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164th out of 166 books
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17 voters
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The Development
by
John Barth
From one of our most celebrated masters, a touching, comic, deeply humane collection of linked stories about surprising developments in a gated community (Newsweek), The Development is John Barth at his most accessible and sympathetic best.
Hardcover, 176 pages
Published
October 7th 2008
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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A wry look at elderly white upper-middle class liberals living [and dying] in a gated community, The Development is surely not for everyone.
And I'm likely one of those people.
This is my first look at John Barth and, as I understand it, probably the wrong place to start, given the subject matter. For me, and I imagine for many, this is not a demographic of much interest, and so many of the stories kind of drag longer than they are, hit less than they're meant to. Partially...more
And I'm likely one of those people.
This is my first look at John Barth and, as I understand it, probably the wrong place to start, given the subject matter. For me, and I imagine for many, this is not a demographic of much interest, and so many of the stories kind of drag longer than they are, hit less than they're meant to. Partially...more
I give this book 3 stars based on how much it interested and delighted me. It's hard to give this book so few stars, because it's a great book, so I gave it four. It made me think, it resonated with me when I think about the peer group of my parents, and also myself as I age and talk more and more about property values with my ever less intimate friends.
The development is a place like many in the states, a restricted access suburbs where people who have made it who are 40+, but gen...more
The development is a place like many in the states, a restricted access suburbs where people who have made it who are 40+, but gen...more
I almost forgot that I had read this book earlier this year and that just kills me. I have this 'thing' for John Barth- I'm convinced he's brilliant and one of America's most important authors, living or dead. Giles Goat Boy, The End of the Road and The Floating Opera are very important books to me. I read them in college. Someone must have told me that Mr. Barth is a genius and it stuck. Having said all of that, let me tell you that I was thoroughly disappointed by The Development. Barth's narr...more
This book was a rollercoaster ride for me, and I don't necessarily mean that as a compliment. Of late, under circumstances that he may or may not have explained, Lord Barth has undertaken the effort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Like the protagonist of his own The Tidewater Tales, Barth has developed from the tome-novelist to the producer of short work. While his productions of late (at least in book form) have not been anything like "The Olive" from his ficitonal counterpart, the la...more
Disclaimer: John Barth has been my very favorite writer in the whole entire world for the past 30 years. It is doubtful that I could write a really objective review. However, that being said:
I liked “The Development” much better than recent efforts like “Coming Soon” and “Where Three Roads Meet,” but it is clearly not in the same league with Barth’s great mid-career masterpieces like “The SotWeed Factor,” “Chimera,” or even the similarly linked- story-formatted “On With the Story....more
I liked “The Development” much better than recent efforts like “Coming Soon” and “Where Three Roads Meet,” but it is clearly not in the same league with Barth’s great mid-career masterpieces like “The SotWeed Factor,” “Chimera,” or even the similarly linked- story-formatted “On With the Story....more
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This collection contains some of Barth's best work in over a decade. Especially good was his story "Toga Party," with its evocation of the problems of growing older in America and its shocking double twist ending (really reminded me of his novels of the 1980s). The joy of this book of interrelated stories set in a housing development off of the Chesapeake is following the story arcs of different characters you've come to know through previous stories as they play out through the point ...more
The townhouses of Heron Bay Estates, on Maryland's Eastern Shore, mostly cater to older folks who want something smaller than a freestanding house but who aren't quite ready for the retirement home. But through small events like a toga party or sightings of a local Peeping Tom, the residents experience both the pleasures and the indignities of old age. The loosely linked stories that form The Development play with not only the format but with readers' expectations; both long-time fans of author ...more
Kathryn McCary
rated it
There comes a point in every author's career, it seems, when s/he is relying on technique more than passion--a product of aging. Trust Barth to use that (whether or not consciously) as part of the core of his latest work, a series of short stories whose characters live in a gated community on the Maryland shore. The first two are fine stories in the ordinary realist tradition, proof that the master can in fact still turn them out. . .but then things get decidedly skewed in favor of an examinat...more
Most of these stories had strong metafiction elements, which didn't really work for me. But, there is one story in this collection that just blew me away: Toga Party. The ending is shocking at first, and then it hits you: the whole story was marching relentlessly towards this EXACT ending. All of the stories have to do with retired or near-retired older people living in a gated community in Maryland. SOMEBODY PLEASE JUST STAB ME and put me out of my misery if my life is as empty as theirs ...more
Starts like a series of solid John Updike like stories but soon reveals itself to be something much more interesting. Barth twists narrators and plots relentlessly and pokes at us readers to make sure we don't forget that there's someone behind the curtain stage managing everything. But just this makes the stories and characters feel more real, reminding us how little events and decisions can lead to big changes and how it is both easy and hard to be the "author" of your own life.
