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Too Much Sun
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLTO1C/
OVER 250,000 copies sold! A timeless and touching coming of age classic
“The astonishing first novel about a runaway kid in Alaska”
“By Kerouac out of Salinger . . . The pioneer of a new post-Beatnik generation.” New York Herald Tribune
“Rowdy, wild and bawdy. Barry is as engaging as Holden Caulfield and as believable.” Book of the Month Club
“What a discovery! Lee Olds writes brilliantly, his empathy for his characters is much like Steinbeck, but the voice he gives them is closer to Salinger. With the reissue of his classic TOO MUCH SUN he will get the recognition he deserves.” Chris Child
Discover TOO MUCH SUN, the 60s best-selling classic by Lee Olds, the most interesting writer you’ve never heard of. This is the beautifully written tale of Barry Douglas who runs away from his stifling home and rich parents to live by his own means in the freedom and beauty of the wild frontier of Alaska.
He gets a tough job cutting brush at a remote mining camp and finds release from the grueling labor with sex, cold beer, and jazz. In the local town he meets Mary, a half Eskimo prostitute with whom he discovers both love and tragedy. This is the unputdownable novel of a young man coming to terms with himself and his world. A great read which will delight and surprise you.
Lee Olds is a pioneer of post-Beatnik writing whose provocative novels are finally being released for a new generation of readers.
OVER 250,000 copies sold! A timeless and touching coming of age classic
“The astonishing first novel about a runaway kid in Alaska”
“By Kerouac out of Salinger . . . The pioneer of a new post-Beatnik generation.” New York Herald Tribune
“Rowdy, wild and bawdy. Barry is as engaging as Holden Caulfield and as believable.” Book of the Month Club
“What a discovery! Lee Olds writes brilliantly, his empathy for his characters is much like Steinbeck, but the voice he gives them is closer to Salinger. With the reissue of his classic TOO MUCH SUN he will get the recognition he deserves.” Chris Child
Discover TOO MUCH SUN, the 60s best-selling classic by Lee Olds, the most interesting writer you’ve never heard of. This is the beautifully written tale of Barry Douglas who runs away from his stifling home and rich parents to live by his own means in the freedom and beauty of the wild frontier of Alaska.
He gets a tough job cutting brush at a remote mining camp and finds release from the grueling labor with sex, cold beer, and jazz. In the local town he meets Mary, a half Eskimo prostitute with whom he discovers both love and tragedy. This is the unputdownable novel of a young man coming to terms with himself and his world. A great read which will delight and surprise you.
Lee Olds is a pioneer of post-Beatnik writing whose provocative novels are finally being released for a new generation of readers.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1960
51 people are currently reading
348 people want to read
About the author
Lee Olds
13 books10 followersM.A, philosophy. Sports active, tennis, hiking, developing final world philosophy. Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin. Survival, risk. Writing fiction as life, regulated by what we call chance. Disseminating a life approach.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 28, 2016
I just didn't like it. Sounded just like the rantings of a 17 year old boy. Of course, that's what it was supposed to sound like, but who wants to listen to a spoiled, naive, rich, bragadious, drunk 17 year old boy! Why did I finish it? Well, there was a story line somewhere buried in all of the blah, blah, blah that made me want to find out what was going to happen. But the boy is just stupid and likes to hear himself talk. He will never make anything happen.
July 10, 2013
An astonishing novel full of timeless observations on human character, its strengths and frailness. Very close study of youth and the complexities of adulthood. Set in Alaska, we hear of the antics of youth and the reveries of old, a tale of wisdom and a tale of discovery.
May 13, 2014
A young man's monolog that rambles on and on...tedious. I was so over the teenage angst early in the novel. Several parts showed promise, but I just cannot recommend the book to my friends. Free on amazon when I downloaded it.
January 22, 2016
Written as a stream-of-conscious narrative of a teenage boy who is way too full of himeself. I'd stop reading the foolishness, but it is very convincing writing and I want to see where the author is going with this.
FINAL VERDICT: YUCK.
FINAL VERDICT: YUCK.
June 5, 2020
This just didn't do it for me. Very rambling. No real plot. Stuck with it because I kept seeing glimpses of it getting better, but then it would fizzle. Weird book altogether. I almost said "weird story," but there really wasn't a story. Just stream of consciousness thought throughout. Not my cup of tea! Sorry.
December 27, 2017
I survived my “two chapter” rule and gave up. I teach special education adolescents, and this book is what my students sound like; rambling, adhd, profanity, fetal alcohol syndrome victims. Get enough of it at work, don’t need to read it for downtime.
January 19, 2019
I started this book and found it simplistic, but the further I read the more I appreciated the character’s realistic depiction through his own observations. Worth the read, very profound in it’s illustration of how someone with limited life experience views the world.
