Sharyl reviewed Middle age by Joyce Carol Oates
Review of 'Middle age' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Joyce Carol Oates's Middle Age is an intriguing tale which takes place in an affluent town called Salthill-on-the-Hudson, and in the opening pages, we meet Adam Berendt, a very popular character in his town, who tragically dies a few pages later while rescuing a little girl from drowning during a boating accident.
Adam Berendt was known to everyone in Salthill as a talented sculptor and a warm person who was a confidante to many. His sudden death has a profound effect on everyone who knew him in Salthill. However, it becomes obvious, very quickly, that no one really knew Adam Berendt. They thought he was a poor man, but he wasn't. He had used several names and made millions of dollars. No one could locate his family, or even knew if there was a family. What is Adam's story, and how has he managed to touch people's lives so profoundly?
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Joyce Carol Oates's Middle Age is an intriguing tale which takes place in an affluent town called Salthill-on-the-Hudson, and in the opening pages, we meet Adam Berendt, a very popular character in his town, who tragically dies a few pages later while rescuing a little girl from drowning during a boating accident.
Adam Berendt was known to everyone in Salthill as a talented sculptor and a warm person who was a confidante to many. His sudden death has a profound effect on everyone who knew him in Salthill. However, it becomes obvious, very quickly, that no one really knew Adam Berendt. They thought he was a poor man, but he wasn't. He had used several names and made millions of dollars. No one could locate his family, or even knew if there was a family. What is Adam's story, and how has he managed to touch people's lives so profoundly?
I enjoyed this novel tremendously, because the characters are all so well drawn and different from each other, and their various reactions to losing Adam reveal much about their individual self-esteems and what they think about love in general. This novel also carries the message that anyone can find a way to make life more meaningful for themselves if they do a little soul searching, and one need not stick to the most conventional path.
While reading about the enigmatic Adam Berendt, I couldn't help being reminded--just a wee bit--of Margaret Atwood's The Robber Bride. Both novels are centered around an intriguing mystery-person who has a profound effect on many people. Of course, the books are opposites in that the enigmatic person in Atwood's book has traumatized others, not helped them. Both novels are written in compelling ways.
Both Atwood and Oates are too prolific to keep up with in one lifetime, I'm afraid.
