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When the World Was Steady
A PEN/Faulkner Award finalist about two sisters’ divergent paths, from the author of The Burning Girl and The Emperor’s Children.
In this highly acclaimed novel, life isn’t all Emmy and Virginia Simpson anticipated. When Emmy’s marriage to an Australian man ends, she flees her home in Sydney to “find herself” on the island of Bali—only to become embroiled with a crew of international misfits and smugglers. Her prim and pious sister, Virginia, meanwhile, has never wandered far outside of London. Struggling to find meaning, she follows her aging mother’s advice to vacation on the Isle of Skye. On these two islands halfway around the world, the middle-aged sisters confront the costs of self-knowledge and their destinies with unexpected consequences.
In this highly acclaimed novel, life isn’t all Emmy and Virginia Simpson anticipated. When Emmy’s marriage to an Australian man ends, she flees her home in Sydney to “find herself” on the island of Bali—only to become embroiled with a crew of international misfits and smugglers. Her prim and pious sister, Virginia, meanwhile, has never wandered far outside of London. Struggling to find meaning, she follows her aging mother’s advice to vacation on the Isle of Skye. On these two islands halfway around the world, the middle-aged sisters confront the costs of self-knowledge and their destinies with unexpected consequences.
356 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 28, 1994
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About the author
Claire Messud
42 books933 followersClaire Messud is an American novelist and literature and creative writing professor. She is best known as the author of the novel The Emperor's Children (2006).
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October 4, 2024
DOVE GLI ANGELI NON OSANO METTERE PIEDE
Purtroppo il titolo italiano traduce “steady” con “ordine”: credo che non solo per me ‘ordine’ è una parola che evoca subito saluti romani, camicie nere, divise in generale. Robbaccia. (E chissenefrega se i treni arrivavano in orario. Ben strana cosa di cui vantarsi).
Personalmente avrei tradotto quello “steady” con stabile o anche tranquillo. Un mondo solido, sicuro, ecco quello di cui parla il titolo originale del romanzo.
Per fortuna, sgombrato immediatamente il campo da qualsiasi richiamo all’orrido ventennio e i suoi derivati, questo titolo mi smuove piuttosto paralleli con Evelyn Waugh, il suo libro Quando viaggiare era un piacere – When the Going Was Good, e l’intero mondo dello stesso Waugh: quel guardare con nostalgica malinconia a un mondo che non è più, che è stato e ormai finito.
Ma, entrambi, sia Waugh che Messud, con abbondante ironia.
E per quanto riguarda la scrittrice di lingua inglese - nata in USA, cresciuta tra Canada e Australia, di padre pied-noir, cioè franco-algerino, e rami di parentado in altre parti d’Europa (Malta, Spagna, persino Napoli) - percepisco innervato di sano pragmatismo e con piedi (anche quelli dell’anima) ben piantati nel suo tempo.
Un mondo stabile, solido, sicuro, in contrapposizione ai rispettivi viaggi che le due sorelle si trovano ad affrontare: Emmy, la minore, ormai da decenni trasferita in Australia, va a Bali, dove vive un’esperienza fuori dall’ordinario turismo al punto di allungare il suo viaggio a dismisura cominciando a cullare l’idea di restare per sempre sull’isola indonesiana; per la maggiore, Virginia, si tratta di ben altra isola, ma altrettanto ‘estrema', Skye, la più nota delle Ebridi. E anche lei affronta un momento esistenziale che rischia di trasformarsi in epocale.
Mi pare che si tratti di un esordio più che notevole questo primo romanzo dell’allora poco più che trentenne Claire Messud.
Per la capacità di imbastire una trama che sa articolare con sapienza snodi e accadimenti – senza per questo soccombere alla schiavitù del plot – con ricchezza di caratteri, psicologie, umanità.
Le due protagoniste sono giunte a quello che si potrebbe definire il mezzo del cammin di nostra vita, separate tra loro da cinque anni, sono ormai entrambe sulla soglia del mezzo secolo. Hanno perso il padre in guerra quando erano molto piccole e sono state cresciute dalla madre, donna insopportabile ma divertente, prevaricatrice sferzante ma spiritosa, tutto meno che stupida, e probabilmente non facile alle effusioni.
Per tutte e tre le donne rimane una fotografia sbiadita in bianco e nero che appare nella casa di ciascuna, foto nella quale sembra essere catturato uno dei loro rari momenti di amore e felicità. Al punto che tutte e tre le donne guardando quell'immagine si chiedono in silenzio: ma ero proprio io? Ci volevamo così bene, e per questo ce ne vogliamo ancora? Sono davvero stata così felice?
Emmy sfoggia la sua mole con compatta sofisticatezza, come una macchina tedesca., si è sposata giovane per cambiare la sua vita e andare via di casa: s’è trasferita a vivere a Sidney, dove grazie alle conoscenze del marito è entrata a far parte dell’alta società del posto. Ma il divorzio rischia di cambiare il suo status, a cominciare da quello esistenziale, non solo quello sociale. Dopo un anno e mezzo è ancora intenta a capire perché è successo e mettere insieme le basi della sua nuova vita.
