A Garden of Earthly Delights

Wonderland Quartet #1

by Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates’s Wonderland Quartet comprises four remarkable novels that explore social class in America and the inner lives of young Americans. In A Garden of Earthly Delights, Oates presents one of her most memorable heroines, Clara Walpole, the beautiful daughter of Kentucky-born migrant farmworkers. Desperate to rise above her haphazard existence of violence and poverty, determined not to repeat her mother’s life, Clara struggles for independence by way of her relationships with four very different men: her father, a family man turned itinerant laborer, smoldering with resentment; the mysterious Lowry, who rescues Clara as a teenager and offers her the possibility of love; Revere, a wealthy landowner who provides Clara with stability; and Swan, Clara’s son, who bears the psychological and spiritual burden of his mother’s ambition.

A masterly work from a writer with “the uncanny ability to give us a cinemascopic vision of her America” (National Review), A Garden of Earthly Delights is the opening stanza in what would become one of the most powerful and engrossing story arcs in literature.

A Garden of Earthly Delights is the first novel in the Wonderland Quartet. The books that complete this acclaimed series, Expensive People, them, and Wonderland, are also available from the Modern Library.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Americana, American

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000), and her short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were each finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel Them (1969), two O. Henry Awards, the National Humanities Medal, and the Jerusalem Prize (2019).
Oates taught at Princeton University from 1978 to 2014, and is the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor Emerita in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing. From 2016 to 2020, she was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where she taught short fiction in the spring semesters. She now teaches at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
Oates was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.
Pseudonyms: Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly.

Reviews

[Larry Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was published in 1967 and is the first book of the Wonderland Quartet. That year I was a junior at the University of Michigan, married with a one year old son. I had recently avoided being drafted because I was a father. I worked almost full time at the Ann Arbor Post Office as an evening special delivery carrier. I would end up having an English major with only the slightest knowledge of Joyce Carol Oates who was 29 when A Garden of Earthly Delights was published.

In this book JCO writes about migrant workers picking beans, strawberries, tomatoes. They have numerous children, the men drink and fight, the women are subservient. They work in Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, New Jersey, following the harvest seasons. We follow the life of Clara closely. I especially enjoyed the fact that there were relatively few characters which helped my limited memory.

I read the original edition but JCO made some significant revisions (three-quarters of the book changed, I read) for the 2003 Modern Library edition that includes a lengthy Afterword by JCO. You can read that look into how JCO revised this book on the Amazon website at http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Earthly-... Go to the Table of Contents on the left of the page, scroll to the bottom and click on the item titled Afterword. She was motivated to do this substantial rewrite when the book was selected to be published in a Modern Library edition. She considered this a major landmark for the book; a revision was something she had considered for some time. A major rewrite of a book is a very large undertaking but JCO is known for a lifetime of continuous production.

This, speaking of The Wonderland Quartet, from Invisible Writer A Biography of Joyce Carol Oates:

This rich, kaleidoscopic suite of novels displays the young Joyce Carol Oates exercising her formidable artistic powers to portray a turbulent twentieth-century America. They offer the reader a singular opportunity to experience some of Oates's best writing and to witness her development, novel by novel, into one of our finest contemporary writers.

The copy of the book I am reading is a former library book. It has many due dates stamped on the pocket in the back of the book. The dates start in 1967 when the South Salem (NY) Library put this new book into circulation. Now the pages are softened by much use and possibly a higher rag (cotton) content in the ‘olden days’. It feels good to be reading the words that many people in the Salem area read decades ago. The last date is April 7, 2000 when it appears the library switched to a bar code scanning system. And now the book is part of my personal library where it joins quite a few other works of JCO. I seem to have a thing about her!

Clara is a complex character with a mixture of being controlled by men (her father, Carleton; Lowry} and controlling men (Revere). It is hard for me to keep it in my mind that she is just a child, a barely literate child at that. Just as she was being a mother to her younger siblings at a very early age, her experience of ever actually being a child was severely limited. Children having babies in the 1930s was not uncommon. For Clara the baby was the first thing in her life that was really hers. I think this sad motivation can be translated into the current era although teen birth rates have been declining in the US in recent decades. The concept of a “sugar daddy” plays out as Clara finds a way to manage her wants and needs at the age of sixteen.

This book has kept me interested throughout because it has involved several social/relationship issues that interest me. Migrant workers were in the forefront of the news when this book was published with Cesar Chavez leading the organizing effort of the United Farm Workers in California with major grape and lettuce boycotts. Lowry coming back unexpectedly strikes a chord with me as it brings up the emotional issue of a lost love reappearing with complicated results. And finally the last segment of the book comes on heavy with blended family issues, a matter with which I have considerable personal experience. My interest level with these and other matters kept me turning the pages and sorry when I had to interrupt my reading.

Before I read A Garden of Earthly Delights, I hadn’t read any Joyce Carol Oates in probably over a year although I have another nineteen unread books by her on my bookshelf. With A Garden being such an enjoyable read, I think I will take another one off the shelf quite soon. I am giving JCO four stars for this effort although there were moments when I was definitely having a five star experience. This is the best JCO book that I have read so far. I also have the 2003 substantially rewritten edition and am looking forward to comparing it with the original. I have never done that kind of comparison before but reading JCO’s Afterword about the rewriting process has made me want to make that effort.

[Julie Demar · Rating 3 out of 5]

In realtà un 3.5
Ma non fatevi ingannare, la scrittura della Oates è sempre fantastica (anche se le similitudini e la vicinanza con "La valle dell'Eden" sicuramente le hanno tolto dei punti, perché l'opera di Steinbeck è irraggiungibile)

Ma il continuo sballottamento di personaggi senza mai guardarsi indietro mi ha ferita ahahah
Oltre a togliermi interesse sul finale, visto che l'Epopea è antologica a quanto ho capito
La Oates l'ha completamente riscritto nel 2002, mi sarebbe piaciuta di più la versione originale? Chi lo sa

Sicuramente continuerò l'epopea visto che il giardino delle delizie è il più distaccato come stile dei 4

[Iulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plãcut, plãcut, plãcut :) De citit si de recitit. O carte pe care mã bucur cã o am în bibliotecã si care îmi dã un sentiment de bucurie cã este acolo, la locul ei, cã pot întinde mâna si suntem împreunã din nou.
Ințelegeți ce spun, nu-i aşa? :)

Revenind: Cartea nu e despre bogaţi şi săraci, aceasta este o formulă mult prea crudă ṣi chiar simplã de a descrie subiectul grãdinii plãcerilor lumeṣti, fiindcă, aşa cum descoperă Swan/Steven Walpole (*unul dintre personajele importante ale romanului de fațã), a avea, dar a nu fi înseamnă să-ţi fi pierdut sufletul.

[Dagio_maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comincia s’una strada dell’Arkansas questa storia ma avrebbe potuto ambientarsi in qualsiasi altro stato perché protagonista è una famiglia di raccoglitori agricoli.
Famiglie che vivono nei tempi moderni un nomadismo arcaico, ossia quello che segue le stagioni della campagna.
Il lavoro consiste nella vendita della proprie abilità:
gli adulti svendono la loro velocità e tempra mentre i figli sono utili strumenti per le piccole mani adatte ai piccoli frutti.



” Arkansas. Quel giorno di molti anni fa uno sferragliante furgone Ford con a bordo ventinove braccianti e i loro figli colpì di striscio un camion di qualcuno del posto che stava trasportando maiali a Little Rock su una statale di campagna viscida di pioggia. Era una giornata di fine maggio verde iridescente, il furgone Ford finì riverso su un fianco in un canale di scolo profondo tre piedi, e tutti quanti rimasero a vagare sulla strada sotto una pioggerellina nebulosa, tra i vetri rotti, il puzzo familiare della benzina e gli escrementi rovesciati dei maiali. Eppure, tra quelli che non si erano fatti male, il morale era piuttosto gioioso.
Carleton Walpole se ne sarebbe ricordato a lungo…”


Costretti ad aspettare il carro attrezzi si trovano sul ciglio della strada e proprio lì la moglie di Carleton Walpole, Pearl, darà alla luce Clara.

Il ritratto che J.C.O. fa dell’ambiente dei braccianti è vivido a tal punto che non ho potuto fare a meno di pensare a Zola.
Il linguaggio, i pensieri, le posture del corpo: niente sfugge a dipingere questo quadro realista.
E' la sottocultura di persone chiuse in un presente stagnante.
Razzismo e misoginia sbandierati come orgogliosi punti di forza mentre evidentemente sono i frutti marci di un’umanità consumata dalle proprie debolezze e paure.
Donne che sono prese negli anni migliori e poi si consumano nelle continue gravidanze.
Infanzie inesistenti e riconosciute solo come ulteriori strumenti di lavoro.
Continue violenze verbali e fisiche.

