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Available
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Publication
Penguin Classics (2009), Edition: Centennial, Paperback, 310 pages
Description
Classic Literature. Fiction. HTML: Decades after its original publication, James Agee's last novel seems, more than ever, an American classic. For in his lyrical, sorrowful account of a man's death and its impact on his family, Agee painstakingly created a small world of domestic happiness and then showed how quickly and casually it could be destroyed. On a sultry summer night in 1915, Jay Follet leaves his house in Knoxville, Tennessee, to tend to his father, whom he believes is dying. The summons turns out to be a false alarm, but on his way back to his family, Jay has a car accident and is killed instantly. Dancing back and forth in time and braiding the viewpoints of Jay's wife, brother, and young son, Rufus, Agee creates an overwhelmingly powerful novel of innocence, tenderness, and loss that should be read aloud for the sheer music of its prose..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member mrstreme
James Agee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, A Death in the Family captured the initial moments of grief with beautiful clarity. The shock, anger and sadness that inflicted each character was so realistically drawn, it was near flawless. Won posthumously in 1957, the edition of A Death in the
Jay Follett was a husband and father with a slightly mysterious past, who was called to his father’s bedside in the middle of the night. On his trip home, his car experienced mechanical failure, resulting in Jay’s instantaneous death. He left behind his wife, Mary and his two children, Rufus and Catherine.
The mysterious aspects of Jay’s life enthralled me. You get the impression that he was an alcoholic – perhaps on the wagon at the time of his death – who pulled himself out of nothing into a productive life. As Mary’s family learned of Jay’s death, you discovered they were not supportive of Mary and Jay’s marriage initially, but as time evolved, they grew to love him. Without a doubt, he held a tight bond with his son, Rufus. For most of the book, you witnessed the emotional roller coaster that the family experiences as they deal with Jay’s death. From wanting to know the details of the accident to trying to sleep and eat, death and daily living were juxtaposed for the readers to consider: How would you deal with the sudden death of a loved one?
The book ends on the day of the funeral, leaving you curious about how the family would cope so early in their grief. How would Mary survive without her husband’s financial support? How would the children learn to live without their father? Agee leaves many questions unanswered, but made one thing clear: grief is a force to be reckoned with. It ebbs and flows throughout a person’s lifetime; always there – sometimes in the distance, sometimes very close. A Death in the Family was a wonderful tribute to this raw human emotion.
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Family that I read contained only minor changes to Agee’s writing, plus two sections that were not placed formally into the story by the author. To think that Agee wrote this masterpiece without the benefit of an editor shows you the caliber of his writing. Like his character development, this story was close to perfect.Jay Follett was a husband and father with a slightly mysterious past, who was called to his father’s bedside in the middle of the night. On his trip home, his car experienced mechanical failure, resulting in Jay’s instantaneous death. He left behind his wife, Mary and his two children, Rufus and Catherine.
The mysterious aspects of Jay’s life enthralled me. You get the impression that he was an alcoholic – perhaps on the wagon at the time of his death – who pulled himself out of nothing into a productive life. As Mary’s family learned of Jay’s death, you discovered they were not supportive of Mary and Jay’s marriage initially, but as time evolved, they grew to love him. Without a doubt, he held a tight bond with his son, Rufus. For most of the book, you witnessed the emotional roller coaster that the family experiences as they deal with Jay’s death. From wanting to know the details of the accident to trying to sleep and eat, death and daily living were juxtaposed for the readers to consider: How would you deal with the sudden death of a loved one?
The book ends on the day of the funeral, leaving you curious about how the family would cope so early in their grief. How would Mary survive without her husband’s financial support? How would the children learn to live without their father? Agee leaves many questions unanswered, but made one thing clear: grief is a force to be reckoned with. It ebbs and flows throughout a person’s lifetime; always there – sometimes in the distance, sometimes very close. A Death in the Family was a wonderful tribute to this raw human emotion.
