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At Paradise Gate
by
Jane Smiley
In this brilliant novel, Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling author Jane Smiley delves into the domestic drama of the Robison family. While seventy-seven-year-old Ike Robison is dying in his bedroom upstairs, his wife defends the citadel of their marriage against an ill-considered, albeit loving, invasion by their three middle-aged daughters and their twenty-three-...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
April 13th 1998
by Touchstone
(first published 1981)
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A kind of Death of Ivan Ilyich from the p.o.v. of everybody else, especially the dying man's wife. Ambiguous feelings about this one; it was well-written (apart from some clunky dialogue, especially out of the mouth of the youngest character, the granddaughter), and I enjoy Smiley's resistance to developing an eventful plot, and resistance to the narrative convention of a death being the culmination of a narrative--especially when the person dying is a man, and the survivors are all women: why...more
This is a very moving story of a family in the last few hours of their father's life. While he is laying upstairs in the family home, the wife and her three grown daughters, along with an adult granddaughter grapple with memories. As the story unfolds, we learn about their lives growing up and as adults. We learn from the wife about her and her relationship with the husband and with the daughters. There are some enlightening revelations about generational differences as they deal with each o...more
I really, really liked this book. There was only one segment in the middle where it seemed to get a little slow, but it turned out the theme was just developing - and both that and the ending were truly excellent. Whether to get married and what you may gain and/or lose of yourself by taking either path were examined by the two ends of 3 generations of a family, and the particulars of the story hit very close to home for me - really great read.
I hate to give up on a book, so I read this one all the way through simply for that reason. For me, it was tedious. I was not fond of the way the main character strayed in her thinking. I give it an ok rating only because it is interesting to get a glimpse into the lives and experiences of others, even if it is boring overall. I would have preferred to have read more of the thoughts of the daughters and the father, especially.
Definitely not my favorite of hers. The patriarch of a family is dying. His wife and their adult daughters and one adult granddaughter are talking, playing out underlying dynamics that have been in the family forever. All of their interaction is dialogue about memories/feelings taking place in one or two rooms of the house over a couple of days. It just didn't grab me.
With the characteristics of a short story, this novel seems like a forerunner to A Thousand Acres. The focus is on the musings and memories of 72-year-old Anna, married into a brutal family, and the relationships among her three daughters, husband, and granddaughter. One fault of this novel is the characters' speeches - to fancy and novelistic.
Great writing, but severely lacking in action. Read a lot like a play. Which is fine, nothing against it, just not what I was in the mood for, I guess. I was in the mood for another "Age of Grief," I guess. I'll hit A Thousand Acres next, see what that's doing. Kind of raced through this one, to be honest. Got a little bored.
A portrait of a marriage during the 24 hours before the husband dies while the daughters and granddaughter are helping their mother. This is contrasted by the dissolution of the granddaughter's marriage and the grandmother remembering the many difficulties of her own marriage.
I listened to this book while traveling. I was good and shared great insigtht into families.
Very good. Absolutely no action, but somehow I still wanted to know what was going to "happen." I actually think I liked it better than "A Thousand Acres." I loved hearing Anna think through her life and re-evaluate memories she hadn't revisited in years. Really makes you think about the process of aging and watching your children age with you.
family comes together at death of patriarch. had to put down...
A 2 star Lifetime movie.
The family dynamics in this book are very intriguing. I really like the look at the different relationships and especially Anna's love for her husband.
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so so
I didn't think this book was terrible. It just felt like half way through some sort of plot should have developed. Maybe the ending was completely deep and fantastic, but it just didn't hold my interest. I have a hard time leaving books hanging in my head, but reaching for this one started feeling like a chore.
So disappointing. Reading this was like wading through mud. I've read other Smiley books and so I was optimistic when I began this novel, but it just dragged on and on with nothing happening. And I didn't like any of the characters. I'm actually surprised I finished it.
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Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbr...more
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Born in Los Angeles, California, Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, and graduated from John Burroughs School. She obtained a A.B. at Vassar College, then earned a M.F.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. While working towards her doctorate, she also spent a year studying in Iceland as a Fulbr...more
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