Virginia, che in famiglia tendono a chiamare Ginny, è quella che una volta si sarebbe definita una zitella di cinquant’anni che vive con la madre anziana (mordace e sfottente), divisa tra un lavoro alquanto banale (è incaricata delle assunzioni temporanee in una università londinese) e la sua religione evangelica che la porta in chiesa una volta a settimana, dedicando almeno una sera su sette a un gruppo di preghiera, tenendo la sua bibbia sempre a portata di mano.
Quello che ho trovato più che notevole è l’abilità e la maturità della Messud di tenermi avvinto con la vicenda di gente che non potrebbe essere più diversa da me, vite che non sono le mie, persone che nella realtà non vorrei mai né conoscere né incontrare: ma, con il suo tono agrodolce, la sua ironia, la sua chiarezza e la sua semplicità, la sua capacità d’introspezione, Messud mi ha fatto attraversare il percorso esistenziale di due persone “segnate da un dolente anelito di felicità”.
Pensò a Emmy, in quel lontano e straordinario luogo esotico, dove di sicuro stava meglio che con quel marito così noioso. Quando capitava loro qualcosa di buono, le sue figlie non se ne accorgevano mai. Temevano il cambiamento, ognuna a modo suo – anche se avrebbero odiato essere paragonate. Anche il padre era stato così. E guardate com’era finito: morto e sepolto, pace all’anima sua. Posto che ne avesse una. Che l’anima esistesse.
Claire Messud all’epoca del suo debutto narrativo.
Purtroppo il titolo italiano traduce “steady” con “ordine”: credo che non solo per me ‘ordine’ è una parola che evoca subito saluti romani, camicie nere, divise in generale. Robbaccia. (E chissenefrega se i treni arrivavano in orario. Ben strana cosa di cui vantarsi).
Personalmente avrei tradotto quello “steady” con stabile o anche tranquillo. Un mondo solido, sicuro, ecco quello di cui parla il titolo originale del romanzo.
Per fortuna, sgombrato immediatamente il campo da qualsiasi richiamo all’orrido ventennio e i suoi derivati, questo titolo mi smuove piuttosto paralleli con Evelyn Waugh, il suo libro Quando viaggiare era un piacere – When the Going Was Good, e l’intero mondo dello stesso Waugh: quel guardare con nostalgica malinconia a un mondo che non è più, che è stato e ormai finito.
Ma, entrambi, sia Waugh che Messud, con abbondante ironia.
E per quanto riguarda la scrittrice di lingua inglese - nata in USA, cresciuta tra Canada e Australia, di padre pied-noir, cioè franco-algerino, e rami di parentado in altre parti d’Europa (Malta, Spagna, persino Napoli) - percepisco innervato di sano pragmatismo e con piedi (anche quelli dell’anima) ben piantati nel suo tempo.
Un mondo stabile, solido, sicuro, in contrapposizione ai rispettivi viaggi che le due sorelle si trovano ad affrontare: Emmy, la minore, ormai da decenni trasferita in Australia, va a Bali, dove vive un’esperienza fuori dall’ordinario turismo al punto di allungare il suo viaggio a dismisura cominciando a cullare l’idea di restare per sempre sull’isola indonesiana; per la maggiore, Virginia, si tratta di ben altra isola, ma altrettanto ‘estrema', Skye, la più nota delle Ebridi. E anche lei affronta un momento esistenziale che rischia di trasformarsi in epocale.
Mi pare che si tratti di un esordio più che notevole questo primo romanzo dell’allora poco più che trentenne Claire Messud.
Per la capacità di imbastire una trama che sa articolare con sapienza snodi e accadimenti – senza per questo soccombere alla schiavitù del plot – con ricchezza di caratteri, psicologie, umanità.
Le due protagoniste sono giunte a quello che si potrebbe definire il mezzo del cammin di nostra vita, separate tra loro da cinque anni, sono ormai entrambe sulla soglia del mezzo secolo. Hanno perso il padre in guerra quando erano molto piccole e sono state cresciute dalla madre, donna insopportabile ma divertente, prevaricatrice sferzante ma spiritosa, tutto meno che stupida, e probabilmente non facile alle effusioni.
Per tutte e tre le donne rimane una fotografia sbiadita in bianco e nero che appare nella casa di ciascuna, foto nella quale sembra essere catturato uno dei loro rari momenti di amore e felicità. Al punto che tutte e tre le donne guardando quell'immagine si chiedono in silenzio: ma ero proprio io? Ci volevamo così bene, e per questo ce ne vogliamo ancora? Sono davvero stata così felice?
Emmy sfoggia la sua mole con compatta sofisticatezza, come una macchina tedesca., si è sposata giovane per cambiare la sua vita e andare via di casa: s’è trasferita a vivere a Sidney, dove grazie alle conoscenze del marito è entrata a far parte dell’alta società del posto. Ma il divorzio rischia di cambiare il suo status, a cominciare da quello esistenziale, non solo quello sociale. Dopo un anno e mezzo è ancora intenta a capire perché è successo e mettere insieme le basi della sua nuova vita.
