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Joy of learning. Resolved to read whole encyclopedia. Memorize same. Played the man to many a schoolboy bride. Woodshed lusts. Sex problems tough nut to crack in 19th-century gloom. Asked self: Was pederast? In shower after ball games. Swimming in buff with chums at Stone Hills. In locker room asked self: Was pederast? The book takes a while to get going, Cheever seeming, at times, mired in the impulse to outline the whole family history before he can undertake the task at hand, which his to get Moses and Coverly to the city actually, cities in which they will come of age and try to cultivate the independence upon which their inheritance is contingent.
This is an established convention of the family saga and Cheever carries it off just fine, but it feels superfluous, to the point where the novel I began reading feels like a different book than the one which I finished just a couple hours ago. The men themselves are actually quite dull, interesting only in their clueless interactions with the women in their lives. Overall, though, this is an excellent novel that anyone who enjoys American literature or a good, dark laugh will love.
One of the best National Book Award winners yet, without question. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
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The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever ,. Rick Moody Foreword by. Meet the Wapshots of St Botolphs. There is Captain Leander Wapshot, venerable sea-dog and would-be suicide; his licentious older son, Moses; and Moses's adoring and errant younger brother, Coverly.
Tragic and funny, ribald and splendidly picaresque, and partly based on Cheever's adolescence in New England, The Wapshot Chronicle is a stirring family narrative in the finest Meet the Wapshots of St Botolphs. Tragic and funny, ribald and splendidly picaresque, and partly based on Cheever's adolescence in New England, The Wapshot Chronicle is a stirring family narrative in the finest traditions of Trollope, Dickens, and Henry James Get A Copy. Paperback , pages. More Details Original Title.
Massachusetts United States St. Botolphs, Massachusetts United States. National Book Award for Fiction Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Wapshot Chronicle , please sign up. See 1 question about The Wapshot Chronicle…. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3.
Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of The Wapshot Chronicle. Apr 24, Jim Fonseca rated it liked it Shelves: american-authors. The author was a famous short story writer and this was his first attempt at a novel. It won the National Book Award for Mostly the story is of two brothers interspersed with excerpts from a diary kept by their father that chronicles his life and gives us family secrets.
An unmarried aunt controls the family fortune. When she sees her two nephews begin fooling around with the local girls she orders them out into the world. They both eventually marry and end up in troubled marriages.
The story is quasi-autobiographical. His aunt controlled the family fortune. The men are perfectly fine; the two women are a bundle of anxieties and almost nuts. Cheever was manic depressive, an alcoholic and had a series of affairs. Late in life he had bisexual affairs. His daughter Susan Cheever chronicled this family life in her own memoir in , Home Before Dark For it contains what would have been considered graphic sex for that time.
Late in the book is a chapter about one of the brothers having a homosexual experience. Postcard of Quincy Market in from pinterest. View all 16 comments. Dec 07, Ted rated it it was amazing Shelves: lit-american , reviews-liked , classics , americana. His reputat … we might climb the stairs and pry into things of more pertinence. His reputation as a short story writer rose rapidly, and his first novel, The Wapshot Chronicle , won the National Book award in Botolphs, located just inland of the coast mentioned above.
Those characters being the father Leander Wapshot, the mother Mrs. A telling fork in the chronicle results from Honora unfortunately witnessing a happening of sexual nature involving one of the sons.
Here read a lengthy passage about the Wapshot house - set rather dilapidatedly on its acreage some distance outside St.
Botolphs - and its residents. It is dusk and the family has gathered … Leander is drinking bourbon and the parrot hangs in a cage by the kitchen door. A cloud passes over the low sun, darkening the valley, and they feel a deep and momentary uneasiness as if they apprehended how darkness can fall over the continents of the mind. The wind freshens and then they are all cheered as if this reminded them of their recuperative powers … But as we see the Wapshots, spread out in their rose garden above the river, listening to the parrot and feeling the balm of those evening winds that, in New England, smell so of maidenly things — of orris root and toilet soap and rented rooms, wet by an open window in a thunder shower; of chamber pots and sorrel soap and roses and gingham and lawn; of choir robes and copies of the New Testament bound in limp morocco and pastures that are for sale, blooming now with rue and fern — as we see the flowers, staked by Leander with broken hockey sticks and mop and broom handles, as we see the scarecrow in the cornfield wears the red coat of the defunct St.