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LibraryThing member brenzi
“On the rough cut grass of the back yard my father and mother have spread quilts. We all lie there, my mother, my father, my uncle, my aunt, and I too am lying there….The stars are wide and alive, they seem each like a smile of great sweetness, and they seem very near. All my people are larger
James Agee's posthumously awarded Pulitzer Prize winning novel is thought to be based on his own life (his middle name is Rufus, just like the son in the story). Set in Knoxville, Tennessee in the summer of 1915, Rufus is enjoying all that is right with the world. A loving father that takes him to the movies and allows him other indulgences that his mother wouldn't approve of, a great aunt who dotes on him and purchases for him the cap he fancies and an extended family that showers him with love. His biggest worry involves the boys who pick on him on his way to school. And then the unthinkable happens: his loving father Jay is killed suddenly in a car accident, returning from his parents’ house, several hundred miles away. His drunken brother called him in the middle of the night suggesting that their father was near death, which proved to be untrue and there lies the irony in this story.
The story is told mainly through the viewpoints of Jay’s wife Mary, brother Ralph and young son, Rufus. The magnificence of this book is its’ lyrical prose (the entire prologue reads as a poem). I found myself rereading parts of the book over and over again because of the beautiful sound of the verses. The story is, of course, morbidly sad, and, in the hands of a less skilled writer, would have been very distasteful. But Agee is terrific at making you empathize with these characters. After receiving the initial news about “a serious accident,” Mary and her Great Aunt Hannah, await the return of Mary’s brother, Andrew with news of Jay’s injuries and when he returns those three and Mary’s parents speak for hours about the tragedy. The author made me feel as if I was in the room with them because the give and take of their conversation was so well done.
Agee’s treatment of Catholic religion suggests that he had a bad experience with it in his own life. Although Mary and Hannah are very religious and fall back on their faith to get them through this tough time, the author is hard on the Catholic faith with the inclusion of the rigid and hard-nosed Father Jackson, and revealing that Andrew and Joel, Mary’s father, have little faith.
I love the way Agee made the story a refreshing one rather than the maudlin tale it could have turned into, by revealing that Jay was a flawed character, whom other characters had to warm up to. It would’ve been so easy for the author to fall into the trap of creating a character that was bigger than life.
My favorite character was Rufus. I loved the way his mind worked and how he analyzed all the difficulties he faced and presented them through his child-like innocence. In the prologue, Agee says, “We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself as a child.” Rufus grew up in a hurry that summer. Highly recommended.
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bodies than mine, quiet, with voices gentle and meaningless like the voices of sleeping birds.” -Page 7James Agee's posthumously awarded Pulitzer Prize winning novel is thought to be based on his own life (his middle name is Rufus, just like the son in the story). Set in Knoxville, Tennessee in the summer of 1915, Rufus is enjoying all that is right with the world. A loving father that takes him to the movies and allows him other indulgences that his mother wouldn't approve of, a great aunt who dotes on him and purchases for him the cap he fancies and an extended family that showers him with love. His biggest worry involves the boys who pick on him on his way to school. And then the unthinkable happens: his loving father Jay is killed suddenly in a car accident, returning from his parents’ house, several hundred miles away. His drunken brother called him in the middle of the night suggesting that their father was near death, which proved to be untrue and there lies the irony in this story.
The story is told mainly through the viewpoints of Jay’s wife Mary, brother Ralph and young son, Rufus. The magnificence of this book is its’ lyrical prose (the entire prologue reads as a poem). I found myself rereading parts of the book over and over again because of the beautiful sound of the verses. The story is, of course, morbidly sad, and, in the hands of a less skilled writer, would have been very distasteful. But Agee is terrific at making you empathize with these characters. After receiving the initial news about “a serious accident,” Mary and her Great Aunt Hannah, await the return of Mary’s brother, Andrew with news of Jay’s injuries and when he returns those three and Mary’s parents speak for hours about the tragedy. The author made me feel as if I was in the room with them because the give and take of their conversation was so well done.
Agee’s treatment of Catholic religion suggests that he had a bad experience with it in his own life. Although Mary and Hannah are very religious and fall back on their faith to get them through this tough time, the author is hard on the Catholic faith with the inclusion of the rigid and hard-nosed Father Jackson, and revealing that Andrew and Joel, Mary’s father, have little faith.