Virginia, che in famiglia tendono a chiamare Ginny, è quella che una volta si sarebbe definita una zitella di cinquant’anni che vive con la madre anziana (mordace e sfottente), divisa tra un lavoro alquanto banale (è incaricata delle assunzioni temporanee in una università londinese) e la sua religione evangelica che la porta in chiesa una volta a settimana, dedicando almeno una sera su sette a un gruppo di preghiera, tenendo la sua bibbia sempre a portata di mano.
Quello che ho trovato più che notevole è l’abilità e la maturità della Messud di tenermi avvinto con la vicenda di gente che non potrebbe essere più diversa da me, vite che non sono le mie, persone che nella realtà non vorrei mai né conoscere né incontrare: ma, con il suo tono agrodolce, la sua ironia, la sua chiarezza e la sua semplicità, la sua capacità d’introspezione, Messud mi ha fatto attraversare il percorso esistenziale di due persone “segnate da un dolente anelito di felicità”.
Pensò a Emmy, in quel lontano e straordinario luogo esotico, dove di sicuro stava meglio che con quel marito così noioso. Quando capitava loro qualcosa di buono, le sue figlie non se ne accorgevano mai. Temevano il cambiamento, ognuna a modo suo – anche se avrebbero odiato essere paragonate. Anche il padre era stato così. E guardate com’era finito: morto e sepolto, pace all’anima sua. Posto che ne avesse una. Che l’anima esistesse.
Claire Messud all’epoca del suo debutto narrativo.
May 24, 2009
It's always bad when you read two books in a row where the main character annoys you. This was a pretty indulgent tale of two sisters with different personalities half a world apart who suddenly find themselves with challenges to deal with. I may have missed the point of the book but after I finally finished I couldn't even understand what they'd learned - the damn book just suddenly (and unsatisfyingly) finished - mind you I was quite pleased to be done with it too.
May 15, 2011
A impressive novel, and a highly impressive first novel, all the more for being written by a twenty-something-year-old. I debate if a further star is called for, oh crazy system that is Goodreads.
Messud has a penetrating insight and the courage to tell a story with two not-terribly-sympathetic protagonists. The story, centered on two middle-aged, British-raised sisters as they clamor for a sense of firmness in their respective off-axis worlds, hasn't got a lot of plot, and as the end neared without any signposts for any sort of denouement to come, I braced for a disappointing ending. Astoundingly, Messud pulls off a stinging, reverberating conclusion from deceptively modest materials.
The novel certainly won't satisfy the event-hungry or even those who want to like the main characters. Both sisters are often repellant, but one emerges as surprisingly sympathetic despite her limits. Using a close third-person narration for each sister, the author refuses to editorialize or find excuses for them, or to bathe us in the comforts of hackneyed backstory. This purity of narration allows the book's ideas to rise to the surface, shining in the hard Australian light at book's end. Yet there are full lives lived here, and suffering fully dramatized. The writing is confident and well-crafted, but I sense the author holding back on her descriptions, especially for the sections taking place in Bali, to avoid the novel's becoming a book about beautiful sentences about lush locales, which wouldn't hold with the stories being told here. I have to respect that as well.
A rare, original achievement.
Messud has a penetrating insight and the courage to tell a story with two not-terribly-sympathetic protagonists. The story, centered on two middle-aged, British-raised sisters as they clamor for a sense of firmness in their respective off-axis worlds, hasn't got a lot of plot, and as the end neared without any signposts for any sort of denouement to come, I braced for a disappointing ending. Astoundingly, Messud pulls off a stinging, reverberating conclusion from deceptively modest materials.
The novel certainly won't satisfy the event-hungry or even those who want to like the main characters. Both sisters are often repellant, but one emerges as surprisingly sympathetic despite her limits. Using a close third-person narration for each sister, the author refuses to editorialize or find excuses for them, or to bathe us in the comforts of hackneyed backstory. This purity of narration allows the book's ideas to rise to the surface, shining in the hard Australian light at book's end. Yet there are full lives lived here, and suffering fully dramatized. The writing is confident and well-crafted, but I sense the author holding back on her descriptions, especially for the sections taking place in Bali, to avoid the novel's becoming a book about beautiful sentences about lush locales, which wouldn't hold with the stories being told here. I have to respect that as well.
A rare, original achievement.
March 2, 2019
I sometimes give up on a book in the first 50 pages, but I rarely give up 2/3 of the way through. I just couldn’t like or relate to any of the characters: not Emmy, not Virginia, not their mother. There wasn’t enough back story to help me understand any of them much less feel invested in what happened to them. I kept waiting for it to come, but it didn’t. So I gave up. I liked Messud’s The Woman Upstairs, but not this one.
January 6, 2013
When the World was Steady was Claire Messud's first novel. I had the opportunity to interview Messud at Writers ' Week during the 2000 Adelaide Festival of the Arts. She was out promoting her second novel, The Last Life. I didn't get a copy until the day before the interview, so I ploughed through a copy of When the World was Steady that I borrowed from the library.