Tre capitoli che hanno per titolo il nome di tre protagonisti maschili che non si conoscono ma che a loro insaputa sono legati da una donna: Clara, di una bellezza mozzafiato e con un potere nascosto che porta gli uomini a volerla proteggere a tutti i costi.
Tre uomini a cui Clara si aggrapperà per non essere più “feccia bianca” ma riuscire a mettere piede nel “giardino”.

Ma siamo sicuri che quelle che apparivano come delizie non risultino poi essere frutti aspri?
Quando lo si assaggia che sapore ha il sogno americano?



” Clara aveva convinto Revere a comperare quella bandiera. Gli aveva detto che era orgogliosa di essere americana, e lui non la voleva forse una bandiera? Quindi ne comperarono una e si comportarono da americani.”

[Nood-Lesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sindrome della vedova: «La gente vive e la gente muore. E non si va avanti.»

Ogni parte del libro ha come titolo nome d’uomo ma anima di donna. La narrazione è condotta dalle speranze e dai sogni delle donne che subiscono gli uomini dai quali dipendono. Le parti sono tre: la prima intitolata Carleton, è ambientata in America a ridosso della grande depressione, un Furore in tono minore, Carlton non è Tom Joad e la Oates non è Steinbeck. Lowry è il titolo della seconda parte, un nome del genere mi ha ricondotto a Malcom, lo scrittore, ma non c’è nessuna attinenza, il protagonista è raccontato nel decennio che va dagli anni ’30 ai ’40. L’ultimo protagonista è Swan è anche qui, ovviamente, il pensiero corre ad uno scrittore preciso (nonostante la N in meno). Swan è il figlio di Lowry che a sua volta è il genero di Carlton, il filo che unisce i tre personaggi è Clara; madre del primo, amante del secondo, figlia del terzo.
Il pezzo forte del libro è la postfazione, scritta dall’autrice nel 2002. In essa si scopre che questa è l’opera di una scrittrice acerba e ambiziosa, che nel nuovo millennio ha fatto un atto di umiltà e riscritto da capo intere parti del romanzo prima che andasse nuovamente in stampa. Nella postfazione JCO scrive

Il giardino delle delizie è un ritratto totalmente realistico di quel mondo, eppure non è tanto un romanzo sulle vittime, ma più sui modi in cui gli individui si definiscono e si modificano per diventare «americani» – decisamente non vittime, cioè. Il giardino delle delizie è stato immaginato come il primo volume di una trilogia informale di romanzi dedicati alle classi sociali più diverse, focalizzata sui giovani americani alle prese con il proprio destino.

Ho esitato prima di mettere in lettura questo romanzo, un po’ per la mole, un po’ perché quando si tratta di JCO si può pescare indifferentemente un luccio o una vecchia scarpa limacciosa. L’Epopea Americana, l’ho appena scoperto, non sarà la storia di un’unica famiglia. Nonostante la rielaborazione, in questo primo libro, si continua a sentire l’asprezza di un frutto colto prima che arrivasse a maturazione. La JCO di “Una famiglia americana”, trent’anni più tardi, è un’altra scrittrice capace di un’analisi molto più approfondita dei personaggi, svincolata dalla narrazione al femminile, fin troppo sicura dei propri mezzi e dunque ahimè, più prolissa.
Che fare con gli altri libri dell’epopea? (sono quattro e non tre) La mia è la sindrome del vedevo (forse sarebbe più corretto “della vedova”), morto Harry Angstrom stavo cercando qualcuno che mi tenesse compagnia per un migliaio di pagine, credevo di trovarlo in questa epopea, invece ho trovato altro, ho trovato un corollario di personaggi utili al progetto che JCO così sintetizza:

Mi galvanizzavo nel credere che la scrittura di un romanzo dovesse essere più di un fatto puramente privato, domestico, o addirittura – contrariamente al regnante imperativo nabokoviano del giorno – apolitico ed estetico; volevo che i miei romanzi fossero ritratti realistici di individui unici in sé e per sé, ma comunque rappresentativi di molti altri all’interno delle loro generazioni e classi sociali.

Proseguirò con la lettura, poi, finita la Oates, in crisi d’astinenza, magari arriverò a fumarmi la Ferrante

[Kansas · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2025...

“Mira, mi propia experiencia me dice que nada cambia en esencia, en nuestras almas. Solo envejecemos, y nuestras almas se agotan. Ahora sé mucho más de lo que sabía hace años, pero no he aprendido nada esencial; poseo más información, más datos, solo eso. Tengo más dinero también. Pero no soy más sabio. No sé, me parece que la naturaleza solo corre en una dirección, como un reloj de arena. En la mayoría de los casos, casi todo se ha logrado ya, no podemos inventar, no podemos descubrir, no podemos crear. Solo podemos imitar, solo eso, y podemos fracasar.”


"Un jardín de placeres terrenales" fue la segunda novela en la carrera de JCO y cuenta en su postfacio que la escribió entre 1965 y 1966 y publicada en 1967. Con motivo de su republicación en 2002 para la colección Modern Library, no terminaba de estar totalmente satisfecha con las voces narrativas así que comenzó a reescribir partes, tanto que acabó reescribiendo tres cuartas partes de la novela. Un jardin de placeres terrenales formará parte de su Wonderland Quartet en el que se marcó como proyecto una serie de cuatro libros en torno a la exploración de las clases sociales en Estados Unidos y la vida interior de los jóvenes americanos. La verdad es que cuando comencé a esta novela no pensé nunca que fuera a encontrarme con un texto tan potente y subyugador, y lo digo por ser una obra tan temprana, pero claro, entonces no sabía que JCO la había reescrito siendo más sabia y con más bagaje en la vida. Cuenta también la autora que esta novela está firmemente relacionada con su vida, con las experiencias que vivió de niña en una comunidad de campesinos con apuros económicos situada en el oeste del estado de Nueva York entre los años 30 y 50 y de alguna forma divaga con el hecho de que ella podría haberse convertido en otra Clara, pero que a ella la salvaron los libros y esa edición que le regaló su abuela de "Alicia en el Pais de las Maravillas", uno de los motivos principales por los que este proyecto lo titularía el Wonderland Quartet. La misma Oates crea un personaje, Swan, el hijo de Clara, con el que ella misma se identifica, un niño lector que crece en un mundo donde los libros carecían de valor y por elección propia acabará repudiando su vida imaginativa, contrariamente lo que le pasó a la niña Joyce, a la que salvó su imaginación. Es por esto que esta novela se nota tan sincera, tan cercana, porque vemos que la autora se deja la piel en ella: “Mi intención no es narrar sus historias, sino permitir que el lector las experimente íntimamente, desde dentro. No hay pasajes en primera persona ni experimentos formales, los Walpole sin embargo hablan más; estamos más a menudo dentro de sus cabezas”.


“-¿Qué va a ser de ti?

- ¿Cómo?- dijo Clara alegremente

-¿Qué va a ser de ti? ¿De ti?”


JCO se influye en personajes de su familia, de comunidades inmigrantes que iban de paso según las estaciones del año para la recolección, en sus abuelos, en el clima que se respiraba en Estados Unidos tras la Gran Depresión: “La Depresión le hizo a Clara pensar en un cielo horrible de nubes borrascosas, de un color amoratado.” Es difícil poder expresar lo que ha supuesto leer Un jardín de placeres terrenales por lo mucho que me ha hecho involucrarme, una novela que ahora encuadro entre lo mejor de su obra, sobre todo porque resulta un impacto ahora cuando vuelvo la vista atrás a las primeras páginas en las que la autora nos presenta a Clara Walpole, una niña durante la Gran Depresión, y recuerdas ese viaje de Clara hasta que JCO la sitúa en la página final, toda una vida. La Clara niña, Clara Walpole, reconvertida en Clara Revere, y abjurando para siempre del apellido de su padre porque la retrotraía a un pasado, no solo que quería olvidar, sino del acabó huyendo con 15 años.


"- ¿Cómo te llamas’

- Clara.

- ¿Clara qué?

- Solo Clara, no tengo apellido.

Deseó tener otro nombre para ocultar este, para sustituirlo, pero no tenía ninguno. Su madre siempre decía entre risas que ella no tenía apellido, era un secreto…”



Aunque la novela está claramente dividida en tres secciones, cada una de ellas llevando el nombre de uno de los hombres en la vida de Clara: Carleton (su padre), Lowry (un amor imposible) y Swan (su hijo), es en la primera sección donde imagino que la autora vuelca las experiencias que vivió en su infancia con la atmósfera la Gran Depresión. Clara Walpole nacida en el seno de una familia humilde que tuvo que emigrar durante la Gran Depresión, itinerantes en busca de trabajo, viviendo en chabolas, siendo juzgados, malviviendo, en la que la expresión “escoria blanca” marcará la infancia de Clara, acaba resultando una sección en la novela que describe perfectamente las condiciones de vida de una clase social que fueron agricultores y granjeros y se encontraron sin nada de la noche a la mañana obligados a recorrer el país en busca de trabajo. El sueño americano que toca fondo y que Clara Walpole revertirá en su favor a lo largo de una vida. Joyce Carol Oates describe tan bien esa infancia hasta que huye, esa percepción de que eran escoria blanca, que no ha podido por menos que conmoverme porque consigue inculcar a estos momentos de la infancia de Clara de una huella imborrable, momentos que se quedarán grabados en su memoria para siempre y que la convertirán en la mujer que luego sería: “Recordaría ese momento durante toda su vida, pensó; los coloridos juguetes, sus sudorosos dedos agarrando los diez centavos, la lástima que mostraba la dependienta, el desprecio de Rosalie…” Momentos que vivirá la niña Clara y que la harán avanzar. Y en esta primera sección que llevará el nombre de su padre, Carleton, un personaje atormentado, con sus luces y sus sombras, pero atrapado en una vida sin salida de la que es testigo su hija, es quizás donde la Oates se luce más. Carleton Walpole, será un hombre fundamental en la vida de Clara y sin embargo, acabará huyendo.