I love the way Agee made the story a refreshing one rather than the maudlin tale it could have turned into, by revealing that Jay was a flawed character, whom other characters had to warm up to. It would’ve been so easy for the author to fall into the trap of creating a character that was bigger than life.
My favorite character was Rufus. I loved the way his mind worked and how he analyzed all the difficulties he faced and presented them through his child-like innocence. In the prologue, Agee says, “We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee, in the time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself as a child.” Rufus grew up in a hurry that summer. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member debnance
There are good reads that satisfy and are thoughtful and have lovely writing. And then there are the truly great reads that leave the reader longing to start the book over and reread it just as soon as one turns to the final paragraph. A Death in the Family is a great read.The story is very simple.
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Jay Follet, the dad and the husband in the family, receives a call from his brother that his father is very ill and is near death. Jay goes to be with his father and on his return is killed in an automobile accident.But there is so much more to this book that makes it a great read. The writing is beautiful, filled with wonderful words and phrases that feel fresh and new without feeling artificial. Agee gets inside each character's head so that each character seems unique and genuine. The reader is left with the mysteries of the story that so often occur in real life: Had Jay been drinking when the accident took place? Was Jay's father really seriously ill and, if not, why did Jay's brother call? What will happen to Jay's wife and children? How will the accident change their lives?A must read. Show Less
LibraryThing member lauralkeet
James Agee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a stark, realistic portrayal of the searing emotional pain in human response to tragedy. The novel takes place over just a few days, as a close-knit family copes with the sudden loss of a loved one. FIrst, there is the waiting -- knowing an accident has
When the death is discovered, Agee delves deep into the souls of his characters and their varied responses. The adults try to explain the loss to two young children. One of the children, a 6-year-old boy, meets up with children on their way to school and uncomfortably revels in his celebrity status. Some of the adults become stronger in their grief, and take care of those who have fallen apart: "That's when you're going to need every ounce of common sense you've got," he said. "Just spunk won't be enough; you've got to have gumption. You've got to bear it in mind that nobody that ever lived is specially privileged; the axe can fall at any moment, on any neck, without any warning or any regard for justice. You've got to keep your mind off pitying your own rotten luck and setting up any kind of a howl about it. You've got to remember that things as bad as this and a hell of a lot worse have happened to millions of people before and that they've come thorugh it and that you will too. You'll bear it because there isn't any choice -- except to go to pieces." (p. 149)
This book is well written, and immensely powerful. Agee takes the reader deep inside the hearts and minds of his characters; I could identify with everyone in some way. He plumbs the depths of emotion, such that the book must be set aside every so often to work through feelings evoked by the text. I was most touched by the children in this story: the boy and his younger sister. Their emotional needs were largely ignored. The adults underestimated their ability to grasp the situation. Some wanted to exclude the children from the rituals of mourning; others took them under their wing and allowed them to grieve in their own ways. Agee writes from his own experience, having experienced a similar tragedy at a young age himself.
While it was a very sad book, I am glad to have read it -- it will occupy a place in my heart for a long, long time.
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occurred, but not yet knowing the outcome: This heaviness had steadily increased while he sat and waited and by now the air felt like iron and it was almost as if he could taste in his mouth the sour and cold, taciturn taste of iron. Well what else are we to expect, he said to himself. What life is. He braced against it quietly to accept, endure it, relishing not only his exertion but the sullen, obdurate cruelty of the iron, for it was the cruelty which proved and measured his courage. Funny I feel so little about it, he thought. (p. 136)When the death is discovered, Agee delves deep into the souls of his characters and their varied responses. The adults try to explain the loss to two young children. One of the children, a 6-year-old boy, meets up with children on their way to school and uncomfortably revels in his celebrity status. Some of the adults become stronger in their grief, and take care of those who have fallen apart: "That's when you're going to need every ounce of common sense you've got," he said. "Just spunk won't be enough; you've got to have gumption. You've got to bear it in mind that nobody that ever lived is specially privileged; the axe can fall at any moment, on any neck, without any warning or any regard for justice. You've got to keep your mind off pitying your own rotten luck and setting up any kind of a howl about it. You've got to remember that things as bad as this and a hell of a lot worse have happened to millions of people before and that they've come thorugh it and that you will too. You'll bear it because there isn't any choice -- except to go to pieces." (p. 149)
This book is well written, and immensely powerful. Agee takes the reader deep inside the hearts and minds of his characters; I could identify with everyone in some way. He plumbs the depths of emotion, such that the book must be set aside every so often to work through feelings evoked by the text. I was most touched by the children in this story: the boy and his younger sister. Their emotional needs were largely ignored. The adults underestimated their ability to grasp the situation. Some wanted to exclude the children from the rituals of mourning; others took them under their wing and allowed them to grieve in their own ways. Agee writes from his own experience, having experienced a similar tragedy at a young age himself.
