Angle of Repose

By: Wallace Stegner

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

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)

My first Wallace Stegner book! I'm hooked!

Where does Angle of Repose rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Right up there at the top.

What did you like best about this story?

The way Wallace Stegner wove the stories together.

What about Mark Bramhall’s performance did you like?

Everything! He's got a marvelous talent.

Slow

Felt like I was reading an assigned book for a high school English literature class. I did finish it and towards the end it was better.

Pre CGG

I enjoyed this book immensely. Reading 1 classic, and/or 1 of the "top 100" of all time is & has been a yearly goal of mine, for quite some time now. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys movies more so without the appeals of Computer Generated Graphics. I use this analogy, because in my opinion, it seems a lot of today's "writers" have gone the same route in being overly descriptive. Just my opinion.
Overall, the Angle of Repose is almost like listening to some ones journal from long ago. I imagined it moves right along at a pace parallel to societies during that era.

Mark Bramhall is the perfect Narrator for Stegner

Stegner is one of my favorite authors so Angle of Repose didn't disappoint me at any level. It was narrated beautifully. The only issue I had was the sadness of parts of the story...I'm ready for something fun now. I highly recommend giving this a listen.

Brilliant!

Angle of Repose may be the best book I have ever read. Wallace Stegner's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel traces the fortunes of four generations of one family as they attempt to build a life for themselves in the American West. Confined to a wheelchair, retired historian Lyman Ward sets out to write his grandparents’ remarkable story, chronicling their days spent carving civilization into the surface of America's western frontier. But his research reveals even more about his own life than he’s willing to admit. What emerges is an enthralling portrait of four generations in the life of an American family.

Stegner’s novel is stylistically complex and simply outstanding. I savored every sentence of his smart, flowing, eloquent prose, rereading his gorgeous sentences repeatedly to soak them in. His use of metaphor was brilliant, and the characters were richly drawn, particularly the grandmother, a strong, heroic woman who is unkind and spiteful with a “cumulative grudge.”

I can’t say enough good things about this dazzling novel. Wow. To read more of my reviews, google my name.

Marvelous!

I found both the story and the writing powerful. The subject matter is the trajectory of a marriage within the trajectory of American frontier settlement, circa 1880s. What defines the failure or success of a relationship? Are success or failure even relevant to a long marriage or to the settlement of a continent? Maybe the lessons involved are what matter… not failed promise. Vivid story telling, gorgeous words, descriptions of landscape, and strong characters.

Delicious.

The language of this narrative is delicious. I’ll let others comment on the rich story and excellent performance. I just deeply relished the lush, vivid, detailed but not overwrought descriptions.

Did not want it to end!

Came to know characters so well I wished to continue to live with them around.

powerful

I can see why this won a Pulitzer
Awesome story about the cycle of marriage

1880’s US west seen through believable characters

Slow start but worth persevering through it. Great character development. Masterful performance by narrator. Exquisite writing.