Stegner, Wallace

• Angle of Repose (7)

  • I read this book during the Spring of 2000, when I was 31 years old. If I had read this 15 years earlier...well, I wouldn't have. The pace is very slow, and this is purely literary fiction. Now, I guess I can appreciate this kind of book a little more, but it still isn't really my bag. The novel is set in the present as a very amusing old man (the small fraction of the novel revolving around him is easily the best part) writes a biography of his pioneer-era grandmother based on her diary. The grandmother's story is extremely long, filled with triumph and hardship (mostly the latter...she *was* a pioneer in the old West). She is a travelling artist, who makes her fame and fortune on her talent while following her husband, an engineer, from place to place. Somewhat reminiscent of "Grapes of Wrath" in its depiction of abject poverty, which is very interesting, depressing and exhilerating all at once. To much "literary merit" and not enough "fun" for me to truly enjoy. Maybe in another 15 years...

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