Recapitulation

A coda to “Big Rock Candy Mountain” that was also a sort of “dear john” letter to Salt Lake City after ghosting the town. The nostalgia here leans more towards pain rather than sentiment. At the end of BRCM, I had mixed feelings about Bruce Mason. However, the conclusion of this book and the parallels drawn with his father made me feel sad that he continued to run away. All the reliving of the past seemed to have no impact on a man who failed to learn from the lessons of his mother's life failure.

The Mormon wedding scene is almost ethnographic and is affectionately accurate. It provides a detailed and vivid picture of the Mormon wedding traditions and customs. It shows how important these traditions are to the Mormon community and how they are passed down from generation to generation. The description of the scene makes the reader feel as if they are actually there, witnessing the wedding ceremony. It is a beautiful and touching moment that adds depth and meaning to the story.

As an ardent admirer of Wallace Stegner, I was truly thrilled to discover that he had penned a sequel to "The Big Rock Candy Mountain". While the earlier book lacked the presence of candy, "Recapitulation" is abundant in recall.

Bruce Mason returns to Salt Lake, the city of his youth, to lay to rest his paternal aunt, a relative he scarcely knows and for whom he harbors no affection. Initially, he is "flooded with delighted recollection", but soon finds himself mired in memories of the past 45 years. The young Bruce, determined to escape his father's irascible anger and the shame of his family's illegal business, has since achieved an enviable social standing. However, the former ambassador remains firmly bound to his past, which has a vice-like grip on him.

This story lacks action; instead, all the drama unfolds within Bruce's recollections over the course of approximately a day. The journey back to Salt Lake resurrects unyielding memories, not only of the trivial and sentimental (including adolescent humiliations) but also of deep-seated pain and shame. Bruce realizes that he has unfinished business and old scores to settle with his father. In this sequel, we witness events from "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" from Bruce's perspective and become acquainted with Nola Gordon, the love of his life, and Joe Mulder, his one true friend.

This novel offers an insightful exploration of the workings of memory. As Bruce visits the parts of the city he frequented in his youth, he is struck by the realization that he is no longer the same person, even as he views a familiar past with the same eyes. "New shapes took over from old ones. Memory had to be - didn't it? - a series of overlays."

Thematically, it reminds me of Julian Barnes's "The Sense of An Ending". What one remembers is perhaps, out of necessity and self-preservation, not always a faithful account of the events that actually occurred. In Bruce's experience, recalling the most challenging years of his struggles compels him to rearrange or reshape memories to make them bearable. With Barnes, one is left in suspense and the truth is elusive; with Stegner, the truth defies attempts at reconstruction.

Typical of Stegner's style, there are memorable lines. Regarding his childhood, Bruce remarks: "His childhood had been a disease that had produced no antibodies. Forget for a minute to be humorous or ironic about it, and it could flare up like a chronic sinus." Concerning his destiny and ours, Bruce astutely observes: "...that it is easy enough to recover from a girl, who represents to some extent a choice. It is not so easy to recover from parents, who are fate." Reflecting on lost friendship and love, he states: “What they had once shared was indelible as if carved on a headstone, and was not, after so long a gap, to be changed or renewed.”

Stegner remains true to form in the strength of his prose style. It is always a pleasure to read his superb way with words. As a story, this is less compelling than "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" largely because it is all introspective. Stegner writes of Bruce, "The feelings of that miserable time came out of the gray past and overwhelmed him." It overwhelmed me too.

The ending is not as I had hoped. The last item on Bruce’s checklist, the one I most wanted him to cross off as completed, does not happen. But there is a good reason for this. Because the last thing he chooses and needs to cross off is the Bruce Mason of his youth who “has usurped space in his mind and been a pretender to his feelings". I hope that as he drives out of Salt Lake for the last time, Bruce is preparing to embrace new beginnings.

A Stegner fan can read “Recapitulation” with a renewed appreciation of how well he understands human nature and how he holds up aspects of life that we cannot fail to recognize as reflections of ourselves.

So beautifully written but so depressing and hopeless.

This piece of writing is truly a masterpiece in terms of its literary style. The words are carefully chosen and arranged, creating a vivid and engaging narrative.

However, the content is extremely disheartening. It seems to paint a picture of a world without any hope or light. The characters are trapped in a cycle of despair, and there seems to be no way out.

The author's use of language to convey this sense of hopelessness is both powerful and effective. It makes the reader feel as if they are experiencing the same emotions as the characters in the story.

Despite its beauty, this article leaves a heavy weight on the reader's heart. It makes one wonder if there is really any hope in this world, or if we are all just doomed to a life of depression and hopelessness.

Overall, it is a thought-provoking and moving piece of writing that will stay with the reader long after they have finished reading it.

After reading BIG ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN, I delved into RECAPITULATION, which chronicles Bruce Mason's return to Salt Lake City after many years. BIG ROCK is filled with so much of Mason's history that it's hard to say how RECAPITULATION would fare on its own. However, having had the privilege of reading BIG ROCK first, RECAPITULATION becomes incredibly compelling. It's as if an unseen wind gently turns the pages for me.

Stegner reminds us that neither our lives nor those of others can be judged in a single encounter. Instead, it takes the understanding of generations to begin to fathom where a person is coming from.

Our lives are astonishingly complex, and Stegner makes us aware that we are not alone in all our thoughts, actions, decisions, and compromises. Even the most self-assured among us likely harbors deep conflicts as we navigate through life. Here, we witness an outwardly extremely successful man who, in the later years of his life, is still fleeing from the shame of his family. This keeps him isolated, like an island, separating him from humanity. It is truly very sad not to feel a part of the whole.

Wallace Stegner is undeniably a master.

I've read a substantial number of books penned by Wallace Stegner, and I have held a great affection for them. However, this particular one failed to capture my heart in the same way.

The plot seemed to lack the kind of depth and excitement that I have come to expect from his works. It meandered along without a clear sense of direction, leaving me feeling rather disengaged.

Similarly, the characters did not possess the vividness and complexity that would have made them truly memorable. They felt somewhat one-dimensional, lacking the nuanced personalities that could have drawn me into their stories.

While I still have a great deal of respect for Wallace Stegner as an author, this particular book was not my favorite. It serves as a reminder that even the most talented writers can have off days, and that not every work will be a masterpiece.

3.75 is an interesting number. It lies between 3 and 4, and can be thought of as a fraction or a decimal. In some contexts, it might represent a measurement, a score, or a quantity. The decimal part, 0.75, can also be written as 3/4. This fraction has various applications in mathematics, such as in fractions and ratios.

Looking at the number 3.75 in a more symbolic way, we can think of it as having different aspects or qualities. The whole number part, 3, represents a certain foundation or base. It could symbolize stability or a starting point. The decimal part, 0.75, adds a degree of flexibility or variation. It might suggest growth or the potential for change.

3.75