C.S. Lewis made a comment in The Four Loves about how some people mistakenly think that, on the basis of enjoying a book they've read, they would enjoy the company of the author. After reading When the World, I found the prospect of meeting the author daunting. It's a deceptively simple story of two sisters; Emmy, the glamorous traveller, Virginia, the mousy stay-at-home type. Our story begins when each has had their lives etched out for them, through choices made by or for them over decades of adulthood. Emmy, who married an Australian, is now going through a difficult divorce and has tried to escape her life in Bali for a time. Virginia still lives in a flat in London with their mother, despairing for the life she never lived. The two narratives run parallel as each let their circumstances buffet and lead them.
Messud has an economy to her prose propels the narrative, offering details and hints, little asides side-long glances that create an image, a scene, a character, homing in on the important and the interesting while letting the reader fill the rest for themselves, like a Rembrandt self-portrait. This light touch makes the characters and their circumstances all the more engaging.
For the record, Messud was a very charming and gracious subject, both generous with her time and thoughts and very patient with my inexperience at interviewing. I should also mention that The Last Life is also frustratingly good and well worth the read.
C.S. Lewis made a comment in The Four Loves about how some people mistakenly think that, on the basis of enjoying a book they've read, they would enjoy the company of the author. After reading When the World, I found the prospect of meeting the author daunting. It's a deceptively simple story of two sisters; Emmy, the glamorous traveller, Virginia, the mousy stay-at-home type. Our story begins when each has had their lives etched out for them, through choices made by or for them over decades of adulthood. Emmy, who married an Australian, is now going through a difficult divorce and has tried to escape her life in Bali for a time. Virginia still lives in a flat in London with their mother, despairing for the life she never lived. The two narratives run parallel as each let their circumstances buffet and lead them.
Messud has an economy to her prose propels the narrative, offering details and hints, little asides side-long glances that create an image, a scene, a character, homing in on the important and the interesting while letting the reader fill the rest for themselves, like a Rembrandt self-portrait. This light touch makes the characters and their circumstances all the more engaging.
For the record, Messud was a very charming and gracious subject, both generous with her time and thoughts and very patient with my inexperience at interviewing. I should also mention that The Last Life is also frustratingly good and well worth the read.
May 31, 2017
I thought it was well written, but I just couldn't get into the characters and quickly found myself not caring what happened to them. I thought some of the observations about Bali were insightful, but not enough to overcome the overall feeling that it was just plodding along.
August 30, 2011
i don't know what it is with me and Claire Messud--her writing just rubs me the wrong way. I don't buy half of what she's selling and feel irritated all the way through to the end! This 'quiet' study of two very different sisters, their common past, etc, did nothing to pull me in and I felt no special interest in or sympathy for either of them.
April 1, 2008
i raced through this one....mainly so I could get it over with and start Into the Wild. Messud is just not my cup of tea. reading her is like going out for a drink with your highly intelligent, priveleged friend who just whines at you about their not-very-impressive problems...and then continues to look down on absolutely everything around them. One of the characters, Virginia, even admitted so much in the book, that she takes pride in being negative. I tried to think that was the character talking, but I am entirely convinced that Messud's not very imaginative plots, horrendously chauvinstic male characters (some of them -- I liked Nikhil. Maybe it's because he was Indian. But he was a bit dim, sadly), and pathetic, self-loathing female voices are not meant to give us any insight into anything, they're just meant to get us down. Just not where I'm at right now. But Messud does write well, from a purely technical standpoint, so it was not a chore to read in terms of style.
July 25, 2011
Been meaning to read this for a LONG time, since Messud went to Kenyon as a visiting professor. The writing is amazingly well paced and the story well planned, with bits of humor, but I found the characters to be lacking -- the two sisters seemed too similar, to be honest -- and the conclusion unfulfilling. I felt that Virginia had changed, but not Emmy, and I still can't figure out why. The title has an awesome backstory, though.
September 4, 2019
I don't know what to make of this. I feel it was written over a three week manic episode. Messud keeps you at such a distance from the characters and the story unfolds at such a rapid pace that it's a chaotic read. I don't know if that's intentional and brilliant or just very poor character development and lack of a complete plot. Certain characters and plotlines are introduced only to be seemingly forgotten about. I certainly won't be recommending this novel any time soon.
August 24, 2016
I like how Messud writes. I had read The Emperor´s Children and The Woman Upstairs but this novel was different. Maybe because it´s her debut novel. I had the sensation that neither the writer nor I knew where the story was going... she wanted to tell so many stories... but yet it was intriguing and involving. Absolutely enjoyable.
January 21, 2023
I am so confused by the supposed acclaim of this book! The description is inaccurate: "...only to become embroiled with a crew of international misfits and smugglers." You mean the dude who lets her stay with him rent free? The dude's kid who almost carried you up that mountain (the first of many anticlimactic scenes)? When she walks into the main house and says to K'tut something along the lines of "I guess there's no breakfast" I was done.
