The Surface of Earth

The Mayfield Trilogy #1

by Reynolds Price

Published in 1975, The Surface of Earth is the monumental narrative that charts the slow, inextricable twining of the Mayfield and Kendal families. Set in the plain of North Carolina and the coast and hills of Virginia from 1903 to 1944, it chronicles the marriage of Forrest Mayfield and Eva Kendal, the hard birth of their son, Eva's return to her father after her mother's death, and the lives of two succeeding generations.
The Surface of Earth is the work of one of America's supreme masters of fiction, a journey across time and the poignantly evoked America of the first half of our century that explores the mysterious topography of the powers of love, home, and identity. In his evocation of the hungers, defeats, and rewards of individuals in moments of dark solitude and radiant union, Price has created an enduring literary testament to the range of human life.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Family Saga, Literature, Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Reynolds Price was born in Macon, North Carolina in 1933. Educated at Duke University and, as a Rhodes Scholar, at Merton College, Oxford University. He taught at Duke since 1958 and was James B. Duke Professor of English.

His first short stories, and many later ones, are published in his Collected Stories. A Long and Happy Life was published in 1962 and won the William Faulkner Award for a best first novel. Kate Vaiden was published in 1986 and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Good Priest's Son in 2005 was his fourteenth novel. Among his thirty-seven volumes are further collections of fiction, poetry, plays, essays, and translations. Price was a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and his work has been translated into seventeen languages.

Photo courtesy of Reynolds Price's author page on Amazon.com

Reviews

[Marilyn Saul]

Two hundred twenty-two pages into this book of 491 pages, I found myself opting to watch a Yankees game (I hate baseball) rather than subject myself to any more of Price's bilious, tedious writing style. Price attempts to delve into the depths of his three main characters who are each tormented with abandonment issue. The problem is there is NO depth to these shallow characters, and as tadpoles, they never transform into frogs but just wither in the shallow waters. At one point I envisioned Price chuckling maniacally as he came up with yet another meaningless, nonsensical retort summing up a two-page paragraph of rambling exploration of inner feelings. My overall impression is that Price was writing simply to hear himself write a paean of self-adulation.

[Sandie]

This is the story of the Mayfield family in the states of Virginia and North Carolina during the early 1900's. There is one constant in as the generations come and go. The men of the family don't raise their sons. The first Mayfield we hear about leaves his wife and children and ends up in Richmond where he lives the rest of his life with a housekeeper. His son convinces one of his female students to elope with him. They live together until their son, Beau, is born and his wife and son go back to visit her family. The family has a crisis while she is there and then the baby gets gravely ill and she stays and stays, never returning to her husband but devoting her life to her father. When Beau grows up, he marries a woman who dies giving birth to their son. He attempts to raise the boy himself but soon takes him to the home where he was raised and leaves his son with his grandmother and great aunt to raise.

Another similarity between the generations is how love is perceived. The men almost regard their love as poison, regretting and asking forgiveness from the women who love them. Most of the men make their living as teachers. Another commonality is the interplay between the Caucasian Mayfields and the African American women around them. Most of the men have affairs with various women resulting in unacknowledged sons.

Reynolds Price is an American author who wrote about the American experience, mainly the life in the South and its border states. He also taught at Duke University for over fifty years. This book is the beginning of a trilogy about the Mayfield family and its' lives over the decades. There are no happy stories or marriages in these pages; every love relationship is tortured and troublesome. But it is an interesting look at life during the early 1900's until after the World Wars and I'll pick up the other two books in the trilogy and see what happens with the Mayfield family. This book is recommended for historical and literary fiction readers.

[Paul Shirley]

How many words does this thing have? 1,000,000?

It took four months but, finally, I'm done. I hated several things about TSOE. Its length was a bore and the constant dialogue wore on me. But overall, I was impressed by its faithful depiction of all the cruel truths in human existence. Its setting - the South, between 1910 (or so) and 1945 (or so) - makes that depiction ring all the more true. The people are simple, the times are hard, and the periods of happiness are few and far between.

The Surface Of Earth is about many things but I took from it a meditation on the patterns that families fall into. A lot of that has to do, in this book, with the patterns men fall into. The Mayfield men are a reliably unreliable bunch, much like men everywhere, I suppose.

