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Disturbances in the Field
As a child, Lydia Rowe developed clear and distinct ideas about what made for the harmonious life. As a grown woman, married to an artist, in close contact with friends she's had since college, mother of four children, and engaged in her career as a pianist, she seems to have achieved that harmony; her life has the order, balance and complexity of the classical trios she loves to play. Until one day when two policemen arrive at her door, and with a few words turn her delicately calibrated existence into complete disarray. In a novel of captivating realism, Lynne Sharon Schwartz explores tragic loss and broken faith, the disconnect between one's expectations of life and what one gets.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1983
56 people are currently reading
898 people want to read
About the author
Lynne Sharon Schwartz
51 books51 followersLynne Sharon Schwartz (b. 1939) is a celebrated author of novels, poems, short fiction, and criticism. Schwartz began her career with a series of short stories before publishing her first novel, the National Book Award–nominated Rough Strife (1980). She went on to publish works of memoir, poetry, and translation. Her other novels have included the award-nominated Leaving Brooklyn (1989) and Disturbances in the Field (1983). Her short fiction has appeared in theBest American Short Stories annual anthology series several times. In addition, her reviews and criticism have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. Schwartz lives in New York City, and is currently a faculty member of the Bennington Writing Seminars.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
March 3, 2012
Disturbances in the field is a deep novel and book of philosophy in one. It opens up slowly, developing characterization and heading very slowly towards a tragedy.
What, you might ask, is a disturbance in the field? The field is the entire environment that we experience. Any occurrence that changes the the equilibrium of the environment is a disturbance in the field. The field is then in disequilibrium until it achieves a new balance. This is one of the reasons that this books develops very slowly - - it describes the field and all of its elements.
The book begins with a group of close-knit students at Barnard College: Lydia, Esther, Nina and Gaby. Their friendships are one of those rare ones that last their entire lives. Together they take philosophy classes and study the pre-Socratics, Aristotle, Plato, Dante, Sartre, and others. The philosophers and their beliefs are discussed among them as they try to interpret their lives. Lydia narrates the book and the book is written on two different planes - - that of the intellect and that of the heart.
The women finish college and begin their lives as independent people. Lydia, Gaby and Esther marry while Nina remains single. They are close friends with some male college friends as well. George is a psychotherapist who has slept with all of the women. Victor is an artist who marries Lydia and together they have four children. Lydia is a pianist in a small quartet. Gaby gives up her dance career to marry Don, an Orthopedist, and they have two children. Esther marries twice, both times to unsuitable men. Nina, a professor of the sciences, has a number of serially monogamous relationships. As the years pass, they try to understand the meaning of their lives while dealing with their heartfelt emotions.. Their lives intersect in many ways as their relationships endure through the years.
It is difficult to review this book without spoilers. The author carefully and methodically draws out each character as perceived by Lydia. The reader reaches a point where she feels like she knows each and every one of the characters like a trompe l'oeil painting. We know that the book is building up to something very major and tragic but there is no hint of what it is or when it will come. When it does come, everything is changed.
The writing is superb, not a word is wasted. This is a book of the mind and heart. It makes the reader think and cry. The author has created a major piece of work with this book, one that has enriched me in the reading.
What, you might ask, is a disturbance in the field? The field is the entire environment that we experience. Any occurrence that changes the the equilibrium of the environment is a disturbance in the field. The field is then in disequilibrium until it achieves a new balance. This is one of the reasons that this books develops very slowly - - it describes the field and all of its elements.
The book begins with a group of close-knit students at Barnard College: Lydia, Esther, Nina and Gaby. Their friendships are one of those rare ones that last their entire lives. Together they take philosophy classes and study the pre-Socratics, Aristotle, Plato, Dante, Sartre, and others. The philosophers and their beliefs are discussed among them as they try to interpret their lives. Lydia narrates the book and the book is written on two different planes - - that of the intellect and that of the heart.
