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Review
`Another heartfelt, evocative novel from Tyler' --Red
`as exquisitely observed and quietly brilliant as the rest of Tyler's fiction' --The Guardian
`Anne Tyler is always good value, and this novel, replete with subtle ironies, is characteristic of her lucid style.' --Mail on Sunday
'has the surer touch than almost all of the twice as famous among the American novelists of her generation' --Times Literary Supplement
`as exquisitely observed and quietly brilliant as the rest of Tyler's fiction' --The Guardian
`Anne Tyler is always good value, and this novel, replete with subtle ironies, is characteristic of her lucid style.' --Mail on Sunday
'has the surer touch than almost all of the twice as famous among the American novelists of her generation' --Times Literary Supplement
Review
‘her novels have a grace and an emotional depth that few romances can match’ - Sunday Times, Nick Rennison
‘Compassionate and funny dissection of the workings of the human heart’ - Woman & Home, Fanny Blake
‘Compassionate and funny dissection of the workings of the human heart’ - Woman & Home, Fanny Blake
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
72 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magical,
By Lizzie B "Book lover" (London, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Noah's Compass (Hardcover)
Have spent my weekend reading this, Anne Tyler's 18th novel and can say without doubt that it is one of the most beautiful, gentle novels I have ever read. A long time fan of Tyler's work, my expectations were high and were definitely met. The main character, Liam, is a gentle, bewildered man who invites great sympathy from the reader. At the beginning of the story, he is going through a time of great uncertainty in his life, having lost his job and downsized to a rather seedy apartment. His circumstances worsen when he is attacked by an intruder the very first night he spends in his new home. I won't take time retelling the story, but in short, he is more traumatised by the fact that he cannot recall the incident than by the physical attack, and sets about finding a rather novel solution to his memory problems... In the course of his search he meets Eunice, a delightfully eccentric woman, whom he is immediately drawn to. What follows is a lovely, meandering tale, which is both entertaining and also touching. Liam is constantly brow beaten by his (mainly dreadful) female relatives - his daughters, ex wife and sister and is generally treated with contempt by all except his teenaged daughter who stays with him during a difficult time. The conclusion to the novel is, although, not entirely satisfying, quite fitting. I was so sorry to reach the end, and Liam will stay with me for quite some time. Another magical tale from Anne Tyler, master storyteller and observer of human nature.
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another gem from Tyler,
By BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Noah's Compass (Hardcover)
Like most of Anne Tyler's books, Noah's Compass was gently written and uncomplicated. No postmodern literary gimmicks for her, thank goodness. Just a straightforward story with a few surprises, and with eccentric characters who probably live down the street.
I love the way Tyler takes everyday happenings and makes the reader realize that nothing is really insignificant, that everything has meaning or value.While reading the book, you hardly realize the layers of character development that she has woven into the story. Her observations of the human condition are always so on-target, but she never makes judgments about what she sees. The story is a year in the life of Liam Pennywell, sixty years old, who has just lost his teaching job. Liam has been widowed and divorced and has three daughters, so he lives in a world of women, most of whom he cannot comprehend! He is a drifter in the sense that he just lets life happen to him without doing much about anything. Not that he is incompetent, but he just prefers to "go along". Until his first night in his new and smaller apartment when something happens to upset his equilibrium. Tyler works her magic and Liam, while not transformed, at least broadens his approach to life. While this will not rank up there with A Patchwork Planet, my very very favorite of Tyler's, it certainly was well worth reading and provides lots of food for thought. I am always astounded that her sweet and gentle books keep me thinking about them for so long afterwards. I am in the U.S. and I have no sense of deferred gratification when it comes to this author's books, so I bought it last month from the UK. Being familiar with the area of Baltimore where Tyler's books are all set makes her books even more enjoyable. A pivotal scene in this book took place in Eddie's, an upscale grocery store that I often visit on N. Charles Street....in fact, Charles Street is often mentioned. Here are three quotes I wrote down while reading...just so well-said by Tyler, with such economy. Other writers would/could have taken pages to say essentially the same thing: <<<Damian had the posture of a consumptive - a narrow curved back and buckling knees. He resembled a walking comma.>>> <<<She collected and polished resentments as if it were some sort of hobby.>>> <<<All along, it seemed, he had experienced only the most glancing relationship with his own life. He had dodged the tough issues, avoided the conflicts, and gracefully skirted adventure. "I just don't seem to have the hang of things, somehow. It's as if I've never been entirely present in my own life.">>>
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
As expected, as close to perfection as ever,
By A Common Reader "Committed to reading" (Sussex, England) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Noah's Compass (Hardcover)
The fact that I have read 11 of Anne Tyler's 18 novels suggests that I think highly of this fine author. She is one of the few writers whose books I pre-order and then devour, putting everything else aside for a few days, and then finding that for the next two weeks or so her characters keep coming back to me.
Noah's Compass was no disappointment, being up there with the best of Tyler's work. The book focuses on another troubled man, recently retired Liam Pennywell, a teacher of classics who has been recently let-go in a down-sizing exercise. He feels the need to simplify and down-size his life and moves into a small apartment where on his first night disaster happens and Liam ends up in hospital with gaps in his memory. On his release, his family are remarkably unsympathetic to his quest to remember what happened. They all have their own concerns and "do their duty" in visiting and phoning, but simply don't have the time or inclination to help Liam work through his worries. And then he meets Eunice, a much younger woman who works as a "rememberer" for an elderly businessman who is losing his own memory (and every Tyler book features at least one career you've never heard of before!). Through chance meetings, Liam strikes up a relationship with Eunice and for a while they both help each other unpack the difficulties of their lives. At the end of her book, Tyler leaves us with unresolved questions, but also with a sense of hope. Life never comes in neat packages, and yet the solutions to one stage, often lead to a more creative approach to the problems of the next. We leave Liam Pennywell with much greater understanding of his difficult nature, but also a sense of acceptance that "this is how he is", and a feeling that things are going to work out for him. Tyler is a deeply humanistic writer who depicts the complexities of the human condition while making no attempt to judge or comment on what she sees. We see people follow the tracks laid out for them, and the way these often appear to be dead-ends. Her characters get "stuck", unable to move on, trapped in other people's disappointments and their own sense of failure. And then Tyler works her magic, healing and redeeming through relationships, which often unexpectedly come into her characters' lives in bizarre ways and casting a whole new light on her cast-list. Tyler understands family more than most. In real life, we know that families are rarely supportive, being beset by sibling rivalry and parental criticism. The cast list in Noah's Compass provides plenty of this, with ex-wives and grown-up children all expressing misguided opinions and offering inappropriate advice, with only adolescent Kitty accepting her Dad for what he is. Noah's Compass will not disappoint Tyler fans and would make a good starting point for anyone who has not read her before.
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