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Crossing to Safety (Penguin Modern Classics)
 
 
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Crossing to Safety (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Wallace Stegner (Author), Jane Smiley (Introduction) "Floating upward through a confusion of dreams and memory, curving like a trout through the rings of previous risings, I surface ..." (more)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics (30 Mar 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141188014
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141188010
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 86,033 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #2 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > S > Stegner, Wallace
    #3 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > S > Smiley, Jane

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Product Description

Review

Not only a book of a lifetime, Crossing to Safety is a book that comes at the end of a long lifetime of writing....a miraculous book, written with the wisdom of age but without seeming old...A book of great maturity, this one, and not to be missed.
--Gillian Slovo, The Independent, Friday 5th December 2008


Product Description

A novel of the friendships and woes of two couples, which tells the story of their lives in lyrical, evocative prose by one of the finest American writers of the late 20th century.
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
Floating upward through a confusion of dreams and memory, curving like a trout through the rings of previous risings, I surface. Read the first page
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

37 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (37 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars No pain, no gain, 1 Jul 2008
`How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these?' asks the author of his own characters, about two thirds through Crossing to Safety; that seems to be the challenge Stegner set himself.

The novel, running from the 1930s to the 70s, revolves around the friendship between two couples, the Langs and the Morgans, in which the men are both literature professors. The Langs are rich and endowed with extended families and the Morgans are self-made and orphans. They all lead full lives in which they remain by-and-large happily married.

Stegner is erudite, and he obviously loves the places he describes, from Madison, Wisconsin to Florence and including the secluded lakeside spot in New England where much of the book is set. But it is difficult to identify with characters whose lives are so uneventful. From the beginning, one of the protagonists is dying, but because the story is told from the perspective of the old Larry Morgan, that only comes out as looking back on a life well spent. The characters barely struggle, and when they do, Stegner chooses to skirt around their conflicts. The reader is left to enjoy his detailed and moody descriptions, his poetic quotes, and the contrasts between the depression and post-war eras: pleasant because the book is well written, but not very exciting.

`You don't,' would be my answer to Stegner's question. Judging from other reviews, obviously, I've come to the wrong conclusion.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant and Poised, 14 Aug 2006
By A. Meyrick "Book Lover" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This novel captures the interace between two couples as they grow and mature both together and apart. The perspective of the elderly narrator brings a careful sensitivity and honesty to the relationships and the execution of the final set pieces is pitched just right. If you enjoyed any of the John Updike Rabbit books, or have enjoyed William Wharton's Tidings or Dad then you will love this.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading, 31 Jul 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Crossing to Safety (Paperback)
This is the book my wife and I fell in love with after we fell in love with each other more than 12 years ago. Whenever we talk with friends about favorite books, we INSIST that they read Crossing to Safety. We've had to buy several copies over the years because we keep lending copies out -- and we can't blame any of our friends for not returning this book. It's a keeper. Wallace Stegner said this novel was the closest he came to writing autobiographically, which explains a certain brightness not found in, say, Angle of Repose (although AOR is an equally beautiful story).

This is simply a beautifully told story about how a friendship formed and aged, so powerfully written that you will come to appreciate your own friends -- and how you came to be friends -- all the more for having made the journey with the couples in Crossing to Safety. This is a book you fall in love with and return to. I'm actually online right now to buy another copy.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
Fantastic. This book is an absolute marvel. The culmination of a lifetime's literary experience. Surely one of the most undeservedly passed by classics of recent years.
Published 1 month ago by A Sense of Place

5.0 out of 5 stars Wallace Stegner - Crossing to Safety
Crossing to Safety is a remarkably beautiful book backed up by a tender, stern intelligence. It's one to be savoured. Read more
Published 4 months ago by RachelWalker

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gift To Be Savoured.......So Rich In Content
Crossing to safety is a novel which I took my time with, and savoured every written word. This was a blessing for it was my first experience with this author, and now having the... Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2003 by Heather Marshall Negahdar

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read
I discovered Wallace Stegner through my sister in San Francisco. I first read Crossing To Safety ten years ago and have reread it again and again. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, serious and thought provoking
A provocative story about the bond of friendship. Stegner's characters are vital, fully realized, complex, and thouroughly engaging. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and serious
An provocative story about the bond of friendship. Stegner's characters are vital, fully realized, complex, and thouroughly engaging. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstandingly perceptive, real life struggles.
A longterm perspective of the highs and lows of friendship. Unique to a simpler time, but relavent.
Published on 11 Jun 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't put it down
I must admit that I started this book at least three times, not being able to get past the first chapter or two. Read more
Published on 22 April 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Memorable
Even though this novel had such fine print in the "Great Reads" hardcover edition, and was consequently hard to read, I give it a good rating. Read more
Published on 10 April 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars it's the absolute best book.
So sad, but somehow happy and hopeful. Acedemia, friendship, life and death. Makes the heart yearn, makes one feel stronger. I have read it twice a year for the past 7 years.
Published on 29 Mar 1999

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