Recapitulation

Recapitulation by Wallace Stegner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I should have liked this book more. I anticipated the sequel to “The Big Rock Candy Mountain” as I so badly wanted to know what happened to Bruce. I could certainly relate to the setting in Salt Lake City- as I could picture most of the landmarks, streets and buildings he described. I was also interested in his frequent references to the “Mormon” church and culture. I also could certainly relate to the theme of returning to where one experienced losing their first love, as I had a similar experience when I returned to the college town where I lost my first love many years after. I was completely stunned with the wash of emotion I experienced just being in that setting. It brought it all back- experiences I hadn’t thought about in years. Stegner captured those emotions and feelings so well. Returning offers a closure that you didn’t even know you needed. Stegner’s writing and turn of a phrase gives me chills. But this book was a bit slow and trudging to me. I think that’s because it was mostly flashback, so the present story was slow and it was easy to lose the story thread as it wasn’t told chronologically. But I guess that’s how memories come- not necessarily in order. Hey, I’m liking the book better as I contemplate and review it. What I think the problem really is: I’m not intelligent enough for this genius of a writer, so he’d lose me- sometimes for pages at a time. I’m sure if I hadn’t had to hurry through to get the book back to the library, and I took time to really think through those difficult passages, I’d find depth and spine-tingling truths therein. I feel certain of that, as that has certainly been the case in every other Stegner book I have read. Overall, at least for this reading, I would rate it 3.5.



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