“Mi padre… Clara pensó lo que iba a decir, quería decir algo pero sabía que era mejor no hacerlo: que su padre a veces no dormía por la noche, sino que a trompicones salía a la calle a pasear y a fumar, él solo. Entonces cuando la despertaba de madrugada, porque se tropezaba con ella o con sus hermanos hasta que alcanzaba la salida, era como un extraño. Nunca decía ni una palabra.”


Clara Walpole resulta una de las protagonistas femeninas más memorables en la prolífica obra de JCO entre otras cosas porque no es una mujer perfecta, su necesidad de salir de una vida de pobreza la hará tomar el control de su vida aunque en muchos momentos no crea en ello, sin embargo, su necesidad de huir de la infancia la hará levantar un muro entre ella y el mundo, y será consciente de que para realizar su objetivo tiene que agarrarse a los demás, aprender de ellos: "A veces, de repente, irrumpía en ella una sensación de vacío, algo vertiginoso, demasiado intenso para soportarlo; como en esos sueños donde corres, corres y corres, pero ¿hacia dónde? O despierta, cuando te restriegas los ojos y ves cosas que las demás personas no ven o no quieren ver." Fue una época ademas en la que muchos hombres seguían siendo moral y legalmente inocentes aun cuando maltrataban a sus mujeres y a sus familias, el acoso sexual, el abuso y la violación podían ser habituales en un mundo en el que el entorno hacia la vista gorda, pero sin embargo la terminología para definir esta violencia sobre la mujer no estaba demarcada y rara vez se denunciaba, pero JCO insiste cuando habla de esta novela que no es una novela sobre victimas sino que lo que intenta retratar es como se definen los individuos a través de sus experiencias y se hacen americanos.


“Nunca he sido capaz de entender los lazos entre las otras personas. Me refiero a lazos invisibles. Lazos que les atan pase lo que pase, como ser arrastrados y empujados por la marea a la arena de la playa, una y otra vez, siempre juntos.

Me gustaría tener todas mis pertenencias en una bolsa y llevarlas siempre conmigo. No quiero cosas que me aten. Si tengo muchas cosas, como tenía mi padre, se cruzarán en mi camino y no veré con claridad. Una vez que posees cosas tienes que tenerles miedo. Miedo de perderlas."


La segunda sección de la novela llevará el nombre de otro hombre, Lowry, y ya digo que aunque esta secciones estén demarcadas con un nombre masculino, realmente el personaje guía es una mujer pero JCO de alguna forma necesita reafirmar el hecho que gracias a estos hombres la vida de una mujer, Clara, cambió porque era imposible desmarcarse del hecho de la claustrofóbica sociedad patriarcal en la que una mujer por sí sola no era nadie. Clara acaba huyendo, no tanto de Carleton, que era un padre al que comprendía y adoraba, sino de la vida a la que estaba condenada a vivir si continuaba allí, así que cuando se cruza en su vida Lowry, huye con él. Lowry será el amor de su vida porque entre otras cosas la ayudará a perder el miedo, le proporcionará las herramientas necesarias para que con apenas 15 años pueda independizarse. Esta segunda sección es un pasaje colosal también en el sentido de que hay mucho de aprendizaje de vida por parte de la adolescente Clara, no solo abjurará de su apellido sino que además será consciente de que el amor no le asegurará una vida de felicidad. Lowry es un hombre que le abre horizontes a una nueva vida, le enseña a descubrir que puede mantenerse y vivir sola, y esta independencia le proporciona una repentina felicidad: ha erradicado el apellido Walpole de su vida. "Somos parecidos tú y yo, salvo que yo fui a muchos lugares para intentar averiguar cosas, mientras que tú te asentaste y recibiste todo lo que querías." Sin embargo, Clara será consciente de que Lowry es un hombre atormentado por quizás las mismas circunstancias familiares que vivió ella, pero lo que los diferencia es que ella necesita estabilidad y él aunque igual que ella huye de ese pasado, la huida de Lowry es continua, sin descanso. "No es solo que seas demasiado pequeña sino que lo que quiero es... una voz. Quiero una mujer que me hable de modo diferente, que me diga cosas que no sé y quedarme asombrado al oírla. La reconoceré en cuanto la escuche." Lowry, eternamente insatisfecho aparecerá y desaparecerá de la vida de Clara, entre otras cosas porque conectan y quiere asegurarse de que ella sigue bien, pero realmente este amor que siente por Lowry la hará vivir una especie de crisis personal los 17 años porque es claramente consciente de que aunque Lowry es un hombre que la ha hecho perder el miedo frente a la vida, ella necesita avanzar: “Tenía que seguir adelante. Durante el resto de su vida sería capaz de decir: Hoy cambié el curso que iba a llevar mi vida y no fue un accidente. Ningún accidente…"


“Que significaba que Clara había sido seleccionada de entre el paisaje visible, y quizá también del paisaje invisible, algo que se reservaba solo para él. El vio en el rostro de ella una cara que ni la misma Clara podía ver, y ella sintió una momentánea fuerza confusa, breve como un relámpago.”


Joyce Carol Oates decide que esta novela sea la primera de su Cuarteto Wonderland, una alusión indirecta a todas las referencias que imprimió Lewis Carroll en su Alicia: la mezcla de lo real y el mundo interior convirtiendo muchos hechos reales en surealistas, la sensación de que la cotidianeidad, la vida real se convierte en una pesadilla, la comparación de esta Clara con Alicia con su crisis de identidad cuando con apenas quince años se encuentra sola ante un mundo que la desprecia por sus origenes, convierten a Clara Walpole en una mujer que se reinventará continuamente porque la Alicia de Carroll se verá sumergida en un mundo caótico perdiendo el orden de su vida, y la Clara de JCO vivia en un mundo caótico que necesitaba desesperadamente ordenar a su medida, en este aspecto el jardín asalvajado que Clara tendrá en su casa será una metáfora de esta desesperación por protegerse no solo del mundo exterior sino de intentar controlarlo, como si todavía después de años, siguiera huyendo de esa expresión que escuchaba una y otra vez durante su infancia, escoria blanca. En la última sección que llevará el nombre su hijo, Swan, veremos a una Clara ya adulta, madre y esposa que ha conseguido esta estabilidad económica y que sin embargo, muchas de las deudas emocionales del pasado irán revirtiendo en su hijo Swan, un personaje clave para entender a Clara. La última sección dedicada a su hijo Swan, es arrolladora porque veremos a Clara a través de Swan.


"En ocasiones Swan podía ver en los ojos de su madre la mirada desesperada y brillante de una criatura desesperada."


Clara Walpole es un personaje que me ha fascinado e impactado de la misma manera, se reinventa continuamente, y Joyce Carol Oates ha creado en ella una mujer llena de matices. Es sorprendente lo camaleónica que es esta autora, como se mimetiza con sus personajes creando un lenguaje crudo y en momentos malsonante en labios de una mujer que nunca pudo deshacerse del todo de su pasado: “Mis primeros editores en Vanguard Press, se sintieron ofendidos por las obscenidades constantes y lo crudo del lenguaje de los personajes, se quejaban sobre todo del habla de Clara. Ya que, incluso de niña, su forma de expresarse puede ser muy cruda. Sin embargo, para mí, ese lenguaje era casi un lugar común; no tanto en casa como en la calle, donde se lo escuchaba a los adultos y a los adolescentes. Es curioso reconocerlo, pero el lenguaje crudo de mis personajes ficticios despierta en mí la nostalgia...” Clara se autoinventa cuando llega el personaje de Lowry a su vida, una persona de paso pero que la influyó y la hizo perder el miedo. Clara elige la ficción para interactuar con el nuevo entorno, se desprende de su historia personal y se convierte en Clara a secas, y más tarde en Clare Revere. Una novela clave para entender a Joyce Carol Oates sobre todo por cómo se mueve en el mundo interior de sus personajes. Clara Walpole es desde ya un personaje femenino esencial en la obra de JCO , con sus luces y sus sombras, pero resulta una experiencia inolvidable conocerla desde que es una niña hasta en su edad más adulta. Una de las novelas imprescindibles de JCO. Joya.