While it was a very sad book, I am glad to have read it -- it will occupy a place in my heart for a long, long time.
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LibraryThing member MickyFine
Late at night, Jay receives a phone call falsely informing him that his father is dying. On his return journey, Jay is killed in a car accident. This one event will have a range of emotional ramifications for his family as they deal with the realities of his death.
Agee's novel was post-humously
Agee's novel was post-humously
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published in 1957 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1958. The novel is a fascinating study in small details, exploring the life of a family living in Tennessee in 1915. We gain an insight into this family both prior to the accident and in the odd period afterwards. Agee brilliantly creates multiple third person points of view, providing us with insights into his wife, his young children, and other family member's reactions to Jay's death. Grappling with issues like faith, unbelief, and the strange things one does and must deal with while grieving are all deftly explored. A sombre and mentally-engaging novel, it is ultimately a fascinating exploration of the rippling ramifications of a death of a family member. Show Less
LibraryThing member bpeters65
A Death in the Family reveals the plot in it's title. It premise is simple: A father dies and the family deals with his death. The difficult part is telling the children, and so it goes on...
The prose by James Agee is poetic and startling in it's ability to stir emotions and describe the beauty of
I was not moved, however, by the plot as I had anticipated. I was more emotional while reading A Year of Magical Thinking. James Agee's book felt dated in some ways, and I had difficulties relating to Mary and her grief. I felt much more connected to Rufus, and felt strongly the relationship he had with his father. 3 stars is all I have for this at the moment. Maybe 4 if I was just rating his writing, which was beautiful.
The prose by James Agee is poetic and startling in it's ability to stir emotions and describe the beauty of
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it's time and place. I was moved by his writing. I was not moved, however, by the plot as I had anticipated. I was more emotional while reading A Year of Magical Thinking. James Agee's book felt dated in some ways, and I had difficulties relating to Mary and her grief. I felt much more connected to Rufus, and felt strongly the relationship he had with his father. 3 stars is all I have for this at the moment. Maybe 4 if I was just rating his writing, which was beautiful.
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LibraryThing member magicians_nephew
Just finished reading A Death in the Family James Agee's novel for one of my face to face book groups.
Knoxville Tennessee. 1915. Husband and Wife and two small children and their extended family. Father goes out one night for a drive in his "Tin Lizzie" and dies on the way back. That’s it.
Hadn't read Agee before this and was just blown away by the craftsmanship of the writing - beautiful, simple, intense, poetic.
He has the gift to be able to show at once the grown up writer telling the story and the six year old boy living through it.
Don't think I've ever read a book that so clearly delineated the mind of a child dealing with all the strangeness and terror of a child's life.
Nice to read a book that shows a person of faith - a devout Southern Christian - honestly, simply and without caricature or grotesquery.
He gets the voices of the people right too -- what is said and what is left unsaid.
The last scene of the boy going to his father's funeral is haunting and memorable.
Glad I read it. What a writer. Wow.
Knoxville Tennessee. 1915. Husband and Wife and two small children and their extended family. Father goes out one night for a drive in his "Tin Lizzie" and dies on the way back. That’s it.
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Hadn't read Agee before this and was just blown away by the craftsmanship of the writing - beautiful, simple, intense, poetic.
He has the gift to be able to show at once the grown up writer telling the story and the six year old boy living through it.
Don't think I've ever read a book that so clearly delineated the mind of a child dealing with all the strangeness and terror of a child's life.
Nice to read a book that shows a person of faith - a devout Southern Christian - honestly, simply and without caricature or grotesquery.
He gets the voices of the people right too -- what is said and what is left unsaid.
