Crossing to Safety

By: Wallace Stegner

Narrated by: Richard Poe

Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the finest American authors of the 20th century, Wallace Stegner compiled an impressive collection of accolades during his lifetime, including a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a National Book Award, and three O. Henry Awards. His final novel, Crossing to Safety is the quiet yet stirring tale of two couples that meet during the Great Depression and form a lifelong bond.

©2002 Wallace Earle Stegner (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"This is a wonderfully rich, warm, and affecting book." ( Library Journal)
"It's deceptively simple: two bright young couples meet during the Depression and form an instant and lifelong friendship. "How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these?" Larry Morgan, a successful novelist and the narrator of the story, poses that question many years after he and his wife, Sally, have befriended the vibrant, wealthy, and often troubled Sid and Charity Lang. "Where is the high life, the conspicuous waste, the violence, the kinky sex, the death wish?" It's not here. What is here is just as fascinating, just as compelling, as touching, and as tragic." (Amazon.com review)

Grounding

Emotionally real and engaging story of life’s challenges Thought provoking. Left me pondering and wanting more.

A classic, but not to me

What did you like best about Crossing to Safety? What did you like least?

I like the story about the happenings between people. I bought this because it is talked about in the first chapter. Since it is said to be "Everyone's favourite book". I do however sometimes think classics are so hyped that people like myself feel extremely strange because we are unable to rave about it. I even questioned if a chapter was missing since I feel it does a jump in there, which made me go back and listen to that part again.

In addition, "A thousand splendid suns" which they also talked about took my breathe away. Maybe I got my hopes up about this because it was mentioned in the same book. I will give it a second chance.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Maybe if Jeff Harding had read it.

What three words best describe Richard Poe’s voice?

Typical news voice. Clear yet boring.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, because I would feel I had to.

Any additional comments?

I would tell everyone to give it a try. If you love "The end of your life book club."

More than a feel good story

I found this book to be what other reviewers said - a satisfying and moving description of a life long friendship between two couples. But I also saw more: these couples had experiences and tragedies that changed and molded them in unique ways. How they reacted was really the heart of the story.

Ending terrible

The book was very well written and narrated the ending I felt as the author just was finished writing and decided to quit. Very disappointing

Stegner Nails It

Great insights into relationships. I can't believe I waited so long to read it. It was a joy .

Excellent story, awful ending.

How could the author spend the entire novel developing the nuances of a complex lifelong friendship between 2 couples in a deep and beautiful way, and then end it like this? Terribly disappointed but still gave it 4 stars because it is a profoundly moving story.

an elegant elegy on human relationships and love

This book was lyrical - an elegy to relationships - particularly friendships and marriages - that rings true. Stegner's prose is, as always, spare and evocative. On page 8, as the narrator listens to his wife describe a bad dream, he describes a tumbler of water on the bedside table. "The sun, coming in flat, knocks a prismatic oval out of the tumbler and lays it on the ceiling." This is why I love Stegner so much.

The narrator and his wife have come back to the summer home of their best friends, at the behest of the dying wife. Most of the book is a reflection on the arc of the marriage Sid and Charity, a couple they meet at their first job as hopeful professors at University of Wisconsin in Madison, and their subsequent friendship. Sid and Charity are Moneyed, from Cambridge. The narrator and his wife Sally have no family nor trust fund. The couples become extremely close and their friendship crosses decades. The way the marriages and friendships are described, explored and developed is where Stegner's artistry stands out. It is a nuanced portrait of how humans relate to each other and get their needs met, however uniquely and perhaps sub-optimally.

I highly recommend this book.

great book

I haven't loved a book like this in a long time. it is so good!

Wallace Stegner is great

I love Wallace Stegner's writing. His character development is amazing. He takes us on a 40 year adventure, with two couples, that become friends at the University of Wisconsin. Beautifully written, we share the journey, the ups and downs of careers, family, life ..

I especially like how Stegner shares his own journey in life, so powerful

Friendship and Privilege

Captivating story of casual bonds that hold through generations. Infectious fun and Girl Scout-style endeavors. Ending is dull.