The Condor Passes

by Shirley Ann Grau

Grau, Shirley Ann, Condor Passes, The

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Southern, Relationships, Audiobook

421 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 1971

About the author

Shirley Ann Grau (b. 1929) is a Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist of nine novels and short story collections, whose work is set primarily in her native South. Grau was raised in Alabama and Louisiana, and many of her novels document the broad social changes of the Deep South during the twentieth century, particularly as they affected African Americans. Grau’s first novel, The Hard Blue Sky (1958), about the descendants of European pioneers living on an island off the coast of Louisiana, established her as a master of vivid description, both for characters and locale, a style she maintained throughout her career. Her public profile rose during the civil rights movement, when her dynastic novel Keepers of the House (1964), which dealt with race relations in Alabama, earned her a Pulitzer Prize.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 5 out of 5]

ETA: Are you are looking at the edition of this book with the following one line book description?

"A very good look at the Banana Business in the international market from Central America to New Orleans."

This is incorrect. Check out the other editions' book descriptions. They are more accurate. The family's business begins with bootlegging and bordellos. Never does it touch upon the Banana Business.

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So now it’s done and I don't have much to add except that I was so glued to listening that I never even once checked out how much was left. And then it ended! How often do you read a book where you never, not once, look to see what remains?

The title - is based on a legend of a condor that carries gold in its feathers. This book is about a wealthy family. How was that wealth achieved and how would it be split when its founder died? And the ending - that will keep you thinking too; it refers back to the title!

This is an unconventional story, an unusual story that absorbs you right smack to the end.

OK, this is time for an exception. If there is another audiobook by this author that I can get my hands on I will purchase it NOW, immediately! And if possible I want the same narrator - Brian Holsopple. Southerners, blacks, whites, women and men, he does them all wonderfully, so you easily distinguish between who is speaking. Just bough tRoadwalkers. :0) Exciting, I found a new author I love. (But please see below –the book might not fit all readers.)

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I am not done yet, but here are my thoughts:

I REALLY am enjoying this. Given the subject matter and the horrible characters, I am kind of surprised at my reaction. Is it because the characters are completely true to themselves? A family where each one goes after what they themselves want. They live parallel lives, next to each other, but really each one is out on their own.

I wouldn't recommend this book for everyone......but it shouldn't fit me, and I think it is amazing. (This book is filled with immoral behavior.) I don't think these people are admirable, but they each are doing what that person would do. You understand each one's crazy focus. Each creates their own life according to their own way of being.

Rather than admiring the strength of each character, I think it is the ability of the author to create characters that seem so true to themselves that I like.

Excellent narration too. (Brian Holsopple) Superb!

I know now I can read a book about any topic given that it is written by this author. I have loved The Keepers of the House and The Hard Blue Sky.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna asked: “What’s a condor?”

“A big bird,” the Old Man said. “In the old days people used to carry gold dust in the feathers.”

“A golden bird,” Anna said slowly. “How nice.”

The Old Man shook his head. “A black bird. They used to fill the feathers with gold after he was dead.”

Sections of the novel are identified by the names of its main characters. The first two such sections are from the viewpoint of Stanley, a negro who has served the household in many ways for many years. At first he sounded like just the butler, but Stanley is also being taught to fly, so definitely more than a butler. We don't see Stanley again until the end. In between is the Old Man and his family. We learn how Oliver, aka the Old Man, has accumulated great wealth, most often in illegal and immoral ways. Is the quote above filled with too much symbolism? Is the Old Man the condor or is Stanley? Or both?

While reading, I sometimes wondered if those who demand to be shown rather than told would appreciate it. But perhaps I wasn't reading as carefully as I might because then I came to a section that appeared to be all telling. This was a character who buried his feelings. It brings tears just thinking about it.

I like Grau's writing. I would never have found or read this novel without having decided reading the Pulitzers for the novel/fiction were worth my while. I think this novel does not have the depth that I recall in her The Keepers of the House, but I freely admit I'm sorry it took so long to get to it. Her characterizations are more than I have any right to expect. There is little plot in this despite its covering 95 years. Still, things happen. And yes, we are told they happen rather than we are shown. We are told and then we see how they affect the characters.

There is a short biography of the author at the end. I learned that one of her early publications is a collection of stories, The Black Prince. I will happily add that to my wish list and probably others by Grau. This novel is another 5-stars.

[Kirk Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think of Shirley Ann Grau as an author that could go toe to toe with Walker Percy. As a female counterpart she could match him for skill, knowledge of the Delta region, and great style. While I love everything of hers I have read so far this wonderfully written family saga was a little too long for my taste. On the other hand this novel published in 1971 is just as fresh and as entertaining as something that could have been published yesterday. What a great author!

[Momanddad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Condor Passes is a great character study of how money can effect people for good and evil but mostly evil. The Author Shirley Ann Grau got the Pulitzer Prize for her novel the Keepers of the House in 1964. I had not heard of Ms. Grau or her books and this book was selected for book club. I really liked the book, but don't know if I would recommend it to others.I know there are people in my book club that will refuse to read this book, because they refused to read the Scharlet Letter.(was about the big "A"). This book has darker ideas- prostitution and bootlegging for profit and one of the main characters, Robert, has an insatiable desire for sex.
I liked the way Mrs. Grau was able to draw perfect pictures in my mind ..."Miss Hollisher emerged from her corner, gaining size and stature, the way a balloon does...."
This was a great family saga and timepiece of American history.

