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70th out of 100 books
—
5 voters
Stop-Time
by
Frank Conroy
First published in 1967, Stop-Time was immediately recognized as a masterpiece of modern American autobiography, a brilliant portrayal of one boy's passage from childhood to adolescence and beyond. Here is Frank Conroy's wry, sad, beautiful tale of life on the road; of odd jobs and lost friendships, brutal schools and first loves; of a father's early death and a son's exhi...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
February 24th 1977
by Penguin Books
(first published 1967)
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"Stop-Time" is such a unique book. The writing is so evocative, making even the most mundane details fascinating. I think if I could make a wish and emulate the writing style of any writer, past or present, I very well might choose Frank Conroy. My favorite passage is Conroy's description of how he used books to escape as a teenager:
"I withdrew into myself and let the long months go by, spending my time reading....Night after night I'd lie in bed, with a glass of milk and a package of oatmeal co...more
"I withdrew into myself and let the long months go by, spending my time reading....Night after night I'd lie in bed, with a glass of milk and a package of oatmeal co...more
First I say that I don't much like memoirs and then I decide to read two in a row. I've been trying for a month now to figure out how to describe the very specific emotional state that Stop-Time put me in every time I read a chapter and I guess I'm not going to come up with it.
I first heard about this book when Conroy died, and--as advertised--he's a fantastic writer. I would read a passage and think, "Wow, what incredible writing" and then would go back through it and realize that there were n...more
I first heard about this book when Conroy died, and--as advertised--he's a fantastic writer. I would read a passage and think, "Wow, what incredible writing" and then would go back through it and realize that there were n...more
I like this memoir for its meandering qualities, the lack of plot, and the simplest stories told in a highly detailed style. Even the chapter about how he obsessed over yo-yo tricks was engaging and fun. This is a quiet book about growing up in the 40s and 50s and it doesn't need weighty subplots (child abuse, drugs, etc.) like the memoirs were used to seeing the past couple of decades. Even though it was first published in '67, it still feels fresh.
This is one of the classic memoirs and I understand why. Conroy crafts the story of a stormy childhood and adolescence in the shadow of an absent father. His father doesn't feature in many chapters but from the first line of the first chapter it is clear that the memoir is about the sequence of events set into motion when his parents split, and later when his father died. As a result, Conroy explores the other men and boys that shaped his life: from a step-father to a boarder to a best friend in...more
In the memoir Stop-Time, the short story “A Yo-yo Going Down, a Mad Squirrel coming Up” by Frank Conroy particularly intrigued me. Conroy depicts his coming-of-age story with just what the title suggests: yo-yos and squirrels. Conroy is enamored by the yo-yo, and obsessively practices tricks every second he can spare. Meanwhile, his cousin Lucky has his own goal for the summer, which is to see the breasts of a girl he nicknamed, quite adequately, Boobs. Somewhere between practicing and meeting B...more
A uniquely American coming-of-age novel: road travel and fatherlessness feature prominently. The memoir focuses on creating an identity for oneself without having a role model. In a way, it's almost an existentialist bildungsroman.
It's well-written and doesn't spare detail to court sympathy. The narrator isn't always likeable and he doesn't attempt to justify or apologize for his actions. Growing up is awkward and full of things we'd rather sweep under the rug, but what matters is more what one...more
It's well-written and doesn't spare detail to court sympathy. The narrator isn't always likeable and he doesn't attempt to justify or apologize for his actions. Growing up is awkward and full of things we'd rather sweep under the rug, but what matters is more what one...more
Definitely a fun, easy read. Frank Conroy's autobiography reads like a novel..no wait, it reads more like a collection of short stories, each little vignette very well self contained, but more interesting for all the other stories that have gone before it. And he does AMAZING work when describing people. Characters will show up for no more than two or three pages and are never seen again, but in that time he describes the most interesting thing about them in casual detail, and you end up feeling...more
Sometimes I will read a book and like it so much that I will instantly want to start reading it again the second I am done. This was the case with Stop-Time by Frank Conroy. It seems like I had heard the title of the book a couple of times before, but no one had ever recommended it and I never got around to it. But then I was reading another memoir which praised this one, and I had to pick it up.
I’ve talked about it a little bit already, I know, but it was that good. I actually haven’t read a l...more
I’ve talked about it a little bit already, I know, but it was that good. I actually haven’t read a l...more
This is a memoir that reads like a novel and undoubtedly contains some fiction scattered among the exhilarating stories of Frank Conroy's youth. Covering the period up to his entrance into Haverford University this memoir creates a world pain and joy and the often awkward encounters of a young boy with real life. I was drawn back into the memoir upon reading a reference to it in David Ulin's wonderful extended essay, The Lost Art of Reading, where Ulin comments on young Conroy's reading habits....more
A strong, stoical memoir, Stop-Time, published in 1967, recounts Conroy’s childhood and adolescence placed inside two narrow contemporary frames: accounts of reckless to the point of suicide/homicide driving from London to the countryside. The prologue and epilogue are both very brief but reveal an adult who should be responsible and perhaps even happy, but clearly is otherwise disturbed. Madness runs, to borrow from “Arsenic and Old Lace,” in Conroy’s family. His dad was in and out of instituti...more
While this book gets better reviewed by most than "Body and Soul", to me it stands most interesting as a series of footnotes and behind the scenes explanations of that book. The fractured sense of time in the book may have been innovative for its time (not really sure about that, just a thought) but the lack of a central story to this memoir keeps it from being great (to me).