The women finish college and begin their lives as independent people. Lydia, Gaby and Esther marry while Nina remains single. They are close friends with some male college friends as well. George is a psychotherapist who has slept with all of the women. Victor is an artist who marries Lydia and together they have four children. Lydia is a pianist in a small quartet. Gaby gives up her dance career to marry Don, an Orthopedist, and they have two children. Esther marries twice, both times to unsuitable men. Nina, a professor of the sciences, has a number of serially monogamous relationships. As the years pass, they try to understand the meaning of their lives while dealing with their heartfelt emotions.. Their lives intersect in many ways as their relationships endure through the years.
It is difficult to review this book without spoilers. The author carefully and methodically draws out each character as perceived by Lydia. The reader reaches a point where she feels like she knows each and every one of the characters like a trompe l'oeil painting. We know that the book is building up to something very major and tragic but there is no hint of what it is or when it will come. When it does come, everything is changed.
The writing is superb, not a word is wasted. This is a book of the mind and heart. It makes the reader think and cry. The author has created a major piece of work with this book, one that has enriched me in the reading.
January 15, 2013
What an amazing book! I grabbed this book off the shelves of the Seattle Central library on New Year's Eve because it had a recommendation under it, which I didn't even have time to read, and I'm so glad I picked it up! I've never heard of this book or writer before, but it's definitely one of the best books I've read in the last five years. It reminded me a lot of another favorite, The Last of Her Kind, in being set half in the protagonist's college years at Barnard, half in the present, with the college section being very heady and intellectual, while the other parts of the book are more about coming to terms with the compromises and banalities of adulthood and working life (particularly what those compromises and banalities consist of in women's lives). Love it, recommend it.
June 25, 2021
This author wrote a number of books in the 1980s. I bought several of them years later with every intention of reading them. But time went by and I am just now finally experiencing this book in the audible format which has just been released in recent years. As older books are added to the audible field I assume that is a way of saying that these books are both valuable and sellable.
Is this book just by about and for women? It is clearly several notches above chick lit. Probably more than several. It is philosophical and introspective and insightful of the point of view of a woman. It is deep. And I say that in the most admiring way possible.
It is a story about for very bright women as they go to college and focus on philosophy and life. It is about one woman Who loves and excels in music, marries, has children suffers a family tragedy and marital dissolution. The women friends keep in touch and struggle with life.
The writing is excellent. The writing is skillful. The writing is impressive. But you have to work at this book. It might be a better book to read rather than to listen to. In some ways it is too easy to listen to while it is also beautiful. There is a lot packed in and if you succeed it probably would become a four-star book. My three stars are more because of my failings as a listener then because of the skills of the author.
This book does not beat you over the head with I am woman you are man. But I do think the fact that the major character is a woman is a big part of the experience of this book. I know you are saying Duh! But I appreciated being put in that place even though it did make me sometimes feel out of my league. There are both moments of mystification as well as a-ha moments.
Is this book just by about and for women? It is clearly several notches above chick lit. Probably more than several. It is philosophical and introspective and insightful of the point of view of a woman. It is deep. And I say that in the most admiring way possible.
It is a story about for very bright women as they go to college and focus on philosophy and life. It is about one woman Who loves and excels in music, marries, has children suffers a family tragedy and marital dissolution. The women friends keep in touch and struggle with life.
The writing is excellent. The writing is skillful. The writing is impressive. But you have to work at this book. It might be a better book to read rather than to listen to. In some ways it is too easy to listen to while it is also beautiful. There is a lot packed in and if you succeed it probably would become a four-star book. My three stars are more because of my failings as a listener then because of the skills of the author.
This book does not beat you over the head with I am woman you are man. But I do think the fact that the major character is a woman is a big part of the experience of this book. I know you are saying Duh! But I appreciated being put in that place even though it did make me sometimes feel out of my league. There are both moments of mystification as well as a-ha moments.
March 26, 2010
Lynne Sharon Schwartz's Disturbances in the Field (Harper & Row, 1983) is the novel I return to again and again for its insights on the subject of marriage. Not only does Schwartz portray the blossoming passion and sensuality in the months leading up to the marriage, but she also takes the reader through the subsequent and almost inevitable (under the circumstances) failings of marital love -- following the couple's joys and fears for their four children, and at least one tragedy -- and then their slow, but insistent return to a stronger, fiercer, more hard-won passion and commitment. I've yet to see anyone do it better. Just read the first page about the concept of "disturbances in the field," a term from field theory that has everything to do with marriage. You'll be hooked.