The last scene of the boy going to his father's funeral is haunting and memorable.
Glad I read it. What a writer. Wow.
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LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
This is the autobiographical story of what happens when the anchor of a family dies unexpectedly. Set in 1915.
The language of Death in the Family is lyrical and breathtaking. Three scenes worth mentioning: Father Jay sets out to visit his dying father after receiving a middle-of-the-night call from
The language of Death in the Family is lyrical and breathtaking. Three scenes worth mentioning: Father Jay sets out to visit his dying father after receiving a middle-of-the-night call from
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his alcoholic brother. His father has suffered another heart attack and this time it's bad. Jay's wife, Mary, lovingly makes him a huge breakfast before his trip despite the early hour. He in return remakes the bed for her. Their exchanged goodbyes are tenderhearted and endearing. In a flashback, when their son experiences a nightmare, Agee describes these night visions in words that are nothing short of enthralling. But, the best part is when Jay comes in to console his son, Rufus. This last scene is heartbreaking. Via a telephone call, Mary has been told there has been a serious accident involving her husband and "a man" needs to come. She isn't told anything more than that. Mary and her aunt wait up, agonizing over every little word exchanged during the short phone call. Mary's worry bleeds from the pages. Show Less
LibraryThing member xine2009
Although Library Thing thinks this is the same book as the l957 A Death...it isn't. Agee died before his final edit, but all the work was there. The 1957 editors took quite a few liberties in rearranging his material (see the restored version for details)--it was still a great book. This restored
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version is even better. Much better. I was stunned by the first version, amazed by the second. Too bad he drank and smoked himself to death at the age of 46; we lost a lot of great writing. Show Less
LibraryThing member briany
One of the most honest books I've read
LibraryThing member rck
GREAT. Simple story, great emotions.
LibraryThing member suesbooks
This was an amazingly written book. I was surprised at how interesting and descriptive Agee could be sharing a few days of information. There were some credibility issues, as children of 4 and 6 are not so thoughtful, especially when their father has just died. The added sections were slightly
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difficult and less interesting, but they added to knowledge of the family. Show Less
LibraryThing member Awesomeness1
Unfortunately, the old mean librarian wouldn't let me renew this book, so I didn't finish the last 100 pages. But I did enjoy what I read.
A Death in the Family, first of all, is very well written. The prose is very beautiful and complex. The story is somewhat slow-moving, and the plot was more of
A Death in the Family, first of all, is very well written. The prose is very beautiful and complex. The story is somewhat slow-moving, and the plot was more of
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a character study than anything else. It did take me a few chapters though, to get all the characters straight, especially Ralph and Rufus, whom I would often confuse. I didn't really have a particular problem with this book, but I wasn't compelled by it. Given the option of reading this and watching TV, I chose TV most of the time. This book was not bad, and I did enjoy what I read, but I was never excited or caught up in it. Show Less
LibraryThing member mrkatzer
The beauty and almost poetic nature of Agee's writing contrasted against so heavy a subject as death makes A Death in the Family one of the most hauntingly brilliant books I have ever read.
LibraryThing member skstiles612
This is the story of a father’s untimely death and the family’s reaction to it. At the beginning of this story you immediately know that this is a very close family. When the father is suddenly killed in an automobile accident we are taken on the journey the family must take as they realize the
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immediate and future changes to their family, their feelings and life. Agee did a great job of bringing the reader along. I felt the pain and grief due to the descriptive and emotional way this was written. He touched on other topics especially the church and the role it played in society during that time period. I found myself angry along with Mary’s brother Andrew at the priest who refused to complete the service because her husband had not been baptized. This was definitely a good book. Show Less
LibraryThing member janemarieprice
This was a beautiful book. I loved the way the narrative moved through the characters. Each character is flawed but amazing at the same time. It captures human emotion extremely well.
LibraryThing member eembooks
I felt down and sad while reading this book. The death of a young father as told though son Rufus, wife Mary and others. This book unique as told though the thoughts of many. Question if the father was drunk when he went off the road is never answered. There are heavy religious overtones and
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conflicts including the priest who only briefly appears but causes great angust. Although loved the prose probably would not read again Show Less
LibraryThing member gmdenatale
My father died when I was a baby. When I read this book as a teenager, so many things about my life perspective fell into place.
