Customer Reviews

Celestial Navigation

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The synopsis and book review for this book are incorrect. Jeremy's mother is already dead at the opening of the book which begins with his sister fretting because Jeremy does not perform his responsibilities as the son of a recently departed widow.

Jeremy's sister does not move in with him. She merely stays at the house for the duration of the funeral. Jeremy's boarders do not "bring home babies" because he is the father of those babies.

Many of the other reviews posted by readers focus on how miserable the characters are. But an underlying theme seems to be the role of the artist in our society. Jeremy's mental process of artistic creation is very unique,and in contrast to what most people believe "normal" should be.

Readers shouldn't dismiss the characters because they seem pathetic. Instead, they should read between the lines to see the struggles that are taking place inside the characters as they try to define their lives in terms of social relationships and artistic vision.

I recommend this book to anyone who makes art or who wants to know how the process of making art is at odds with the rules society expects people to follow.

Celestial Navigation is definitely one of my favorite books by Anne Tyler. With her extrordinary talent, she has become the master of modern contemporary writers. There is no one whose books I'd rather find myself reading than hers. Celestial Navigation is simply touching; the character of Jeremy Pauling is moving in his awkward attempt at gaining the love of the woman he so greatly admires. However, don't be fooled. Tyler's stories aren't entirely about love; they are about life and the strength needed to get past the everyday struggles that we all undoubtably face. Anne Tyler's novels are like fantastic jewels, both rare and precious. I only hope that in the remaining books I have yet to read by Tyler, that I find the joy I have found thus far.

No...no... there must be more! I wanted to shout when I arrived at the ending of this book. I still remain under the impression of this story thinking over and again about the characters, searching for clues and trying to understand how everything about their description and evolvement has built up to such a conclusion. I am even a bit displeased with Anne Tyler of choosing to end the book in such a way. I negotiate with her in my mind but have to conclude she was right...
Celestial Navigation is presented from different perspectives. Each chapter has the voice of a different person and Anne Tyler manages to give each personality its own unique tone and its special, different thoughts. Jeremy for example thinks in colors shapes and contours. He is always being "told about" and not presented in his own voice like the other women characters. Maybe because his mind is so confused that the readers, like the people surrounding him, will not be able to understand it if his "inside" was presented. The writer sort of "explains him" to us.
There are no good or bad characters (well - the writer and the readers do not really appreciate Olivia but we understand her. We know where she is coming from) - all are human beings and you can understand what "makes them tick. Every character has flaws that are seen only when you look from the outside. When people think from the inside out they can think about personal faults that no one else seems to notice.
Jeremy's personality is explained very well and although he is totally different you feel you know him. Mary seems to be more easy to figure out but its with her we are surprised when we learn what other people think and feel about her actions.
These characters are so achingly real it hurts. These are no hot shots. We have a group of real life losers. When I say losers I mean if they are judged according to society strict rules of success and happiness. Anne Tyler however wants to tell us that happiness is not always what you see on the surface and people can sometimes know only after that they were happy. Also communication is the essence of it all and can be done in a variety of ways, as long as its done...
Tender, lovely heartbreaking story.

Reading her novels is a very voyeuristic experience. In this story, the characters are unusual but sadder. The sense of redemption that runs thru many of her stories is absent. I was left feeling frustrated and confused. I'm not sure how the ending came about or what I was supposed to take from this book. I have never had this problem with Tyler's books before. On a positive note, it is the usual quick read & easy to become enmeshed in. For that reason it's a perfect airplane or beach book. But, if you are exploring Anne Tyler novels, try Accidental Tourist, Saint Maybe, or Ladder of Years first.

As the title suggests, this is a novel about people trying to navigate their own lives with the tools they have been given. Many of these tools are woefully inadequate. Jeremy Pauling, for example, is painfully shy, even agoraphobic, and has been made to fear people all the more by the codependent relationship he shared with his similarly agoraphobic mother. When he dies, Jeremy has to take over running the boarding house he shared with his mother. The house is filled with a host of lonely misfits. When a young mother and her four-year-old daughter rent a room, Jeremy finds a companion, if not a soul mate.

My favorite theme in this novel was the failure of people who love each other to communicate. Mary and Jeremy are obviously in love, but each accentuates a weakness in the other. Mary's no-nonsense, take-charge attitude allows Jeremy to become all the more withdrawn from the rest of society, while Jeremy's insecurities force Mary to take charge even when she doesn't want to. Yet they never discuss their problems, and these problems are ultimately left completely unresolved. Every character in this novel suffers from the same communications failures--from Jeremy's overbearing sister Amanda, to the boarder Olivia, to Mary's ex-husband Guy. The one character who actually breaks down any communication barriers is Miss Vinton. She does so only for a brief moment, but it is her shining moment.