And Virginia. Her narrative and dialogue were so haughty and irritating. The homophobia was boring and dated, and the judgmental attitude got old real fast.
I think the last few pages sum it up, in that they don't at all. They learn no lessons. They don't find themselves. I won't even mark this as having spoilers, because nothing happens. They still barely interact or enjoy each other. It's like two short stories of people who are not at all related, both stories meandering and pointless.
And Virginia. Her narrative and dialogue were so haughty and irritating. The homophobia was boring and dated, and the judgmental attitude got old real fast.
I think the last few pages sum it up, in that they don't at all. They learn no lessons. They don't find themselves. I won't even mark this as having spoilers, because nothing happens. They still barely interact or enjoy each other. It's like two short stories of people who are not at all related, both stories meandering and pointless.
August 28, 2017
It's not really fair for me to rate a book that I did not finish. I was debating whether or not to continue when it was due back at the library with no renewal allowed. We are first introduced to the younger of two English sisters, Emmy. She is now 47 and newly divorced. She is pretty miserable, and understandably so. However, her negativity and pathetic attitude start to grate. I was relieved when the narrative switched to the elder sister Virginia. Unfortunately, Virginia turns out to be just as miserable. Her self-righteous attitude comes through in her Bible study. That did it. Done!
P.S. I was especially disappointed because I found Messud after reading a glowing write-up in the New York Times recently.
P.S. I was especially disappointed because I found Messud after reading a glowing write-up in the New York Times recently.
December 19, 2017
i feel great remorse giving a claire messud novel 2.5 stars, but while her characters in the woman upstairs may have inspired vitriol among readers, the characters of when the world was steady don't inspire much of anything.
July 2, 2018
I enjoyed this book, particularly as part of it is set in Bali, my favourite place on the planet. It’s not a book in which something new is happening all the time, but it’s an interesting depiction of how different the two sisters’ lives were, yet in some respects, they were really not that different at all.
For me, this was a very pleasant read.
For me, this was a very pleasant read.
September 15, 2009
There's something grasping and terrible about this book, about an elderly woman and her grown daughters who each try to find some clear place in the world after a major let-down or failure, with only the tiniest of triumphs to keep them going. Messud's writing is spare and controlled, even in the face of clear disappointment.
Here's a bit of Melody Simpson, who cajoles her elder daughter into visiting Scotland to see their ancestral home:
"Melody Simpson decided to drop the subject. She couldn't make Virginia understand, and she didn't like to consider that Virginia might be right: that Emmy might be indifferent to her mother's last day. Although were that so, it would only show how similar mother and daughter were. You don't grieve over the inevitable. And Emmy was still her favorite child."
Here's a bit of Melody Simpson, who cajoles her elder daughter into visiting Scotland to see their ancestral home:
"Melody Simpson decided to drop the subject. She couldn't make Virginia understand, and she didn't like to consider that Virginia might be right: that Emmy might be indifferent to her mother's last day. Although were that so, it would only show how similar mother and daughter were. You don't grieve over the inevitable. And Emmy was still her favorite child."
April 23, 2016
Wonderful book. I just learned this was her first which makes it really extraordinary.
The story of two sisters who are not close, one in England and the other in Australia. Told is separate chapters until the end. It is really about, love, family, finding yourself as a person as an individual and not in relation to a husband or other family member. It really hit home with me. I have enjoyed some of her other books.
The story of two sisters who are not close, one in England and the other in Australia. Told is separate chapters until the end. It is really about, love, family, finding yourself as a person as an individual and not in relation to a husband or other family member. It really hit home with me. I have enjoyed some of her other books.
July 4, 2013
A good read, but not nearly as good as The Emperor's Children. Of course, When the World was Steady was an earlier work, but for me, it needed more consistency. I did enjoy the cultural exposure of to Mali, and also of Scotland (to the extent they were discussed), but I did not feel the empathy for the characters that Emperor's invoked. Still, it was worthy of my time.
April 29, 2014
Couldn't stand Emmy, one of the main characters. Her choices seemed ridiculous to me. I didn't feel a connection to any character besides perhaps Virginia. Lovely writing in isolated spots, but could not get excited to pick it up and read.
August 7, 2008
Not sure why I kept going with this one, I didn't really like any of the characters, or the story much.
April 10, 2009
This book was written well- but very long chapters, and no "high" points...kept waiting for something interesting to happen and nothing ever did! Not one of my favorites...that's for sure!
January 20, 2010
Really disappointing book that I MADE myself finish. Not in anyway as good as her other books. Boo.
November 29, 2019
I read this some time ago.... I really like Ms. Messud's writings. This was a book I liked so much I got both the US and the UK editions (Granta)!
January 3, 2021
In view of this being Claire Messud's first novel, I would say that it shows a lot of promise... but also a certain level of immaturity. Written in the two voices of Emmy and Virginia, middle-aged sisters with opposite personalities, the book has many good moments, but fails to bring the characters' stories together. Or rather : in the epilogue, the two sisters meet again, but their antipathy is as manifest as ever, and in fact, all the personal growth that we had hoped to see after the adventures that had befallen them in the preceding 250 pages, seems to have come to naught.
