So, so good.

Read my review here

On August 2nd, 2017, I did a re-read. How funny it is! It seems that I was reading this book almost at the exact same time of the year two years ago. If you were to ask me to name my very favorite book, I would quickly respond with All the Little Live Things. There is just an abundance of wonderful aspects to this novel. It explores themes such as what it means to live, vulnerability, relationships, freedom, grief, death, and aging. The story is incredibly rich in terms of theme, imagery, and the quality of the prose. I hate to gush too much because I don't want to oversell it, but for me, this book has a depth that I constantly want to keep plumbing. It's like a never-ending well of wisdom and emotion that I can dip into again and again.

Each time I read it, I discover something new and profound. It makes me think deeply about life and all its intricacies. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a thought-provoking and moving read.

I read this probably 30 years ago,

but the story, characters and their relationships, and the feelings are still vividly in my memory.

Wallace Stegner is one of my all-time favorite writers, and his prose has a unique charm that keeps pulling me back.

The way he describes the characters and their emotions makes them come alive on the page.

The relationships between the characters are complex and nuanced, adding depth and richness to the story.

Even after all these years, I can still remember the details of the story and the impact it had on me.

Stegner's writing is a testament to the power of literature to touch our hearts and stay with us for a lifetime.

I am grateful to have discovered his work and look forward to reading more of it in the future.

As the blurb of every edition of this book will tell you,

Joe is a retired literary agent. He, together with his wife, made a significant decision. They chose to leave the hustle and bustle of the big city life. Their destination was the countryside of California, where they aimed to spend the autumn of their lives. Currently, they lead a peaceful existence,

enjoying the pleasant weather and going on long walks that offer magnificent views. They mostly keep to themselves. However, everything changes when a friendly couple moves into the house “next door” and a young man, clearly trespassing, parks his motorcycle on the overgrown part of Joseph's property.

From that day forward, nothing is the same anymore. That day marks the beginning of a far more emotional period than Joe and Ruth had anticipated during their self-imposed exile in Californian seclusion.

I have an absolute adoration for Joe. I love his unemotional perspective on their involuntary tenant and the hypocrisy within his revolt against the system. I completely understand his intense feelings towards garden pests, annoying and naive people, and trespassers. I respect his introspective journey and his critical examination of himself and his relationship with his son. There are very few literary characters with whom I can identify so strongly.

Stegner Wallace is now, in my own personal hall of fame.

Joe Allston, the narrator of All the Little Live Things, is far from being a good person.

For the initial part of this book, I found myself thinking, "Yawn, this fellow is a jerk, and the story arc will likely involve him learning some harsh truths about himself and the world, hoping to gain some sympathy from me." Honestly, I'm not certain if that was Stegner's intention or not. However, in my perspective, he was the least appealing character in the book from the very first page to the last. It wasn't in a fun or enlightening manner, but rather in the annoying, pain-in-the-ass old man way.

Perhaps this was indeed Stegner's intent. No matter what occurs around us, we cannot escape ourselves. Certainly, in his wife Ruth, his neighbors John and Marion, and even his nemesis Peck, he managed to create sympathetic characters. Why any of these people endured him remains a mystery that remains unsolved. This is not the curious, inquisitive Joe Allston of The Spectator Bird, but a much uglier individual.

After retiring from thirty-seven years as a literary agent in Manhattan, Joe and Ruth relocated to Los Altos Hills, where Stegner actually resided, a few miles southwest of Stanford University, where Stegner was a faculty member. His modest five-acre lot (today's listings show homes ranging from $12M to $30M in that neighborhood) was not sufficient for him. He lamented having to look at his neighbor's lot, as if his neighbor owed him a pleasant view, and complained that the thinly populated area stretching to San Francisco Bay would soon be overrun by hordes of people. I'm one of those hordes, and I don't understand why those fortunate enough to have moved here in the '60s complain about people like me arriving later - especially since people like me have made all those nasty old guys incredibly wealthy beyond their wildest dreams by driving up real estate values.

Two characters in this book display grace and wisdom in very sad circumstances, while Joe complains about his neighbors, complains about the wildlife that dares to set foot on his property, complains about young people in general (while repeatedly admiring the rear end of a sixteen-year-old neighbor), complains about his family members, and complains about how society in general is going to hell. His wife occasionally attempts to rein him in, but his complaining is incessant and so trivial in nature that it stands in sharp contrast to the very real issues that other people in the book are dealing with.

This story has been told before, and much more proficiently. I can't bring myself to award this book two stars, as I really didn't like it at all. Rich old whiny white guys who somehow cast themselves as society's victims are not the kind of people I want to listen to at the moment.

