Customer Reviews

Middle Age: A Romance

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Almost immediately, at the very beginning of Joyce Carol Oates, "Middle Age, A Romance," you come upon her dedication which reads: "To my Princeton friends, who are nowhere in these pages." Oates is, of course a professor of Humanities at Princeton University.More importantly, this dedication serves as Oates notice to her readers that the characters in "Middle Age" are a breed, a type, of a world... apart from herself and her friends. She is setting up a barrier between herself and her characters. As a general rule, in most cases this would not be a good sign for the reading to come. But because Oates has proven to be masterfull at best and interesting at least we take the dedication with a grain of salt and read on. "Middle Age" is Oates ode to middle age among a tightly-knit group of mostly wealthy residents of Salthill-on-Hudson in upstate New York. The catalyst for the various stories is one Adam Berendt whose death prompts a flood of tears and concern among the women and men of Salthill that propells the novel through it's various chapters. Add to this the fact that Berendt appears to be without family, has always been mysterious about his background and the source of his income, that the men seem as attracted to him as do the women and that he has not had sex with any of his many admirers, and you have the beginnings of a fascinating novel. Oates, though seemingly detached from her flood of characters is nonetheless very sympathetic towards them and as a result we are also. The style of "Middle Age" is a departure for Oates: very much unlike the furtive, paranoid, sexually explicit "Man Crazy" or the technicolor, movie-like "We Were the Mulvaneys." In "Middle Age" Oates is removed yet ultimately attracted to her characters: longing for their lifestyle yet damning of their foibles. It is ultimately not a great novel in the sense that "Mulvaneys," "Because it is Bitter and Because it is my Heart" or "What I Lived for" are for example. But a good Joyce Carol Oates novel is worlds above most author's best and because of this a must read for anyone serious about contemporary fiction.

First off, I find it hilarious when people criticize Joyce Carol Oates' work for being overly long... The business of every day living is often interrupted mercilessly by tangents out of our control. Oates' writing often takes on that characteristic as it delves into the thoughts and feelings of its main characters. Yes, it often takes away from the urgency of the plot, but the people in Oates' books are important and you get to know them at their pace.

This brings me to her newest novel, Middle Age. What's fascinating about this book is that the main character, Adam Berendt is killed off in the first few pages of the book. The aftermath of his fatal accident sets off a chain of events among his social circle which is comprised of the upper crust of an upscale enclave in New York State. During this examination of relationships, the plot often takes a number of Oates' normal tangents. At times, it's uncomfortable but it exposes you to the same state of mind shared by the characters.

The reactions and subsequent foibles of these charaters is memorable and worth every minute you spend with this book. Sure, some of these characters are vapid and have very little to offer the world but there's value in reading what happens to them. Others become so twisted based on the death of Adam Berendt that they come close to throwing away their lives. The book is billed as darkly comical but I rarely laughed because I saw so many glimpses of real life in these people. Some of it was inspirational, a little bit of it was funny, and some of it was disturbing. In short, it's a lot like many of her other books.

The only downside of the book was after I finished and asked myself what she was trying to say in writing this book. The overall ending and message left me a bit empty, although it could be described as being somewhat positive. The future for many of the characters in this book, much like the future many ofus face in similar situations, is somewhat unclear and I don't think Oates' provided a strong sense of message or purpose.

That being said, I still heartily recommend this book much like I would for many of her books. The main body of the book reveals a lot about human nature and relationships and the stress brought on by tragedy. This book is a winner but given it's ending I'm interested in seeing which direction she takes in her next work.

Middle Age is about several upper class characters exploring potential new paths at the mid-point of their lives. At its centre is Adam Berendt whose life is unexpectedly cut off, but whose influence and Socratic interrogation of life acts as a catalyst to transform his friends in the tight-knit community of Salthill. Their lives, as they understand them, dissolve upon his death to be reformed. The mystery of Adam's past is threaded throughout the novel opening dozens of different possible beginnings to his life at the same time as multiple endings to the other characters' lives are imagined. Oates' tremendous skill is to draw a multitude of realistic detail while emotionally constructing her characters' thoughts. This method works to unearth strange revelations in her contemplation of mortality and the depthless possibilities of experience. The characters tear off the costumes of their present identity to wear new masks and reconstitute their sense of being. Marina Troy's potentiality as an artist has lain dormant for many years, but, through Adam's bequest of a residence for solitude, she is given the possibility of expressing her vision. Augusta Cutler leaves her secure life to pursue dangerous new possibilities and trace Adam's past. These stories as well as those of the other characters are told in a revolving narrative focus that juxtaposes the characters' intentions with the dramatic realizations of their experiences. Their middle age lives turn out not to be about just endings, but multiple beginnings as well. The novel gives a heartfelt portrait of characters that identify themselves alternatively as amorphous and fabled beings and desperate to break from their identification of an ordinary life.