Emmy, who married an Australian at the age of 20, is newly divorced and at loose ends. Having always believed that you make your own luck, she is now lost, wandering listlessly around Bali on a tropical vacation. Her efforts to fit in with the backpacking crowd don't pay off, and she ends up, very passively, as a houseguest in the house belonging to fellow Australian Buddy. Drifting along with the flow of the household, she tries to "find herself", but mainly just floats around in a fog. Meanwhile, her prissy sister Virginia, a Bible-study devotee and lower-middle-management administrator in London, has a nervous breakdown of her own, and finally agrees -the road of least resistance - to accompany her mother on a trip to the Isle of Skye.
Both trips, to both islands (Bali and Skye) are both traumatic and cathartic. Or so I think. Both Virginia and Emmy become embroiled in the relationships of others around them (in Virginia's case: her Bible-study friend and said friend's neighbor; in Emmy's case : the tension between Buddy's girlfriends, ex-girlfriends and teenage son Max), but it's not clear how this affects them. As I said, in the epilogue, Virginia and Emmy meet on the occasion of Emmy's daughter's marriage... manage to completely misunderstand and dislike each other, and don't seem to have been altered all that much by what I would consider to have been some pretty shattering experiences.
The best parts of the book were the descriptions of Emmy in Bali. I have never been in Bali, or anywhere near that part of the world, and I can't judge whether these sections have verisimilitude or not. There were enough details to make me believe that Claire Messud knew whereof she wrote (squelching mud seeping through the flip-flops, aggressive monkeys, religious ceremonies), but in any case, I felt transported into that far-away world. For me that was the best part of the book, because I could not make much sense of the characters.
Emmy, who married an Australian at the age of 20, is newly divorced and at loose ends. Having always believed that you make your own luck, she is now lost, wandering listlessly around Bali on a tropical vacation. Her efforts to fit in with the backpacking crowd don't pay off, and she ends up, very passively, as a houseguest in the house belonging to fellow Australian Buddy. Drifting along with the flow of the household, she tries to "find herself", but mainly just floats around in a fog. Meanwhile, her prissy sister Virginia, a Bible-study devotee and lower-middle-management administrator in London, has a nervous breakdown of her own, and finally agrees -the road of least resistance - to accompany her mother on a trip to the Isle of Skye.
Both trips, to both islands (Bali and Skye) are both traumatic and cathartic. Or so I think. Both Virginia and Emmy become embroiled in the relationships of others around them (in Virginia's case: her Bible-study friend and said friend's neighbor; in Emmy's case : the tension between Buddy's girlfriends, ex-girlfriends and teenage son Max), but it's not clear how this affects them. As I said, in the epilogue, Virginia and Emmy meet on the occasion of Emmy's daughter's marriage... manage to completely misunderstand and dislike each other, and don't seem to have been altered all that much by what I would consider to have been some pretty shattering experiences.
The best parts of the book were the descriptions of Emmy in Bali. I have never been in Bali, or anywhere near that part of the world, and I can't judge whether these sections have verisimilitude or not. There were enough details to make me believe that Claire Messud knew whereof she wrote (squelching mud seeping through the flip-flops, aggressive monkeys, religious ceremonies), but in any case, I felt transported into that far-away world. For me that was the best part of the book, because I could not make much sense of the characters.
February 4, 2024
This an interesting read - a character study, really, of several not very likeable characters - but the startling and abrupt ending was a letdown for me. Many readers gave this two stars, and I think if you pick it up expecting a conventional story arc, which you won't get, and relatable characters, which you won't get, you'd be inclined to rate it pretty low.
So why would you bother with this? Well, for one thing, the writing is just very, very good. It's precise, and realistic, without a single word wasted - pretty impressive when you think back that this is the author's first novel. Also, you probably won't like any of the characters (which seems to be something of a Messud specialty). Virginia is pinched and righteous, Emmy is entitled and condescending, and their mother is an irascible pain in the ass. But they are undeniably realistic, and maybe the challenge is recognizing it can still be a still a good book, even when you dislike everyone in it. They all receive their come-uppance, so to speak, and spend the book struggling to set their lives to rights after its foundation has been yanked from under them. They don't exactly succeed, not neatly, anyway, and that's the frustrating part of this story. You want to see things resolved, wrapped up with some tidy ending... but you're not going to get it. Presumably, these two just muddle on, not necessarily wiser than they were when this started, though certainly less smugly certain about their lives.
There are a fair number of reasons for disliking this, but I still think it's worth reading. It's probably just important to be forewarned about what you can - and can't- expect to get out of it.
