A Death in the Family
by James Agee
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Book Summary Information
Author: James AgeeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1998-07-28
ISBN: 0375701230
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of A Death in the Family
Book Review: The novel just doesn't miss a beat!
Summary: 5 Stars
Pulitizer Prize winner, A Death In The Family is a most serious intoxicating read, not about the death of an individual, but the experiences of those who live, love and the commitment to faith in religion.
It is a tightly worded, well-described novel that doesn't miss a beat. The minds of of certain characters, their fears, their ideas, their issues, their mysteries, are all detailed, thoroughly. The narrative is filled with enough for the reader to completely grasp every detail, every thought, every step.
The main characters are important and we learn quickly who they are, do we care, do we connect, do we support, do we feel for them, do we disagree?
The basic theme in this novel religion first, death second. If your experience is to acquaint with the religious aspect, then here it is. But if you want to seek more on the aspects of death, love, family, you can absorb more than enough here. For sure, you can understand death anxiety, whether your own death or for a loved one.
Like any good literature, this is a lengthy novel that should require TWO readings. One may need to connect with the lengthy dream sequence (in italics). You may want a more thorough understanding of how the wife copes through religion or how a death can affect someone too young to understand.
The story involves a father of two, who en route to his own father's home because of illness, is killed in an accident. His wife Mary has absorbed herself into faith to cope, his son Rufus trying to understand the tauntings of playmates and the adult world, where the other family members explore different views.
It is said that James Agee died before completing editing and therefore, there lies some controversy on certain profound sections inserted. Also, this movie can never really become depicted on the screen with enough understanding. Movie making just cannot delve into ? of what is told her. We feel in the story like we cannot in a movie. Just won't happen.....Rizzo
Summary of A Death in the Family
Forty years 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.
"An utterly individual and original book...one of the most deeply worked out expressions of human feeling that I have ever read."--Alfred Kazin, New York Times Book Review
"It is, in the full sense, poetry....The language of the book, at once luminous and discreet...remains in the mind."--New Republic
"People I know who read A Death in the Family forty years ago still talk about it. So do I. It is a great book, and I'm happy to see it done anew."--Andre Dubus, author of Dancing After Hours and Meditations From A Moveable Chair
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