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The Folded Leaf (Panther) [Paperback]

William Maxwell (Author)

4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 18 Nov 1999 | ISBN-10: 1860466966 | ISBN-13: 978-1860466960 | Edition: New Ed

The path to adulthood is littered with broken relationships.

In the suburbs of 1920s Chicago two boys form an unlikely friendship. Spud Latham is slow at school but quick to fight and a natural athlete - Lymie Peters, thin, pigeon-chested and terrible at games, is devoted to him. As they graduate from school to college, tensions start to surface. It is Lymie who first meets Sally Forbes, but it is Spud she falls in love with. This signals the end of their friendship and the rift is almost more than Lymie can bear.

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The path to adulthood is littered with broken relationships.

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Product details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Vintage Classics; New Ed edition (18 Nov 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1860466966
ISBN-13: 978-1860466960
Product Dimensions: 12.8 x 1.5 x 19.5 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 507,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's William Maxwell Page

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Product Description

Book Description

Maxwell is the unsung hero of American literature. This is a beautifully observed and moving novel about growing up.

From the Back Cover

'It is so good it seems miraculous' New York Times

The path to adulthood is littered with broken friendships.

In the suburbs of 1920s Chicago two boys form an unlikely friendship. Spud Latham is slow at school but quick to fight and a natural athlete - Lymie Peters, thin, pigeon-chested and terrible at games, is devoted to him. As they travel from school to college, tensions start to surface. It is Lymie who first meets Sally Forbes, but it is Spud she falls in love with. This signals the end of their friendship and the rift is almost more than Lymie can bear.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Folded Leaf 3 Jan 2008

By Damian Kelleher

Format:Paperback

William Maxwell writes in the small spaces. He explores the little sad areas of our lives that are comprised of looks that are not returned, thoughts that remain unuttered because we simply cannot figure out how to say them, and embraces we wish we have shared but did not because we lack the courage to put our arms around the person we love. The Folded Leaf is a beautiful, melancholy story by an author whose understated value has sadly caused a lack of popular appreciation compared to his flashier contemporaries - Hemingway, Nabokov, Bellow, Updike, Roth.

The Folded Leaf is the story of Lymie and Spud, two young boys who share a strong friendship, even though they seem utterly different. The novel is told primarily from the perspective of Lymie, a shy, withdrawn, introverted and very sensitive young man who loves Spud with all of his heart. Spud, on the other hand, is something of a strong man, an athlete who does not understand, but is able to appreciate, the sensitivity of his friend. They compliment one another, with Lymie taking security from Spud's strength while Spud draws another kind of strength from his friend.

The two boys love one another, with Lymie's love much the stronger, but the love remains platonic. It is the casual, affectionate, innocently physical love of young boys who become college men understanding that there is nobody else in the world more compatible with them than the other. A girl, of course, shatters this, but even though Spud may lose that first blush of pre-sexual affection, Lymie does not. The novel moves very slowly from the boys' strong relationship to a rather one-sided, heartbreaking examination of what happens when one friend moves on and the other cannot.

Is the story a homosexual one? It is hard to say.... Spud and Lymie are physically affectionate, going so far as to spend almost their entire college life sleeping in the same bed. Note: Sleeping. While there is a lot left unsaid about Lymie's true feelings - he wonders, every now and again, when he shall meet a woman of his own to marry, but the wondering is academic rather than passionate - my reading of the novel is that Maxwell was happy to have Lymie's feelings remain ambiguous. Lymie is very much in love, and it is to the author's credit that the love does not have to be defined as sexual or emotional - it is simply what we see on the page. Lymie loves Spud and Spud loves Lymie: in different ways, it is true, but what they both feel is what we would call love. Maxwell is shrewd in avoiding the question of romantic or platonic love - what we have is love, just love, and it is shown to be enough. I highly doubt Lymie would have considered his feelings for Spud as anything wrong, and Spud - athletic, not very intelligent, given to boisterousness - certainly has no problem with his diminutive friend.

