A small novel that combines melancholy with optimism.

It takes the readers on an emotional journey, filled with both heart-wrenching moments and glimmers of hope.

The story unfolds in a way that makes you feel deeply for the characters and their struggles.

Despite the challenges they face, there is always a thread of optimism running through it, giving the readers a sense of warmth and comfort.

The ending, in particular, leaves a beautiful sensation.

It doesn't neatly tie up all the loose ends but rather leaves you with a feeling of bittersweetness, as if you have just experienced a real-life story.

Overall, it's a charming and engaging read that will stay with you long after you've turned the last page.

A 100-page novelette presents a captivating and prescient account that skillfully weaves together multiple narratives.

On one hand, it delves into the life of an upper middle class metropolitan man, exploring his complex entanglements with women and others.

Simultaneously, it showcases the events unfolding in a suburban town that is facing an ecological disaster.

This novelette is a hilarious and inventive page turner that keeps readers engaged from start to finish.

John Cheever demonstrates his creativity and liberation in handling both language and character.

Published in 1982, it remains relevant today, especially with the political jockeying that often surrounds issues such as dumping into a beloved lake in a suburban setting.

The novelette offers a unique perspective on modern society, highlighting the various challenges and relationships that people encounter in different environments.

It is a remarkable piece of literature that combines humor, drama, and social commentary in a seamless manner.

Five years ago, I read this "last" Cheever once, and now I reread it because our women's reading club put it on its list. How special it is to reread books. My reading experience now was superior to that of five years ago, and "Almost a Paradise" gets one more star from me. I found the book much wittier than it had been fixed in my memory. The slightly perverse spirit of Cheever brings exciting sexual associations to light (rusty toasters or the faces of people in a row at the bank will never be the same again).

Each chapter in this short novel is almost a short story in itself - Cheever is no doubt a master in that genre. The bickering women in the supermarket or the loving family that spends an almost paradisiacal day at the beach are described cinematically and with a great sense of observation and humor.

"Almost a Paradise" is almost a masterpiece. Cheever has written more and better, but still, this light-hearted novella is a nice recommendation - ideal reading material to sit and smile on the train.

I come from communing and I am in ecstasy. Viel Temperley could be referring to reading Cheever, but we are not certain. It is a beautiful nouvelle, profound, mystical, and at the same time deeply rooted in reality and observation.

This work seems to have a certain charm that draws the reader in. The way it combines the elements of the spiritual and the real is truly remarkable. It makes one wonder about the mind of the author and how they were able to create such a captivating piece.

As I read through it, I find myself lost in its pages, experiencing a range of emotions. It is a work that demands to be read slowly and savored, as each word seems to hold a deeper meaning.

Whether Viel Temperley was indeed inspired by Cheever or not, this nouvelle stands on its own as a work of art. It is a testament to the power of literature to transport us to another world and make us see things in a different light.

Sears, a man of a certain age, who has been widowed twice, calls his daughter before going to spend a day skating on the frozen lake. His daughter lives in Janice, near Lake Beasley.

Two weeks later, when the lake has thawed, Sears realizes that it has been turned into a landfill site controlled by the Mafia that controls the Municipal Council. For them, Salazzo, a former local barber, makes illegal collections. Sears hires Chisholm, a lawyer and environmental activist, to litigate over the lake.

In the queue at the bank counter, Sears meets Renée, a beautiful, younger, sexy and mysterious woman, with whom he eventually has an affair. But when she abandons him, he is inconsolable and becomes sexually involved with Eduardo, the elevator operator in Renée's building. Confused about his sexuality, he consults a psychiatrist and discovers that he is a "homosexual bachelor". And so on... with Chisholm finding a baby abandoned by Betsy, Salazzo's neighbor in Janice, on the roadside verge.

Actually, the plot, if there is a plot, is not important in this story by Cheever. What is fascinating in this book is the narrator's perceptive gaze and reflections on the whirlwind of characters and events that are presented to us in a fast, fluid and concise writing, pushing us page by page until we reach the final outcome, if there is a final outcome...

Biraz fazla sanki..

It seems a bit too much.

Keşke anlattığım bu hikaye, alabalık tutmak için buraya gelmesi muhtemel bir sahtekarı öldürme amacıyla beklerken tüfeğimle gizlenmiş uzandığım nehir yatağı boyunca yetişen nanelerin güzel kokusuyla başlasaydı.

Oh, if only the story I told had started with the wonderful smell of the naan bread that grew along the riverbed where I was hiding with my rifle, waiting with the intention of killing a possible fraudster who might come here to catch fish.

Yes, it's too much. :(

But in a way, this excessive description adds a certain atmosphere and detail to the story. It makes the reader more vividly imagine the scene and the emotions involved. Maybe it's not just about the story itself, but also about the feelings and thoughts that come with it.

Although it might seem a bit overwhelming at first, upon closer inspection, we can see the beauty and complexity hidden within these words.

Oh what a wonderful book this is!

It is part fable, part longing. It is a longing for things lost and things that may be, or things that should be.

There is a plot that weaves through the pages, captivating the reader's attention. There are characters, full of character, sometimes complex, maybe even contradictory. They come to life on the paper, making us feel as if we know them personally.

There is nostalgia that may or may not be accurate, but it adds a touch of warmth and familiarity to the story. There is also a social message or an environmental message, making us think about the world around us.

