Dropping this for now. Will bring it back up again later to extend the invitation to RPers to be part of the discussion in Oct.

Thrykas, I had been carefully avoiding posting to your thread so that it would stay at the top. Since you're letting it fall for now, I will take this opportunity to tell you that I am looking forward to the discussion.

Rosefolly

HI Rosefolly! Glad you are planning to join us, and thanks for letting the thread stay at the top for a while. Have you read AOR?

Yes, several years ago. I'll need to take another look at it before the discussion.

I, too, held off responding in order to leave the thread at the top. I easily found it at my local library and should be ready at discussion time. I hope we can get a good crowd!

I'd also like to join the discussion. A copy is on its way to me.

I've pulled the book out of my TBR pile, I'm looking forward to the discussion.

My request from the library came through too quickly, so I'll have to make notes for the discussion!

I am 200 pages into this book and honestly, I can scarcely put it down. Even though the early fall weather has been breathtakingly beautiful, I have been holed up with Lyman Ward's ancestors. On one hand I can hardly wait to find out what is going to happen next and on the other I don't want this wonderful book to end. I hope quite a few people will find it as rewarding to read as I do.

I've invested in a copy of this book. It has never been published over here but have just received a Penguin US printing.
My goodness it must have been thick and heavy in hard back. Having some trouble getting 'in' to it maybe because of the paleness of the ink and smallness of the print.
Siobhan, our indifferent UK weather has not been conductive to reading al fresco. After an August with less than 90 hours sunshine we are now into a chilly Autumn. I always do my best reading in a corner of the garden away from the family and ignoring the weeds sprouting around me.

I have my copy on my bedstand but am waiting till closer to the discussion day or I will have forgotten most of the details. I am glad to hear that this is a good read - it's a thick one at least!

Lemonhead, this isn't as "forgettable" a book as many are. I was anxious about reading it so early, but I have completed it during several 12-hour days sitting in a hospital room with my husband. He had some fairly serious surgery but with excellent results and was able to come home yesterday. This long and engaging book was just the ticket to occupy my mind as well as to pass the time. I am looking forward to our discussion.

Carolyn -

Sorry to hear about your DH, but glad he is on the mend. Also glad that you had a good book to pass the endless time in hospital - or at least it can seem endless!

Looking forward to reading the AoR....

Carolyn - Glad that the necessary surgery brought excellent results for your DH - speedy recovery!

For those who would like to get some biography info on Wallace Stegner, there is a link below. This is a short article about him, but helpful, I think.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/librarylocations/main/envir/wsbio.htm

Thyrkas, thanks for that good link, and thanks to all of you for the good wishes.

I read this and All the Little Live Things back when they were first published. I don't know why I didn't read more of his books, as I liked these two quite a bit. I will follow the discussion, and see what I can remember.

Thanks for the link, it is quite enlightening! Being a Californian myself, I am very interested in his perspective on the West. Vee, this book is very "American." (Whatever that means!) I hope you enjoy it.

Carolyn, very sorry to hear about your husband's illness and very happy to hear he is recovering nicely.

Very rainy this weekend, great reading weather - and I have houseguests! Alas! The good thing about books is they can be picked up any time.

I ordered, and already received, a copy from half.com. I started reading it last night at bedtime...and despite the late hour, and the need to get up at o-dark-thirty, stayed up until midnight reading. I remembered that I had felt that Stegner's prose was magic, and that I was entranced by the story. Yep, it caught me again. So, I hope that by bringing this to the top, some conversation will begin.

Besides language and storytelling, I have had fun with historical markings that actually mean something to me: computers that function with punch cards (we got our first desktop computer, sans punch cards, in 1982-3) and aspirin as the pain control for afflictions such as arthritis - rather than motrin and alleve type drugs.

Looking forward to reading this again, and seeing what everyone has to say.

I read both "Angle of Repose" and "Crossing to Safety" several years ago for my book group. If I get a chance I'll join the discussion.

I have ordered AOR from Amazon, so hope to get involved in the discussion.