So why would you bother with this? Well, for one thing, the writing is just very, very good. It's precise, and realistic, without a single word wasted - pretty impressive when you think back that this is the author's first novel. Also, you probably won't like any of the characters (which seems to be something of a Messud specialty). Virginia is pinched and righteous, Emmy is entitled and condescending, and their mother is an irascible pain in the ass. But they are undeniably realistic, and maybe the challenge is recognizing it can still be a still a good book, even when you dislike everyone in it. They all receive their come-uppance, so to speak, and spend the book struggling to set their lives to rights after its foundation has been yanked from under them. They don't exactly succeed, not neatly, anyway, and that's the frustrating part of this story. You want to see things resolved, wrapped up with some tidy ending... but you're not going to get it. Presumably, these two just muddle on, not necessarily wiser than they were when this started, though certainly less smugly certain about their lives.
There are a fair number of reasons for disliking this, but I still think it's worth reading. It's probably just important to be forewarned about what you can - and can't- expect to get out of it.
October 5, 2021
Melody Simpson păși prin iarbă și pe pământul umed, îndreptându-se ușor spre fundul grădinii ca să se uite la copiii ei care dormeau. Era o seară răcoroasă de vară. Își ridică faldurile rochiei și își trecu ușor degetele prin păr, chiar dacă era trecut de miezul nopții și nu avea cine să o vadă.
Apoi savură liniștea aceea profundă. Era prima vară de după război, prima vară din noua sa viață, prima vară în care Domnul, oricât de îndurerat și de rănit ar fi fost El, era în Ceruri, iar pe pământ era liniște și pace. Desigur, Melody Simpson nu credea în Dumnezeu, era doar metaforic. Doar în astfel de clipe era tentată să o facă. Înainte să îi fugă gândul la toate cele întâmplate până atunci.
Virginia și Emmy își făcuseră un cort din două bețe lungi și un cearșaf vechi, prins cu câteva cărămizi adunate de la capătul străzii, unde zăceau rămășițele unei case bombardate. Cortul fusese ideea lui Emmy, care, la cei cinci ani ai ei, era prea leneșă sau prea tânără ca să îl realizeze, astfel încât proiectul ei se concretizase doar când Virginia, sora ei responsabilă și oarecum timorată, luase asupra ei sarcina aceasta.
Melody Simpson se lăsă pe vine ca să arunce o privire în cort. Când erau treze, se lăsa veșnic cu păruială între cele două fete, când vesele, când încăpățânate, dar întotdeauna una împotriva
celeilalte. Dar când dormeau, doar în maiou și pantalonași scurți, învelite cu o pătură groasă, cu brațele subțiri și albicioase încolăcite fiecare în jurul celeilalte, păreau să-și împărtășească
toate visele.
Apoi savură liniștea aceea profundă. Era prima vară de după război, prima vară din noua sa viață, prima vară în care Domnul, oricât de îndurerat și de rănit ar fi fost El, era în Ceruri, iar pe pământ era liniște și pace. Desigur, Melody Simpson nu credea în Dumnezeu, era doar metaforic. Doar în astfel de clipe era tentată să o facă. Înainte să îi fugă gândul la toate cele întâmplate până atunci.
Virginia și Emmy își făcuseră un cort din două bețe lungi și un cearșaf vechi, prins cu câteva cărămizi adunate de la capătul străzii, unde zăceau rămășițele unei case bombardate. Cortul fusese ideea lui Emmy, care, la cei cinci ani ai ei, era prea leneșă sau prea tânără ca să îl realizeze, astfel încât proiectul ei se concretizase doar când Virginia, sora ei responsabilă și oarecum timorată, luase asupra ei sarcina aceasta.
Melody Simpson se lăsă pe vine ca să arunce o privire în cort. Când erau treze, se lăsa veșnic cu păruială între cele două fete, când vesele, când încăpățânate, dar întotdeauna una împotriva
celeilalte. Dar când dormeau, doar în maiou și pantalonași scurți, învelite cu o pătură groasă, cu brațele subțiri și albicioase încolăcite fiecare în jurul celeilalte, păreau să-și împărtășească
toate visele.
August 31, 2020
I like to wait until I finish a book to read other's reviews. I was surprised to learn that this book, though I knew it was 'old' (from 1994), was the author's debut novel. I was also very surprised that it got so few reviews on Amazon and that many were not good ones. Although, I have to vent for a moment here. How helpful is a one-line review, anyway? I say, pshaw on them.
I enjoyed this tale of the diverged lives of two middle-aged sisters very much. I was entranced by Emmy's experiences in Bali, which is how the book starts off. When it switched to Virginia's story, in England, I felt a bit disappointed for a few pages, partly because I wanted to continue the adventure in Bali with Emmy, and partly because I just didn't connect with 'old maid' staunchly religious Virginia. However, both sisters experience revelations as the story continues, and Virginia's are the deepest and the most unexpected.
I was just as drawn into Virginia & her mother's adventure to Skye, in Scotland, as I was to the happenings in Bali. Written in exquisite prose, I was reminded of why I have fallen in love with this author's work.
I was not thrilled with the anti-climactic nature of the ending, although, really, that is life sometimes. We are changed by our experiences outside of our 'normal' lives, yet that rarely leads to a drastic change in trajectory, in most cases. Sometimes, it's the small things that get rearranged within us as we grow and go on with life.