In spite of the 3 star, I would still recommend it as a must read, but if you're going to read one Frank Conroy book, read...more
In spite of the 3 star, I would still recommend it as a must read, but if you're going to read one Frank Conroy book, read...more
I read this over a weekend while I was traveling. The first two thirds were riveting. Mr. Conroy's depiction of early childhood and adolescence were painfully honest, raw and moving.
It was the last third that lost me completely. The writing or, perhaps, the recollection of memories, became "looser", more indulgent. By the end I had lost touch with the person who had been so clearly evoked in the earlier part of the book.
It was the last third that lost me completely. The writing or, perhaps, the recollection of memories, became "looser", more indulgent. By the end I had lost touch with the person who had been so clearly evoked in the earlier part of the book.
An outstanding account of a curious adolescence. Beautifully descriptive of first friendships, an obsession with yo-yo, an eccentric step father, running away from home and the joy at finally breaking free. One of those rare books that make you laugh out loud at the child's view of the idiosyncrasies of adults and marvel that someone could come out of this relatively unscathed.
Well-crafted, highly influential coming-of-age tale that nonetheless struck me as slightly anticlimactic and faintly stuffy. It was difficult not to make mental comparisons to Frederick Exley's A FAN'S NOTES, which was published only one year later (1968) than STOP-TIME but in its passion and emotional violence feels vastly more vital.
this is a wonderful memoir. Conroy's recollections are completely free of angst or judgment. these stories of self-discipline, sexual success, beauty, failure and horror are all recorded without the sour interference of hindsight. Conroy has accomplished something truly difficult and seems to challenge us to do the same: to see the past for what it really is.
I've heard that this adolescent memoir (a genre I enjoy) set the standard for a lot of contemporary writing of its sort. There've been so many books like it in the intervening years that it probably seems less special now than it did when it was first published. I supposed that's the cross one must bear as an exemplar. It remains worthwhile reading; Conroy's f'ed up childhood makes for good fodder, and reminds me of Richard Yates (though Yates is more self-pitying and pathetic, and I like those...more
Stop-Time is a memoir by Frank Conroy. It is very sad, occasionally humorous book of a boy growing up in difficult circumstances. It's easy to read and sometimes difficult to read. I just can't figure out why Conroy added the epilogue. That was lost on me.
It would have been interesting to read this in parallel with A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley. Beautifully even-handed memoir that never makes the nostalgia saccharine. Conroy does not spare himself when considering his past frailties. Great voice.
Good writing but I couldn't read straight through and skimmed bits. Too much craziness in one life. I'm finding we all have some collection of dysfunction in our lives we could write about. I've lost the stomach for reading about someone else's misery.
A beautiful memoir of a boy growing up in the 1950s (from his childhood up until college admittance). I'm not sure why I hadn't heard of this book sooner. I think what I liked most was the casual attention to detail - the effortlessness and beauty of it.
What an excellent book. I loved the way it was written and I loved how the story was told. The only thing that I think should be improved was the organization of the events. I think the movement from past to future was a bit jarring.
This book does everything I want realism to do prose-wise. It's also something anyone that's a guy that has grown up or, better, is growing up---aren't we all, always?---probably needs to read for reasons of joyful solace.
David Foster Wallace said that this is the author that made him choose a life of writing. With a reference like that, I had to see for myself. Phenomenal writing. Don't know why I didn't find out about Conroy sooner.
Great storyteller! Some of the anecdotes my family has written down of my grandmother's childhood start with 'There Was Less Regulation Back Then: Part X'. I think many of these chapters follow that theme.
I'm biased because Conroy ends up at my alma mater, but he really puts it together beautifully. This is an honest and achingly compelling account of Conroy's childhood and teen years.
An odd, interesting little memoir of the author's childhood and adolescence. Not very plotty or scintillating, but he lights up his experiences so that you're completely drawn in. Great writing, and observations about growing up that feel profoundly true, i.e.:
"I could not resist the clarity of the world in books, the incredibly satisfying way in which life became weighty and accessible. Books were reality. I hadn't made up my own mind about my own life, a vague, dreamy affair, amorphous and dim...more
"I could not resist the clarity of the world in books, the incredibly satisfying way in which life became weighty and accessible. Books were reality. I hadn't made up my own mind about my own life, a vague, dreamy affair, amorphous and dim...more
I kept trying and trying to let the text take over, but it just wasn't happening. It is well written, but something about it I never found compelling.
My disappointment in this, along with I Know Why a Caged Bird Sings, two classics of 20th-century memoirs, confirm that memoirs, no matter how good, just don't hold much appeal for me.
An amazing memoir! I have finished and restarted this book at-least 3 times. I continuously return to it for inspiration and great writing.
Wonderfully candid, heartfelt, authentic memoir. Mr. Conroy was an extraordinary writer. Looking forward to reading his other books.
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Frank Conroy was an American author, born in New York, New York to an American father and a Danish mother. He published five books, including the highly acclaimed memoir Stop-Time, published in 1967, which ultimately made Conroy a noted figure in the literary world. The book was nominated for the National Book Award.
Conroy graduated from Haverford College, and was director of the influential Iowa...more
More about Frank Conroy...
Conroy graduated from Haverford College, and was director of the influential Iowa...more
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“I could not resist the clarity of the world in books, the incredibly satisfying way in which life became weighty and accessible. Books were reality. I hadn't made up my own mind about my own life, a vague, dreamy affair, amorphous and dimly perceived, without beginning or end.”
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May 17, 2010 04:20pm