Bücher mit dem Tag "american classic"

Sarah and Emily Grimes grow up as children of divorced parents in the 1920's primarily on the Eats Coast. A loving, yet deeply unhappy father and a mother with a free spirit and an alcohol problem are the pillars of their existence. Both try to overcome their past, yet in different ways.

Whereas sweet and gentle Sarah settles into an unhappy marriage, crowned with three boys, Emily embarks a completely different route, gains an education, a professional job and one disappointing affair after the other. Both women somehow try to undo the past and build a different future, Sarah by choosing stability, Emily by choosing complete freedom.

Yates gives an almost sober account of their lives, following them over four decades, with Emily being the main protagonist. It is thus the reader never really gets a grip of he characters, which is however strangely enough not really important or annoying.

The books reads itself like a gentle spring morning due to the naked prose not pimped by unnecessary words or descriptions. I especially found the part about Emily very innovative for a novel that came out in 1976, depicting the struggle of women between traditional and new role models and showing that neither nor could be an answer. 

Yet another beautifully written novel by Richard Yates and with short of 250 pages an amazing quick read. 

Richard Yates is a writer whose writing always (at least in the four books of his I have read so far) has a special kind of magic. He doesn't need any fancy plot, he doesn't need exotic places and he doesn't need any kind of experimental writing to grip his readers. He is a magician in pacing his developments, and "Cold Spring Harbor" is another perfect example of his wonderful art. A story, which, had it been told by any lesser writer, would have most likely made us yawn all the way. "Cold Spring Harbor" is a book all around love and the mistakes of youth. Richard Yates develops the story of Evan Shepard, his parents, Mary, Rachel, Phil and Gloria in a seemingly very simple way, swiftly changing between telling us the story, or developing scenes just by dialogue, increasing the density of his prose all the way, and without even noticing how completely we are captivated by the story, we're all of a sudden somewhere in the middle of the book, not wanting to put it away, even if it's way past midnight and you have to get up early in the morning. "Cold Spring Harbor" (which is set in the years of 2nd World War before and after Pearl Harbor, but in it's thoughts, in saying what it is saying, absolutely timeless) is a moving story (with an, although maybe not really unforeseeable, yet stunning ending), it touches, it's sad, and with the breathtaking elegance of Richard Yates' writing, a wonderful reading experience.

Richard Yates hat einen großen amerikanischen Roman geschrieben. DAs junge Paar ist in die Vorstadt gezogen und will hier Ruhe und Zeit finden. Sie, eine erfolglose Schauspielerin mit schwankenden Stimmungen und er, der immer nachgibt und unfreiwillig Karriere macht. Die Beiden Kinder werden schon geliebt, aber all zu oft müssen sie hinter den Launen und Streitereien der Eltern zurück stecken. Ihre Mutter hat eine heimliche Affaire mit einem Freund der Familie und ihr Mann findet eine kleine Affaire in seinem Job. Dann wittern sie eine neue Chance und wollen nach Paris auswandern, aber es soll ganz anderst kommen. Ein großaritger Roman mit einer wunderbaren Stimmung und vielen Überraschungen und in einer großen Sprache erzählt.