An avid reader I have glanced at Joyce Carol Oates books in the past and something about the writing style has turned me away...The write up on Middle Age got my attention and though I started it hesitantly once it's 500+ grabbed me (which only took a chapter or two) I didn't want it to end. Each character was so deftly created and had some trait that set them completely apart from all the others - the woman with all the dogs which ended up being a bit of a disaster at the end...the relationships depicted between the children and their parents...All the characters went through major life quests and changes in this story which gives such a hopeful note to the human condition...and what about the mystery which still surrounded Adam at the end. One question I was left with at the end of the novel concerned Adam's sexuality - all the women were entranced/in love with him yet it seemed that he did not have a sexual relationship with any of them - was he gay? Because of my enjoyment of this novel I am jumping on the bandwagon and have We Were the Mulvaneys waiting in my pile to read.

I worship Joyce Carol Oates. I am amazed by her insightfulness, by the complexity of her characters, and by the sheer quantity of her work. Her subjects range in class and income from the disgruntled marginal (FOXFIRE) to the seemingly contented middle class (WE WERE THE MULVANEYS) to the wealthy. MIDDLE AGE takes on the wealthy, excluding as she says in her preface, "(her) Princeton friends, who are nowhere in these pages."

Salthill-on-Hudson is a picturesque suburban village half an hour from Manhattan. It's residents are all beautiful, rich, and middle-aged. The only obvious misfit -- the mysterious sculptor Adam Berendt -- is a breath of fresh air in a stifling environment. His sudden half-heroic death while attempting to save a child from an overturned boat is a shock wave that reverberates through the community.

Those affected include sleek lawyer Adam Cavanagh who lies to save Adam's reputation, sculptress and book store owner Marina Troy to whom Adam bequests a second chance for an artistic life, smug Lionel Hoffmann bent on reclaiming his youthful vibrancy, fragile Camille whose life seems empty without the wandering Lionel, and crazed Augusta Cutler who is determined to make a new start.

Be prepared to laugh and reflect.

When a man dies while attempting to save the life of a drowning child, the story has just begun. His death opens a tale of people searching for their purpose in life, for their true spot in the world.
The man who has died, Adam, entered their lives and seemingly took their world by storm. Although they all believed him to be their friend, it seems that Adam did not have a close personal relationship with any of them, except in their own versions of their lives. What he did do was to get them to seek out the truth of their lives in varied ways, from conversations, by his example, at times almost by pitting them against themselves and each other.
As each person mourns his passing, they begin to change their lives and goals and to strive for more than they have in the past. More love, more effort, more independence, more happiness, more freedom........
While there is much introspection, there is also a self-centered aspect to many of their lives in the manner in which they interpret life around them.
I found the action of one college age daughter to be beyond infuriating and could not believe that the father suffered her abuse in the manner that he did.
Those that love to read this author will find this a book to be a treasure. That I am not a fan, is probably obvious. I find her work complex, which I enjoy, but emotionally draining at times, when there appears to be little redemption for anyone and the characters appear too hard edged to ring true. I think she is a gifted writer, but not someone I seek out. I read this for a book group and the book group was divided over this novel.

What a delight Middle Age: A Romance was to read! It is a stirringly complex book in which a huge cast of characters share center stage as they intertwine, interact, and face their personal quests for self-respect, liberation, or understanding. Set in upstate New York among the monetarily-privileged (but achingly insecure and empty) of the turn of the twenty-first century, this novel begins when one of the town's most beloved and mysterious figures dies what appears from all angles to be a most heroic death. From there America's most accomplished woman of letters, Joyce Carol Oates, leads the reader along on a surprisingly fast-paced story of exactly how this single death impacts an entire town, and how it sets into motion a multitude of major and minor events that leave so many of those within the story changed. And (in saying this here and now I in no way spoil anything) unlike so many literary outings with Oates, this solid novel of evolution and revelation ends on a happy note as it ties up its loose ends in positive and satisfying ways for all concerned. Middle Age: A Romance is a really good book that should unite a large cross section of readership in glowing praise at its author's awesome talent.

In this extraordinary rendition, Ms. Oates has created another masterpiece. Her writing is finely honed and truly expressive to an extent not quite seen in her prior work. She continues to progress to a highly unique and enticing writing style. The words flow from the page to the reader in a continuous and effortless manner. The book is arguably, the best novel she has ever penned. But her writing style in the book is only a small part of its greatness.