But if any of that is your takeaway, I think you are missing the best part. Really, this is an exploration of how to be alive. It is a fictional testing ground to struggle through what it means to be human. It is a messy, improbable, sometimes illogical exploration, but that is what makes it brutally honest and brutally adorable.

On the first page, we are drawn into a story that is meant to be read in bed in an old house on a rainy night. The dogs are asleep and the saddle horses, Dombey and Trey, can be heard in their stalls across the dirt road beyond the orchard.

On the last page, we are left with a powerful sense of our being alive on the planet. The sky was clear that morning and there might still have been stars although he saw none. The thought of stars contributed to the power of his feeling. What moved him was a sense of those worlds around us, our knowledge however imperfect of their nature, our sense of their possessing some grain of our past and of our lives to come. It was that most powerful sense of how singular, in the vastness of creation, is the richness of our opportunity. The sense of that hour was of an exquisite privilege, the great benefice of living here and renewing ourselves with love. What a paradise it seemed!

Cheever has quite a reputation, and this is the first thing I've read by him. It is written in the third person by an omniscient narrator who seems to understand the world and its creatures. With these, he weaves an engaging plot and story.

The novel is short but also seems like an extract from a larger one, a summary for young people, a version of Editorial Billiken. Because there are events and characters that would take as long to describe here as to read the original. For example, in one chapter, it delves fully into psychoanalysis, represented by a poverty-stricken professional, a fiercely repressed homosexual. After that chapter, the therapy doesn't reappear. It could have taken several chapters of an extensive novel, but Cheever truncates that branch of the narrative. And so on with everything; moreover, the author himself acknowledges this at the end.

But that is another story and, as I said at the beginning, this is only a tale to read in bed in an old house on a rainy night.

The story could be the relationship between the mature Sears and the Beasley lagoon, which begins to be filled with toxins. It's a mafia business. Sears attempts legal resources destined for failure, but through a sum of events chained by chance (and the novelist's art), the lagoon has a better destiny.

But it's not this synthetic plot that's most important, but the multitude of characters and episodes that come and go. "Crossed lives".

Also, the author's ironic, concerned, and wise gaze on North American society is one of the highlights. And two or three chapters on love. But also the actions of the municipal officials.

In short, I see that it is full of successes. A novel fragmented into brilliant pieces.

A small and bright novel that seems to tell the exact opposite. It is my first encounter with Cheever, and those who know say it is the lightest and happiest one. However, I think one can indeed see that more bitter author, full of insinuations about old age, decadence, and the irreversible loss of faculties and resources. The ending reminded me a little of Molloy, and from that point on, it makes me want to start reading again to confirm that it was neither night nor raining.

I read it because I urgently need to get closer to more almost happy bisexual narrators. Although Fresán's text finally says "homosexual facet", because the word "bisexual" doesn't exist and there's no way to use it. I will definitely read more Cheever. But where do I go from here?

Maybe I should explore his other works to further understand his writing style and the themes he often touches upon. I could start with some of his more famous novels or short story collections. This way, I can gain a more comprehensive perspective on his body of work and see how his exploration of bisexuality and other aspects of human nature evolves.

Alternatively, I could look for critical analyses and reviews of Cheever's works to gain additional insights. These could help me better understand the deeper meanings and interpretations within his stories and perhaps guide me in my future readings.

Overall, I'm excited to continue my journey into the world of Cheever's literature and discover more about this fascinating author and his unique storytelling.

I don't see the point of this novel, but I still plan to read Chekhov's stories. There could be several reasons for this. Maybe I'm curious about Chekhov's writing style and the unique perspectives he offers in his stories. Despite not understanding the significance of the current novel, I believe that Chekhov's works might provide me with a different kind of literary experience. His stories are known for their depth and exploration of human nature. I'm hoping to gain a better understanding of life and the human condition through reading his works. Additionally, reading different authors and styles can help expand my literary horizons and improve my own writing skills. So, even though I'm a bit困惑 about the novel I'm currently reading, I'm looking forward to delving into Chekhov's stories and seeing what they have to offer.

I'm not entirely certain about what I just perused, yet I truly valued the irony that was present.

Life is indeed ironic and often confounding, and Sear's manages to remind us of this on each and every page of this particular book.

At times, life can appear to be a veritable paradise, a place of beauty and wonder. However, it is also beset with an abundance of highly intricate elements that somehow manage to bring us all together within the chaos and mess of it all.

Overall, it was an interesting and rather quick read that left me with much to think about regarding the complex nature of life and the unexpected ironies that it presents.

John Cheever does Nanowrimo, or An older Tom Hanks and a middle-age Meg Ryan and a younger Billy Crystal Should've Starred in This

Boy meets girl. She repeatedly tells him that he knows nothing about women. Boy then meets the elevator operator in girl's building, has sex with him and later goes fishing together. In the meantime, there are one hundred pages filled with supermarket checkout line freakouts, sightings of UFOs, appearances of Mafia hitmen, expressions of suburban angst, descriptions of cocktail parties, a case of tampered-with Teriyaki sauce, encounters with blind fortune tellers, scenes of ice skating and the presence of polluted ponds. It's a wild and chaotic story that seems to have elements of romance, mystery, and a touch of the absurd. One can't help but imagine how an older Tom Hanks, a middle-age Meg Ryan, and a younger Billy Crystal could have brought these characters and situations to life on the big screen, adding their own unique charm and humor to this strange and engaging tale.