Cold Spring Harbor (Vintage Classics)
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Product Description
Review
`Yates's prose is as elegant and minimalist as ever... He simply tells the story - in... perfectly pitched language.'
-- www.rocksbackpagesblogs.com
-- www.rocksbackpagesblogs.com
Book Description
A brilliantly written exploration of youth and self-delusion by the author of Revolutionary Road
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Richard Yates was always interested in failures and outsiders, and in Cold Spring Harbor, originally released in 1986 and the last novel he would write, this is no different. The theme of the book is typical Yates - lonely lost characters struggling through life anyway they can, marriages that are falling apart, people who get drunk to numb whatever pain they’re feeling.
The story centres around two families, the Shepards and the Drakes, who meet up by chance when the Shepards car breaks down. What begins as a joyous union soon beings to turn sour, with sadness meeting each character perpetually. There is one mans feelings of being trapped by marriage and his child, a mentally unstable woman and her unrequited love, a teenage boys feelings of inadequacy – each of them dreams of escape and a better life, only to wake to reality every time.
The characters, as in all of Yates stories, are brought to life by the faultless dialogue, each scene brought to life by Yates sparse yet descriptive sentences. There are no excess words, no overindulgence, it’s kept sharp and clear and with the last few pages beautifully understated and totally breathtaking. Though it may not be as critically acclaimed a novel as his debut Revolutionary Road, this book should still not be ignored.
There is no happy ending to this story but that’s okay – life isn’t all about happy endings and anyway, a happy ending wouldn’t have fit here. Richard Yates was a man who suffered through two divorces (with his wives winning custody of the children on both occasions), TB, alcoholism and depression, finally ending with his premature death caused by smoking induced emphysema. For him, sadly, there was no happy ending either.
The story centres around two families, the Shepards and the Drakes, who meet up by chance when the Shepards car breaks down. What begins as a joyous union soon beings to turn sour, with sadness meeting each character perpetually. There is one mans feelings of being trapped by marriage and his child, a mentally unstable woman and her unrequited love, a teenage boys feelings of inadequacy – each of them dreams of escape and a better life, only to wake to reality every time.
The characters, as in all of Yates stories, are brought to life by the faultless dialogue, each scene brought to life by Yates sparse yet descriptive sentences. There are no excess words, no overindulgence, it’s kept sharp and clear and with the last few pages beautifully understated and totally breathtaking. Though it may not be as critically acclaimed a novel as his debut Revolutionary Road, this book should still not be ignored.
There is no happy ending to this story but that’s okay – life isn’t all about happy endings and anyway, a happy ending wouldn’t have fit here. Richard Yates was a man who suffered through two divorces (with his wives winning custody of the children on both occasions), TB, alcoholism and depression, finally ending with his premature death caused by smoking induced emphysema. For him, sadly, there was no happy ending either.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Yates is new to me and I had no idea what to expect ... what he delivers is so far from the usual Disney / Hollywood fair America endlessly churns out.
It is a deceptively simple story of two families struggling to get along, to do 'the right thing,' to be accepted and loved. But the veneer of polite society is shot through by deeper needs and fears.
As the narration switches between characters all appear to have legitimacy and reason, as well as some flaw which grows in their minds like a tumour, dominating their lives. The characters do not grow to overcome their limitations; they are not supported to confront the issues, which instead are covered up, ran away from or disowned.
In short, a nightmare! No matter how you wish things will turn out fine in the end, you know it ain't going to happen!
Nonetheless, the book is an extremely good read, if not exactly enjoyable! It is convincing in ways few horror stories are.
It is a deceptively simple story of two families struggling to get along, to do 'the right thing,' to be accepted and loved. But the veneer of polite society is shot through by deeper needs and fears.
As the narration switches between characters all appear to have legitimacy and reason, as well as some flaw which grows in their minds like a tumour, dominating their lives. The characters do not grow to overcome their limitations; they are not supported to confront the issues, which instead are covered up, ran away from or disowned.
In short, a nightmare! No matter how you wish things will turn out fine in the end, you know it ain't going to happen!
Nonetheless, the book is an extremely good read, if not exactly enjoyable! It is convincing in ways few horror stories are.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having read and loved Revolutionary Road I decided to read more of Yates' work (as revolutionary road was my first) and once again I am in love with Yates' brilliant writing. I only finished the book today and I'm still thinking over the themes, ideas and points being made in the story so I won't say much apart from interesting and entertaining and (so far) Yates' novels are always worth reading.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
All life is here
Cold Spring Harbor is a beautifully written book that captures all the subtlety of human emotion and relationships. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Stevie
Another great book from Yates
Yes Richard Yates did it again. I bet this marvelous novel won't disappoint you if you're satisfied with Revolutionary Road or any other his material. Read more
Published on 17 May 2009 by David Greene
Cold Spring Harbor
Cold Spring Harbor is a slip of a novel, and left me wanting more. It's a novel moody adolescents in their 'outsider' phase would relate to, being the tale of a young man, Evan... Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2009 by Leyla Sanai
A nightmare... Convincing..... Extremely good read....
Yates is new to me and I had no idea what to expect ... what he delivers is so far from the usual Disney / Hollywood fair America endlessly churns out. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2008 by stevieby
Beautiful, sad, magic
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. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2008 by Roland Freisitzer
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