With a special finesse, Oates captures the interesting and infinitely varied milieu of "Middle Age." In Middle Age people find themselves in a very different state than when they were young. The overwhelming feeling of emptiness that is exhibited by those who reach this stage so often; resulting from the disillusionments of youth ended and the "empty nest" phenomenon that forces people to truly look at their lives; to evaluate their progress or lack thereof; to re-interpret their lives of marriage and children, now grown. It is in middle age that people become philosophical about what has transpired in their whole prior life. Did it represent fulfillment, or merely an empty life of going through the motions? Do they relate to their spouses anymore, or have they grown to a point where they no longer even see each other in the same room? In fact, do we even dislike or in the extreme even hate our spouse, our life, our children, our house, our whole worthless or non-worthless life up to that point?

These concepts are those that Joyce Carol Oates examines in this book. The text examines the loves, the hates, the cruelties, the deceptions, the disillusionments and the feelings derived thereof; following the prime of life. And then, the manner in which we interpret it. And if we find that this life was not satisfactory, to where do we go, to what place do we run, to what satisfaction can we find in a changed environment? Joyce takes the reader down these roads. She describes the infidelities and the fidelities incurred in the vicissitudes of everyday life over a period of 50 years and how we see it.

Her characters are varied and deeply developed. Rather than only one central character, Ms. Oates uses a small bunch of characters. The necessity of this is unavoidable, as middle age is a condition that varies in a colossal manner from one person to another. The book relates these almost unanswerable questions; and allows the reader to self-evaluate their own life experiences and accomplishments. Some of us are embittered. Some of us are grateful. Some of us are disillusioned. Some of us are suicidal. Some of us are not sure what we are as we have not contemplated it in this way, this philosophical approach to the sum of our acts and deeds are what middle aged people tend to dissect. And through that process of dissection and analysis, people then determine what will be the rest of their life's course. Should they continue as they have? Should they chuck it all and run away? Should they accept with grace and dignity what has been? Or should they start anew, if that be possible?

Using all her skills and perfected psychological orientation, Ms. Oates gives us a novel that rivals any produced by her literary mentor, D. H. Lawrence. The internal analysis and depiction of the characters mental monologues and motivations are cause to bring one to a point of serious reflection. In essence, Ms. Oates creates a classic piece of fiction that is virtually timeless. All people either reach this point, or have become deceased before achieving it. But whatever be the case, the book is one that should not be overlooked by any serious reader of modern fiction. The book is in a word, truly a classic.

This is an amazing book, centering on one man's effect on his community during his life and after his death. Although Adam Berendt is killed off in the first chapter, it is profound to see his lingering effect on the lives of those who loved him. Adam, or the perception of Adam, was a true catalyst for the rich, but spiritually deprived residents of Salthill. As one finds out more about "Adam," however, it becomes increasingly clear that he has been put on a pedestal as some sort of soothsayer. Later, the book reveals the tragic truth about Adam.

Among the many mysteries of Adam, his sexuality is in question. Yet it is left up to the reader to decide whether he was gay, asexual, or just plain scared of true intimacy.

We all know, have known, or will know someone like Adam. Many of us have or have had a confidante to whom we can tell anything--yet we walk away not knowing much about them.

Joyce Carol Oates' main characters are engaging and sympathetic. Despite their sheltered, financially rich lives, they are searching for more. Many have taken brave, unconventional steps because of Adam's lingering influence on their lives. Some, too, have made tragic choices and have had to face the consequences.

There are some peripheral characters as well, such as loathsome ex-husbands and surly teenagers, that round out the lot and provide entertainment as well.

Although the book is lengthy, each page is absorbing, and, as with any excellent book, I was sad to have reached the final word. I highly recommend this book.

Adam Barendt is a man much admired by his male friends and loved by his female friends. He is intimately involved in their lives, yet refuses to let them become involved in his. He is a man of mystery and as such is the center of much speculation by those who know him. When his life ends tragically in an accident, his friends are saddened and horrified. What they don't realize is that his death will be a catalyst to their own rebirth and rediscovery of themselves. As they probe into Adam's past and attempt to discover who he really was, they find out things about themselves that they never knew. Joyce Carol Oates has offered this interesting premise to the reader and has couched it in sensitive prose which probes the depths of her characters. She has taken a group of wealthy people, by nature unsympathetic to readers because of their self-centered, materialistic and empty lives, and turned them into happy and fulfilled individuals who discover new truths about themselves as a result of their friend's death. This is a wonderful book!