December 18, 2010
I read this at the recommendation of a friend who said it was her favorite book. I found the beginning parts to be very esoteric and intellectual, but I think that was what the author was going for. Without revealing anything, the book takes a sudden and brutal turn and the second half really focuses on how this group of adults who have stayed so intellectual deal with the shattering of their world and the decline into be ruling by emotions. If you can stick through the references to philosophers (a bit heavy handed), it is a compelling book. I was, however, pretty emotionally exhausted when I finished it.
I liked it and I didn't like it at the same time. But the writing is strong, the characters are interesting, but I was glad when I was finally done as it was draining.
I liked it and I didn't like it at the same time. But the writing is strong, the characters are interesting, but I was glad when I was finally done as it was draining.
December 29, 2012
This book begins by demanding a great deal of patience as it wanders across the face of a life, tinkering with ideas and philosophies, flirting with friends and lovers, putting things into place and seeming to lose them again.
But when it goes, it really goes. It embraces massive difficulties, digs through challenging questions, and emerges with a hard-earned, and very profound glimpse of grace. The ending is stunning in light of all that precedes it.
But when it goes, it really goes. It embraces massive difficulties, digs through challenging questions, and emerges with a hard-earned, and very profound glimpse of grace. The ending is stunning in light of all that precedes it.
April 21, 2013
Had high hopes for this book, and it didn't deliver for me. I hate to suggest a hybrid stereotype but this seemed like chick lit for smart, introspective fortyish women with at least English/Music/Philosophy graduate degrees. 2/3rds through the book, I’m still thinking, “Which one is Esther again? Or Nina? Does it matter?” The answers kept being, “I don’t know. I don’t know.” And “No, it doesn’t.” Some terrible things occur, but still there seems to be a lot of high maintenance shallowness. Not my thing.
A few quotes caught my eye. These are generally all early in the book, as my interest level waned, and my interest had to trudge its way to the finish:
“…when my father muttered that it was a dangerous toy, we felt the secret contempt children feel for caution.”
“’I am a product of will over chaos.’”
“’It may be best to stay in balance by keeping one foot in the real world and one foot in the ideal.’”
A few quotes caught my eye. These are generally all early in the book, as my interest level waned, and my interest had to trudge its way to the finish:
“…when my father muttered that it was a dangerous toy, we felt the secret contempt children feel for caution.”
“’I am a product of will over chaos.’”
“’It may be best to stay in balance by keeping one foot in the real world and one foot in the ideal.’”
March 26, 2008
This was my book group's selection for March -- a dense novel, heavy with philosophy, music, philosophy, art, and philosophy. Overall, I liked the book, but did not love it.
(Spoilers ahead.) The first half of the story jumps around in time following Lydia, as a young girl, as a college student bonding with three best friends, and as a mother of four. The second half starts with the death of two of her children, and the impact of this tragedy on her life and her marriage.
My biggest complaint was the spoiler on the back cover, which reveals that something tragic happens when "two policemen" arrive at Lydia's door. Had that happened on page 25, the blurb would have been fine. Given that the tragedy happened near page 200, it was not fine. (And now I have spoiled it myself. Well, I did warn you.)
(Spoilers ahead.) The first half of the story jumps around in time following Lydia, as a young girl, as a college student bonding with three best friends, and as a mother of four. The second half starts with the death of two of her children, and the impact of this tragedy on her life and her marriage.
My biggest complaint was the spoiler on the back cover, which reveals that something tragic happens when "two policemen" arrive at Lydia's door. Had that happened on page 25, the blurb would have been fine. Given that the tragedy happened near page 200, it was not fine. (And now I have spoiled it myself. Well, I did warn you.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 18, 2009
Ugh. What a grind. The description on the back of this trade paperback edition contains a semi-spoiler, so I kept on reading through all the cheeky psycho babble to find out what the heck would happen. And the truth is that almost nothing happens until p. 181 and by then I didn't care anymore. Alice Adams' review calls it 'a wonder to read' but I wondered when it was going to end.