My First Wallace Stegner

I have finally understood why so many of my friends love Wallace Stegner! He is truly on par with Wendell Berry, which is no small feat. I absolutely adored this novel.

Joe's words, like "Sometimes my heart grows tired with beating, it wants rest, like my eyelids," really resonate with me. I can appreciate his thoughts and actions. It's interesting how we often become less patient, more easily angered, looser with our words, and more judgmental as we age. Yet, Joe's words are filled with wisdom.

Ruth is Joe's leveling force, always using reasoning words. She is his constant companion and true lifetime love.

Kurt, their son, is rebellious, hateful, and disrespectful, a "disastrous self waste." Joe wonders if he went to his death hating or hopeless.

Jim Peck, also known as the "Long Haired Kook," has a hilarious conversation with Joe about being vegan.

Marian has a wonderful effect on the old man, turning him into a merrier and softer person. I love how the novel got its title, ALL THE LITTLE LIVE THINGS.

John would have been the perfect son-in-law if Joe and Ruth had a daughter.

Debbie is a little sweetheart who captures everyone's love and attention.

This story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I highly recommend reading it! Wallace Stegner's writing is so elegant that I am in awe. His humor is priceless, and his words carry me along happily like a leaf in the soft autumn breeze.

Note: The narrator, Edward Herrmann, is superb.

Rarely do I enjoy modern fiction. The often convoluted plots, the excessive use of literary devices, and the lack of relatable characters usually turn me off.

However, Wallace Stegner is a strong exception. His works have a unique charm that draws me in from the very first page.

Take, for example, his novel "Angle of Repose." The story is told through the eyes of a young man who is researching the life of his grandmother, a pioneer woman. Stegner's prose is so vivid that I can almost see the dusty plains, the harsh winters, and the joys and sorrows of the people who lived there.

What I appreciate most about Stegner's writing is his ability to create complex and believable characters. His protagonists are not perfect; they have flaws and make mistakes. But that's what makes them human, and that's what makes me care about them.

In conclusion, Wallace Stegner is a master of modern fiction. His works are a testament to the power of good storytelling, and I will continue to read and enjoy them for years to come.

I have real-life book friends and we have a unique tradition. We only come together at the end of the year to discuss each of our top-ten books. However, for the past five years, we have also agreed to take on a group project for the next year. The first three years were highly successful, but then came the works of Henry James and Gustave Flaubert. My friends started hinting that they might want to go their own way, not realizing that defeat can have its own rewards.

As the last beer was being drunk and the final book was being discussed, I proposed "Wallace Stegner". I said that we had probably all read "Angle of Repose" by him, but nothing else. The rustling of papers stopped, and beer glasses were held mid-air. Looks were exchanged, and soon we reached an agreement.

I had my eye on "The Spectator Bird", but "All the Little Live Things" is a prequel to that, written nine years earlier. So I decided to start here.

Some of the themes in this book are a bit dated, such as environmentalism, pot-smoking, and abortion, or at least they seem that way in a 1970-ish American style. There's nothing post-modern going on here. Yet, the larger issues and the writing are truly timeless.

I won't reveal the plot, except to say that reading "The Emperor of All Maladies" earlier this year gave me significant insights into the particulars. This is a book that you simply cannot put down, even though you know it's going to break your heart.

"I shall be richer all my life for this sorrow."

I just completed the book 30 minutes ago, and it turns out to be quite a disappointment.

I would describe it as overly elaborate and too sentimental in tone, and the development of Marian and Joe's relationship lacks credibility in terms of pace.

The underlying philosophies at play, I won't try to analyze at the moment, but I don't see much hope in any of it.

Perhaps not by chance, the author somewhat successfully evokes in the reader what Allston himself experienced - the anticipation of pain and the realization that it is even more dreadful than expected.

The reader knows the book will end tragically, and indeed it does, perhaps even more tragically than anticipated.

The final sentence states, "I shall be richer all my life for this sorrow." However, as a reader, I don't share this view.

I don't feel any richer after reading the book - just slightly fatigued from resisting the overly emotional pathos.

On the positive side, I did enjoy a significant portion of the comic middle part of the book, especially the descriptions of the rowdy Peck and his followers.

Stegner is a talented descriptive writer. I found his dry irony much more engaging than his mawkish seriousness.