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt reading this book was a duty rather than a pleasure. It felt very old-fashioned to me, but I had heard of it and felt I should check it out.. It was only $1.99, so what did I have to lose? It held my interest, but the story of a multi-generational family in New Orleans didn't seem fresh or innovative to me. In fact the only character I was really interested in reading about was the black factotum.

This story may have been new and exciting in 1971, but it reads like warmed-over grits today. The writing is excellent, but the story is tired.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

not sure where the Goodreads description of bootlegging bananas came from, but anyway...
You don't find yourself caught up in this book till it's too late & you're slogging through the pluff mud in the Gulf, hoping not to get snake or gator bit. I love the different perspectives this book is told in, you can see each character as they see themselves... you wonder how they ever hide their flaws when they oh-so-prominently parade them about. New Orleans is the central driving force, where all manner of things are overlooked & glossed over by the almighty dollar.
you can read into this novel as much as you want or just take it at face value of a story of men born poor & clawing their way to the top through smart choices, while the two women born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth lack compassion.
I loved it, personally.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shirley Ann Grau does not write comfy, cozy stories. This one was dominated by a thoroughly unlikable family. Stanley, their black chauffeur, was the exception. All were controlled by the most unlikable of the lot, Thomas Henry Oliver, called "the old man" throughout the novel. It is the ultimate dysfunctional family.

Shirley Ann Grau is an excellent writer and I think that this is the least understandable of her books. Why tell this story? If I could answer that I would know whether it is 3 stars or 4! So I will give it 3 stars but admit the weakness may be mine, not the author's.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dynastic novel about a wealthy, corrupt New Orleans family. Lots of terrible people doing terrible things to one another. Rather loose plot- more a sprawling biographical text than a tightly-woven story. Still, very well-written and interesting. And the reader is excellent.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as other books by this author.

[Silvia Amalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

«Now, lying in her bed, he held one of his arms straight up into the air and looked at it. Sometimes it seemed to him that he wasn’t really connected to himself. The memories of the person he’d been didn’t seem possible. This arm now. He had a hard time believing that it belonged to him as a boy. The arm that had been with him forty years ago in the alleys of Singapore and the streets of Manila was sunburned and thick with light hair. This arm now—the one he held over his head—had white skin and dark hair. Like a photograph negative. Feelings went that way too. Things important to the boy, the man never thought about.»

[Lesley Korna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't think this book was going to work for me at the beginning but I hung in and ended up loving the multigenerational family saga. It really shows us how money is the root of all evil when pursued in this corrupt fashion but to what end one has to wonder. How Oliver was able to corrupt Robert so much is almost diabolical. I don't think that would happen the same way today, although there is still enough corruptness to go around, but being the times she was writing in, I think it is very plausible. Good read. Recommend.

[Debbie Shoulders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been published in 1971, this book was like an old friend. I used to read many generational stories. A slice of life, this is the story of "Old Man's" family with a rags-to-riches setting. A product of its times, the setting is New Orleans, and while Stanley represents the blacks who are an important part of this region's history, the story mostly ignores their influence. The family suffers from an inability to recognize and be involved in a passionate relationship, so love is more of an obligation, making for few meaningful connections and using most of their energy to make money.

[Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read other books by this author and this isn’t my favorite. The descriptions of New Orleans and surrounds are interesting but I had to force myself to finish the book. Not much happens….just a bunch of rich people misbehaving and being mean.

[AK Wintzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unusual. I didn’t care for it. The end was anti climatic….like they lost the last few pages.

[Chazzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorting through boxes of books to list on eBay, I came across this and thumbed through it. The writing style pulled you in and carried you along. It is not a book I would pick up by the cover blurbs, but I found that it kept my interest and made me want to read more.

The story is told from various character's stories and voices. Starting with Stanley, the family servant. "Me? What am I? Nothing. The legs on which dinner comes to the table, the arms by which cocktails enter the living room, the hands that drive cars. I am the eyes that see nothing, the ears that don't hear." But he does see and hear and also knows the history of the Oliver family.

Thomas Henry Oliver, the patriarch of the family and referred to as the Old Man, is dying. He has lived a long, varied and money-making life. He is well off and is leaving his family well off. He comes from rough beginnings and through strong will and determination he has made it.

The book tells of the Old Man's life; marriage, his two daughters, the young boy - Robert Caillet - he takes in as the son he never had. It also tells of the driving force of money and how it affects each member of this family. A family that was close and at the same time at odds with each other.

Each character has a voice that tells of their place in the family and how they inter-relate.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story of a family in New Orleans, told from the perspective of each of the members and their butler. It covers a span of 65 years from the start of the 20th century on. I enjoyed the writing but all of the characters were unlikable, except the butler. These people didn't have a lot of depth and totally immoral and self-absorbed. The author has written many novels about the South and her novel The Keepers of the House won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize.

[Robbi Leah Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her writing and description is perfect. The story and characters good. I think she could have been one of the greats but likes to leave the books with no tied up ending. I still enjoyed her books but am one who likes a good ending.

[Gerry Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[KayG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louisiana.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read years ago, does not stand up to time......had loved it first time around, described by some references.

[Joyce Adams · Rating 1 out of 5]

Beautifully written sad story about sad people. Not an empathetic sad but a miserable pathetically inadequate sad.