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24th out of 59 books
—
29 voters
That Night
On a warm suburban night, the sound of lawn sprinklers is drowned out by the rumble of hot rods. Suddenly a car careens onto a family's neat front yard, teenage boys spill out brandishing chains and leather, and a young man cries out for the girl he loves. Tonight fathers will pick up snow shovels and rakes to defend their turf, and children will witness a battle fueled by...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
January 12th 1999
by Dial Press Trade Paperback
(first published 1987)
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I hunted down this out-of-print book for a while before I got my hands on a "brand new" copy, and I was a little disappointed. I made the mistake of seeing (and loving) the movie first; in fact it was on HBO all the time when I was about the narrator's age on "that night," and I would watch it repeatedly. I haven't seen it in about 15 years, and one day it just occurred to me to read the book. I thought there would be drama and romance and a lot more about the relationship between Sheryl and Ali...more
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That Night is a novel that focused mainly on one violent night in a suburban community in the early sixties. When Sheryl is suddenly shipped off to live with her aunt and uncle due to an unplanned pregnancy, her boyfriend Rick and his friends (in an attempt to rescue her) clash with the older generation of the neighborhood as their children watch.
Told mostly through the viewpoint of 10-year-old Alice (one of Sheryl's neighbors) at different points in her life, the novel's telling branches off f...more
Told mostly through the viewpoint of 10-year-old Alice (one of Sheryl's neighbors) at different points in her life, the novel's telling branches off f...more
Found myself re-reading pages 35-55 and felt everything was too repeated, boring, and dazed. I did not enjoy this book at first. McDermott writes with really long sentences, using lots of commas and junctions from clause to clause. Then I decided to read this like a diary, and enjoy the long sentences. They're attempts to describe everything, from a person's perspective who sees almost everything there is to see. Views from one night in a small suburb, the events that led up to that night, and t...more
This is an early Alice McDermott (1987) book which I missed somehow, until a website of favorite books urged me to read it. I do believe this is a perfect novel. It is short (I read it in two days), compelling, and beautifully written.
Of course, I remember, and relate, to this era--perhaps a younger generation would not truly understand it.
Of course, I remember, and relate, to this era--perhaps a younger generation would not truly understand it.
This book is an old standby of mine. I reread it yet again over the weekend. Indeed, it feels like a favorite song from the very first line:
"When he came to claim her, he stood on the short lawn before her house, his knees bent, his fists driven into his thighs, and bellowed her name with such passion that even the friends who surrounded him, who had come to support him, to drag her from the house, to murder her family if they had to, let the chains they carried go limp in their hands."
That Nig...more
Sep 08, 2011
Christopher MacMillan
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Shelves:
pulitzer-prize-winners-and-nominees
Clearly inspired by other doomed teen romances like "Rebel Without a Cause" and "West Side Story", Alice McDermott's "That Night" is the story of a teen pregnancy, and the series of events this sets into motion against the backdrop of suburban America.
The book takes place in the early 1960s, and one hot summer's evening - as we see through the eyes of the young girl who lives across the street - a hoodlum named Rick and his fellow troublemakers show up on the front lawn of Rick's girlfriend Sher...more
The book takes place in the early 1960s, and one hot summer's evening - as we see through the eyes of the young girl who lives across the street - a hoodlum named Rick and his fellow troublemakers show up on the front lawn of Rick's girlfriend Sher...more
I can't fully explain why but this is probably favorite book I've read in the past year or so. I'm still troubled by how the narration works (there's no way she can know much of what she tells) and sometimes the fragmentation would push me out of the proper headspace. But the language! The little vignettes that could stand on their own as wholly satisfying reading experiences! Everyone has experienced teen angst and yet this book enabled this reader to experience it freshly and as a source of ex...more
This story was well written and the characters were well done, but I had a hard time staying focused on it.
The story was alittle slow for me and I found my thoughts drifting to other things. I did though like the setting of the story and I liked the story of the narrators neighbor and the neighbors boyfriend at the time. I enjoyed the story behind what happened to her neighbor also.
