The Wapshot Chronicle (Perennial Classics)
by John Cheever
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Book Summary Information
Author: John CheeverEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2011-06-28
ISBN: 0060528877
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Book Reviews of The Wapshot Chronicle (Perennial Classics)
Book Review: Lovely rendition of puritanical early 20th century New England [P]
Summary: 5 Stars
New England novels are a main category among the great American literature shelves of libraries and homes. Among the leading providers of the supply is John Cheever, led in main part by this novel which reviews fictional St. Boltophs, Massachusetts.
Born in Quincy, Massachusetts on the southern shores of Boston, Cheever knows the region. The once prosperous boating village described herein, is now a lackluster society in which two sons, Moses and Coverly, foresee no future and thereby leap into the modern 20th century for travails and accomplishments not provided by the lonely dank of St. Boltophs,
We follow the family from the teenage years of the boys through their early parenthood. Good and bad happens, making the pages deliver laughter and tears for the reader. The boys are young and we truly do not seem to witness the nadir of their respective lives, but for the short period of their respective lives, we are sure that each encounters a low not previously seen - especially when contrasted to the ups and downs experienced in the less turbulent society of small town St. Boltophs.
Some of the greater deliveries include the descriptions of matriarchal Honora and Justina and their heavy handed manipulation of the people around them. The most affected is Moses who must endure their puritanical concepts of marriage and fidelity - concepts which he truly does not closely share.
When reading Cheever, I think he has been sandwiched between two other writers of modern America - each of which is female. I believe he is influenced by Edith Wharton and has influenced great story teller Alice Hoffman.
But, he shows more of a man's perspective in this tale that Wharton or Hoffman may share. His great quotation of "advice to my sons" must be repeated here as the stilted and short meter of the boys' father (Leander) mixed with the great topic's delivery are unique and ever worthwhile: "Advice to my sons. Never put whisky into hot water bottle crossing borders of dry states or countries. Rubber will spoil taste. Never make love with pants on. Beer on whisky, very risky. Whisky on beer, never fear. Never eat apples, peaches, pears, etc. while drinking whisky except long French-style dinners, terminating with fruit. Other viands have mollifying effect. Never sleep in moonlight. Known by scientists to induce madness. Should bed stand beside window on clear night, draw shades before retiring. Never hold cigar at right-angles to fingers. Hayseed. Hold cigar at diagonal. Remove band or not as you prefer. Never wear red necktie. Provide light snorts for ladies if entertaining. Effects of harder stuff on frail sex sometimes disastrous. Bathe in cold water every morning. Painful but exhilarating. Also reduces horniness. Have haircut once a week. Wear dark clothes after 6 p.m. Eat fresh fish for breakfast when available. Avoid kneeling in unheated stone churches. Ecclesiastical dampness causes prematurely gray hair. Fear tastes like a rusty knife and do not let her into your house. Courage tastes of blood. Stand up straight. Admire the world. Relish the love of a gentle woman. Trust in the Lord."
Summary of The Wapshot Chronicle (Perennial Classics)
When The Wapshot Chronicle was published in 1957, John Cheever was already recognized as a writer of superb short stories. But The Wapshot Chronicle, which won the 1958 National Book Award, established him as a major novelist.
Based in part on Cheever?s adolescence in New England, the novel follows the destinies of the impecunious and wildly eccentric Wapshots of St. Botolphs, a quintessential Massachusetts fishing village. Here are the stories of Captain Leander Wapshot, venerable sea dog and would-be suicide; of his licentious older son, Moses; and of Moses? adoring and errant younger brother, Coverly. Tragic and funny, ribald and splendidly picaresque, The Wapshot Chronicle is a family narrative in the tradition of Trollope, Dickens, and Henry James.
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