August 11, 2014
I keep puzzling over the besotted New York Herald Tribune's reviewer who called Lee Olds "the pioneer of a new post-beatnik generation." What does that mean? Too Much Sun was published in 1960, so, yes, we are past the prime beatnik days of the 'Fifties. Also published in 1960 were To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell and a whole bunch of books that nobody would call post-anything.
The post-beatnik label is probably intended to indicate that Lee Olds has incorporated but also moved beyond beatnik writing. I dunno. I see a lot of Kerouac in the prose style, and I see rebellion from his upbringing, and a lot of heedless rushing into things and examining society from the underside. There's jazz and alcohol. Very beatnik. Or simply very young. Which can be good or bad, depending. There's excellent writing in here, scenes that touched me, passion, sensitivity. And also idiotic behavior, which is true to life.
First novels are often autobiographical. This one is about Barry, a kid who runs away from his rich family and lives down-and-out in Alaska. And then here's author Lee Olds describing his own life: “Grew up in mansion of rich parents, made honor roll plus athletic plaudits in prep school I detested and was asked to leave at year's end. Went to work, traveled to Alaska, Got B.A. from Cal Berkeley, M.A. in philosophy from SF State."
The novel ends with Barry the protagonist still in Alaska. If the book had continued -- if Barry had moved on to Cal Berkeley -- I would've had the feeling he'd learned something (as the author Lee Olds obviously did). Instead, I end with the feeling that our protagonist continues to be a confused and callow bastard looking for kicks.
The post-beatnik label is probably intended to indicate that Lee Olds has incorporated but also moved beyond beatnik writing. I dunno. I see a lot of Kerouac in the prose style, and I see rebellion from his upbringing, and a lot of heedless rushing into things and examining society from the underside. There's jazz and alcohol. Very beatnik. Or simply very young. Which can be good or bad, depending. There's excellent writing in here, scenes that touched me, passion, sensitivity. And also idiotic behavior, which is true to life.
First novels are often autobiographical. This one is about Barry, a kid who runs away from his rich family and lives down-and-out in Alaska. And then here's author Lee Olds describing his own life: “Grew up in mansion of rich parents, made honor roll plus athletic plaudits in prep school I detested and was asked to leave at year's end. Went to work, traveled to Alaska, Got B.A. from Cal Berkeley, M.A. in philosophy from SF State."
The novel ends with Barry the protagonist still in Alaska. If the book had continued -- if Barry had moved on to Cal Berkeley -- I would've had the feeling he'd learned something (as the author Lee Olds obviously did). Instead, I end with the feeling that our protagonist continues to be a confused and callow bastard looking for kicks.
February 15, 2014
Repetitive stream of consciousness novel about coming of age in Alaska. Parts were fun and so much like the way a kid thinks and feels, but repeated over and over. Protagonist was 17 and working in Alaska after leaving home and his wealthy parents and lived hard for a kid of that age. Out of his element and never seemed to learn life's lessons.
April 1, 2014
This rambling of a young man's mind was an interesting read. I cannot put my finger on why I enjoyed it. Perhaps it was the style in which it was written. It was one of the free books recommended to me via Book Bub.I am glad I took the time to read it. I think it will be one of those books that stays with me for some time.
September 22, 2014
Repetitive, you know that?
I stayed in waiting for the story to start...but there was only like the barest hint of a story. And for all the crazy babbling, I don't think Barry actually learned anything. I didn't learn anything either.
I stayed in waiting for the story to start...but there was only like the barest hint of a story. And for all the crazy babbling, I don't think Barry actually learned anything. I didn't learn anything either.
December 9, 2014
I didn't give this book much of a chance. The first chapter was a lot of repeated nothing with some foul language in about every sentence and a writing style that is either too outdated or I just don't like.
September 9, 2016
The main character reminds me of Holden Caulfield in Alaska. Sex, phonies, fighting, drinking, the future are on Barry's mind.
February 21, 2014
Catcher in the Rye in Alaska; somehow doesn't quite work. And that may say more about how Holden Caulfield plays when the reader is 60.
March 13, 2014
This is a coming of age novel as our protagonist leaves home after his senior year, goes to Alaska and makes choices to rebel against his parents.
March 27, 2014
It was rambly without much of a purpose, and I got tired of the cruel nicknames for different groups of people.
March 25, 2014
Boys wandering and growing up after WWII. Interesting and is definitely the way boys are.
October 4, 2015
Superb book! I was expecting a lot and it delivered. Full of acute observations and a study of youth that resonates. Up there with Kerouac for me.
March 18, 2014
Alright story, just really kind of boring.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews