Braddy Reads Crossing to Safety

I've found that, for most of the books I read as part of my book club, I walk away with the same impression of the book:  "The writing was good, BUT..."  Now, whatever follows that big "but" can vary.  "BUT I thought the characters were unlikeable."  "BUT I found the plot derivative."  "BUT I got too caught up watching TaleSpin on DVD to actually finish the book."  If I'm being honest with myself, though, I find that all my big "buts" are actually deflections, ways of coping with the fact that I just don't fully understand what I've read.

My opinion of the books I read for book club usually goes up after discussion.

Speaking of things I don't understand, Wallace Stegner wrote this book called Crossing to Safety, the story of a pair of married couples and their friendships and hardships during the years of the Great Depression.  One couple - made up of the story's narrator and his wife - come from a poor background, and they struggle finding financial security.  The other couple, Sid and Charity Lang, are wealthy beyond most people's imaginations.  Together, they form a friendship that lasts longer than I've even been alive.

I've got nothing in common with these people, except for perhaps an irrelevant love of literature.  I can't relate to any of the experiences described in the book:  there's no recounting of their courtship, except for a speculative bit on the Langs' past which sounds like something out of Pride and Prejudice.  The couples' experience during the Depression doesn't resemble any of the financial hardships I've ever endured - thanks to the Langs' affluence, neither couple really feels the pinch of their circumstances.  Even the marital strife that permeates their relationships doesn't really feel that much like the spats I've had in my few romantic encounters.

There's more I could talk about - brushes with illness, the fear of suffering, the struggle to age gracefully - but, again, these aren't really areas I've had much experience with, and very few of these issues are dealt with personally.  In fact, even though the whole story is supposedly told from the perspective of Larry Morgan, we get very little idea of how all of these experiences affect him.  Rather than dwelling on his response to trial, he chooses instead to speculate on how their trials impact the Langs.

Actually, now that I think about it, that sort of voyeurism is something I really can relate to.

I've been somewhat fascinated with the idea of telling more "slice of life" stories - stories without obvious antagonists or terribly dramatic conflicts.  Very few people actually have experiences that fit into that sort of three-act structure; rather, our lives lead us from one crisis to the next, usually without the satisfaction of denouemont.  In that regard, I'd say Crossing to Safety is massively successful, and satisfying.

Oh, and the writing's good.  I look forward to the book club's discussion.