Botolphs to make their own stabs at life, as well as the continuing events of Leander, Mrs. Wapshot, and Honora back in St. Though it is not heart-poundingly exciting, not saturated with either sex or violence, there are some surprisingly dark, or perhaps better described as foreboding and unexpected, happenings. Some readers will not be particularly thrilled with this rather tame story, or with the somewhat soft landing of the ending. But for me the book was a wonderful read.
If you have a possible interest it might be a good idea to check out some of his short stories to see if they might provide an impetus to read this novel or his final novel Falconer , thought by some to be his best. View all 4 comments. I have found at times that the all American novel struggles to be deeply rooted in the social world, that in a Society so fluid and so ever changing fiction hardly has time to digest the way things really happen, tending to tread a path of unrealistic characters journeying through some sort of fantasy life.
John Cheever's debut, The Wapshot Chronicle both confirms my suspicions but also contradicts them. The family under the spotlight here get the full treatment, making for a striking read, and I have found at times that the all American novel struggles to be deeply rooted in the social world, that in a Society so fluid and so ever changing fiction hardly has time to digest the way things really happen, tending to tread a path of unrealistic characters journeying through some sort of fantasy life.
The family under the spotlight here get the full treatment, making for a striking read, and as first novels go, there are far, far worse. St Botolph is seriously steeped in heritage, and seems almost incapable of change, that goes for the people as well. Captain Leander Wapshot along with wife Sarah and two boys Moses and Cloverly live in a big farmhouse close to the river. He raises his sons to the traditional values that went before them, camping trips, boat clubs, and respectability throughout town.
Leander is an ageing seaman that has the feeling of an antique lost in time, and doesn't want to move with an ever changing America, whist struggling to cope after both boys leave home. Things that happen to the family are both ordinary and impractical, but it's the little things I found most charming throughout, the small details that capture devoted family moments, sharing their time, happy, loving.
When things change for the Wapshots later in the novel mixed with odd little episodes here and there, including Leander's diary entries which are obscure to say the least, I am not sure Cheever knew how to handle them clearly, but this is generally only a small niggle, as his strength lies in the time frame of his writing which he nails to a tee, not only the syntax but by how Cheever framed the story, which I have to say is so easy on the eye.
I enjoyed the fact that he gives the reader a chance to get to know the characters and their surroundings within the story without trying to push too hard, slowly building a vibrant portrait of small town living.
Gently amusing, tragic, joyous and messy, Cheever writes with his heart on his sleeve, with a style that is truly alive. This is the sort of novel Philip Roth could have written if he wasn't so obsessed with masturbation, or maybe even Richard Ford had he not been half asleep. The Wapshot Chronicle is not perfect, but delivers the goods, reeling you in on a sturdy fishing line.
View all 6 comments. Jan 18, Vit Babenco rated it it was amazing. Some family chronicles are long and boring like a slumber induced with the sleeping pills and some are turbulent like a rocket launching. I think you may effortlessly guess to what category The Wapshot Chronicle does belong.
Moses had burned his hand on a salute. Coverly had lost his eyebrows in another explosion. They lived on a farm two miles below the village and had Some family chronicles are long and boring like a slumber induced with the sleeping pills and some are turbulent like a rocket launching. They lived on a farm two miles below the village and had canoed upriver before dawn when the night air made the water of the river feel tepid as it rose around the canoe paddle and over their hands.
If they looked out of the window for a minute they could see the drift of things. It was his feeling that love, death and fornication extracted from the rich green soup of life were no better than half-truths, and his course of instruction was general. He would like them to grasp that the unobserved ceremoniousness of his life was a gesture or sacrament toward the excellence and the continuousness of things.
You only want to hurt me. Dec 05, Michael Lindgren rated it it was amazing Shelves: fiction. It's gonna happen sometime, people, no matter how you may dread it.
Yes, I am referring to my long-planned, heavily-unanticipated, as-yet-unwritten, irritatingly irrelevant monograph on John Cheever, wherein I single-handedly return him to his proper place in the first rank of American novelists. Due in equal parts to Seinfeld and postmodernism, Cheever has become little more than a punch line: a sad symbol of dated postwar suburban cocktail-party angst… well, think again, bitches! The Wapsho It's gonna happen sometime, people, no matter how you may dread it.