I found this book to be more like a character study in a psychology textbook than a novel. It was well written, and the characters were well developed, but there was essentially no plot, and no characters except Miss Vinton seemed to make any progress. I could listen to Ms. Tyler's beautiful prose for hours, but would rather do so in one of her later novels like Ladder of Years or The Accidental Tourist. Here, she shows us a glimpse of the fantastic author she became in later years. Ultimately, those stories are fuller and more complete--they have the interesting characters and the compelling storyline. While I enjoyed reading Celestial Navigation, I was left ultimately unsatisfied after its abrupt and achingly sad conclusion.

This was the first Anne Tyler book I have ever read. But it won't be the last.
It was about artistic obsession. And other things, yes.
But mostly the artistic obsession of this reclusive artist, Jeremy Pauling.
Jeremy is the proprietor of a boarding house where all types of somewhat eccentric people can be found occupying the rooms. But no one comes close to being as eccentric as Jeremy himself. He can be holed-up in his third-floor studio for days at a time, working on his secret creations. His artwork sort of defies genre. It is part sculpture, part bas-relief sort of glue-together-parts-of-things-found-in-the-room thingamajigs.... but he has a remarkable talent for creating feeling in his work. His work, crazy as it is, seems to breathe, and evoke movement. It attracts buyers, mostly through the promotional efforts of his college friend, an art dealer named Brian.
The infrequent selling of his work, the winning of occasional contests, and the meagre rents he collects from his tenants, keep the house running.
The epitome of artistic reclusiveness, Jeremy has not been any further than the local corner store for years!
But soon, the young single mother Mary Tell moves in, with her daughter Darcy. And this changes Jeremy's life. And it changes Mary's life. The novel is shaped around the effect that each of these people have on the other. As Jeremy will learn in retrospect, Mary has given his life an "eyelike" shape, rather than the never-ending flatline that it would have most surely been, had he never known her.
Celestial Navigation was published in 1974, and as such, it is by no means one of your modern novels. No one here is playing with the internet or looking for better deals at Best Buy! Often it seems quite dated.
Me, I like this. I am uncommon in this respect. I sort of like older books.
And it is definitely not an ACTION sort of book. It is a book deep in its characterization. The examination of the inner workings of some fairly convoluted people.
I know very little about Tyler's work, but browsing through up a few of her other books in a store recently, I seemed to get a sense of what it is she does best. And it is what she was doing best here, in Celestial Navigation. Showing us the inner workings... the cogs, the gears of what makes her characters tick and think and act. Or NOT tick, or NOT think, or NOT act.
And that second grouping of possibilities is much more difficult (I think) to write about well!
She does it. At times we are watching the paint dry on the walls, but she rewards an attentive reader who is willing to watch even this sort of thing for a paragraph or two. The story is great. A lesser author would lose me in the depiction of some of the mundanity here. She kept me profoundly interested.
On the back of one of her books, the St.Louis Post-Dispatch says "Anne Tyler is a wise and perceptive writer with a warm understanding of human foibles."
BINGO!
That's it.

"Celestial Navigation" is one of Tyler's most profound works, and my personal favorite of her books. Through a series of publically unimportant, though personally tragic human losses, two people meet who seem to have nothing in common except the most basic need of a mate. What they actually have in common, however, is their method of "navigating" life: their vision fixes on one goal, as ancient mariners fixed a telescopic gaze on a star, or the horizon, to guide them across the trackless oceans. The protagonists' desire to reach their goals in a world they do not understand determines every decision each one makes, even if it is wrong, will lead to disaster, or will ultimately break their hearts. The same may be said for almost every other character. You will not regret this read.

Celestial Navigation is one of Anne Tyler's best. Right after I finished it, I couldn't wait to see what other Amazon readers thought of this novel, especially the ending. (NO, NO THERE MUST BE MORE!) was my favorite of the reviewer comments. I won't elaborate any more on that, but Tyler pulls no strings in this one. Raw reality when it comes to matters of the heart. Highly recommended!

I discovered Anne Tyler decades ago when a reviewer of "Earthly Possessions" mentioned a trait of the protagonist that reminded me of me. I bought the book, gulped it down, & Tyler became my favorite contemporary novelist -- as perceptive of peoples' interior lives as Alice Munro, but more affectionate toward her characters.

My favorite of all Tyler's novels is the marvelous "Celestial Navigation," which I consider her master work. I should add, however, that after hearing my hearty recommendation, a friend read "Celestial Navigation" & burst into tears upon finishing the last chapter. It's a heartfelt book, and sometimes the heart must weep.

...I cannot get through this book. To me it began dragging its feet by the 4th page, and there are so few likable characters in this story you just find yourself reading and wondering why. I have not finished it yet, it's taking a long time because I keep putting it down, so there's hope it gets better. I'm not holding my breath, though.