nobody slept with the other one's wife, no major falling outs - the natural, real challenges inherent in human nature propel this book on their own. Stegner has an insight into the human nature like no one else, along with the incredible ability to write about it. I didn't want this book to end and reading it has made me a true Wallace Stegner fan

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Summary: Books to have on a desert island.
Review: If you only had 12 books to take to a desert island, one must include this at all costs. Read soon after originally published and hearing the author speak on NPR, it directed me to the body of work that has been a treasure trove. I give this volume as a gift to the dearest of friends and simply ask them to read the first page. From there, Mr. Stegner's magnificent and substantial body of work reaches an ever-widening audience. One to read and re-read over a lifetime

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Summary: Sid, Charity, Larry and Sally are my new friends.
Review: In Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner's technique of framing his narrative in retrospective flashbacks lends a poignant resonance to the story of the Morgans and the Langs. Stegner gracefully crosses the boundaries of time, enticing the reader with tantalizing hints of future -- yet at the same time past -- events in the couples' lives. This book also evokes an era impossible to replicate, a time before television and other other distractions of "progress" altered the course of social communication. The Morgans and the Langs camped, picnicked and made their own music. Vibrant conversations bonded their friendship. I reluctantly closed the last page of this book, nostalgic for a time to which I was born too late

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Summary: My all time favorite book by my all time favorite author
Review: I have read almost every novel and short story penned by Wallace Stegner. This semi-autobiographical work is his finest. It celebrates the beauty and tension that exists in friendships and marriages. The book's prose is sublime

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Summary: One of the finest if not THE finest book I've ever read.
Review: This is a novel obviously borne out of a life-long love affair...an affair of philleo love between two academic couples. Stegner places his story in the halls of academia and includes much of the angst of that world, Crossing to Safety is brought to life by the Morgans and the Langs, two couples whose friendship bridges a span of thirty-five years, through their young years as green professors at the University of Wisconsin through their the growth of their families and the ultimate and inevitable ravages of time that bring each to treasure their relationships. This is a story populated by loving and lovable characters, clearly drawn and living in a real world with real problems. Stegner's prose is incredible, his decriptions vibrant, his affection for his story and characters obvious.

Rating:
Summary: One of the finest if not THE finest book I've ever read.
Review: This is a novel obviously borne out of a life-long love affair...an affair of philleo love between twoacademic couples. Stegner places his story in the halls of academia and includes much of the angst of that world, Crossing to Safety is brought to life by the Morgans and the Langs, two couples whose friendship bridges a span of thirty-five years, through their young years as green professors at the University of Wisconsin through their the growth of their families and the ultimate and inevitable ravages of time that bring each to treasure their relationships. This is a story populated by loving and lovable characters, clearly drawn and living in a real world with real problems. Stegner's prose is incredible, his decriptions vibrant, his affection for his story and characters obvious.

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Summary: Modern English at its best!
Review: Stegner is a master of the English language. He is able to give you a complete feeling of being present with his characters. You learn about the people, the setting, the mood and you feel part of it. Compared to Angle of Repose, this is uplifting and will make you feel at peace. It is a novel that describes the struggles and defeats of life, but promotes an acceptance and a finding of beauty in even the most mundane of circumstances. As one of the characters in the book mentions, this book is about ordinary (and yet rather rich) people who experience everything a normal human does. Stegner makes it interesting to watch ordinary life unfold in the characters. And gives you rich prose that creates a whole world into which you can immerse yourself and become familiar with.

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Summary: Now I would like to read more Wallace Stegner!
Review: A wonderful reading experience, especially since this is the first Wallace Stegner book I have read. I am now driven to read "Angle of Repose" and "The Sound of Mountain Water", and perhaps other works of his in the future. The prose is beautiful in its fluidity and richness of details, save maybe for Stegner's skewed characterization of Charity over Sally. Personally, I would not like to meet a character like Charity, and I do not understand how a reasonably strong character like Sid would put up with her, unless, of course, he is attracted to exceedingly cosmopolitan and worldly---not to mention annoyingly feisty and obsessive-compulsive---types like Charity. The last part was a little slow, and I was somehow expecting that Larry would find Sid in that "edenic pool" that seemed like their (the two couples') best-kept secret from their long-ago hike in the woods. I would think that that might be an appropriate symbol of Sid's reconnecting with his persona without Charity's incessant controlling and smothering manipulation---that it was never too late to find himself and feel free again. I know it sounds selfish, but , inasmuch as their friendships seemed so perfect and ideal, Charity's dominant personality and self-righteousness spelled like a potential omen to their entire relationship. Moderation and the tenets of civility ruled over the book, however, and I was nonetheless captivated by it.

Rating:
Summary: NearPerfect, With Just A Few Slight Peculiar Flaws....
Review: Obviously, one must be humble in criticizing a book which is so beautifully written! However, I did find the friendship of the two scholarly couples a little overdrawn and melodramatic at times. Just weeks after one near disastrous boat ride during the holidays, would this same couple embark on an "extreme" 2 week hiking expedition in the forests of New England? Maybe. Also, the Langs first 2 children are hardly even mentioned until they are grown up at the end. And the two traumatic diseases occur practically out of nowhere. Still, since this book is so well crafted, wonderfully described and imagined, and informative in so many ways, it's definitely the highest possible rating. For a journey though a 35 year friendship, family and professional loyalties,university life and expections, explorations of life in the Depression 1930's, this one is top of the line!

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Summary: Brimming With Wisdom And Love
Review: I was about to be captive on a 7 1/2 hour plane trip- I went into Powell's bookstore in the airport, and somehow I was drawn to this book. I had heard about this book from a friend, and as soon as I saw the title I knew this was it! What a wonderful plane trip- I was on the next to last page as we landed and read the last two pages while waiting for my luggage. Whoopee, what a book, what a read, I hated for it to end. It is one of those kinds of books.

"Crossing to Safety" by Wallace Stenger is the kind of book that you read once in a life time. The characters become so real and so alive. You like these people; you do not want any of life's mysteries and sadness to befall on any them. Well, maybe that couple that was so nasty, no, no, not even them.

Larry and Sally Morgan move to Madison, Wisconsin in the 1930's to start their life. Sally is pregnant, and Larry is about to start a teaching job at the university. They have little money and his job is a lifesaver. Larry's dream is to be a writer and he has published one article. At a faculty party they meet Charity and Sid Lang. Sid comes from big money and they have all they need besides two children and one on the way. Charity and Sally get along famously, and Sid and Larry develop a bond.

This novel follows these two marriages, the ins and outs and the personal issues they each face. We are rarely allowed into a marriage to see all the warts. Over the next many years we follow both families from Wisconsin to Vermont and Cambridge and Italy. We see the friendships between the couples develop. We learn that Charity must manipulate and control- and that Sid needs the push she gives him. Larry becomes a well read author with several books and articles. Sally is happy to be a wife and mother until tragedy befalls. Sid is a wonderful teacher but really wants to write poetry. How do these couples help each other discover the truth within them? What does each of these people bring to the group? Why are they destined to love each other for their life? What is so special about these 4 people? How do they react when the greatest tragedy of all hits one of them?

Wallace Stenger allows us to see the real people below the exterior trappings. I came to love these people, to really care about what happened to them. I think what if that had not happened, or what if this had happened? This is the way we think in real life with our memories. Wallace Stenger is a literary genius. Highly recommended. prisrob