LibraryThing member 1morechapter
Jay Follett, a dutiful husband and father, travels to his parents’ home because his father is dying. On his way back to his wife and children, he is killed in a car accident. The reaction to this tragedy by his family is told with heartbreaking prose. I was especially moved by the thoughts,
This novel profoundly touched me as my own father died of heart complications at the age of 44. The death of someone so young affects a family very deeply for many years. It is a tragedy I hope few people have to experience.
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feelings, and actions of his son, Rufus. This novel was largely autobiographical for Agee as his father died in a car accident when he was six years old. Sadly, Agee himself died of a heart attack at the age of 45, leaving behind young children of his own.This novel profoundly touched me as my own father died of heart complications at the age of 44. The death of someone so young affects a family very deeply for many years. It is a tragedy I hope few people have to experience.
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LibraryThing member bastet
This is a book that helped me so much when my own mother died many years ago.
LibraryThing member Brenda63
At first I found this book to be a little difficult to read, but I stuck with it and am glad that I did. Once the ryhthym of James Agee's writing became familiar to me I was caught up in the world of Rufus as he experiences the death of his father.
LibraryThing member Kristelh
Reason read; Pulitzer 1958, TIOLI read a book with death in the title
I had this on my list to read at least twice before and I finally got it read. I did not know anything about the book and discovered that this is an autobiographical novel. The author's dad died in a car accident. In this story
The setting is in the early 1900s. The automobile is new, many still get around by horse and wagon. It was rewritten by David McDowell who took liberties. Michael Lofaro maintains that the novel as published 1957 was not the version intended for print by the author. Lofaro discussed his work at a conference that was part of the Knoxville James Agee Celebration (April 2005). Having tracked down the author's original manuscripts and notes, Lofaro reconstructed a version he considers more authentic. This version, entitled A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text, was published in 2007. I think I read the one by McDowell. And that would be the one that actually won the Pulitzer.
I had this on my list to read at least twice before and I finally got it read. I did not know anything about the book and discovered that this is an autobiographical novel. The author's dad died in a car accident. In this story
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the death is reflected by the wife, by the brother of the deceased , by Rufus the son and his sister. It explores religion. The wife is Catholic, the father is an atheist. The author died before publishing the story. The story is set in Tennessee.The setting is in the early 1900s. The automobile is new, many still get around by horse and wagon. It was rewritten by David McDowell who took liberties. Michael Lofaro maintains that the novel as published 1957 was not the version intended for print by the author. Lofaro discussed his work at a conference that was part of the Knoxville James Agee Celebration (April 2005). Having tracked down the author's original manuscripts and notes, Lofaro reconstructed a version he considers more authentic. This version, entitled A Death in the Family: A Restoration of the Author's Text, was published in 2007. I think I read the one by McDowell. And that would be the one that actually won the Pulitzer.
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LibraryThing member KarenHerndon
Another of my book club choices.
I did not enjoy this book. I found it very dull and I hated the way the author took pages to express whatever was happening. It seemed to me that in those 3-5 pages he would just say the same thing over and over sometimes using almost the saeme words. I found myself
I know this book won awards but it wouldn't be a book that I would recommend to my friends nor talk about as something you just have to read!
I did not enjoy this book. I found it very dull and I hated the way the author took pages to express whatever was happening. It seemed to me that in those 3-5 pages he would just say the same thing over and over sometimes using almost the saeme words. I found myself
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wanting to skip ahead ( but didn't because this was a book club choice so I wanted to do it justice) . I know this book won awards but it wouldn't be a book that I would recommend to my friends nor talk about as something you just have to read!
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LibraryThing member gbill
James Agee wrote “A Death in the Family” over the last seven years of his life, and it was still incomplete at the time of his sudden death from a heart attack at age 45 in 1955. The book is about the premature death of a family man and it’s autobiographical in that Agee’s father had died
The book really takes a magnifying glass to the emotions and inner thoughts of those who are left behind when a loved one dies, as well presents the perspective of children in conversations with adults on death and other matters. Agee also probes deeply into uncomfortable situations such as being bullied as a child, and being drunk and making a fool of oneself in front of other family members. All of these ‘ring true’, and Agee does have a very creative way of writing (e.g. “The cricket cherished what avaricious secret: patiently sculptured what effigy of dread?”).
