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Revolutionary Road (Modern American Fiction)
 
 
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Revolutionary Road (Modern American Fiction) (Paperback)

by Richard Yates (Author), Richard Ford (Author) "THE FINAL DYING SOUNDS of their dress rehearsal left the Laurel Players with nothing to do but stand there, silent and helpless, blinking out over..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 346 pages
  • Publisher: Methuen Publishing Ltd; New edition edition (1 Feb 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0413757102
  • ISBN-13: 978-0413757104
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 139,270 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #13 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > Y > Yates, Richard
    #18 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > F > Ford, Richard

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Originally published in 1961 to great critical acclaim, Richard Yates's Revolutionary Road subsequently fell into obscurity in the UK, only to be rediscovered in a new edition published in 2001. Its rejuvenation is due in large part to its continuing emotional and moral resonance for an early 21st-century readership. April and Frank Wheeler are a young, ostensibly thriving couple living with their two children in a prosperous Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. However, like the characters in John Updike's similarly themed Couples, the self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled or happy in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paid but boring office job and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. However, as their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfilment are thrown into jeopardy. Yates's incisive, moving and often very funny prose weaves a tale that is at once a fascinating period piece and a prescient anticipation of the way we live now. Many of the cultural motifs now seem quaintly dated--the early evening cocktails, Frank's illicit lunch breaks with his secretary, the way Frank isn't averse to knocking April around when she speaks out of turn all seem to belong to a different world--and yet the quiet desperation at thwarted dreams reverberates as much now as it did 40 years ago. Like F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, this novel conveys, with brilliant erudition, the poverty at the soul of many wealthy Americans and the exacting cost of chasing the American Dream. --Jane Morris

Esquire

`keenly observed 1961 critique of Fifties suburban life'
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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THE FINAL DYING SOUNDS of their dress rehearsal left the Laurel Players with nothing to do but stand there, silent and helpless, blinking out over the footlights of an empty auditorium. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

93 Reviews
5 star:
 (66)
4 star:
 (14)
3 star:
 (8)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (93 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars How come I only just heard about this fantastic book?, 27 Jun 2008
By Wynne Kelly "Kellydoll" (Coventry, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: Revolutionary Road (Paperback)
How come I only just heard about this fantastic book? Set in 1950s suburban Connecticut, it tells the story of the less than idyllic relationship of Frank and April Wheeler. Although an onlooker may see them as an ideal couple in an ideal situation they both have layers and layers of dissatisfaction which come to the surface as their marriage crumbles.

The book was written in 1961 and seems to encapsulate all that we have come to associate with the previous decade. April appears willing to give up any pretence of a career to look after house and children while Frank goes each day to his "boring" office job (but he manages to find time for an affair with a secretary). Everyone drinks and smokes to excess - even in pregnancy. Frank's boss declares electronic computers to be the coming thing.....

Although both Frank and his neighbour Shep sometimes reflect on their time in the army during the war very little of the wider outside world creeps into the empty surburban world of Frank and April and their small circle of acquaintances. April comes up with a plan to move the family to France believing this will give Frank a fresh impetus to "find himself" but from the start you wonder if this will never happen.

Revolutionary Road is powerfully written and draws you into the lives of the Wheelers and their neighbours the Campbells and the Givings. It has some darkly comic moments and many flashes of brilliance. Yes, an American classic.

Did the creators of Mad Men (US TV series) get some of their inspiration from this book?
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39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply, one of the best American novels of the 20th century, 16 May 2008
By Robert Ford "robford50" (Shrewsbury) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Revolutionary Road (Paperback)
An astoundingly well told tale of a couple trying to live happy lives in 50s America. Devastatingly accurate its portrayals of vanity, manhood and ambition as well as deceit, depression and the absurd faces we put on situations attributed to being part of 'normal life'. This is one of the best, most potent American books I've read and it's not hard to see why it was regarded as a classic from the moment it was published.
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42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Novel, a Great Writer..., 4 Feb 2007
By Heather "star_reader" (Leeds, Yorkshire) - See all my reviews
  
I first came across this novel on my English Lit degree course, on a module on alienation and having read some of the other required reading, i had a 'feeling' i would enjoy this novel. Well... i was not disappointed. It really is one of the best novels i have ever read. I have read it twice now and know i will come back to it again in the future.

It is beautifully crafted, sometimes touching, dark, occasionally funny but incredibly sad. The final chapters are some of the best i have read.

Yates is a great but undervalued writer... more people should read this amazing book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Painful and bleak
A masterpiece. Every word is measured and precise, proceeding with absolute assurance towards the story's grim conclusion. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Walter Fane

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best novels ever
I don't think I've ever read anything that comes as close to perfection in its portrayal of the sadness and disappointments that mark ordinary lives. Read more
Published 25 days ago by Phil O'Sofa

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing less of a masterpiece
I bought this book on a whim, and it is easily one of the best books I have ever read.

It is incredibly well written, clever, warm, realistic. Read more
Published 1 month ago by cassadaga

5.0 out of 5 stars Skeletons in the closet...
I read this book after seeing the movie - usually not a good idea as it ruins the book, however in this case I think seeing the movie helped, although I have no idea how... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Kirsty B

5.0 out of 5 stars Still poignant and relevant
Frank and April Wheeler are desperately unhappy. Married for the sake of their children, living lives that they believe are meaningless, in a suburban town full of similar... Read more
Published 3 months ago by M. K. Burton

5.0 out of 5 stars I'd give it 50 stars if I could
I bought this book because I read an article discussing with authors which classic they thought had been neglected. Nick Hornby said "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates. Read more
Published 3 months ago by A reader

4.0 out of 5 stars Revolutionary Road
Psychological exploration of the relationship between Frank and April Wheeler set in East Coast America in the fifties. Really evocative of the period and very well written.
Published 3 months ago by Fay

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book and a terrible one
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD has justly been compared to John Updike's RABBIT quartet, which also chronicles the downs and ups of suburban married life - and adulteries. Read more
Published 3 months ago by David Gee

4.0 out of 5 stars A touch of nostalgia
For anyone interested not only in relationships, but also women's rights and 50s America, this is the book for you. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Rose Wood

3.0 out of 5 stars nice peace of work,but nothing special in my opinion
maybe the problem is i expected too much of this book,seems to be a simple sad story for me,some people say the beauty is in the simplest things of life,but for me it depends,just... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Enrique Belinchon Garcia

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