I have never read an Alice McDermott book but have heard great things about them so I was excited to finally get t...more
The story was alittle slow for me and I found my thoughts drifting to other things. I did though like the setting of the story and I liked the story of the narrators neighbor and the neighbors boyfriend at the time. I enjoyed the story behind what happened to her neighbor also.
I have never read an Alice McDermott book but have heard great things about them so I was excited to finally get t...more
I read McDermott's Charming Billy years ago, and even though I couldn't tell you a single plot point from that novel, after reading one page of That Night, I felt a familiar hush and tingle. McDermott writes the kind of sentences that make you want to linger and savor them - deliberately crafted, yet with an effortless feel. It's a quality of voice she shares with my wife, actually...
As for the story, it reminded me a bit of The Virgin Suicides. Only the narrator of That Night is a woman who's r...more
As for the story, it reminded me a bit of The Virgin Suicides. Only the narrator of That Night is a woman who's r...more
Habe dieses Buch bereits vor Jahren bei einem Bookcrossing MeetUp mitgenommen, vor allem weil ich von dem dazugehörigen Film mit Juliette Lewis und C. Thomas Howell gehört habe - aber nie geschaut. Jedenfalls habe ich nun endlich zu diesem Buch gegriffen, weil es schon so lang unbeachtet im Regal stand. Erzählt wird die Geschichte von Sheryl und Rick, star-crossed lovers die anscheinend kein glückliches Ende finden. Das wird gleich am Anfang verraten, als die Erzählerin - ein junges Mädchen das...more
While I may have given this three stars and not more, the way in which the book was written gave me pause and deserves kudos. McDermott focuses on the events surrounding one violent suburban night in which an entire neighborhood involves itself in the results of a teenage romance, the older generation meting out their own judgment upon the vainglorious and careless new while their children look on. Backstory and personal history are mere context to that one night, the actions of an hour, and tho...more
This book appears on Anita Shreve's Top Ten list and I chose to read it for one of the tasks of the Summer Challenge. The central character of the story is a teenaged girl, whose father died suddenly. She has trouble coping with this loss and seeks solace in the arms of a boyfriend. Interestingly, the narrator of the story is a 10-year old neighbor who is placed in the role of observer, not just of teenaged Sheryl, but of the adults in the neighborhood too. A high 3 stars, but can't compete with...more
A masterpiece. I wish I'd read this book this morning when I was still able to write coherently instead of midnight when I'm in the last seven hours of a twenty-four hour read-a-thon.
I loved the way the author switches from first person singular narrator to first person plural narrator in the story. I also loved the way the author provides little glimpses of the future for the characters who pop into the narrative. These give the story a big vision both broad and yet full of disappointment.
I loved the way the author switches from first person singular narrator to first person plural narrator in the story. I also loved the way the author provides little glimpses of the future for the characters who pop into the narrative. These give the story a big vision both broad and yet full of disappointment.
This one took me by surprise. I don’t quite know why I got it, but I picked it from my shelf yesterday fancying a quick read. Quick it was, but it packed a punch in its limited page count.
A masterful example of show rather than tell. A lot of writers could learn from this novel. The events are seen through the eyes of the omniscient narrator at various ages. We skirt them, moving back and forth through time and place. We focus in on the tiny details, those that lodge in the mind, those that buil...more
A masterful example of show rather than tell. A lot of writers could learn from this novel. The events are seen through the eyes of the omniscient narrator at various ages. We skirt them, moving back and forth through time and place. We focus in on the tiny details, those that lodge in the mind, those that buil...more
This is a story about a pair of young lovers in the early 60's in suburban New Jersey. The girl gets pregnant, and is sent away to a 'home for wayward girls'. The boy gets mad about this and gathers a bunch of his young hoodlum friends. The youths have a rumble with the fathers in the neighborhood when he comes to see his girlfriend. The story is told from the point of view of a young girl who lives next door to the pregnant one.
