Rating: 
Summary: Classic
Review: As our narrator Lyman Ward says, this is a book about a marriage. "A masculine and a feminine. A romantic and a realist. A woman who was more lady than woman, and a man who was more man than gentleman." And it's a story that will keep you turning pages well after you should have turned out the light. Susan Burling and Oliver Ward were probably ill-matched from the start, a genteel Eastern woman who goes west with her husband to the mining camps of the 1870s determined never to bring herself down to the level of mining camp society and a man who will do anything for his wife's comfort except change his own nature. The result is years of wrestling with themselves and their relationship through disappointment and tragedy. Their story is told by their grandson, Lyman, himself living with a crippling disease and a broken marriage. Stegner offers a wonderful contrast between Lyman's anything-goes world of the early 1970s and the strict moral code of Susan and Oliver's time. (Looking at if from the 21st century makes it ever more interesting). The jumps back and forth from Lyman's present to Susan's past are even, well-paced and welcome. Sadness if often dispelled with humor. The descriptions of the west and the camps are beautiful. If it is possible to "write" in technicolor, Stegner does it. Despite the harshness of the untamed frontier there is a movie-quality to the images, wide-angle shots of green and gold prairies and nights in which it is never really dark. Lyman's bone-hardening illness becomes a metaphor for his own inflexibility and that of his grandparent's and in the end we learn that finding a true resting spot - an Angle of Repose - requires forgiveness of oneself and others.
Rating:
Summary: astonishing
Review: I just finished this book and it remains at my side as I write this review. I found the book compelling from the beginning and recognized myself in Susan at times for better or worse. Oliver, the often misunderstood manly man that he was, never quite knew what he had taken on in marrying this woman so above him in every way or at least we never know as "he left no novels, stories, drawings, or reminiscense to speak for him." The assumptions of his grandson, who "only knew him as an old man," are all we have to go on and they are all we need to love Oliver and wish that he might have found in Susan what he needed and yes -- she in him. I don't judge her as harshly as some. I think because we know more about her, we feel entitled to. We think she should have known better. They both did, but they were compelled to do what they must and their lives finally intersected again in their years of repose and in the end as their grandson, Lyman, honored their memory with the wisdom he gained from their story.
Rating: 
Summary: Stegner for the first time
Review: I found the book to be very intriguing. Between the western descriptions, the descriptions of people were the most interesting. I found Stegner;s style to be refreshing and very personal regarding the descriptions. I agree with many other reviews that Lyman Ward's narrative was needed and welcomed. When Lyman came back into the scene I was always pleased for the break from The Wards life and you knew that it signelaed the next pahse in their life and a new personal discovery into Lymasn Ward.I found Susan after a while to be very selfish and short-sighted which was a disappointment. The hero was Oliver, he was pure and solid and under apppreciated and abused, all the requiremnets for a hero!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful history
Review: My book club loved this book! I found the picture of the West fascinating, and the main character to be a woman of grit and courage who married the wrong guy but approached her life with him in as supportive a way as possible, creating a life for herself too. It is hard to imagine the harshness of the years spent along the river, but she later describes them as among her happiest. Without giving anything away, her ultimate fate is a harsh one because of one careless act--I was more sympathetic than some in my group. The title makes you think!
Rating:
Summary: What a great read
Review: This rates as one of the most engaging, memorable books I've ever read. The author's loving exploration of his Grandmother's life and times was intense, deep, and endearing. Yet the comples psychology of the characters is never glossed over. It's not a "modern" novel in any sense, but rather a full and rich unfolding. Wallace Stegner's writing is sometimes breathtakingly beautiful, as well. Absolutely one of the finest things I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: still resonating
Review: I read this book well over a year ago, and it still resonates with me. Much like Grapes of Wrath, these are characters that I will never forget. Stegner truly addressed how our decisions form our lives, and how those decisions can transcend generations, almost as if they are passed along in our DNA.
Rating: 
Summary: extremely qualified recommendation
Review: This 1971 Pulitzer Prize Winner tells the story of the first 14 years of marriage of one of the couples who built the American West. Lyman Ward is a 58 year old professional historian. He's suffered through the loss of a leg and the flight of his wife of 25 years & now he's returned to his family homestead, Zodiac Cottage in Grass Valley, CA to write the biography of his grandmother, Susan Burling Ward, a minor author and artist of the West. She came from the East in 1876 to be with her new husband Oliver Ward, a mining engineer. Lyman proceeds to chronicle their lives until disaster strikes the couple & essentially ends the marriage, although they stay together for another 50 years, having attained an "Angle of Repose". I had two big problems with this book, which is essentially a dandified Michener. The first is that I hated Lyman Ward, the narrator. Perhaps it is a function of writing in the early seventies, the great wasteland in American culture, but the lives, concerns and conversations of Lyman and the people around him are excruciating. The second problem was that I thought Susan Burling Ward deserved to be horsewhipped. She spends the first part of the book madly in love with one of her girlfriends and then falls in love with her husband's best friend. Meanwhile, she meddles in Oliver's career choices repeatedly & then agonizes over the dead ends that career runs into time and again. I'd give this one an extremely qualified recommendation & suspect it would appeal more to women. GRADE: C
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing, beautifully crafted book
Review: This is a book about foregiveness and wisdom. It is mainly the story of Susan Ward, who leaves her genteel East Coast life to marry an engineer and live in the unformed American West. It is also the story of Lyman Ward, her aging and ailing grandson, who, long after her passing, is writing the story of her life. Stegner pulls off a challenging feat: telling a story with multiple voices living at different times. Even tougher, the heart of the story is the link between the two main characters. All this is done with great skill. In Stegner's hands, a descent into a mine shaft fills with suspense. He drops sentences and scenes of such raw power they simply take your breath away. Stegner has a great story to tell about some of the hardest lessons life has to teach. Readers who put their trust in the author will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Book on Marriage, Character and Life
Review: A truly outstanding book. It was recommended to me as a book about the building of the American West. Although it does this brilliantly, it's treatment of marriage, character and life was much more profound and moving. I now routinely give it as a wedding gift to young couples I care about.
Rating:
Summary: Sometimes difficult to read, but always rewarding
Review: I read "Crossing to Safety" before I attempted this one, and I'm glad for that - "CTS" is a much easier read, but still got me into Stegner's style. Even so, "AOR" was slow to start, but I was rewarded mightily for sticking with it! It's a tough story about hardship and the consequences of making choices, but it's beautifully written and totally engulfing. I have no idea how historically accurate it is, but it certainly had me convinced. I'm now very interested in Stegner's other fiction work.
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