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Summary: The difficulties of one woman's life
Review: I really enjoyed Ladder of Years. I was kept interested through the whole story. At the end of every chapter something new would happen that would make me want to keep reading. It is difficult for me to say my real opinion of the main character, Delia Grinstead. As a woman, I can easily sympathize with her. Most women all want to feel loved, needed, respected and wanted. Delia is always wondering how her family really feels about her. However, I agree with other reviewers who say there are times you want to "ring her little neck". There are many parts of the book where I see Delia as selfish. I say selfish because she seems to not consider the feelings of her children. I think it would be different if her kids were all married and on their own and the only person she was leaving was her husband. To me, it seems Delia's main problems were with her husband. When it comes to her children, that is a different story. Delia feels her children don't pay attention to her. Well, most kids don't pay all that much attention to their parents. As they grow up they begin to realize the importance of family. I think that Delia should take that into consideration. Therefore, I think she went about leaving her family the wrong way. Speaking of leaving her family, it seems Delia has gone and done it again to her new little family. She made a promise to Joel (her boss whom she lives with) and Noah (Joel's son) that she would be home soon. Well, it seems she is not going back. Delia must do well with just packing up and leaving people behind. On the other hand, I do admire her determination. It takes a lot of guts to just go start a new life. Delia started a new job (Well, actually she had two new jobs.), she made new friends, a new home and established herself in a new place. This takes such courage and strength. I'm sure a lot of women can feel envious of Delia. Yet, I do believe most women care to much about their families to just up and leave them without warning. Overall, I really liked the book it gives good warning to the future of women with families.
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Summary: Are dreams better than reality?
Review: Anne Tyler in her book "Ladder of Years" in a very unussual approach touches everyday problems of an average family, when the fascination of partners washes away and they struggle with reality: daily routine and monotony. Although the novel seemed pretty slow and resembled simple romance story in the very beginning, as the story progressed, becomes very interesting and absorbing. The main character, Delia, was a very fascinating person, and her attitude towards people, who surrounded her, very often surprised me. She decided to take a different turn at one of the intersections of her life and just drift away from her disappointment, family, and past. Just what most of us at a certain point of our lifes dream of doing...
Appealing concept, remarkable essence and surprising ending.
Captivating book!
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Summary: Reader's Response to Ladder of Years
Review: Ladder of Years was a good book. Anne Tyler did an outstanding job describing the setting and making the reader feel as if they were actually there. This novel focused on many aspects in life as well changes one may encounter along the way. Delia was a very strong hearted woman, who never gave up. Like other readers, I often found myself annoyed and irritated with Delia, wondering how she could do the things she did. Leaving her family while on vacation, quitting her job without another one lined up, and taking off on the "new" family she stepped into. Delia was woman who was always ran away from her problems and escaped reality. She was very bound and determined. Unlike the majority, Delia dealt well with change and was quite brave. Delia was on a mission and never backed down. Having the "come and get me attitude" made her stronger, but in the end, playing hard to get made her weaker. I have mixed feeling about the way this novel ended. I'm glad Delia went back home, but it leaves the reader in the dark. Delia had time to grow and come to her senses about what she wanted out of life. The one thing that frustrated me was when Delia returned home, the book abruptly ended. Making the reader draw his or her own inferences of how the story ended. Based on the reader response criticism I found a connection to Delia's children. Having one of your parents leave you is very hard to deal with. My parents had gotten a divorce when I was eighteen years old. My father chose to move away and I haven't heard from him in over a year. It's hard, but as time goes by, you tend to forget, and go on with your life. Like one of the reviewers said, "her absence became more of an annoyance." Knowing my dad is fine and things are going well I don't worry about his well being. As long as he is happy, then so am I. In conclusion, I really enjoyed Ladder of Years and would recommend it to anyone. This novel touches on a lot of key issues and thoughts women may wonder, but never actually pursue. I benefited from reading others' thoughts and ideas about Ladder of Years. Reading the reviews gave me new insight and expanded on both positive and negative perspectives.
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Summary: Life's unanswered questions
Review: Reading this novel for my college class has allowed me to understand that wanting to leave your family and see what would happen is normal! Delia did just that. While on vacation with her family after many years of playing housewife, secretary, and mom she finally works up the courage to speak up. She lets her family know that she doesn't want to be overlooked, dismissed, or unappreciated. She wants to stop being thought of as the "baby", always needing to be cared for by someone and watched over in case she needs help. Delia doesn't use words exactly when she does this, she simply walks away from it all. She wanders off and unintentionally starts a new life in a quaint little town, small enough were people get to know you're name. No husband, no, kids, or meddling family members to keep her from being her own woman. She is free to do whatever she wants and to stop having those "what if..." feelings. Overall this book shows how sometimes things can keep adding up inside until you blow up. I thought this book had a great story line and it had all the right characters. It enabled one to live step by step right along with her. However, I feel the book could've been a bit faster. At times Delia's days seemed to run into each other. When her life picked up an interesting situation it never really turned out the way you'd expect. Even though Delia was away from her family life she still stuck to her values, and in a roundabout way ended up living similarly to her life at home. She eventually came home, but again almost "unintentionally." She stayed and although some aspects of her family life and questions she had about her marriage were answered, the question I still had was "Were the answers fulfilling enough to her? and for how long would these answere tide her over?" Nonetheless this was a great book and it made you really think about your own life and the choices you have made to get there. What would you change? Would you leave?