I was really excited to start reading this book and then half way through I just stopped reading. The book didn't hold my interest. I think the reason I couldn't really get into the book was the fact that I saw the movie before I read the book, and I went in expecting the book to be exactly like the movie. I first saw that movie years ago when I was about 7 or 8 and loved it. But now that I tried to read the book I just couldn't get through it. I went in with high expectations and they just were...more
As always, McDermott's writing moves me in a deep way. It is as if she grew up in my home (maybe 10-15 years before me). The details bring time and place alive. You can see this place, you know the people, you have felt the fear and sorrow.
More of a short story than a full novel, 'That Night' is a wonderful gem that beautifully illustrates McDermott's winning story telling.
More of a short story than a full novel, 'That Night' is a wonderful gem that beautifully illustrates McDermott's winning story telling.
I have been reading everything by Alice McDermott I can get my hands on, and this early novel did not disappoint. Both sad and funny. Wonderful writing. The chapter just before the beginning of Part Two, pp. 107-114 in the hardback edition, contains one of the funniest conversations ever, and bunch of children sharing their inaccurate knowledge of how a pregnancy occurs.
Some interesting ideas, but I thought really overblown/melodramatic, and also too much writerly manipulation, too close on the narrator's perspective the whole time. A lot like So Long, See You Tomorrow, but without the explanation of why the narrator is so obsessed with this story from long ago. I can extrapolate, but I want to know with a little more certainty.
The author captures a time in life as well as a time period so well in this short, pithy novel. This elegiac novel is about loss: lost loves, lost youth, death. The dark theme is very gently expressed. While this is not my favorite by this author, I love McDermott's writing style. Recommend.
Haunting and beautiful book about teenage lovers and budding adolescence in the 1960s. Smart use of circular storytelling and speculation to build character, and a genuine grasp of young voices. Story occasionally has trouble with plausibility, but is generally engrossing.
This is the story of a girl in a neighborhood in the 50’s who gets pregnant and sent away. What makes it interesting is that it is told from the eyes of a child in the neighborhood. Very short and a quick read but extremely interesting point of view.
I am so moved by this novel, the way it grows so quietly, and spreads among various points of view, various characters, so that you go deeper and deeper into the story of one night. Her deftness with voice stuns me, and I'm trying to learn from it.
My second Alice McDermott. The trend has begun. Read this, you will remember how horrible you were to your parents, how awful the teen years felt, to live at home and you'll get satisfyingly sad about growing up.
I just could NOT get into this book. Not enough meat, and (to me) an inauthentic narrator. I would have liked to have seen this book fleshed out quite a bit more as it had the potential to be really thought-provoking.
Found this in young adult...not sure why it was there. Short and sweet (actually, sad) story about the effect of a teenage pregnancy on a 1950s suburban neighborhood. I guess. I liked it, 3.5 stars worth.
Quick read but it reminded me of when I was young - we lived in a neighborhood like that where everyone knew everyone,the kids played outside, etc. It's kind of sad that it's just not like that anymore.
Read this over my 12 hour journey to from LA to FL. Amazing prose and storytelling. If made it feel like only 6 hours! Proof that a well-chose book is the best companion for traveling.
A doomed teenage love affair sparks a confrontation between generations on a hot summer night in 1960s suburban Long Island, as the author transports us to the end of a simpler time.
Mar 14, 2011
Heather Frable
is currently reading it
Just started this one and i love it so far- takes place in the 50's- sort of a greaser love story. If you liked The Outsiders, you might be into it!
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Alice McDermott (born June 27, 1953) is Johns Hopkins University's Writer-in-Residence. Born in Brooklyn, New York, McDermott attended St. Boniface School in Elmont, Long Island, NY [1967], Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead NY [1971], the State University of New York at Oswego, receiving her BA in 1975, and later received her MA from the University of New Hampshire in 1978.
She has taught at the UC...more
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