“Los ríos van así – explicó Lowry a la vez que trazaba una raya con un palo. - Primero van en linea recta, así; fluyen a toda prisa. Luego van más lentos y se mueven como una serpiente. Recogen suciedad y porquería al girar y van más lentos. Así serpentean más. Serpentean, más grandes y más gordos hasta que pasa esto – y la sorprendió cuando dibujó una linea recta por el centro de las curvas y clavó el palo en la superficie polvorienta con fuerza, para mostrar otra vez el primer rio: la linea recta.”

♫♫♫ She's Always a Woman - Billy Joel ♫♫♫

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Garden of Earthly Delights by Joyce Carol Oates is a 2009 Random House publication.

At some point in time, I acquired a paperback copy of ‘Expensive People’ the second book in the ‘Wonderland Quartet’. It has been sitting on my shelves for several years, but recently I have been craving something different, so I took this book down, planning to read it immediately, only to discover it was part of a quartet of books, and although no one has said it was absolutely necessary to read the books in order, to be on the safe side, I went in search of ‘A Garden of Earthly Delights’, and was relieved to discover my library had a copy.

For those unfamiliar with this critically acclaimed novel, it was originally published in 1966/67, and the author was only in her mid-twenties, at that time! Joyce Carol Oates, is a prolific writer, but her novels can take a little getting used to. Over time, I have come to enjoy her novels more than when I was younger, since I'm not a huge fan of heavy literature. But, JCO has some books that have a Gothic tones to them, which is what drew me to her work in the first place, but this author is also known to have a wicked sense of humor, too.



This book, however, may not be for everyone, and the younger audiences may find the characters and their backgrounds too harsh and may have a hard time relating, or coping with the author’s prose.

But, for me, I have found this author’s style of writing to be incredibly absorbing, if not shocking on occasion. The era of time and the situations described here are probably more accurate than people wish to think, or believe, especially in a time when people prefer a total rewrite of history, avoiding anything difficult, offensive, or distasteful.

The work camps during the depression were beyond harsh, the work hard, with families living in incomprehensible conditions. From such an environment, Clara was born and raised. Her father was a rough,drinking man, but he always showed Clara a certain favoritism. However, he turns on her one fateful day and hits her, causing her to run away.

It’s during this second and third part of the book that the characterizations really took shape and the story took hold of me. I can’t say I loved how it all ended up, and it is my understanding this book has undergone a major rewrite, so I can only give you my opinion of the updated version.

Clara’s character grows in leaps and bounds, takes on many different forms and it was utterly fascinating to watch the transformation, although she still remained an enigma. Oates gives up a bird’s eye view of life, its hardships, triumphs, and tragedies. We see Clara develop from childhood, to young adult, to parenthood, to a woman totally exhausted by life. But, I did feel that she paved a way for herself, she made a life that was better than her stark beginnings could have predicted, became a strong woman, despite errors in judgment and the uncontrollable events life throws in her path.

This book is surely considered a literary classic, and although, it’s not exactly an uplifting, feel good story, and really is pretty heavy reading, I am glad I took the time to read it.

4 stars

[Gabril · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'epopea americana ripercorre gli anni 40 e 50, comincia in Arkansas e finisce nello stato di NewYork; coinvolge tre generazioni e i capitoli da cui è composto questo primo libro sono dedicati ai rappresentanti di ciascuna: Carleton Walpole, sua figlia Clara, e Swan, il figlio di lei.
Oates lo scrisse ancora giovanissima (ora rivisto e corretto), ripercorrendo a tratti la vita dei suoi genitori e dei braccianti raccoglitori che negli anni 40 si spostavano su scalcinati bus per andare a lavorare i campi a seconda della necessità. E quindi: polvere, insetti, baracche, sporcizia, abbrutimento, violenza.
Il giardino delle delizie ha la struttura e l'andamento di un romanzo classico, totalmente realistico, e cerca di descrivere e comprendere non tanto le cosiddette vittime (Verga li avrebbe chiamati i Vinti), ma, secondo le parole della stessa Oates, di riflettere "sui modi in cui gli individui si definiscono e si modificano per diventare 'americani', decisamente non vittime, cioè."
Il metodo della Oates è di ripercorrere la parabola esistenziale dei suoi tre personaggi dall'interno, guardando la realtà dal loro punto di vista, ma allo stesso tempo prestando la dovuta attenzione a disegnare gli ambienti umani e i contorni sociali entro cui il destino dei protagonisti si dispiega, esprimendone l'inevitabilità, in un modo che ricorda molto il Naturalismo francese e che sembra essere la versione contemporanea del progetto ideale e ideologico che sottende il ciclo dei Rougon-Macquart.
Certo, qui siamo al cospetto del romanzo novecentesco e le acrobazie narrative, le sospensioni e le ellissi presenti in molte zone del racconto lo testimoniano. Una grande Oates, dunque, anche se ciò che andiamo a leggere, al contrario di quel che troviamo in Haruf e Williams ha ben poco di emotivo e quasi nulla di positivo.

[Mihaela Vasilica Dochița · Rating 5 out of 5]

La inceput nu m-am putut conecta deloc cu ea ... ma gandeam ca o voi abandona, ca nu e pentru mine ... treceau zile fara sa citesc deloc din ea, dar apoi ... ceea ce am crezut ca voi abandona, a devenit ceva ce regret ca s-a terminat . Joyce Carol Oates a creat o lume in care mi-a placut sa fiu . O lume care mi-a adus uneori aminte de John Steinbeck si de D. H. Lawrence ... Mi-a placut mult .

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting book but I can't say I enjoyed reading it. the first half was better than the last half. the overall story was so depressing. You just felt so bad for these people and their sordid lives. I was a little disappointed with her writing, at times she just goes on and on and is hard to follow. Too wordy, I never thought I would say that about JCO but...... I will take a JCO vacation for awhile.

[Debby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joyce Carol Oates originally wrote this book in 1965. In 2002, she decided to rewrite the book and give a greater voice and depth to the main characters in the book without changing the overall story or the characters. She ended up rewriting 3/4 of the book. I don't know what the original book was like, but this edition is fantastic.

This is the story of Clara, the young, beautiful daughter of migrant farmworkers, who is determined to get out of this nomadic life of violence, poverty and prejudice. Throughout her life, as Clara strives for independence, significance and security, she relies on four different men: Carlton, her father, who has dreams that have died and he is full of bitterness and resentment; Lowry, the man Clara loves and whom she chooses as her “way out”: Revere, the married ma who loves Clara and who will take care of her and give her whatever she wants; and Swan her son (whose paternity is a mystery to all but Clara), whose life and very identity is over-shadowed by, weighted down by and lost in Clara and her needs. Clara’s need for each of these men and the place they have in her life and the hold she has on them is the life of this book.

Joyce Carol Oates has created a heroine like none other in Clara! If Clara played herself on screen, she’d be an Oscar award winner, hands down! At times I could identify with her, especially in her teen years; her search for identity and deep need to feel loved; “to matter” to someone. At other times, I found her to be so incredibly narcissistic, manipulative and controlling that I was repulsed by her. What an incredible character, but oh the chaos and destruction she leaves in her wake.

A Garden of Earthly Delights is a “heavy” read. The book is divided into parts; one for each of the men. Clara’s life is viewed through the lens of each of the men and their role in her destiny. This story and the character of Clara are testimonies of the gifted writing of Joyce Carol Oates. I highly recommend reading this book, which is hte first book on a trilogy. A Garden of Earthly Delights is followed by Expensive People and the third book is Them.

I haven't read much by Oates, but I definitely have gotten a taste for more!!

[Diletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I legami che annunciano la disfatta e taglienti scenari metaforici.
Ecco di cosa è fatto questo primo volume dell'Epopea americana della Oates. Il sogno americano che si sgretola in una città piccola, e prima ancora nei campi dove lavorano i braccianti, si sgretola in una maniera evocativa, in un modo così brillante da far male agli occhi.

[Kaylia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every now and then I read a book and while reading it I think “Now, this, this is literature.” I am then usually filled with a conflict of emotions. On the one hand I am humbled and amazed and think that there is no way I will ever be able to write something like this. On the other hand I am giddy with delight and grateful that my eyes continue to allow me read things like this. Such is the case of Joyce Carol Oates’ A Garden of Earthly Delights.

Now, Oates is a bit of an acquired taste… her prose is very often thick and her descriptions are both accurate and horrible. When a character in an Oates novel or short story feels pain or discomfort, so dose the reader. She writes with a style that is meant to be sipped, to be taken in slowly and savored.

There is substance and heaviness behind her prose… and I, for one, am a fan.

A Garden of Earthly Delights tells the story of Clara who is born into a family of migrant farmers and moves up the ladder of society. She uses her wits, she uses her body, she uses every tool at her disposal… and she is at once heartbreakingly sympathetic and woefully unlikable. It is a combination that mirrors the society and people who make up her context; a backdrop of the American people themselves.

