Angle of Repose

By: Wallace Stegner

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Length: 22 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize when it was first published in 1971, Angle of Repose has also been selected by the editorial board of the Modern Library as one of the hundred best novels of the 20th century.

Wallace Stegner's uniquely American classic centers on Lyman Ward, a noted historian who relates a fictionalized biography of his pioneer grandparents at a time when he has become estranged from his own family. Through a combination of research, memory, and exaggeration, Ward voices ideas concerning the relationship between history and the present, art and life, parents and children, and husbands and wives. Like other great quests in literature, Lyman Ward's investigation leads him deep into the dark shadows of his own life. The result is a deeply moving novel that, through the prism of one family, illuminates the American present against the fascinating background of its past.

Set in many parts of the West, Angle of Repose is a story of discovery - personal, historical, and geographical - that endures as Wallace Stegner's masterwork: an illumination of yesterday's reality that speaks to today's.

©1971 Wallace Stegner (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Brilliant....Two stories, past and present, merge to produce what important fiction must: a sense of the enhancement of life." ( Los Angeles Times)
"Masterful...Reading it is an experience to be treasured." ( Boston Globe)

Least favorite

I’m a major fan of Wallace Stegner. This book - Pulitzer or not - is my least favorite. I am troubled by Stegner’s wholesale use of Foote’s writing. Moreover, I found both Lymon Ward and Susan Ward to be rather insufferable people. Nonetheless, Stegner’s prose - when it’s his own - is beautiful.

Easy to understand why it won The Pulitzer Prize

Norm Bramhall was a perfect choice to read this book. A mesmerizing story. I don’t remember how it got on my list to read in 2022 but I am grateful I was able to read it while listening to Mr. Bramhall’s reading. I didn’t want it to end. My first Stegner novel but it won’t be the last.

Family saga

It was a well written absorbing story . Glad to have listened to it. Will take some time to think about .

Not too many novels written about marriage

as opposed to courtship. This is a fairly profound extended meditation on marriage, civilized behavior, temptation, forgiveness, and redemption. The controversy over the usage of Mary Hallock Foote's letters gets even more blurred in the audio version since it's impossible to know where or when anything is in quotation marks. It's an amazing evocation of American life in the 1870s and 1880s, and a reminder of what is universal in all our lives and relationships. It's fascinating to be reminded that so many of the things in this book actually happened. It's also a time-capsule of what life was like circa 1970; a reminder of how things were different and how much hasn't really changed at all. So much so-called historical fiction depends upon trying to invent a narrative and half-baked characters over a framework of historical events. This book is different. Every character rings true. Every reaction and feeling rings true. And Stegner is smart enough not to try to explain things that cannot be explained. Therein lies the work of the reader.

Disappointed

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, I only recommend books I really like. I found my mind wondered a lot during the story, that the voice of the tale irritated me, and in jumped around too much in time.

What did you like best about this story?

I think the story of Susan and her husband was interesting and would have held me had the author not get jumping around to present.half the time I felt like I was listening to the ramblings of the story teller, with little consideration for who was listening.

What three words best describe Mark Bramhall’s performance?

I found the narrators vouce, or maybe I should say, tone of voice, annoying after a while. I think he played the tone of a disgruntled older man well, but I'm afraid it was the voice ot the man he played that bugged me.

Could you see Angle of Repose being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I could not imagine a movie.

Masterful writing; a great adventure

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys literary fiction. Stegner's language is vivid, startling, and inspiring. His story of a woman's experience in the American West as the nation changed from 1860s to 1890s is riveting. It's not the West of cowboys and Indians, but the scarcely frontier where mining corporations are trying to stake a claim. His commentary on life in the 1970s is also intriguing. Excellent work.

What did you like best about this story?

Stegner's language is the work of a master writer and storyteller.

What does Mark Bramhall bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

Bramhall's reading is the one problem I have with the story. He has to do a number of voices as well as narrate and his narrator voice is spot-on. It captures the character well. His female voices are disappointing and especially for Susan, the main character. His vocal interpretation suggests a weak, overly feminine, and submissive woman, while she is far from that. I would have preferred a stronger, less caricatured portray.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I wouldn't suggest it; it's long! But I definitely wanted to know what would happen next.

Fabulous book story author and now with Audiobooks I enjoy the performance by s gifted performer. I will look up other books by

Because the entire experience of being groped onto Sudan and Oliver Ward's world was challenging and spectacular thank you

Great Story

I have enjoyed everything except for the whiny tone of voice of Susan.

I think the reader is actually quite good but I wonder if a female reader might have given Susan a stronger voice. How could such an adventurous, resourceful, intelligent and talented woman be so whiny. Much of what she says in the book could have been spoken in a less annoying tone.

Found it slow to get into

Took me a while to care and/or get to know the characters. Stuck with it for a while and found myself finishing it. But I could have just as easily not bothered.

I give this 10 stats!

I read this book 10 years ago and it's still my favorite all-time book. So I decided to read and listen to it again. Doing both at the same time is an incredible experience... It almost makes it like theater. I wanted to be sure I read and heard every word. It's the most incredibly written book ever. Today when I was done I was sad and almost started another book. But instead, I decided not to read a book and just sit with this one for a day or two even though I'd finished. I wanted to have it in my thoughts and give it the respect it deserves. Stegner's Pulitzer Prize was well-deserved, and the narrator was fantastic. He made it come alive.