Maxwell shines the brightest when he is delving into Lymie's thoughts. We understand most of the novels scenes, from their school days to when they bunk together at university to when Spud becomes a (rather ignoble) boxer to Spud's engagement with Sally, from Lymie's perspective, allowing us to see the friendship in a way that Spud, and an outsider, never would. Consider this long quote: 'Lymie didn't know what the trouble was, but he was not dismayed. He had worn Spud down once before and he was sure he could do it again. Every day between four-fifteen and four-thirty he appeared at the gymnasium and stood a few feet away from the punching bag where Spud, if he wanted his gloves tied on or any small service like that, wouldn't have to go far to find him. When Spud came up from the showers, Lymie was there waiting by the locker, like a faithful hound. He made no move to open the lock, or to touch anything inside the locker that belonged to Spud. Occasionally while Spud was dressing and afterward on the way home, Lymie would say something to him, but Lymie was always careful not to put the remark in the form of a question, so there was no actual need for Spud to reply.' This is unrequited love at its most honest. Sadly for Lymie, Spud of course does not appreciate the layers of meaning and feeling behind Lymie's behaviour, and of course there is conflict that ends in tears. The novel ends the only way it should, but there is hope for the friendship and hope for Lymie, forced by circumstance to face the reality that even though his boyhood love may never have lost its intensity of feeling, Spud's certainly has. Read more ›

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Coded and touching 1 Jun 2009

By Erastes

Format:Paperback

This book was published in 1945, so it's particularly "coded" in such a way that it can be read without some people noticing the homosexual sub-text. I think perhaps that if the ending had been more upbeat in the way The Charioteer had been written then it would be as popular as that book because it's certainly written as beautifully and to read it is to truly immerse yourself in the high school and university life of 1920's America with the coon skin coats, letterman sweaters and the heady importance of who you knew against what you knew.

I think I'd have to disagree with the blurb, though. I didn't see any indication that Lymie was attracted to Sally at any point. They liked each other extremely well, but it is Spud's misinterpretation of Lymie's friendship with her that causes the conflict, not any realistic attraction at all.

Are Lymie and Spud homosexual? I think possibly, yes. I would say that Spud shows bisexual tendencies and Lymie homosexual. In today's frat houses I think that they would--as they are sleeping together in The Folded Leaf, and always sleep touching in a sweet innocent fashion--take their relationship to another level. I got the impression from the story that neither boy ever had any suspicions as to what their deep feelings really meant. Even when Lymie longs to touch Spud, I felt it was more of an adoration of a body of a type that he could never hope to have, for he himself is an entirely different body shape, rather than any sexual desire.... Read more ›

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly exceptional book. Few books are this perfect 25 Mar 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This book is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read.

Such is the quality of writing, that some part of it will have resonance for everyone. The story is engaging and rewarding to read, the writing is intelligent and elegant.

Maxwell can capture the subtleties of both verbal and non verbal communication and convey them with startling accuracy. His ability to identify the fragile and unredeemed features of human existence is both powerfull and moveing.

Every boy & man should read this book, it will leave them richer than it found them.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very thought provoking 12 Feb 2001

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I almost floundered and abandoned this book and I'm so glad I didn't. I couldn't see where the book was going at first but I did persevere and was rewarded with one of the most moving books I have ever read.

William Maxwell has a way of making a fairly ordinary subject matter, with few real highpoints in the subject compelling and truly sensitive. He writes with feeling and emotion that men and women alike would enjoy and appreciate.

The book is based around friendships developing through teenage years - how they start and how they end and how they change along the way. It's a very intensely emotional story of the love felt between friends. Very very few books bring tears to my eyes but this is one that did. Anyone with friends should read this book!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story of friendship 11 Mar 2013

By Benjamin TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Lymie Peters is a thin, intelligent, solitary boy useless at sports; Spud Latham is a natural sportsman, lithe, perfectly proportioned and muscular, a natural fighter who loves boxing, but not so good in the classroom. That the two become such close friends makes an unlikely combination, but Lymie is devoted to Spud, and Spud sees his role as protector of the weaker boy.

They remain close throughout their school years and as they move away from home to attend the same college. They room together, and become close to two girls, but trouble lies ahead as misunderstanding and jealousy take their toll, eventually leading Lymie to desperate steps.

This is a most engaging novel. Set in the 1920s it captures much of the period with detailed descriptions of place and fashion. The friendship between Lymie and Spud is beautiful if at times uneven, and while nothing is suggested one might read much more into it. Beautifully written, it holds ones attention throughout to its ultimately positive conclusion.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant

Not a book I would have chosen myself, Chosen by the book club I'm a member of. Thoroughly enjoyed it

Published 4 months ago by Cheryl Briggs

5.0 out of 5 stars 'a beautifully observed rite of passage, as much about growing up as...

Exquisitely written account of friendship, love and shyness.
Lymie is an intelligent but puny kid, ever excluded by the others. Read more

Published 10 months ago by sally tarbox

5.0 out of 5 stars la hoja plegada

Un libro conmovedor sobre la amistad entre dos adolescentes y su dolorosa ruptura. Sin duda alguna Maxwell es un maestro de la literatura americana del siglo XX y, tal como se ha... Read more

Published on 10 Feb 2011 by Rinconete

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