“I guess I like it.” Clara said shyly.
“Look at the others”
The old man pulled out another tray. Clara’s heart beat in confusion and alarm at everything she had to see, touch, think about. Her first instinct was to take the first thing and have done with all this awkwardness, all this pain…. The stones sparkled at her and their settings were intricate and beautiful, gifts from another world that she had no right to and she was stealing from, those that really deserved them – not girls like herself but women who were really married, who were not choked with shame in a doctor’s office…. There was an ugly roaring in her ears. She would ne able to wear on one finger something worth more money than her father had ever had at once, … and it was all coming about with no one showing any surprise except herself.

Clara is every awkward girl, every manipulating woman, every proud and defiant mother, every lovesick teenager, every migrant worker, and every socialite with fading beauty. She epitomizes one who attains the “American dream” but is never really fulfilled.

I read a tagline for a movie not that long ago… I didn’t really “get” it at first and I don’t really think it fit the move, but I do think it fits Clara and Oate’s award winning novel.

They dream without faith.

I highly recommend this book. If I were a English teacher, I would assign this book. As it is, I am looking forward to reading the next Oates book in her Wonderland Quartet; Expensive People. I will of course let you all know what I thought of it once I do.

[Rocío G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favourite novel I've read this year, especially the first half. Oates' prose is remarkable in painting an expansive yet particular picture of mid-century rural America. She brings the Walpoles to life with astonishing force and clarity.

The novel ostentively centers around Clara Walpole in particular, as each section is named after pivotal men in her life: Carleton, her father, Lowry, her rescuer and would-be lover, and Swan, her son. I liked Carleton's chapters in particular: an unflinching look at the life of a family of migrant farm workers, traveling from place to place, during the worst of the Great Depression. Oates refuses to romanticize life at the lowest rung of society,where people live on the edge of violence and where clinging to humanity seems almost an impossible task.

As Clara claws her way into "better lives" the tone and scope of the novel change in fascinating ways. Depressingly enough, there seems to be no "better way", as each of the Walpoles-Carleton, Clara, Swan- seem as bereft of choice, as imprisoned by circumstance, as motivated by violent desperation, despite the marked change of their material circumstances.

[Mariano Hortal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Publicado en http://lecturaylocura.com/un-jardin-d...

“Un jardín de placeres terrenales” de Joyce Carol Oates. La génesis de una gran escritora

Cuando empecé con “Un jardín de placeres terrenales” no me fijé demasiado en el título ni en la portada del libro; para nada, mi referencia era la escritora, Joyce Carol Oates, a quien conocía bastante bien; lo segundo que tenía en cuenta era empezar a conocer desde sus inicios a la norteamericana con todos sus libros incluidos en Mi proyecto literario (que si habéis comprobado, lo he alargado un año más, con tanto libro es imposible llegar a leerlos todos en tres años).
Al ser un libro extenso, y llevarlo encima varios días, varias personas me comentaron algo de lo que no era consciente: lo posiblemente “rosa” , reforzado, además, por la portada glamurosa; y claro, el comentario unánime era que no me pegaba; lo curioso es que lo acaba de leer este párrafo cargado de violencia:
“Notó cómo la hoja fina y afilada le atravesaba la ropa, la rasgaba, la levantaba, la hundía, y Rafe seguía sin soltarle. Rafe trató de agarrarse a él, cogió aire, emitiendo un sonido lánguido de estremecimiento y Carleton empezó a sollozar intentando liberarse, ahora le rajó con la cuchilla resbaladiza en la parte de atrás del cuello de Rafe, donde la carne es tierna, donde su propia carne ardía y latía por un sarpullido extraño de la piel y Rafe le agarró de la cabeza con las dos manos, con los pulgares en los ojos queriendo arrancárselos, y ahora era Carleton el que aullaba “¡Para,para!” y la hoja de la navaja se sumergió, dando de nuevo en el hueso y lo atravesó, lo hundió; le apuñaló, sin encontrar ahora resistencia alguna en el grueso del hombre, que cayó, inclinado hacia atrás de modo que parecía que Carleton pudiera estar golpeando a su amigo con tan solo una mano, con el puño, en un gesto de afectuosidad fraternal. Y al final Rafe le soltó y cayó al suelo.”
Me fascina tremendamente la capacidad que tiene Joyce para describir este tipo de momentos en sus libros. O este otro párrafo:
“En los campos, la gente descuida su aspecto, la mayoría. Nadie te mira, o le importa un bledo, por lo que a veces acabas hablando contigo mismo, entrecerrando los ojos, reviviendo viejas peleas o altercados, y a veces buenos momentos también, si puedes recordar buenos momentos, y escupir sobre la tierra. Son pensamientos que zumban por tu mente, como las moscas gordas y negras que revolotean sobre espirales de excrementos humanos en la parte trasera de los campos, en el pequeño bosque de pinos secos, el lugar donde tienes que ir si te entran ganas de defecar. Y el capataz que se fija en cómo te alejas del campo por si vagueas.”
El reflejo de la sociedad rural norteamericana en los tiempos posteriores a la Gran Depresión es descrito con crudeza, más enmarcado en la tradición realista que lo que hará posteriormente con experimentos de corte más postmodernista; la paradoja entre el contenido y el continente era más que evidente en esta ocasión, tanto para mí como para la editorial, la dicotomía de la belleza-crudeza realista es palpable según pasas las páginas.
Sin embargo, hay otro giro a esta percepción, y tiene que ver con el magnífico postfacio de la escritora a esta obra donde llega a afirmar que, a pesar de lo raro que pueda ser, existe una añoranza asociada a esta época cargada de tintes autobiográficos; en este postfacio aborda conceptos relacionados con la creación literaria, sobre el momento inicial en el que se gesta un escritor, que vale la pena comentar,: el primero, la envida del autor hacia esos primeros tiempos:
“Sobre todo son las primeras obras, motivadas por ese calor blanco, las que con el paso de los años le resultan más misteriosas por sus orígenes a un escritor, rebosantes de la energía de la juventud que aún no se ha rendido y a su vez atormentadas, o quizá muy conscientes respecto a cómo una obra de arte ambiciosa será recibida por otros. Todos los escritores repasan sus primeras creaciones con envidia, incluso con admiración: cuánta energía rebosábamos entonces, habiendo vivido tan poco.”
El segundo está relacionado con el objetivo por el cual se escribe (la metáfora del nido resulta muy efectiva a tal efecto):
“Pero claro, un trabajo literario es una especie de nido: un nido cuidadosa y arduamente tejido de palabras que incorpora trozos y fragmentos de la vida del escritor dentro de una estructura imaginada, de la misma manera que el nido de un pájaro incluye todo tipo de cosas del mundo que existe más allá de nuestras ventanas, y en él se entretejen de forma ingeniosa. Para muchos de nosotros escribir es una forma de aliviar, aunque también quizá una manera de echar leña a la añoranza del hogar. Escribimos para monumentalizar lo que es pasado, lo que está empezando a ser pasado, y todo aquello que pronto desaparecerá de la tierra.”
Es curioso cómo el libro lo estructura en tres partes diferenciadas, con los nombres de tres hombres en ellas: Carleton, Lowry y Swan. Y digo esto porque, en realidad, la verdadera protagonista es Clara, Hija de Carleton, novia de Lowry y madre de Swan. A pesar de desviar esta perspectiva, Clara brilla con luz propia, un carácter cargado de violencia y que nunca ha conocido la niñez propiamente dicha:
“-¿Cuántos años tienes, joder?
-No me acuerdo. Dieciocho.
-No, solo eres una niña.
[...]
-No soy una niña –dijo con ira-. Nunca lo he sido.”
Es Clara la que tendrá que elegir entre la febril efervescencia del simpático Lowry (“Paraban en algunos lugares a lo largo de la carretera. Pequeños restaurantes, tabernas. Al entrar en estos sitios, parecía como si siempre reconociesen a Lowry; si no su cara y su nombre, a Lowry en sí mismo. Por el modo en el que sonreía, sabía que la gente le devolvía la sonrisa, sabía que estaban contentos de ver su sonrisa y no otra cosa.”) o la sobriedad y seguridad del gris pero sólido Revere (“Revere la miró solemne. Si Curt Revere fuera un naipe, Clara pensó, sería uno de los reyes. Con una pesada mandíbula, inclinado hacia la reflexión. No inquieto, sexy y traidor como las sotas. Solías pensar que el rey de espadas era más fuerte que la sota de espadas, pero no era así. Tener tanto, conocer tanto, desgastaba el alma, ya que sabías que podías perderlo todo.”).
Su vida, desgraciadamente, tendrá las consecuencias que sus elecciones ocasionan, estas serán palpables en su hijo Steven, al que ella llama Swan (Cisne):
“Y también sabía en qué tipo de hombre se convertiría cuando creciera: no sería como Revere, tan bondadoso, sino otra clase de persona. No alguien amable, sino de mirada afilada como Clara. Aquel otro hombre tenía una cara que Swan casi podía recordar, y quizá en sueños lograría verla. No tenía prisa, las cosas sucederían como debían. Se convertiría en lo que otros quisieran, sin poder elegir. Revere era su padre, y querría a su padre, aunque su verdadero padre fuera otro. Ese era el secreto de Clara y de él: moriría con aquel secreto. Ahora comprendió algo acerca del sol cegador y centelleante. No había palabras, no había lógica. Solo el calor, y la terrible luz cegadora.”
Swan, progresivamente, se dará cuenta de que no todo es lo que parece, más bien, todo lo que ve le repugna por su falsedad y, aunque al principio, como niño, sea capaz de compartirlo con su madre:
“Había tantas cosas a su alrededor, que había dejado de contarlas. No tenía dedos suficientes en las manos. ¡Ni siquiera si contaba también los dedos de los pies! Cuando era más pequeño, casi un bebé, Clara y él se reían de cosas como esas, de contar los dedos de las manos y de los pies. Pero ya no era un bebé.”
Según pasa su vida, habrá una separación materno-filial que no tendrá reconciliación, en la voz de Swan encontramos palabras durísimas, las mismas que su madre tuvo anteriormente en su vida; su madre, a pesar de que no quería que su hijo tuviera su misma vida, fracasa estrepitosamente:
“Por primera vez en toda su vida, Swan no compartió con su madre el estado de ánimo. Había encendido la luz de la habitación, sin importarle que eso pudiese molestar a sus ojos, y Swan se tapó la cara con el brazo. “Te odio, eres una zorra.” Le hubiese gustado castigarla, y llamarla de esa manera era un castigo, aunque ella no pudiera escucharlo. Incluso aunque no lo supiera jamás.”
El final, profundamente desmotivador, está cargado de violencia, no puede ser de otra manera:
“Temblaba, se preparaba para saltar sobre él. Usaría sus uñas. Le arañaría, le golpearía. La estaba atacando como hacían los niños crueles con los más débiles.
-No no vas a disparar. Ni a mí ni a nadie. ¿Crees que puedes matar a tu propia madre? No puedes, no puedes apretar el gatillo. Eres débil, no te pareces en nada a tu padre, ni a tu abuelo, en el fondo de mi corazón sé perfectamente cómo eres, Steven Revere.
Swan levantó la pistola, a ciegas. El rugido en sus oídos era ensordecedor y aun así se mantenía tranquilo, había tomado una determinación.”
A pesar de lo que podemos pensar, la novela no trata de víctimas, en el postfacio que mencionaba la autora lo dice muy claro, ; en efecto, quería tratar temas que, en esa época, no eran ni siquiera castigados y se veían con normalidad; pero buscaba el reflejo de una sociedad, sí, la autodefinición, cómo se hace a sí mismo, ni más ni menos que el “sueño americano”:
“Aunque actualmente términos como “víctimas de abuso” o “supervivientes de abusos” pueden parecer clichés, no existían en los tiempos de “Un Jardín…”, de hecho era habitual que muchos hombres siguiesen siendo moral y legalmente inocentes aun cuando daban palizas a sus mujeres y sus familias; y aunque el acoso sexual, el abuso sexual y la violación eran habituales, no lo era, sin embargo, la terminología para definirlos, y rara vez se denunciaba, y todavía era más extraño que la policía se lo tomara en serio.” “Un jardín…” es un reflejo de ese mundo, pero no se trata de una novela sobre víctimas, sino sobre cómo los individuos se definen a sí mismos y se hacen a la vez “americanos”, es decir, todo menos víctimas.
Una vez acabada esta increíble primera parte del Wonderland Quartet, busqué los siguientes sin mucho éxito en español, siento decir que las próximas entregas (“Expensive People”, “Them” y “Wonderland”) llegarán con textos en inglés…. No puedo perderme nada de ella.
Traducción del inglés de Cora Tiedra de “Un jardín de placeres terrenales” de Joyce Carol Oates para Punto de lectura.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently I have read the original version of this book. JCO rewrote approximately 75% of the novel when she published the Modern Library edition in 2003, and mine is the 2000 Virago edition written in 1967. Actually I'm glad I read the old version. I'm interested in starting my exploration of JCO with her early work, and I suspect that this version will meld better with the rest of the Wonderland Quartet. But also, it's a perfectly wonderful novel as it is. And more importantly for me, a subsidiary goal in my JCO reading is to read the works my mother might have read, and 2003 was sadly too late for her. But I would love to get my hands on JCO's Afterword explaining her rewriting (without buying it). It's not available in the London Library system, so if anyone can help ....