That is the point at which I am stopping, because I can't bear to wade into this wholly self-absorbed woman's grief and, hopefully, emergence. Somebody who finished this book can tell me what happens. But be warned if you do that; I may just shrug and go back to whatever else I was doing.
That is the point at which I am stopping, because I can't bear to wade into this wholly self-absorbed woman's grief and, hopefully, emergence. Somebody who finished this book can tell me what happens. But be warned if you do that; I may just shrug and go back to whatever else I was doing.
November 9, 2009
This was a "Cerebral Chick Lit" book filled with pedantic philosophy.
May 7, 2013
I generally don't like books that are "novels and," as in, novel and philosophy. They end up being contrived forms that result in being neither. This was no exception.
August 14, 2019
One of my all time favs. Would like to read it again.
December 5, 2012
In the late 1950s, Lydia lives in a dormitory with three other young women. They are all taking a philosophy course. For the next 25 years, their lives will change, but they will remain friends. Lydia's life will be touched by tragedy.
The basic plot seems familiar, reminiscent of Rona Jaffe or Mary McCarthy, but this is a ferociously intelligent novel. Actually, it seems to creak a little under the weight of its learnedness. If you didn't pursue a liberal arts degree, you'll definitely get the short course here with all the talk of philosophies, psychology, literature and in-depth discussions of classical music. I was totally absorbed because I like to see characters having scholarly discussions, I like to see what books they're reading, I like to see friends buying two copies of the Sunday edition of the NY Times (at 10:30 on Saturday night) so they can both work the crossword.
I have to wonder if friends, family, editors who read DISTURBANCES IN THE FIELD before it was published criticized it for being too scholarly, because in the middle of the book, Lydia and her old friend from college, Nina, take a trip to the racetrack, which is depicted in just as engrossing detail as the section about Chaucer's Patient Griselda.
There's also plenty of good food, sex, earthy talk and a LOL wedding scene, but for all of that, and for all that they continually examine the lives they are living, Lydia and her friends seem at a remove. The male characters seem a bit more real because they are slightly irritating. The tragedy that takes place in the novel seems curiously muffled. That was a brave authorial choice, but I'm
not sure it was effective. Lydia does remark at one point that she thinks catharsis might be overrated, or words to that effect.
I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because the novel seems overstuffed and the characterization suffers a bit, but wow, I enjoyed learning so much liberal-arts type stuff in a short time!
The basic plot seems familiar, reminiscent of Rona Jaffe or Mary McCarthy, but this is a ferociously intelligent novel. Actually, it seems to creak a little under the weight of its learnedness. If you didn't pursue a liberal arts degree, you'll definitely get the short course here with all the talk of philosophies, psychology, literature and in-depth discussions of classical music. I was totally absorbed because I like to see characters having scholarly discussions, I like to see what books they're reading, I like to see friends buying two copies of the Sunday edition of the NY Times (at 10:30 on Saturday night) so they can both work the crossword.
I have to wonder if friends, family, editors who read DISTURBANCES IN THE FIELD before it was published criticized it for being too scholarly, because in the middle of the book, Lydia and her old friend from college, Nina, take a trip to the racetrack, which is depicted in just as engrossing detail as the section about Chaucer's Patient Griselda.
There's also plenty of good food, sex, earthy talk and a LOL wedding scene, but for all of that, and for all that they continually examine the lives they are living, Lydia and her friends seem at a remove. The male characters seem a bit more real because they are slightly irritating. The tragedy that takes place in the novel seems curiously muffled. That was a brave authorial choice, but I'm
not sure it was effective. Lydia does remark at one point that she thinks catharsis might be overrated, or words to that effect.
I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because the novel seems overstuffed and the characterization suffers a bit, but wow, I enjoyed learning so much liberal-arts type stuff in a short time!
June 13, 2013
I loved this book on so many levels and for so many different reasons. The characters are all so real and one experiences their development from brainy teenagers to thoughtful, sometimes querulous adults. What makes them so true to life is that they are not sugar-coated. They are full of warts, bumps and bruises. Their souls and their search for meaning and truth are wide open to the reader.
