Customer Reviews

Golden Days (California Fiction)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I first read this book when the cold war was still on, Ronald Reagan was president, and we were all afraid of Nuclear War. At the time, I found it one of the most intense, significant, but also funny and wonderful books I had ever read.
Since then, I have thought about it occassionally, and even once picked it up -- but it seemed sort of dated.
But now, ever since September 11, I can't stop thinking about it. I've read it again, and I have been recommmending it to everyone I know. All of a sudden, it couldn't be more pertinent, more important. Now, more than ever, we need to be reminded of a different kind of vision than the one's we see on CNN or read in the New York Times -- and this is just the book to do it.

The first two thirds of the book should be a joy to women who have had real relationships and professional careers, and survived after having lost such. The last third is chilling because of the 'bomb theme'. I suspect negative reviews are generated by people under 30 who simply haven't lived much (yet). Plus it might be hard to appreciate the tone of consumer excess and obsession if you never lived in California or a major metropolitan area.

A fascinating book--in part because you know, from reading the inside book jacket synopsis and the hints in the narrative, that this will be a book about nuclear war. But the war doesn't happen until 5/6 of the way in...and up until that point, it's a book about a lot of things: female friendship, love, hope, fear, California. In our current time of irony and sarcasm, it was both refreshing, and a little difficult at first, to completely stay with the narrator as she begins to believe a self-help guru's spiel about light, positive energy, and how what you believe will come true. In the final portion of the book though, which describes what happened after the nuclear war - all the self help speak becomes incredibly moving, and the novel really deepened for me. The book relies a lot on voice, and sometimes I wished there could be more fully developed scenes, but there's enough specific imagery and beautiful details here and there to keep you grounded. The beginning and middle can be slow-going at times, but beneath the slowness is this incredible build-up of tension as the war nears. Written in 1986, some of the personal anger towards men seems old-fashioned in some regards--but seen in the context of an approaching nuclear war, which the narrator believes (probably true) will be caused by men, her anger becomes convincing and justifiable.

When I picked up the book and read the first few chapters, I thought that this was going to be a nice light summer reading. I was right; living in Los Angeles made reading it even more enjoyable, since that is where it's set. My opinion changed drastically when I got to the end of the book and the book changed drastically. The end of the book is so shocking and... wacky, I think is the only word to describe it. By the end of the book, I didn't really care what happened to the characters because I was just so disjointed and the writing didn't interest me. This book is a unique reading experience.

I didn't get exactli the edition in the ilustration, i gat a not-so-nice one but is ok, it got here fast and in great condition.

This is an amazing book. I have read it several times each decade. First as coming-of-age, confused 20-something, and recently as a hip & together 50-year old. The story keeps getting better in that way of true classics. Like a Frank LLoyd Wright house or a Charlie Chaplin movie, it is continually fresh, new & innovative. And yes, it is "out there" - but in such a human, intimate way. The characters are so vibrant, alive and funny, and there is a wonderful sense of place, even in the horrific "after" section.

I also love Dreaming, her autobiography/memoir that is the story behind the story. It has some of the same vivid and immediate qualities as the novel. We get to learn more about all of the characters, and the pain and the joy of a well-lived life.

In Golden Days, Carolyn See has created a guidepost for humanity, and one that I will surely reference in the coming decade.

In my top ten list of all time favorite novels. I'm one of those people that very rarely re-reads a book. This is the exception. I've read it at least four times and find something new in it every time. It's just really good writing and takes advantage of the fact that fiction can take you to any fantastic place in the universe. It's a real California book, specifically Los Angeles. Ms. See really has the feel of this town. One of the few writers, like Raymond Chandler, that gets and can capture the extreme oddness of this city. This is her best. Her newest one is close to this though and I'd very highly recommend them both. Clancy OHara

For anyone who is not a native of L.A., or who is not at least well-versed in the essentials of L.A., Golden Days might appear as merely a bland, gratuitous biography regarding a single mother who finds, after the explosion of a nuclear bomb, that she has never known happiness until now. While reading about the "hip" hang-outs of the 80's, such as Michael's, as well as the cheezy attributes of the 70's, like giving one's children names akin to fairy tale characters (Aurora), did stir some amusement in me, they failed to redeem the novel from its over-all tedium. The second portion - intended to connote a new-found enlightenment in our narrator - serves only to portray her as a woman lost on an acid trip.

Although she starts with an interesting idea, denizens of Los Angeles fiddling while the city burns, she doesn't realize it nearly fully enough. The whole book suffers from a flippant, shallow narrative voice and lack of imagination, not to mention poor taste and judgment in construction. Most of the book is a dull, unoriginal chronicle of women's disappointments with men. In the last few pages, the characters live through nuclear war, but not even that seems to get a rise out of them. This book was not worth reading. If I could have given it 0 stars, I would have.

If you want a better book about the aftermath of a nuclear war, beginning with the somewhat droll premise that suburban life would try to go on, read Updike's Toward the End of Time. But only if you like Updike.

I felt at home with the Los Angeles setting and the strange cult-like feel of the novel. I was into the characters, their dreams, their struggles. But the whole book I had been deceived! I didn't really understand the reality of this novel. I only read it on the surface. I do not blame myself for this. The plot was confusing and misleading. The relaxed tone of the main character caused me not to take the story too seriously. Therefore, the ending "blew" my mind. I wasn't expecting such a depressing read on my summer vacation, and if I could turn the clocks back in time, I would have chosen a different book.