On to the book. I liked it from the very beginning, with the crash of a car and truck. Action, vivid description and then right into the thoughts of the first main character, Carleton Walpole, father of Clara, and grandfather of Swan/Steven, the boy with two fathers. Oates reveals so much about the characters and their lives in the thoughts of Carleton looking at his first wife, Pearl.

She had a round, pale, sullen face; he often remembered, when he wasn't with her, how pretty she had been. She was much younger than he, though he too was young. She had been fifteen when they had married and while he had never noticed any change in her, except her pregnancies, somehow this other woman with the soft, almost formless body and the formless mouth had taken her place.

In an otherwise perceptive and sympathetic review of the novel in The New York Times when the book was first published, the reviewer's only real criticism of the work was its failure to give the characters scope to grow beyond their beginnings. I disagree. Each of the main characters: Carleton, Clara, her first lover Lowry and Swan/Steven enter worlds far different from their origins, while still being subject to them. Some of this must be necessary for a character to be recognisably the same character. But more importantly this is the genius of the book: that Oates has portrayed these uneducated characters with such a subtle touch and shows them grow and to some extent conquer worlds in which they don't belong. I also admired how Oates sustains the internal dialogues of Carleton and Clara, who are themselves so inarticulate.

I loved the hard-edged closeup view of this fictitious part of Eastern America in the second quarter of the 20th century. Migrant workers living in temporary camps traveling from farm to farm on rickety buses. Small towns and small cities. Minor capitalists. The uneasy relations between the rural branch of a wealthy family and its more urban relations. The effects of the big events of the era: Depression, War and Prosperity pass through these characters without their direct comprehension of any large issues, and certainly no discussion. New York City and Washington DC, Presidents and Congressmen, The New Deal, Fascism, Communism and the Atomic Bomb are never mentioned.

And this is just the beginning of her career. I look forward to reading her best.

[El · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a ten year boycott on all things Oatesian, I picked up this particular Oates book on the basis that it sounded like none of the other books by her that I had read before, thus the appeal. From the beginning of this book I was not disappointed.

The first book in the Wonderland quartet, the story starts in the life of Carleton Walpole, a migrant worker who is on the road with his exceptionally pregnant wife. During an accident Carleton's wife gives birth to Clara who becomes the apple of Carleton's eye. We see Carleton spiral down into violence and alcoholism and the affect it makes on Clara who is the center of attention in the second portion of the story. In her story we see her struggle to leave her "white trash" history behind, to surpass the migrant workers of her family and become something more. Making a life for herself in the city she meets Lowry who saves her from her teenage drama and opens her eyes to a whole new life outside of even what she has come to know since leaving home. But it's Revere who gives her life the stability she craves, particularly after the birth of her son, Swan (her pet name for "Steven"). We follow Clara's life through the third portion of the book which centers on Swan from an intelligent young boy to a world-weary young man and the events which lead him down that road.

Immediately the story smelled of Steinbeck (particularly East of Eden) and my girl, Flannery O'Connor. Oates captures the lives of three generations of Walpoles and in stunning description details their highs and lows. Clara's life is changed immeasurably by the four different men she encounters in the story showing such an impressive span of character development it almost hurt to read it.

I will read the rest of this quartet and hope the following three are as amazing as this was. I will put aside my grudge against Oates and admit this was a quality book, I will assume perhaps she isn't a one-trick pony after all. I'm not above admitting that perhaps I was wrong. But I have high expectations for her now. She had better not let me down again.

[Joan Roure · Rating 5 out of 5]

No son temps per endinsar-te en un text de gairebé 500 pàgines gratuïtament, però si la culpable és una escriptora que ja coneixes d'haver-la llegit abans i a la qual admires com a gran narradora, tot esdevé més fàcil. En la primera part d'aquest ambiciós projecte conformat per quatre novel·les i anomenat Wonderland, Oates ens fa viatjar fins als anys posteriors a la Gran Depressió, on constatarem les dures condicions que travessa l'Amèrica rural i la lluita aferrissada de les dones per fugir d'un entorn ple de violència i de pobresa, així com la seva dependència gairebé absoluta de l'home i el seu sotmetiment als costums i les tradicions heretades d'un món masculí.

«M'agradaria tenir set o vuit fills, molta canalla, i una casa gran i tot plegat. Ningú és feliç en una casa si no té un nadó, ¿oi?»