Sometimes a writer manages to create characters that one just falls in love with. Ms Schwartz succeeds with creating characters that one would love to meet for real. The ability to do this is a rare gift. Some of these will stay with me for a long time.
I am a great fan of AS Byatt and Iris Murdoch and I found so many glimpses of them in this book. It is a story that touches one deeply while challenging one intellectually at the same time.
I will definitely seek out other books by this author. A highly recommend read!
Thank you to the person who loaned this e-book to me.
Sometimes a writer manages to create characters that one just falls in love with. Ms Schwartz succeeds with creating characters that one would love to meet for real. The ability to do this is a rare gift. Some of these will stay with me for a long time.
I am a great fan of AS Byatt and Iris Murdoch and I found so many glimpses of them in this book. It is a story that touches one deeply while challenging one intellectually at the same time.
I will definitely seek out other books by this author. A highly recommend read!
Thank you to the person who loaned this e-book to me.
October 27, 2011
So much for a well examined life, I feel as if I've over-examined these people. I will say that I was impressed by the writing here. The authors ability to tie all threads together, over 400 pretty dense pages is truly impressive. And although I kept wanting to bail, these characters are engaging and they kept drawing me back. But now that I am done, I am relieved and happy to leave them all behind.
November 24, 2018
I read this book for school and it was painful. The writing is undeniably good but most of the book was just references to philosophy and nothing actually happened in the plot of the story till about halfway into the book but by then I stopped caring and just wanted it to end. I'm surprised that this book got so many good reviews.
January 17, 2009
Had great hope for this book, but by the end of it I just wanted to shake the main characters - actually, I wanted to slap 'em silly. We read this for book group and I wasn't alone in my sentiment but more people liked this than not.
September 12, 2024
I came across this book in a closing-out sale of a used bookstore near me, and I’m so glad I picked it up. This is a philosophical book both abstractly, in the sense that Lydia and her friends discuss and debate theories in a dorm room after class and yet again as they enter middle-aged life, and concretely, in that these same philosophical treatises become practical ways for the characters to confront the vagaries and injustices of life and try to make meaning, or find peace in there not being any meaning to be found. My favorite piece of philosophy comes from Lydia’s butcher: “Well, what’re you going to do? Things happen.”
January 7, 2022
I enjoyed this beautifully written book. One comes to know the main character, Lydia Rowe, as you would a best friend; her strengths, her weakness and even her inner soul. Beginning with her college days, the story traces Lydia's studies and her developing questions about philosophy, marriage, motherhood, relationships and her career as a pianist. When the ultimate terror occurs in her life, we explore her inner voice as she attempts to deal with the circumstances.
January 9, 2025
This philosophical novel was a challenging read but ultimately worth it. The narrator wrestles with lifelong friendships - what does it take to sustain a relationship - and the death of two of her children. One line that grabbed me suggests that when we have lived life by the “rules” we feel we are entitled to society’s benefits, but none of us is entitled to anything. Because the rules are bogus.
March 28, 2018
Intellectual and sensual. I had trouble finishing this book because the main character loses two children in an accident. It was tough to read and as tough as grief always is to deal with. Glad I read it even though it was quite sad near the end.
December 16, 2020
This is a very erudite novel, a musician’s story with friendship, love, children, and tragedy. It was a reach for me at times, all that jejune discussion of philosophy in college, the nuances of music, motherhood. A tour de force, really.
May 15, 2018
Joan Boyd Recc. Had to stick it out midway through. Parts of it were 5 stars.
December 28, 2018
I was enchanted by this book. I had to go find The Trout CD and listen to it. The characters really captured my empathy.
October 22, 2020
I thought this was very good. Leaving Brooklyn remains my favorite book by Schwartz, but this is well done.
February 20, 2023
Ok I randomly picked this up at a used book store and I loved it. So nimble, so heartfelt, so musical. Gorgeous and I love the questions that are raised about the world.
July 8, 2023
Took me FOREVER to read, and I'm better for it but it also droned on. Don't know what to think.