I enjoyed this tale of the diverged lives of two middle-aged sisters very much. I was entranced by Emmy's experiences in Bali, which is how the book starts off. When it switched to Virginia's story, in England, I felt a bit disappointed for a few pages, partly because I wanted to continue the adventure in Bali with Emmy, and partly because I just didn't connect with 'old maid' staunchly religious Virginia. However, both sisters experience revelations as the story continues, and Virginia's are the deepest and the most unexpected.
I was just as drawn into Virginia & her mother's adventure to Skye, in Scotland, as I was to the happenings in Bali. Written in exquisite prose, I was reminded of why I have fallen in love with this author's work.
I was not thrilled with the anti-climactic nature of the ending, although, really, that is life sometimes. We are changed by our experiences outside of our 'normal' lives, yet that rarely leads to a drastic change in trajectory, in most cases. Sometimes, it's the small things that get rearranged within us as we grow and go on with life.
October 25, 2017
Read for book club.
This book was a mundane look at the mundane lives of mundane people. There was nothing exciting to leap off the pages. Even the characters seemed bored with their lives. Always bitter, always bickering. Defensive or angry.
No one was graced with a happy ending. Not the mother. Neither sister, both still aimless, both still full of doubt, living lies.
We have no update on Max. Nor for the fate of Rupica. This is the most grating to me. The complete lack of resolution.
Emmy stayed with smugglers and there is all of five sentences to describe it. Where is the excitement?
There were lovely sentences and descriptions. "The lake had glistened, earlier, but now emanated darkness, as though with the passage of the sun the spirits rose from its depths to skim across the surface." The writing at times was beautiful, but the story, the almost depressing nature of it took away from that for me.
The author also seemed to have an obsession with weight. It was in every description, as though the size of person, especially Angelica, Emmy, was a detriment to their character.
I feel the author could have done so much more with these settings and the characters she created.
This book was a mundane look at the mundane lives of mundane people. There was nothing exciting to leap off the pages. Even the characters seemed bored with their lives. Always bitter, always bickering. Defensive or angry.
No one was graced with a happy ending. Not the mother. Neither sister, both still aimless, both still full of doubt, living lies.
We have no update on Max. Nor for the fate of Rupica. This is the most grating to me. The complete lack of resolution.
Emmy stayed with smugglers and there is all of five sentences to describe it. Where is the excitement?
There were lovely sentences and descriptions. "The lake had glistened, earlier, but now emanated darkness, as though with the passage of the sun the spirits rose from its depths to skim across the surface." The writing at times was beautiful, but the story, the almost depressing nature of it took away from that for me.
The author also seemed to have an obsession with weight. It was in every description, as though the size of person, especially Angelica, Emmy, was a detriment to their character.
I feel the author could have done so much more with these settings and the characters she created.
September 11, 2018
Messud is wonderful with voice, especially painfully edgy ones, as well as the small details that define a character. In this first novel (!), she gets into the heads of two middle-aged British sisters and their mother. Two are on personal quests and the other is recovering from a breakdown. I find the parallels in the novel interesting. One sister, Emmy, has gone to Bali and goes on a trek to a sacred site to find herself. Here, she falls in with a family who is making money by selling stolen sacred objects. The other sister, Virginia, is a born again Christian who begins to question her faith after she has an awkward encounter with an Indian immigrant whose sister has run off with a British "Jesus." Their mother is also on a search. She returns to her mother's homeland, the Isle of Sky, in order to die--but how she will die and when--is still a mystery for her. She is wonderfully portrayed, full of sarcasm and ire, yet with the final wish that the sisters will reunite. Here, Messud is asking big questions about faith, family, and imperialist relationships. Messud's writing makes the world bigger.
February 21, 2020
Claire Messud can be really good, or she can be hard to take. When the World Was Steady is some good Messud.
Two British sisters hit middle age, hard. One attempts to salve the wounds of her divorce by climbing a difficult mountain in Bali, and she's no athlete. The other, a spinster, worries that the young smarty-pants in her office is edging her out of a job.
Their mother is planning her death. She has taken one of her daughters on a vacation to a dreary Scottish island, the land of their ancestors. Unbeknownst to the daughter, she doesn't plan to return to London. All this after having survived breast cancer years ago. Her foam, um, replacements often get jostled out of place. She can't always tell when she's, um, uneven unless her daughter points it out. Which the mother does not like to hear.
Two British sisters hit middle age, hard. One attempts to salve the wounds of her divorce by climbing a difficult mountain in Bali, and she's no athlete. The other, a spinster, worries that the young smarty-pants in her office is edging her out of a job.
Their mother is planning her death. She has taken one of her daughters on a vacation to a dreary Scottish island, the land of their ancestors. Unbeknownst to the daughter, she doesn't plan to return to London. All this after having survived breast cancer years ago. Her foam, um, replacements often get jostled out of place. She can't always tell when she's, um, uneven unless her daughter points it out. Which the mother does not like to hear.
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