Unfortunately the magnifying glass is a bit too large; I found the book to be a bit slow and ponderous, and not as cathartic as I would have hoped.
Quotes:
On ‘going home’:
“How far we all come. How far we all come away from ourselves. So far, so much between, you can never really get all the way home again in your life. And what’s it all for? All I tried to be, all I ever wanted and went away for, what’s it all for?
Just one way, you do get back home. You have a boy or a girl of your own and now and then you remember, and you know how they feel, and it’s almost the same as if you were your own self again, as young as you could remember.”
On death, how it makes you grow up:
“Your turn now, poor child, she thought; she felt as if a prodigious page were being silently turned, and the breath of its turning touched her heart with cold and tender awe. Her soul is beginning to come of age, she thought; and within those memories she herself became much older, much nearer her own death, and was content to be. Her heart lifted up in a kind of pride in Mary, in every sorrow she could remember, her own or that of others ( and the remembrances rushed upon her); in all existence and endurance. She wanted to cry out Yes! Exactly! Yes. Yes. Begin to see. Your turn now. She wanted to hold her niece at arms’ length and to turn and admire this blossoming. She wanted to take her in her arms and groan unto God for what it meant to be alive.”
And:
“There had been, even, a kind of pride, a desolate kind of pleasure, in the feeling: I am carrying a heavier weight than I could have dreamed it possible for a human being to carry, yet I am living through it. It had of course occurred to her that this happens to many people, that it is very common, and she humbled and comforted herself in this thought. She thought: this is simply what living is; I never realized before what it is. She thought: now I am more nearly a grown member of the human race; bearing children, which had seemed so much, was just so much apprenticeship.”
On death, persevering though it:
“Hannah, left alone, was grateful that we are animals; it was this silly, strenuous, good, humble cluttering of animal needs which saw us through sane, fully as much as prayer; and towards the end of these moments of solitude, with her mind free from the subtle deceptions of concern, she indulged herself in whispering, aloud, ‘He’s dead. There’s no longer the slightest doubt of it’…”
On death, epitaphs:
“That’s what they’re for, epitaphs, Joel suddenly realized. So you can feel you’ve got some control over the death, you own it, you choose a name for it. The same with wanting to know all you can about how it happened.”
On religion, this about a self-righteous reverend’s words and voice:
“…it seemed to say unpleasant things as if it felt they were kind things to say, or again, as if it did not care whether or not they were kind because in any case they were right, it seemed to make statements, to give information, to counter questions with replies which were beyond argument or even discussion and to try to give comfort whether what it was saying could give comfort or not.”
On religion, and its lack of mercy (this for denial of some of the services at death because the man in question had not been baptized):
“’No, there are certain requests and recommendations I cannot make Almighty God for the repose of this soul, for he never stuck his head under a holy-water tap.’ Genuflecting, and ducking and bowing and scraping, and basting themselves with signs of the Cross, and all that disgusting hocus-pocus, and you come to one simple, single act of Christian charity and what happens? The rules of the Church forbid it. He’s not a member of our little club.”
On sympathy, the ironic though rarely admitted ‘benefit’ of death, this seemed very honest to me:
“He could now see vividly how they would all look up when he came into the schoolroom and how the teacher would say something nice about his father and about him, and he knew that on this day everybody would treat him well, and even look up to him, for something had happened to him today which had not happened to any other boy in school, or any other boy in town.”
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in a car crash when he was just six; sadly, and ironically, Agee himself left behind a wife and three kids when he himself died. The book was published in 1957 and won him a posthumous Pulitzer Prize. The book really takes a magnifying glass to the emotions and inner thoughts of those who are left behind when a loved one dies, as well presents the perspective of children in conversations with adults on death and other matters. Agee also probes deeply into uncomfortable situations such as being bullied as a child, and being drunk and making a fool of oneself in front of other family members. All of these ‘ring true’, and Agee does have a very creative way of writing (e.g. “The cricket cherished what avaricious secret: patiently sculptured what effigy of dread?”).