Estem davant una obra d'aquelles amb uns personatges inoblidables: el malparit d'en Carleton, a qui escanyaries com a poc, un white trash que pensa que tots els qui l'envolten són escòria blanca menys ell; la Clara, filla d'en Carleton, que marxa de molt joveneta de casa per fugir del món en què viu, aconseguint finalment casar-se amb en Revere, un ric propietari de terres, després d'haver estat rescatada i posteriorment abandonada pel Lowry, ¿el seu veritable amor?; tenim també en Swan, fill de la Clara, que creix amb les càrregues psicològiques i les contraposicions de viure en una família benestant mentre que la seva mare prové d'un món completament diferent.

Oates capta encertadament l'esperit d'aquesta altra Amèrica i ens mostra una versió allunyada de la gran Nord-amèrica del somni americà, dibuixant un país i una societat que es condemna moralment i econòmicament al mateix ritme vertiginós que ho fa el capitalisme, amb diferències cada cop més pronunciades entre classes socials.
Un veritable viatge narratiu d'alts quirats que explora una societat que ha existit i continua existint. El concepte de gran novel·la americana sens dubte lligaria molt amb aquesta obra. Si sou amants dels grans narradors, com poden ser Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe o Spanbauer, per dir-ne alguns, llegiu-la, és una joia.

[Kerfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more than I did. In a way it's like an old Appalachian folk song, with gothic overtones: you can see the bad ending a mile away.

Oates evidently did extensive revisions for this edition, and the book does get better as it goes along. Yet though she claims to have added complexity to the characterizations, they still seemed very much to be types to me. Not exactly stereotypical, but predictable enough to keep from really surprising me as a reader. Hopeless migrant workers, rich owner-bosses who exploit, unhappy dysfunctional families, betrayal and revenge. It's an old story. That's not necessarily bad, but Oates didn't make it fresh enough for me.

[Martina (polveresucarta) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Judit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Llegir Un jardí de delícies terrenals és deixar-se arrossegar per una corrent subterrània que no sents fins que ja t’ha engolit. Joyce Carol Oates no es limita a narrar: et fa viure des de dins. Amb una destresa gairebé hipnòtica, et condueix —sense que puguis oposar-hi resistència— fins al cor mateix dels pensaments dels seus personatges. La seva prosa és un moviment magnètic: t’absorbeix i, en un tres i no res, et trobes habitant la ment de tots plegats.

Clara Walpole, el seu fill Swan i el corol·lari de figures que orbiten al seu voltant no són només noms impresos: són presències que t’habiten. Parlen amb una proximitat tan íntima que costa distingir on acaba la ficció i on comença la teva pròpia memòria. Oates dibuixa, amb mà ferma i sense concessions, una Amèrica invisible: rural, empobrida, travessada per la violència i el desig d’ascendir, però on l’esperança sempre sembla esquiva.

Publicada el 1967 i primera peça del Wonderland Quartet, aquesta novel·la mostra com la vida pot esdevenir una cadena de ferides heretades. La traducció precisa i sensible de Núria Busquet Molist per a Lleonard Muntaner Editor respecta tant el pols narratiu com les capes simbòliques de l’original, i permet que el lector català senti la mateixa força hipnòtica que fa més de mig segle va captivar la crítica.

Al final, quan tanques el llibre, t’adones que no n’has sortit indemne. Has travessat un jardí que prometia delícies, però que t’ha mostrat també l’arrel amarga de la condició humana.

[Mark Whittum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of a quartet that deals with social class in America. Each book though can stand alone.

Oates has three parts to the story where each takes the point of view of three members of the Walpole family.The first part has Carleton Walpole, Clara's father. He is a migrant farm worker living in the Depression Era of the 1930's. There is racist language and violence in this part, but Oates wrote of this in her Afterward she wanted to be authentic. I found myself despising Carleton, but Oates with her clever writing still had me supporting him to a point. The second part has Clara with her point of view, and also the main character. The third part has Clara's son Steven, or Swann as she calls him. In his point of view we see his reaction to his mother.

This is a very character driven story which I love. With Oates and her realism, all of these characters breath, and are filled with human weakness and dysfunction, which always makes for a good story.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavy, prolific and moving. Clara is a character I could relate to and at times could not understand at all. Her life and her character are so defined and altered by the men in her life, which was troublesome, but also makes her more sympathetic - despite her best efforts she has so little control. It's the kind of story you know comes from a very real place because the characters are constantly being disappointed. Clara's struggles, her actions, have a great effect, not just on her, but on the people around her. My only criticism is that I had a hard time sympathizing with Swan, although a line in the afterward by JCO - "Haves and have-nots is too crude a formula to describe this great subject, for as Swan Walpole discovers, to have, and not to be, is to have lost one's soul." - has made me continue to think about him.

[Kaye McSpadden · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was Oates' second novel, originally written in 1966 and then significantly revised in 2002. I found the first third of the book, which focused on Clara's childhood in a migrant farmworker family, to be quite compelling. However, I could not quite connect with the latter parts of the story -- I couldn't quite understand Clara's adult character. Neither could I figure out her son, Swan. The 2002 Afterword, in which Oates shares her more mature reflections on this early work and what she attempted to do in the revision, is very interesting. However, unless you are a true-blue Oates fan and are interested in studying her evolution as a writer, I would not recommend this one. Stick with her later, more stellar works.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on such high ratings and the fact that I enjoyed another book by this author, I thought this book would be a winner. Instead I found it much too wordy. Character development was choppy and in the end I didn't like a single character in this book. The author began developing the main character, Clara, as a young girl who escaped a harsh life but before long I felt like I didn't know this character at all. Conversations between characters would drone on for pages at a time. I found myself skimming the final third of the book only to be exceptionally annoyed by the ending.

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first Joyce Carol Oates novel and it's a difficult read beginning with the lives of "white trash" migrant farmworkers in the United States. Teenager Clara somehow escapes this depressing life and finds herself torn between her unreliable saviour Lowry and lover Curt Revere. Her son Swan cuts a tragic figure. Protagonist Clara is a strong yet almost unlikeable character in a novel that takes a harsh look at the difference between the social classes. I would have given it more stars and it probably isn't Oates' fault, but Swan's story in the third part just didn't resonate with me.

[Fede La Lettrice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un romanzo dagli innumerevoli temi: la perdita dell'anima, dell'identità personale, l'essere contrapposto all'avere, il tormento del vivere, la gara impari contro se stessi e il destino che appare ineluttabile.
Un mondo che crolla e si sgretola, tutto il dolore, il tormento e l'ingiustizia esistenti nelle vite umane, la disillusione e la rabbia, l'impotenza.
Un romanzo denso, personaggi complessi e vividi, il degrado e la miseria dell'essere.
Splendido libro.

Il giardino delle delizie
Joyce Carol Oates
Traduzione: Francesca Crescentini
Editore: ilSaggiatore
Pag: 520
Voto: 5/5

[Eric Cepela · Rating 3 out of 5]

well written, drawn out fodder. ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels but the pleasure doesn’t feel so guilty. big fan of lila and clara. “i can pick fuckin lettuce—“

oates using the same stuff in the sixties as her nineties novels. suicide, coming of age, incest, alcoholism, new york, economic disparity. harsh characters in rough settings. works for me.

she’s gotten better at it. You Must Remember This is of no more significance, but stays stronger throughout its too many pages. A Garden of Earthly Delights wanes quickly once clara is penned.

3 stars

[William Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story of losing one's soul, in an atheist's narration. I'm looking forward to reading the other volumes of the quadrilogy.

[Michael Battaglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its obligatory to mention this so I'm going to be as boring as everyone else who ever reviews Joyce Carol Oates' work and get it out of the way first: she's written a lot of books. Like, substantially more books than years I've been alive. Its an impressive feat, though certainly not unique . . . while Oates has published almost sixty novels as of this writing, Danielle Steel has published a hundred and forty-one. And she's almost ten years younger than Oates. So its not like its some kind of record.

It is something than isn't exactly common amongst literary writers, which is why it probably gets mentioned so often. What's more impressive to me is that Oates never seems content to stick with one genre over the course of all those novels, like someone challenged her by saying she couldn't write in every genre and her response was "Oh yeah? Watch me!" Though I guess we're still waiting for that great Joyce Carol Oates epic fantasy novel but there's still time (after I wrote that I realized she already has won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction so I guess she's halfway there).

So yeah, it’s a lot. Amazingly for me, this is my first Oates novel, probably because I bought these back in 2009 and waited to read them first to see if I even liked her style. And I do, but I'm not going to lie, the sheer number of books she is intimidating and I doubt anyone besides the hardest of the hardcore has even attempted to read all of them. I know I won't be, although I want to hit her career highlights eventually. But I've only got so many heartbeats, man.

