Rating: 
Summary: Lacked Something
Review: It has been difficult for me to even decide if I enjoyed Ladder of Years. Yes, I kept turning the pages to see what would happen next, but that was the only reason I kept turning the pages. I felt that the book lacked something that I still cannot put my finger on. It is not the best book I've ever read, but not the worst. I could not fully figure out what Delia's intentions were for leaving her family, so I was never able to figure out if I personally could excuse her actions. I feel that Ms. Tyler could have gave the main character more emotional depth and not kept the reader guessing.
Rating: 
Summary: Hasn't this been done?
Review: This is the first book that I have read by Anne Tyler, so I can not say about her overall abilities, but this novel seemed to lack something. I found it somewhat predictable, a normal Sunday afternoon on Lifetime. Granted, the story had a very good flow and was very easy to read, and there was good character development, but none the less it lacked that sparkle that keeps you guessing and wanting to read. I often found myself wondering about Delia's feelings, and how easily she was able to block other's feelings out. It just all seemed too easy. In a book about hardships and feelings many women have, I would think the novel a bit easier to relate and connect to. I would recommend this book for some easy reading on vacaton, maybe while taking a long flight, but not to ponder while sitting in a garden.
Rating:
Summary: Feeling bad for Delia
Review: Having never read any of Anne Tylers work, I was pleaseantly surprsied by how engulfed I became in Delia's story. As the story begins the reader imediatly meets Delia and is taken on a crazy adventure that many women would find exciting, but as the story continues the reader finds how uneventful Delia's life really is. Although I don't belive running away was the answer, if my life was that unsatisfying I would want to make drastic changes as well. Unfortunately, I began to feel less and less sorry for Delia as time continued. I don't belive she did much on her journy to help herself she only hid from the truth. Overall, I though the book was very entertaining, but it lost some of its steam mid stream.
Rating:
Summary: "So-So"
Review: "Ladder of Years was not a novel that was particularly striking, nor did I find it boring. The idea of a wife and mother who up and leaves her husband and children is intrigueing becuse it happens so rarely. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I enjoyed the blurry explanation for Delia's actions. I felt that Tyler was leaving something for the reader to infer. Like many others, I enjoyed Tyler's casual style. Her writing flows nicely, and she creates characters that one can love and hate at the same time. Her characters are similar to real people and not romanticized in any way.
Rating:
Summary: Rality of Life
Review: The book by Anne Tyler, Ladder of Years, deals with several deferent things. It is mainly focused on Delia, the main character in the book, and struggles somewhat with reality. She cannot deal with her children growing up into adulthood, her husband not given much attention to her, and her father's death. When she felt that she was not needed she left her life, family, everything that society considers being important. In my opinion everything was up to her to decide what to do with her life. I would say that first half of the book was much more interesting than the second part, because even in the new city she turns towards her old style of life. The book shows some negative aspect of family life and ruins the perfect family picture that is presented in our society, which I think that author wanted to point out. Over all a book was worth of reading because every book brings something new to a reader.
Rating:
Summary: Ladder of Years
Review: I enjoyed this book for may reasons such as it charcters, its story line and the stages the book goes through with Delia. While reading this book I loved the fact that I felt I was right there with her(and also at times I was her) as she traveled through her road in life. I'm not sure quite if I feel one way or another about Delia leaving her family but I know she needed to do that for herself. I enjoyed watching her do something very few people would do but at the same time I thought what wes the reason she did what she did. I know I feel she left because of her family but there may be something else we never knew. But the only thing we know is what we each get out of it.
Rating:
Summary: Desertion, Divorce, and Delia
Review: The book Ladder of Years is the story about a woman who leaves her family to create a completely new one with no ties from her past attached. The only part of her past that she chooses to keep is her name, for the practical purpose of identification rather than sentimentality. This book brings to surface many conflicting emotions and ideas about family responsibilities, marriage, and the search for self-purpose. The main character, Delia, chooses to go against what is socially expected and leaves her husband and her family without so much as a backwards glance. Her reason's for doing so toy with the readers emotions. Is Delia justified in her reasons to leave everything including her children? Or is she a selfish, middle-aged woman trying to see how things could have been if the past she accepted had been different. The book moves at a quick pace through Delia's life, one season quickly moving through to the next, but it reads slower due to the almost monotone way of Delia's new way of living. Upon finishing this book I felt that Delia was selfish in the desertion of her family and that she should not have been readily accepted back into the past that she had left with few regrets. Through Delia's experience the reader is confronted with the idea that marriages don't work, something will happen to bring about failure. This pattern is seen over and over throughout the book including in the life of Delia's own daughter. Concidering this point, I would recommend this book for those who wish to see how things would have been, and for those who are newly engaged and on the path to wedded bliss, beware!
Rating:
Summary: Ho-Hum
Review: I was not thrilled with this novel. I wonder if it is because I had trouble relating with the characters, especially Delia. She was so passive it drove me nuts. She always ran away from her problems instead of trying to work them out. She ran away from her family and her job as a secretary, and finally Noah and Joel. I had trouble seeing past my irritation with Delia. I beleive that if you want things to change you must take the initiative and do whatever it takes to make change happen. There were many other things Delia could have tried before leaving her family. I was glad that Delia had found her independence, even though I do not agree with her means of attaining it. The cat symbolism was interesting and did add depth to my reading experience, but it was not enough turn my opinion of the novel around. The final dissappointment of this book was the ending. Delia came creeping back to the same world she had left behind. I felt like the story was just a large cirle, that ended up in the same place as it began.
Rating:
Summary: Starting over
Review: Ladder of years is a unique mystery. The main character Delia Grinstead walks off and leaves her family while on their annual family vacation. Befor this vacation delia realized that her husband may have married her for all the wrong reasons. She also felt that she was useless to her almost grown childeren. For years Delia made it her buisness to please everyone other than herself. Now it was time for Delia. After leaving her family Delia started a new life for herself in a small town. At some point everyone feels the need to start over. Delia explores this fantacy for you.Ladder of years took several unexpected turns. I thought her husband would come find her and profess his love to her. Instead for a year and a half with little contact her family decided to give Delia her space. I enjoyed the book as a whole. I was a little disappointed with the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Was it oppression or selfishness?
Review: I have been to the breaking point many times in my life, but did I ever seriously consider leaving it all behind? No. I can except the fact Delia may have felt the need to leave her husband, but even after I read the entire novel, I still could not fathom walking away from my children. Whatever horrible persecution Delia was feeling in her life, a mother worthy of her children would not leave them. Delia needed to establish her self worth and to find out what she really wanted for herself-without someone else telling her what she really wanted. I believe the way she discovered these things was selfish and held no regard for anyone's feelings except her own. So, her teenaged children didn't appreciate her anymore...Oh, like this is something new in life. Deal with it, get a hobby if you're feeling oppressed, but to abandon your family is the coward's way to deal with your problems. Delia finally decided her life was worth coming back to, but she needs to make changes or the next family vacation, she might be taking another infamous walk down the beach. Although I did not place Delia in high regard as a mother, she did a great job of establishing a new life for herself. I'm glad she decided to go back to her family, but I found myself feeling bad for Joel and Noah, as well. I enjoyed this novel, but continued to want more in respect to character development. I wondered about the intimate details of Delia's father, Sam, Joel, Noah and even Adrian. I felt Tyler left her readers too much in the dark, maybe purposefully. All in all, even though Delia's journey didn't seem to prove much, the novel itself was entertaining and worthwhile to read.
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