April 12, 2013
I thought I would love this book based on reviews. Instead, I ended up with a love/hate reaction to it. The story is based on the narrator's life, in three parts, and includes side plots that include her friends from college and their continued relationships throughout adulthood, and later, the narrator's life as a mother and wife with her husband and children. The first portion is VERY heavily based on philosophy and psychology; it was "deep," and while I love learning new things, I got bored pretty quickly with all of the references, especially to philosophy.
However, as the novel moves forward, there is a completely unexpected, tragic twist. The twist changes everything: the story line, and even how the characters and how they react to their own lives and each other. The references to philosophy continue throughout.
Schwartz's language is beautiful and moving, but something about the novel, and I can't really put my finger on it, is just "too much." I think the way she moves back and forth and doesn't stay on a linear path is both excellent and intriguing, but can sometimes be confusing. The writing is quite good, but the story line is lacking for a novel.
This is one of those books you have to read straight through, over several days, rather than putting it down and picking it back up while reading other things (or maybe that's just me!).
I gave it four stars for the gorgeous language, originality, and all the research she must have had to do to include all of the references. Also, I think my vocabulary probably increased at least 25% from reading it! That's always an added bonus.
However, as the novel moves forward, there is a completely unexpected, tragic twist. The twist changes everything: the story line, and even how the characters and how they react to their own lives and each other. The references to philosophy continue throughout.
Schwartz's language is beautiful and moving, but something about the novel, and I can't really put my finger on it, is just "too much." I think the way she moves back and forth and doesn't stay on a linear path is both excellent and intriguing, but can sometimes be confusing. The writing is quite good, but the story line is lacking for a novel.
This is one of those books you have to read straight through, over several days, rather than putting it down and picking it back up while reading other things (or maybe that's just me!).
I gave it four stars for the gorgeous language, originality, and all the research she must have had to do to include all of the references. Also, I think my vocabulary probably increased at least 25% from reading it! That's always an added bonus.
July 14, 2013
3.5 actually. Read this book because someone told me it was her friend's favorite book ever....I liked it alot, though did not love.
Four women bond as life-long friends in a college philosophy class -- late 50's, early 60's. The philosophy runs throughout the book -- sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.
"The field" is life, really -- your hopes and dreams and needs and expectations. "The disturbances" are the "shit happens"....the events that intrude and change the course of things. The field is constantly being created and altered...
Felt almost like two books -- Part I -- The Beginning: the foundation, when you're young and how you thought it would play out. And then Part II -- The End: -- how things happened...
One of the philosophy pieces that resonated: "Everything has two handles, one by which it may be borne, the other by which it may not. If your brother sin against you, lay not hold of it by the handle of his injustice, for by that it may not be borne; but rather by this, that he is your brother, the comrade of your youth; and thus you will lay hold on it so that it may be borne." All about acceptance of what life brings you....
Four women bond as life-long friends in a college philosophy class -- late 50's, early 60's. The philosophy runs throughout the book -- sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.
"The field" is life, really -- your hopes and dreams and needs and expectations. "The disturbances" are the "shit happens"....the events that intrude and change the course of things. The field is constantly being created and altered...
Felt almost like two books -- Part I -- The Beginning: the foundation, when you're young and how you thought it would play out. And then Part II -- The End: -- how things happened...
One of the philosophy pieces that resonated: "Everything has two handles, one by which it may be borne, the other by which it may not. If your brother sin against you, lay not hold of it by the handle of his injustice, for by that it may not be borne; but rather by this, that he is your brother, the comrade of your youth; and thus you will lay hold on it so that it may be borne." All about acceptance of what life brings you....
January 23, 2013
A beautifully written, but disjointed and emotionally unsatisfying book about friendship, love, and loss. The author tracks the lives and relationships of four young women from their days in college into middle age. Despite the fact that each of the women suffers serious losses and disappointments in their family lives and careers, I never developed an emotional attachment to any of them. All the characters in this book, except the husband of the narrator, focused so much on intellectually reconciling events in their lives with what they'd learned in college philosophy that I stopped caring what happened or would happen to them. What I liked best in this book were the wonderful descriptions of the art and music worlds in New York City, the food, and a disgruntled fruit-seller.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews