Bedrock

by Lisa Alther

Successful photographer and urbanite Clea Shawn searches for the serenity and sobriety to cope with a sterile marriage, grown children, and years of empty affairs, as well as an understanding of herself and her feelings, in the rural town of Roches Ridge, Vermont

Genres: Fiction, Lesbian, Novels, LGBT, Contemporary

325 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Beth F · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book at all and as I write this review 7 months after reading it, I’m still trying to figure out how I managed to force myself into finishing it. Perhaps if I was in a different spot in my life I may have enjoyed this book more but in all honesty, I could find nothing in this book to identify with.

Buuut…I’m only 29. And soon to be married. And feeling extremely hopeful and starry-eyed about the future. The main character of the book is considerably older. Not terribly pleased with her marriage. And feeling the restless energy of middle-age striking.

In this book, the main character finds herself addressing issues of infidelity (her own and her longtime husbands) and begins feeling unsettled by the whole thing. And so she makes a major life change and leaves her outrageously fabulous “New York City is the Center of the Universe” lifestyle and moves to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Hilarity does ensue as the supporting characters begin to panic about her cutting herself off from LIFE but everything gets ironed out in the end.

I enjoyed most of the supporting characters (both Clea’s family, city friends and townie friends) but most of the time I wanted to strangle Clea.

[Cia K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Alther is underrated !

[Antonio Papadourakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πολύ ενδιαφέρον 'γυναικείο' μυθιστόρημα, ψυχική-πνευματική περπλάνηση.
'Ο κάθε έρωτας ήταν μεθυστικός. Κι όμως κανείς τους δεν είχε αφήσει πιο μόνιμα ίχνη από μια πατημασιά στο ανοιξιάτικο χιόνι.'
'Αυτάρκης πριν από το γάμο, ήταν τώρα πια προσκολλημένη, απαιτητική και απορριπτική.'
'Αν αφεθείς ν'αγαπήσεις, πας γυρεύοντας να λεηλατηθείς. Μα πάλι, το να μην αγαπάς καθόλου, δεν είναι λύση.'
'- Θέλω να μάθω τι να κάνω για να κερδίσω την ηρεμία της ψυχής μου.
-Μα είναι απλό, τίποτα.
-Δεν είναι κάτι που το πετυχαίνουμε. Είναι κάτι που το συνειδητοποιούμε. Ο στόχος μας είναι να εντοπίσουμε το μάτι του κυκλώνα, όχι να γίνουμε το μάτι του κυκλώνα. Γι αυτό ο καλύτερος τρόπος για να ακολουθήσετε το μονοπάτι, είναι να μην το πατήσετε.'

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clea Shawn chooses to leave her husband of many years and two grown children whom she loves and to whom she continues to be bound, to move to the less-than-ideal village of Roches Ridge, Vermont, and begin a lesbian relationship with her artist friend, Elke. Clea does so, confident "that no pain was permanent, and no loss was real. That even though people treated each other abominably, even though they left, even though you let them go, even though you never laid eyes on them again, this fugue that linked you continued, whether you liked it or not"

[Kathy Kaylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

the first 100 pages or so of this book are hard to plod through but it is worth it to get to ride it from the middle to the end. It's a riot.

[Lise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth a read

[Dianna Shimizu · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was OK--not really my style with too much angst, but still kept me wanting to find out what was going to happen.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

After about 60 pages or so I gave up on this one. Just couldn't get into it.

[Lea Columbus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read a few of Lisa Alther's books before. They have been quirky but satisfying. This one is just quirky.Clea is a wife, mother, photographer in New York in the 80's. She is becoming an empty nester and moves to Vermont to start a different life. So far so good. The people in the town and the situations are bizarre , to say the least. The book takes a strange turn, and I didn't like it. I liked the first half of the book, but rapidly lost the train of thought.

[Rebecca Majoya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first lesbian book I read and I felt so connected, like I belonged. It was life changing for me to 'see' myself in a book. I will be forever grateful to Lisa Alther for her writing and the characters who became my friends in the reading.

[Kim]

Lost interest in the characters fairly early on.

[Judith Greve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe this satirical novel was great fun in the zeitgeist of the early nineties but currently it is just too much. Because I LOL quite a few times, two stars instead of one.

[Jane E · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit tedious. Definitely not a second Kinflicks.

[Melissa Rockenfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

i have only read one other book of hers (Kinflicks) and absolutely loved it, often laughing out loud and underlining fun phrases. This is her 4th book and feels like it- i fear she was trying to meet a deadline without inspiration. The main characters are well developed and the initial plot is engrossing. However, the secondary characters are cartoonish buffoons and the various subplots and plot twist are not vaguely plausible. I finished the book because i am stubborn, but it was truly not worth it.

[Ines · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe mich ein wenig gefragt, wie man so naiv sein kann, obwohl man die 40 überschritten, 2 Kinder großgezogen, um die ganze Welt gereist ist und eine beste Freundin hat, die vom 2. Weltkrieg schwer traumatisiert ist. Clea ist wohl eine "besondere Frau", aber nicht unbedingt im positiven Sinne... Trotzdem war es recht gut zu lesen, vielleicht hätten es ein paar Seiten weniger auch getan. Und ich habe sehr lange darauf gewartet, dass, wie auf dem Klappentext angegeben, Cleas Illusionen zu Bruch gehen und der Boden unter ihren Füßen anfängt zu schwanken, damit dann langsam die Wirklichkeit zum Freund werden kann. Da zerbrechen vielleicht die Illusionen des Lesers, weil die Perspektive ständig wechselt und so die Geschichten der Charaktere des schönen Scheins beraubt werden, aber Clea kriegt von alledem ewig nix mit. Darum fand ich, dass die Wirklichkeit dann doch recht flott zum Freund geworden ist...

[Phoebe Kate Foster · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved Alther's novels, Kinflicks and Original Sins, but this one falls far short of the quality of her previous works. The main character is relentlessly annoying and obnoxious, the minor characters are colorful and intriguing but unfortuntely their presence is so minimal that they weren't enough to keep me reading further. I gave up after forcing myself to read at least halfway through the book... and not finishing a book is a very VERY rare thing for me.