Unfortunately the magnifying glass is a bit too large; I found the book to be a bit slow and ponderous, and not as cathartic as I would have hoped.
Quotes:
On ‘going home’:
“How far we all come. How far we all come away from ourselves. So far, so much between, you can never really get all the way home again in your life. And what’s it all for? All I tried to be, all I ever wanted and went away for, what’s it all for?
Just one way, you do get back home. You have a boy or a girl of your own and now and then you remember, and you know how they feel, and it’s almost the same as if you were your own self again, as young as you could remember.”
On death, how it makes you grow up:
“Your turn now, poor child, she thought; she felt as if a prodigious page were being silently turned, and the breath of its turning touched her heart with cold and tender awe. Her soul is beginning to come of age, she thought; and within those memories she herself became much older, much nearer her own death, and was content to be. Her heart lifted up in a kind of pride in Mary, in every sorrow she could remember, her own or that of others ( and the remembrances rushed upon her); in all existence and endurance. She wanted to cry out Yes! Exactly! Yes. Yes. Begin to see. Your turn now. She wanted to hold her niece at arms’ length and to turn and admire this blossoming. She wanted to take her in her arms and groan unto God for what it meant to be alive.”
And:
“There had been, even, a kind of pride, a desolate kind of pleasure, in the feeling: I am carrying a heavier weight than I could have dreamed it possible for a human being to carry, yet I am living through it. It had of course occurred to her that this happens to many people, that it is very common, and she humbled and comforted herself in this thought. She thought: this is simply what living is; I never realized before what it is. She thought: now I am more nearly a grown member of the human race; bearing children, which had seemed so much, was just so much apprenticeship.”
On death, persevering though it:
“Hannah, left alone, was grateful that we are animals; it was this silly, strenuous, good, humble cluttering of animal needs which saw us through sane, fully as much as prayer; and towards the end of these moments of solitude, with her mind free from the subtle deceptions of concern, she indulged herself in whispering, aloud, ‘He’s dead. There’s no longer the slightest doubt of it’…”
On death, epitaphs:
“That’s what they’re for, epitaphs, Joel suddenly realized. So you can feel you’ve got some control over the death, you own it, you choose a name for it. The same with wanting to know all you can about how it happened.”
On religion, this about a self-righteous reverend’s words and voice:
“…it seemed to say unpleasant things as if it felt they were kind things to say, or again, as if it did not care whether or not they were kind because in any case they were right, it seemed to make statements, to give information, to counter questions with replies which were beyond argument or even discussion and to try to give comfort whether what it was saying could give comfort or not.”
On religion, and its lack of mercy (this for denial of some of the services at death because the man in question had not been baptized):
“’No, there are certain requests and recommendations I cannot make Almighty God for the repose of this soul, for he never stuck his head under a holy-water tap.’ Genuflecting, and ducking and bowing and scraping, and basting themselves with signs of the Cross, and all that disgusting hocus-pocus, and you come to one simple, single act of Christian charity and what happens? The rules of the Church forbid it. He’s not a member of our little club.”
On sympathy, the ironic though rarely admitted ‘benefit’ of death, this seemed very honest to me:
“He could now see vividly how they would all look up when he came into the schoolroom and how the teacher would say something nice about his father and about him, and he knew that on this day everybody would treat him well, and even look up to him, for something had happened to him today which had not happened to any other boy in school, or any other boy in town.”
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LibraryThing member LeslieHurd
Shouldn't I love a Pulitzer Prize winning book? I can understand the grief of this family that lost its husband/father/child because he seems a genuinely nice man. Unfortunately, I don't like anyone else nearly as well. This book centered on grief didn't affect me nearly as much as, say, Joan
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Didion's "Year of Magical Thinking." Show Less
Subjects
Awards
National Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 1958)
Pulitzer Prize (Winner — Fiction — 1958)
Audie Award (Finalist — Classic — 2013)
Notable Books List (1957)
ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound (Fiction — 1999)
Language
Original publication date
1957
Physical description
310 p.; 5.08 x 0.55 inches
ISBN
0143115847 / 9780143115847