The Wapshot Chronicle is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel, full of moral clarity, the inevitability of sin, sex, booze, ambition, jazz, city life, country life, all poured out in chiselled, pristine prose. There will be more to come from me in this vein, I promise. Oh yes, I promise. View all 3 comments. Feb 07, Chrissie rated it did not like it Shelves: usa , love , lgtb , fiction , classics , read , audible-uk , returned , disliked.
Do NOT be as stupid as me. Particularly when the cover does not accurately portray what the book will give you. I wanted to re-test John Cheever and the cover drew my attention. Big mistake! The primary focus of this novel is sexuality. Halfway through the book, not yet understanding that ambivalent feelings about one's sexual identity is in Do NOT be as stupid as me. Halfway through the book, not yet understanding that ambivalent feelings about one's sexual identity is in fact the book's central focus, I exploded, saying '"For God's sake, doesn't a person instinctively know when sex is good?
I thought the book was about living near the sea or about appreciation of aquatic surroundings or about a fisherman's life or something to do with the sea! Look at the cover! Botolphs, a "quintessential Massachusetts fishing village ". We are told there will be stories of Captain Leander Wapshot, a venerable sea dog , but this is only where the story begins. The chapters flip between Captain Wapshot's journal entries about his youth written in staccato, abbreviated, incomplete sentences and the coming-of-age experiences of his two sons.
What is often a central ingredient of coming-of-age stories? Well of course, sex. The youngest son, Coverly, is sixteen when the story begins.
The older, Moses, is in college. We follow the father and these two sons until they are married and have their own children. There is a question of inheritance. It is she who has the money in the family. So just forget that cover! Sex is often the Band-Aid stuck on a wound! Or a do-it-all pill to remedy unease.
The result is an overall sadness and despondency. This is delivered by Leander in what he writes to his sons. There are some beautiful lines. There is ironic, satirical humor. If you pay close attention, you come to realize that the author is in fact quite often joking with us. Well at least, that is my interpretation. The audiobook I listened to was narrated by Joe Barrett. It is easy to follow, so the narration is good.
One hears a melancholy that I think should be there. It expresses an inability to properly communicate. Maybe this sounds like I liked the book? It was boring to listen to the stupid things the characters did. Sex is portrayed in a fashion that put me off. Should sex leave you cold?! Both the cover and the book description led me astray. Color cover. Published by London: Gollancz, , Used - Hardcover Condition: Good. Condition: Good. Sl faded, sl soiled spine.
Sl soiled covers. Used - Hardcover Condition: Very Good. Stated "First Edition". This Very Good minus quality book, with numbered pages, has a very slight lean, is reasonably clean with no edge dings or corner bumps but with rubbing and color loss at all four corners; head and heel of the spine are very creased with color loss but no other damage. The front board and spine are clean and the yellow and red lettering on the spine is intact and not damaged or worn.
The paper has virtually no toning and is quite flexible. Both hinges are very strong and undamaged. There is no remainder mark, book club slug, and no signs of it having been a library book. There are no illustrations. First edition, First printing. No dustjacket. Owner stamp and signature to the first page.
Good condition. Seller: Bolerium Books Inc. Used - Hardcover. The "Wapshot Chronicle" was Young Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Small chip in front paste down end paper. Also find First Edition. Published by Penguin, Used - Softcover Condition: Fair. From United Kingdom to U. Condition: Fair. Penguin, Vintage 1st paperback.
Fair vintage copy. Used - Hardcover Condition: Collectible-Good. Hard Cover. Condition: Collectible-Good. Light to moderate shelf wear, creasing on covers.
Binding intact. Deckled edges. No previous owner marks. Text and pages clean and bright. Both ends of spine bumped. Top edge of front cover bumped. Both ends of DJ spine gently bumped. DJ now protected with Mylar. Ships same or next business day well protected in a box.
Seller: Michael J. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Bound in black and green cloth. Overall, the book is tight and clean, but the dust jacket shows fading to spine and some edgewear -- top edge of pages show spotting. Priced accordingly. Published by Bantam Books, New York, Used - Softcover Condition: About Fine. Condition: About Fine. First Mass Market Paperback Edition. First Printing. About Fine in black and gold decorated wrappers, all edges stained goldenrod. Published originally by Harper in , it won the National Book Award for fiction.
Published by Penguiin, London, Used - Softcover Condition: Good. Mass Market Paperback. First Paperback Edition. First Edition, First Printing.
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