Oh, I just didn't "get" this. Maybe because I'm not nearly as far-flung along in life as all of the stories' inhabitants? I didn't like its randomness, the chaos of each of the voices telling various accounts of things. I didn't like how the "fourth wall" or whatever was repeatedly broken as the writers referred both to themselves and then also to me, the reader. There were also too many couples to keep track of and stories that unspooled to the point where the narrator then ...more
Evanston Public Library
added it
Style becomes substance in this collection of nine stories set in a retirement community. The voices of the various aging narrators ring true as they tell of (for example) the highs and lows of dealing with a possible Peeping Tom, and the forces driving one of the more jovial couples to a spontaneous suicide pact. Here and there we also get Barth’s trademark third-person-conspiratorial style. (Jeff B., Reader's Services)
This is a collection of short stories linked by the fact that they are all set in a very fine housing development on the east coast. Most of the occupants of The Development are seniors. The writing is great, most times amusing and sometimes sad. Just like growing older, with some interesting twists along the way. I didn't give it a four because the author gets pretty long-winded at times but that's also just fine for retirees.
A darkly comic collection of linked short stories about elderly residents of a gated community in Maryland, I found the satiric take refreshing and clever, unpredictable and quirky, if not always laugh out loud funny.
Lots of meditation on death and its approach from the perspective of various 'golden agers' in a gated community on Maryland's Eastern Shore. More wonderful wordplay, interesting characters/situations from JB.
Fun, inventive storytelling, but a shift from previous hard core pomo collections like Lost in the Funhouse. There's some metafictional commentary here, but nothing too mind-bending. Great characters, too.
I read one of the stories ('Toga Party') in this book in a collection edited by Stephen King; that shoulda told me something. Mr. Barth has been my favorite author for some decades now. I was able to hear, see, and speak with him briefly when he came to NCSU maybe 5 years ago. I wanted to tell him that I was influenced by his writing, to learn French and to sail. This work will mean little to most but I am struck by the echo of my places and my times, right there in the stories making up "T...more
Set in a retirement community. Supposed to be funny. Is kind of funny, but also kind of depressing. I only read the first story.
Kristin
added it
If I am ever considering living in a gated community I will go back and re-read this book!
Several very good stories, but clunky as a collection, and not as John Barthy as I expected
First a complaint, there is a couple of comments on my edition of the book that implied the author is a great comic writer. That may be true in other stories but not these. (There are a few smiles here and there but it is not comedy.) It is a bunch of related short stories that are almost a novel. It also seems to be an experiment by an experienced author in the short story form. Sort of how Picasso messed with perspective, Barth messes with all sorts of things. With a lesser author there might ...more
It's like Updike, only shorter and with plenty of 'who's the author?' po-mo tricks. Another difference: it's interesting.
The only story I truly enjoyed was "The Toga Party". I forced myself to read the rest.
Ives LeSpark
added it
didn't read all it, Toga Party was a good stroy, but the rest just fall flat and were a bore
The best book ever about septuagenarians and gated housing communities! I effin' love John Barth!
I think he is still one of the Masters.
John Barth can be a challenge to read, because of his freeform style. This book tends to stay very superficial (or appears to, because of what is not directly said). But I never stopped reading it, even when I had to go back and check on previous mentions of character to clarify one of the chapters. This is unusual for me, since I don't believe I should have to work through/around an author's quirkiness (or his lack of an editor) to find the story. Usually...but this time I did just that.
Ugh. Couldn't get into the stories. Stopped at page 70.
Just finished it. Good. Barth seems to be blending his own style and some kind of post modern techniques. It works and the book of short stories is really a weave of a novel. I liked it a lot
Just started it. Haven't read anything by Barth in years. The Sot Weed Factor is the most memorable but I did read several others.
Just started it. Haven't read anything by Barth in years. The Sot Weed Factor is the most memorable but I did read several others.
So this is actually a couple of short stories about life in this housing development.
Some people may like John Barth's style, but this is the second of his book I have tried to read and couldn't.
In this book, I had trouble getting into any of the stories and his descriptions are just too long and boring for me.
Some people may like John Barth's style, but this is the second of his book I have tried to read and couldn't.
In this book, I had trouble getting into any of the stories and his descriptions are just too long and boring for me.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| GRL Review | 1 | 4 | Feb 07, 2009 01:31pm |
"John Simmons Barth (born May 27, 1930) is an American novelist and short-story writer, known for the postmodernist and metafictive quality of his work.
John Barth was born in Cambridge, Maryland, and briefly studied "Elementary Theory and Advanced Orchestration" at Juilliard before attending Johns Hopkins University, receiving a B.A. in 1951 and an M.A. in 1952 (for whic...more
More about John Barth...
John Barth was born in Cambridge, Maryland, and briefly studied "Elementary Theory and Advanced Orchestration" at Juilliard before attending Johns Hopkins University, receiving a B.A. in 1951 and an M.A. in 1952 (for whic...more
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