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Summary: disappointed
Review: I had the opportunity to read Ladder of Years for my college english class. I must say that the book was hard to get into. The plot was slow throughout. It was dry and boring. I had expected Delia to embark upon an exciting adventure after she left her family. Nevertheless, to my dismay, it seems as though Delia was "running in circles" in searching for meaning within her life. Also, I thought the writer's style was too descriptive and wordy, as a result, my interest in reading the remainder of the book slowly faded. Now do not get me wrong, from a feministic point of view, I tip my hat off to Delia for having the courage to leave her family to pursue self-discovery of who she was. Furthermore, I agree with prior reviews in the sense that alot of women within the general population have imagined, envisioned, or fantasized of leaving their family to search for self. I don't think that is wrong, however, according to Western culture, it is looked down upon. Ladder of Years did provide some emotional escape for my self to indulge in, but not much. This is my first time reading Tyler's literary work, maybe I need to read something else by her to truly understand her style. I love suspense and confusion. Delia was too conservative and oftentimes predictable in her decisions which really left nothing for the reader to gasp about. It definitely was not a page turner for me.
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Summary: How many women can relate? Lots and lots, I betcha
Review: Delia Grinstead married young, had kids and lived a self-effacing life. She woke up one day to discover she'd pretty much disappeared as a person who counted for anything in the eyes of her husband, her children, her friends - and even herself. So she did something I'll wager lots and lots of women have been tempted to do at some time or another: she walked away, took a bus to wherever it was going, settled in a small town in Nowhere, USA, and rediscovered/recreated herself.
This book is one of Anne Tyler's best. Spot-on characterization, situations, dialogue, effortless prose, hilarity and pathos on the same page. Satisfying and enlightening, endearing and emotional. A lesson in understanding and forgiveness, Ladder of Years bears up under reading and rereading.
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Summary: Let Down
Review: Delia is a lonely housewife who feels invisible to her husband and children. After feeling fed up with it all, on a family vacation, she walks away from them all and just keeps on going. She ends up in a small town and restarts her life by herself. She stayed away from her family for a year and a half. There she changes and becomes a new person, not completely different from her old self. When she returns for a wedding she immediately falls back into her old roles. I found this book to have a poor ending. I wanted her family to she how she evolved when she was away from them. In the end I found this book to be disappointing.
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Summary: Slow but Good
Review: Anne Tyler picked a good plot, but I wish she could have moved it in a little faster pace, which I seem to gather other reviewers feel the same.Many of us have stated that we can relate to and sympathize with the main character Delia, but do we really respect her? Another difficult aspect of the book is that there were so many different characters that I started getting them all mixed up. Tyler need to make it more specific who the main characters are. I think it is neat how Tyler pattern her book after KING LEAR. However, I did not like the ending. I felt there needed to be more closure between Delia and Adrian, Delia and Joel and Noah, and a more definite outcome between Delia and Sam.
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Summary: Everyone's Fantasy
Review: Normally, I have little patience for books about pampered well-to-do wives who are "just not happy" with their lives, but this book hooked me from the beginning lines. Realizing that her husband and children are taking her for granted and walking all over her, Delia simply walks out of their lives and hers, and begins anew. That is probably everyone's favorite fantasy, but few people have the guts to actually act upon it. Delia does, and the austerity and aloneness of her new life give her time to mature, get to know herself, and relax, away from the frenetic demands and expectations of others. But then she begins to seek out relationships, and finds her new life becoming more and more like her old one. Eventually she returns to her old life with a new appreciation of its benefits, and, significantly, the others and especially her husband now seem to appreciate and respect her as well. Finally, there is a touching sub-story about an old man, Nat, who tries to redo his past by fathering a child in his 70s, and realizes the past can never be redone and in trying he has made a horrible mistake. Beneath the flippancy of the story, there are many powerful themes to this book, and it is worth the read.
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Summary: Kind of slow read....
Review: After reading the first page of LADDER OF YEARS, I knew that this would be a hilarious story. By the time I finished the first chapter I was disappointed. This book was not funny. "Breathing Lessons," it's not. Gone are Tyler's quirky characters (the characters in this book were all one dimensional, even Delia's children and husband). I also had a little bit of trouble with the subject matter. I'm sure all mothers (especially of teenagers) fantasize about leaving home but most do not. What do we think about fathers who leave home? They are horrible people. How could a mother leave her children for a year and a half? I realize that Delia was probably going through a mid life crisis and a form of depression but I kept wanting to say, "Call your children and see if they are okay!"
Anne Tyler is still brilliant when writing about the mundane things of every day life.
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