I always seem to reread this book in rhythm or synchronicity with something in life. I actually listened to it, and I was instantly addicted to Edward Herrmann's voice. It was a perfect complement to the narrator's personality, and I find myself wondering again and again why this book has such a powerful hold on me. Set in the 60's, it features a curmudgeonly charmer with conservative views in the sleepwalking of his retirement. I don't identify with that, and I really don't identify with the most important female character, Marian, either. But I do believe in part of her belief in evolution towards a type of biological perfection or more hippieish, an evolution of soul or consciousness, if not towards perfection, then towards more than we can imagine now.

This book is a profound conversation about what it means to live in the world, and it remains meaningful almost 50 years later. I think it has been a guiding light for me for over 20 years now, since I read it in college, even before I became a nurse. Whenever I am shocked by the triumph of evil over good, I think of the quote: “wherever you find the greatest good, you will find the greatest evil, because evil loves paradise as much as good.” Whenever I am faced with loss or sorrow, I recall: “It is hard doctrine, but I was beginning to understand it then, and I have not repudiated it now: that love, not sin, costs us Eden. Love is a carrier of death - the only thing, in fact, that makes death significant.” Or simply, “I will be richer all my life for this sorrow.”

Those three quotes walk with me every day. In this rereading, it paralleled a situation with another patient. The last time it was an unrestrained child with a traumatic brain injury that we were working hard to keep alive. This time, it's a very close parallel since she is a mother of a young child and will die or have a serious stroke if she does not continue a simple but time-consuming regimen of blood thinners. For 8 months, we have gone above and beyond what is reasonable to try to help her, but we are failing. For many reasons, she is non-compliant, and we can't force her to do anything. I have not been willing to let her die, but it is now out of my hands, and it is hard to accept that and wait for the consequences.

But she is the anti-Marian; she has no concept of the preciousness of life and certainly no understanding of what it means to evolve. However, what ties them together is their inability to see outside their own frames of reference. I can see both sides, just as I agree with Marian about some things, but I also agree with Joe about others. However, there is no black and white when it comes to life. It is raw, unrestrained, messy, and complex. There are no absolutes except the above quotes. No matter the sorrow, it will enrich your life if you learn from it; paradise attracts all of us, and the good and bad change from minute to minute; and love is what makes death powerful.

“I shall be richer all my life for this sorrow.”

This profound statement holds a wealth of meaning. Sorrow is often seen as a burden, something to be avoided or overcome. However, in this context, it is presented as a source of enrichment.

Perhaps the speaker has come to realize that through experiencing sorrow, they have gained a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. Sorrow can teach us valuable lessons about resilience, empathy, and the importance of珍惜 the good times.

It can also make us more appreciative of the joys and blessings that come our way. When we have known sorrow, we are better able to recognize and cherish the moments of happiness.

In a sense, this sorrow has become a part of the speaker's identity, shaping who they are and adding depth and complexity to their life. It is a reminder that even in the face of pain and loss, there is the potential for growth and transformation.

Overall, this simple sentence encapsulates a powerful truth about the human experience and the ways in which our hardships can ultimately make us stronger and more fulfilled.

This is such an incredibly hard book to read.

I first read it when I was much younger. Now that I'm older, it has taken on a different meaning for me.

It is a book that is filled with anger, loss, and wasted lives. But, at the same time, it is full of life!

Stegner writes about the places that I remember vividly from my teenage years when I lived in the country near where he lived.

He describes the land, the plants, the trees, and the animals that are so familiar to me.

The holly-like leaves of the live oaks, the poison oak that seems to spring up even in the harshest conditions, the dusty hillsides, the fog, and the adobe soil that cracks and makes it difficult to grow things.

The horse trails and the king snakes - all these things bring back memories.

Joe Allston is such an angry person that it's hard to like him, but it's much easier to understand him.

I'm going to take a break from Stegner for a while and come back to him later.

I want to re-read "Angel of Repose," but I need to step back a bit.

This is the third time I've read this book, and my feelings about it remain the same.

It is a sad book, and I don't think I'll go back to read it a fourth time.

What a remarkable book this is! I have a profound love for Stegner's works.

For me, this particular book was a slow read. In fact, I read other books in between. However, it truly lent itself perfectly to that kind of reading pattern. I would mostly pick it up just a little bit before going to bed or right in the morning.

Stegner does an outstanding job of describing the day-to-day details. Even though I always find myself wondering if I'm going to become fully engaged in a book that focuses so much on the ordinary, I always end up doing so and always love the lazy and relaxed way in which the book reads.

The ending is both twisty and sad, but it is also fitting. It leaves a lasting impression and makes me reflect on the story long after I've turned the final page.

This book is a true gem and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a well-written and thought-provoking story.