But she's probably one of the more notable living American writers, so if you're interested in contemporary literature I don't think you can safely ignore her without leaving a giant gap in your reading. Of course if you think that's good advice and are hoping I can tell you where to start you definitely have the wrong person. This is where I started . . . is it the best entry point? Beats me, but it seemed as good a place as any.

This is the first part of what's known as the "Wonderland Quartet" . . . four novels that don't share the same characters or even the presence of a tardy white rabbit but instead serve as an examination of the experience of living in American society at certain points in time, mostly from around the 30s to just past the mid-century mark (they were published between 1968-71). They're pretty universally acclaimed, with all four being nominated for the National Book Award for Fiction and the third novel in the quartet "them", winning the prize itself. Surprising to me, its her only National Book Award win (which is probably why I bought these, to be honest, around 2009 I was chasing past winners . . . yes, its weird).

All of these are decently early in her career, with the opening novel here only her second published novel so if you're going the chronological route you'll hit these early on. And while I don't know what her later period style is like, she's interesting enough here that you can see why she was already winning awards, although that does have a bit of a caveat . . . as she relates in the afterword, for the Modern Library edition published in 2003 she did some revisions to the original text and by "revisions" I mean by her own admission she rewrote about three-quarters of it so while the bones of the novel are essentially the same the meat laid on top of those bones is making a substantially different animal. If you're curious how much of the plot changed you can do what I did and read the summary of the original novel on the Giant Internet Encyclopedia . . . needless to say a lot of details have been altered.

Does it make this version better? I'll let other people compare the two and just go with what I have. As before the novel concerns the life of Clara Walpole, a woman born to a migrant farmer, which is to say, they're decently poor. She's pretty and has some spunk but if you think this is the kind of novel where a young woman succeeds on pluck and cunning and people recognizing her natural talent I am here to tell you that this is a Joyce Carol Oates novel and that kind of thing doesn't happen here. Not only do people not get what you want but they don't get it in such profoundly definitive ways that you wonder if they're somehow being punished for even wanting it in the first place.

Thus, Clara, a woman born poor and with few prospects beyond continuing to be poor, having babies continuously until the childbirth mortality odds of the US in the 1930s stops being in her favor (I'll save you the trouble of looking it up: they're not good), and probably being married to someone who spends a not insubstantial amount of money on alcohol. If that sounds unlikely, she probably doesn't think so as when the book opens it’s the life she's currently experiencing, thanks to her father Carleton. He's responsible for most of the first portion of the novel, when Clara is a young girl, and if there's one thing Oates captures, it’s the desperate intensity of the life he's trying to lead, a barely contained anger that sometimes erupts in surprising bursts of violence, a flailing about as if he's angry at literally everything or just isn't sure what he should be targeting and so is striking out wildly just to feel the shuddering of something that wasn't expecting to be hit, regardless of whether it does any good.

At times it makes for a warped version of "The Grapes of Wrath" where no one gives noble speeches and everyone is violent . . . Clara's a child and is thus sidelined for most of this, so we get a lot of time with Carleton realizing that you can on the bottom of society's ladder while also discovering that the ground is sinking and people are throwing stuff at you from above. Clara is his special girl and he tends to dote on her as much as a crudely violent man can, at least until the day she makes him mad and there's no turning back.

From there the book is propelled by its own terrible motion, with Clara always seemingly running toward something that she isn't in any position to find, straining to catch it and still not sure if its even what she wanted. Unsurprisingly, most of her distant targets are shaped like men. Carleton is just the first man in Clara's life to have an effect on her and its telling that all three sections of the book are named after those various men, like being pressed through various molds, each of them formative in their own ways. If its not her father's blunt shaping, its local mystery man Lowry, who comes in and out of her life as capacious as the zephyr, only with that irresistibleness that all men of mystery have to impressionable girls. After Clara he's probably the secondmost interesting character in the book, defined by his own negative spaces (most of which seem oddly self-imposed), a man who appears to be living his life exactly as he wants to but yet never seems comfortable, as if he's caught between transformations and unsure when the final stage will manifest.

But while Lowry is a lot of things, stability is one thing he's not and and this portion has its own quivering impatience . . . these parts of the book were the saddest for me because there are moments when you can see the vague shape of the normal life Clara might have had . . . sure, the town seems to alternate between treating her with suspicion and borderline hostility (a scene where she has to practically beg for help with a sick baby is heartbreaking in how callous it is) but she's got a job and some hope. She's even happy when Lowry is around, rare as that can be.

Here's the thing, though . . . when you've grown up in a transient environment sometimes nothing but rock hard certainty of what your life is going to be is good enough, to the point where you've compelled to push far past "good enough". Its clear by this point she's never going to satisfied with an average life of struggle (as opposed to his previous life of intense, unrelenting struggle) and thus is going to have to figure out another path. Whether the path she does figure out is a good idea is up for grabs but let's put it this way: at least she doesn't end up poor.

Thus enters Revere. A rich farmer who actually doesn't seem to be a totally awful person, he has an eye on her early. Unfortunately, he's married but let's not forget he's rich so as you can imagine there's ways around that and before you can say "I'm pretty sure the baby is yours" she's got her own place with her child while waiting for the Grim Reaper to catch up to Revere's actual wife. Its pastoral, in its way, with mother and son living basically unbothered. But its not what Clara really wants. And this time, she's bringing the kid.

One thing I found telling between Oates' original version of the novel and her revision was changing the structure so that instead of four sections each named after the men in her life instead it becomes three, with Revere's separate section eliminated entirely and his plot blended into the sections surrounding it. Which probably speaks to how Oates saw the story years later . . . while Revere is important in Clara's life, let's face it, he's a means to an end, and its arguable that she influences him more than he does to her.

That means her son Swan gets to bring it all home. Named Steven by Revere, we first meet him as a young boy and the book travels with him to adulthood as he and Clara become officially integrated into Revere's household (he already has sons, so imagine "The Brady Bunch" theme, but done by the Carter Family in their best "you're not getting out of this world alive" voices). Clara's in the mid-century version of seventh heaven, able to finally afford all the things just as the country was discovering that "all the things" is a LOT of things. It sounds wonderful except for one snag that almost no one notices until its too late: Swan's unraveling.

His section is probably going to be the toughest for a lot of people and I'm not sure if Oates' revisions cleaned up what was kind of messy to begin with or if she somehow made it worse. Its not bad, per se, its that the Swan first meet and the one that we're left with at the end of the book feels like such an extreme shift that even given the fact that it takes place over the course of years it still feels less natural than dictated by the plot. Increasingly we see him become alienated and withdrawn, which readers will probably see as somewhat understandable given all the circumstances (there's a fairly grisly accident that will once again remind you who is writing this) but Oates take that mood several steps past to an extreme that I'm not sure the book entirely justifies. Before that it’s a chilling chronicle of what little there was of someone's youthful optimism evaporating and leaving behind something just a touch darker than obsidian. At the edges you get glimpses of the country changing around them, becoming something a bit more expansive while somehow compressing these people in further, as if all their attempts to stretch to fit are only serving to suffocate them. Swan suffers the worst of it while Clare burbles in her own delusions but after a bit its clear that everyone is some degree of ill, as if something in the air is gradually poisoning.

Once you pick up on that its not a total surprise the book goes where it does, one last spasm of needless violence where all choices have been narrowed down to one terrible one. Again, I'm not sure if Swan is the best candidate to deliver that ending as opposed to the most convenient but even when you see it coming its still impressive how cold it is, one last moaned expression in a book that has rarely missed a chance to shed blood where it could. Yet even though it has an impact its perhaps not as much as Oates, past or present, might have hoped it would be . . . in a way it feels almost reverse engineered from the ending, working backwards to figure out how everyone got there in the first place. It feels like our last glimpse of Clara embeds the point that Oates was trying to make all along and Swan and everyone else is just the vehicles to get us there.

But if there's tragedy (and there is) we only feel it because Oates makes Clara feel real enough, with the whole book eventually feeling like a struggle to avoid the ending we do get, as if Clara can see it distantly ahead even as a child and is doing everything she can to get to the life she wants without overshooting into the end result that she knows is coming. But momentum is its own devil and once you get started the incline always seems to be downhill no matter what the terrain might really be. All you can do is go faster and faster, especially when slowing down hurts too much and eventually all you can do is brace yourself for the crashing through, hoping the arrival won't be as sharp as the leaving. Morrissey once told us that "life is very long when you're lonely" but if Oates make one thing clear, its that you can have multiple lifetimes nested inside each other and each of them can be lonely and each of them can last longer than we can bear. And when its over all we can do is shift into another eternity, over and over again, until the world becomes a grey buzz, a foreground and background hum blending together into the same uniform hue, leaving nothing alive but a vague sense just south of an amputated contentment and the flatly neutral certainty that things were different, once, perhaps. But even if that were true, its yesterday and out of reach and a very long time ago, like a story told about you, by you to someone who keeps laughing without smiling and crying without tears, who already knows it all by heart but won't say how and might also be you. Or that might be another story. Who knows? After all, eventually it all feels the same.