His grandfather, however, was a self-taught engineer, mapping miles and miles of mines in California, Idaho and elsewhere. His grandparents had started out Easterners with at least his grandmother assuming that they would eventually move back there to be part of the literary circle she had grown to love and be a part of. He has moved back into his grandparents' farm house and is going through the reams of letters, artwork, and journals of his grandparents (his grandfather was an engineer in the New West and his grandmother a celebrated artist from the Hudson School). The narrator is a survivor of bone disease and is confined to a wheelchair. This is the novel he won the Pulitzer Prize for. A book to be savored.I didn't listen to the audio recording of this, but they didn't have a picture of the book otherwise. If you write, or just appreciate an author who can use words to paint a picture while having you hang on each one. I think it would have been great to read this book with others for that reason. which some readers may enjoy (I did), but some may not. So, in the end, I felt the reader was left to draw some of their own conclusions. Just a forewarning, the book is not totally satisfying in the sense that Stegner never spoon feeds the reader. The relationship is fraught with both deep, deep love and tension, and the slow build of the book works in favor of the reader's ultimate understanding of how one decision can pivot a life. His grandfather was an engineer trying to make his way in the West. His grandmother was a well bred northeasterner, a person steeped in arts and culture. The story is about a wheelchair bound writer who is researching and relating the story of his grandparents' relationship. But if you love literary fiction, then YES, this one should be on your list.
I think plenty of people would find it hard to finish. However, it is slow moving, and I had to deduct a star for that. I could absolutely re-read this and never tire of it in the same way you can look at the Mona Lisa and never tire of it. It's as though each sentence was crafted with more love than the next. Make no mistake, the actually writing in this book is five stars all the way.
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