I'm glad I read this behemoth (honestly, it's not that long at ~500 pages; just seemed it) because it never failed to inspire in me a further understanding of what it is like to be human.

[Marvin]

The first book in Price's trilogy, of which I read the last, the Promise of Rest, a couple of years ago. This one was very good, but perhaps not as mature as the later one. Much of the book consisted of (1) letters, (2) people telling each other the stories of their lives, & (3) dreams, which I often missed the meaning of. It was perhaps a bit excessively introspective, with characters who suffered only from a sense of not being "at ease" in the world being preoccupied with their suffering. (In contrast, in spite of real suffering & the presence of death in Promise of Rest, it felt to me like a very life-affirming book.) But Price's writing is lyrical & insightful, showing the ways families are bound together & torn apart by forces that are passed from generation to generation (this volume covers 3 generations, including the coming-of-age of the main character of Promise of Rest).

[Ebirdy]

Did not like any of the characters or understand their motivations. The dialogue especially was frustrating - no one seemed to finish a thought or say enough that you understood their feelings. Rob was especially annoying. Gave up about 200 pages in.

[Reese]

Heavy-going southern family saga, beginning in 1904. I admired the writing, but did not enjoying the reading experience. Gave up about a quarter of the way through.

[Deborah]

I liked The Promise of Rest very much so wanted to read the first two volumes in the trilogy. I found The Surface of Earth a real slog—very slow and no characters I really cared about—so I gave up after 150 pages (might have persisted if shorter but didn’t have the patience to read an additional 350 pages). I will move on to the second volume now in the hope it will be as enjoyable as the third one.

[Gary Branson]

Too long with too few characters that seemed a bit self absorbed. Felt claustrophobic at times.

[Coco]

Beautifully written but unnecessarily overwrought.

[Bsldavio]

Fiction

[Susan Ludwig]

I was liking this book and then it just got boring- I didn't care any more. It was like pushing a wagon of bricks uphill.. So I stopped at page 270.

[Rob Worth]

Long read, hated all the characters. Just wasn't my book.

[Beth]

The Surface of Earth is a beautifully written family story covering multiple generations of two families over about 42 years - the first half of the last century. The writing has a slow, deliberate pace, with lots of dreams, letters written, and people explaining themselves. It was never a "can't put it down" page-turner, and it took me a long time to finish. (Some of his other books and characters have captivated me more.) Having said that, I never wanted to abandon it.

Ultimately it's about the universal need for love (romantic/sexual, between parents/children, between siblings) and how precious it is and how our shortcomings make it so difficult to sustain it. But sometimes people do connect - even briefly . . . .

[Michelle]

Honest story of the history that makes up family. Reminds me in theme of Liars and Saints (Meloy) which I read last year and loved.

The first 1/4 of this book is complicated, forced, and uninspiring...until you get into the rest of the story and realize how important it was to start as far back as the author did. The author quite obviously had a deep connection with the the later generations of this family, but had to introduce you to their predecessors first. The deeper I read into this book, the more deeply I forgave him for the lack of connection in the beginning.

[Arthur]

This book is a quick read, rich in characters, in the southern tradition, i was pulled in and couldn't put it down. It seems to explore the question of nature vs nurture and tends to side w/ nature as Robinson Mayfield and then his son Hutch struggle to understand themselves through their rich, multi- racial family history. Their story migrates from eastern north carolina, south central virginia, the city of Richmond, the mountains of western virginia and back. i really enjoyed this book

[Lisa]

When I read that Mr. Price had passed away, I went in search of one of his books on my bookshelves and there it was. So far I'm enjoying that the book is written in the form of letters various characters wrote to one another. More when I finish!

Later....This was a good book, though these multi-generational sagas are a bit much to get through sometimes. But give it time and the story becomes engaging enough.

[Joell]

This is the first book of Reynolds Price that I have read, but it won't be the last. He is very southern in his slow and ponderous development of characters, but like a hot southern night or a slow southern evening meal, it's to be savored and explored.

[Patricia]

Reading it again! The writing is excellent . . . . like prose!

[Karen]

beautiful beautiful

[~mad]

Wonderful words and writing - make it a slow read to absorb it all!

Recommmend.