Hope it works out for all who have expressed an interest to join in when we kick off the discussion on Monday Oct 27th.

sarah canary - I read "Crossing to Safety" by Stegner a number of years ago also. Another beautifully crafted, thoroughly enjoyable book IMHO. The setting for CTS is not in the West but in the American East, and Europe, if I remember correctly.

I can't wait for this discussion! Angle of Repose simply dismantled me; surely it's one of the Great American Novels. Don't know if I have the mental space to reread it now, but I will follow the thread closely. Stegner's understanding of the West and his ability to describe it are unmatched.

Personal story: I read AOR several years ago, after shlepping it around for at least 12-15 years. I took a whole summer to absorb it. On the day I finished, I set it down on my den coffee table very neatly, thinking that I would read nothing for awhile and just contemplate it, and then reread it. I must have sat for an hour, wondering what kind of magical talent was required to tell that story. I couldn't wait to pick it up again. The date was Sept. 10, 2001. The next day changed our lives personally and professionally forever. But maybe enough time has elapsed for me to open this book again.

I envy those of you who are reading it for the first time!

sable - That's an amazing personal story. That book will probably always be associated in your mind with 9/ll ... but maybe not always in a painful way.

thyrkas - I couldn't really remember where "Crossing" was set, but I looked it up. Apparently it moved between Wisconsin and Vermont -- couldn't prove it by me. Although I vaguely remember the Wisconsin part. I guess I'll have to go back and read it again.

I'm reading this and loving it so far. Can't put it down so am really looking forward to the discussion. Thanks for choosing it... It would have stayed in the TBR pile for who knows how long if I hadn't had this impetus.

lemon- AOR was suggested by sheriz6, who saw it compared to the book 'Middlesex' on that book's discussion thread. Thanks, sheriz6 : )

I finished Angle of Repose this morning and after thinking for a short while, came right here to thank sheriz6 and thyrkas for bringing it to my attention. This book is breathtaking. I am in awe of Stegman's skill as a writer and don't remember the last time I read such a compelling story. I am so glad I decided to participate in this discussion as I would not have read it otherwise.

I have been anticipating the start of our discussion on AOR to be the morning of Monday Oct 27th; Monday's are my usual day off from work. Come to find out, a mandatory class has been added my schedule for that day. That means the start of the discussion, if I am to be the one to get things rolling, will have to wait until evening - putting it too late for our friends across the pond to join in the first day. Would someone else like to start the AOR discussion on the morning of the 27th? Or shall we start in the evening, or is there another suggestion?

Sunday the 26th would be good, but I am guessing you work on Sunday. I think you should start the discussion whenever it is convenient for you. I would offer to start it up, but I am working both days and can't promise to do anything in a timely fashion. I am looking forward to it very much, though!

Thyrkas, I'll be away that weekend, otherwise I'd volunteer. Start it whenever you can - no worries!

Thanks for your responses sheriz and siobahn ~ guess things will ramp-up some time between Sunday Oct 26 and Tuesday the 28th! Is this what writers call 'the element of surprise'? Or simply everyday folks trying to navigate around work schedules in the 21st century. Hmmm...

I think whenever it works for you to start the discussion is fine (whether that's a few days before the 27th or after). I think enough folks have either read it or gotten their hands on it by now, that you could begin whenever it works for your schedule. I'll probably start reading the book this weekend when I have more free time.

If you wanted to start the discussion the 28th, it would be fine with me. I am hoping I can finish it before then. I have just come to the end of the chapter about their early life in Almaden, Calif. What a unique writing style Stegner has!

woodnypmh - I am still aiming for the 27th, but may land on the 28th.

I agree - Stegner has a very unique style. Do you think you would be able to pick his style out of a group of paragraphs by several authors? (Should we use that question for the discussion?)

Or maybe that could be a new game - enter a paragraph from some well known writer's well known book and play NAME THE AUTHOR?

thyrkas, yes, I now think I could pick Stegner's style out of a group of paragraphs by several authors. And, yes, I agree that this would be a great new game here at RP.

I am reading frantically but don't know if I will be finished by the 27 or 28. We are now in Leadville.

Just got to Leadville, and I just want to pull the quilt over me and forget the whole thing. How depressing that must have been!