Upstate

by James Wood

New Yorker book critic and award-winning author James Wood delivers a novel of a family struggling to connect with one another and find meaning in their own lives.

In the years since his daughter Vanessa moved to America to become a professor of philosophy, Alan Querry has never been to visit. He has been too busy at home in northern England, holding together his business as a successful property developer. His younger daughter, Helen—a music executive in London—hasn’t gone, either, and the two sisters, close but competitive, have never quite recovered from their parents’ bitter divorce and the early death of their mother. But when Vanessa’s new boyfriend sends word that she has fallen into a severe depression and that he’s worried for her safety, Alan and Helen fly to New York and take the train to Saratoga Springs.

Over the course of six wintry days in upstate New York, the Querry family begins to struggle with the questions that animate this profound and searching novel: Why do some people find living so much harder than others? Is happiness a skill that might be learned or a cruel accident of birth? Is reflection conducive to happiness or an obstacle to it? If, as a favorite philosopher of Helen’s puts it, “the only serious enterprise is living,” how should we live? Rich in subtle human insight, full of poignant and often funny portraits, and vivid with a sense of place, James Wood’s Upstate is a powerful, intense, beautiful novel.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literature, Literary Fiction, New York, Novels, British Literature

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 8, 2018

About the author

James Douglas Graham Wood is an English literary critic, essayist and novelist. He is currently Professor of the Practice of Literary Criticism at Harvard University (a part-time position) and a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine.
Wood advocates an aesthetic approach to literature, rather than more ideologically-driven trends in academic literary criticism.
Wood is noted for coining the genre term hysterical realism, which he uses to denote the contemporary conception of the "big, ambitious novel" that pursues vitality "at all costs." Hysterical realism describes novels that are characterized by chronic length, manic characters, frenzied action, and frequent digressions on topics secondary to the story.

Reviews

[Taufiq Yves · Rating 4 out of 5]

In February 2006, during winter in Durham, England, 68-year-old Alan Querry, the only son of the family, visits his mother at a high-end nursing home to say goodbye after his father's passing. He plans to travel to Upstate to see his 40-year-old eldest daughter, Vanessa, who broke her arm in a fall before Christmas. Through an email forwarded by his second daughter, Helen, he learns that Vanessa's accident is likely related to her worsening depression.

Alan's visit to his mother is not only to bid farewell but also to see if he can convince her to move in with him, as he can barely afford the nursing home fees, especially with his real estate partnership on the brink of collapse. Though on the surface, Alan's life appears financially stable.

Alan's first wife has passed away, and he is grateful for his second wife, who is 10 years younger. However, her relationship with his 2 daughters has been tense. Thus, the trip to visit Vanessa falls solely on Alan. Coincidentally, Helen has a work trip to New York in early February, so she will accompany him. Neither Alan nor Helen has met Josh, the sender of the email. All they know is that he is 7 years younger than Vanessa, and they have no idea about the future of their relationship.

During a conversation with Josh, Alan learns that Josh has no connections at all in England so he prefers to stay in New York. Vanessa, on the other hand, yearns to return to England and hopes Josh will join her. Alan realizes a rift is forming. He asks Vanessa what if Josh doesn't want to go to England. Vanessa says it's OK; she can continue living with him in New York.

Alan cannot comprehend why Vanessa is so abstract, nearly collapsing due to mental struggles, while his Helen is so practical, busy with work, sensitive to changes in music production trends, and eager to start a new music company.

But Alan is quite hesitate to agree to Helen’s proposal for him to invest in her new company, aware of his current financial situation. However, he also understands the pressure she faces with 2 children and a seemingly strained relationship with her husband. He also doesn't know how to address Venessa’s life struggles, destined to teach and study philosophy, occasionally suffering from anxiety and depression.

Alan feels a certain loss - a sign of aging, as evidenced by his darker-than-usual penis and his once-thick chest hair turning insignificantly gray, dry like tobacco. These are signs of aging. Time passes, the body ages, nature is unforgiving. Yet, while staring into the bathroom mirror, he seemed to see his younger self: everything from ages 10 to 68 felt like it happened in a few small rooms; childhood in a hallway, youth in a peculiar kitchen cabinet. All the lost time seemed within reach, not separated by decades or buildings and streets, but tangibly close. 68 years - marriage, children, divorce, loss, debt crisis - all went by in a flash, merely the distance from 1 end of the hallway to the other. He saw no signs of weakness, decline, or aging, whether in sex, happiness, or curiosity. For the past 3 months, the debt crisis had troubled him.

In Upstate, Alan constantly compared his experiences in England, finding the good and bad. The so-called good made him reflect on England's shortcomings. He continuously revisited his memories of England, seemingly only alive through reflection, making life feel less fleeting. Interacting with his daughters, they always reminisced about family jokes, subtly avoiding past tense when mentioning the deceased first wife as if she still accompanied them. The second wife, however, was only appreciated by Alan and remained an outsider to the daughters, absent from their intimate conversations.

The book mentions 9/11, Obama, and Sony's music production in New York, giving the novel a clear sense of contemporary reality. Beyond this time frame, past experiences project internally without external markers, a flowing inner insight shared by Alan and his daughters, representing a sense of loss, despair, and struggle.

In the latter half of the novel, true open-hearted communication begins: Vanessa feels her father, sister, and boyfriend possess a divine happiness, an innate quality that requires no effort to acquire, unlike her. She senses a lack of happiness, feeling the onset of depression - realizing life's complete meaninglessness, repetitive continuation. She perceives life's ultimate image through a 90-year-old neighbor slowly, patiently, and methodically drinking soup on the balcony. The elderly man's slow, patient, and methodical actions, drinking the soup 1 mouthful at a time until finished, then raising the bowl to drink the rest, seemed like a practice in observation. Vanessa admired this monk-like patience - his extraordinary self-discipline and determination. Yet, she saw no joy in the meal, just a training exercise for survival's reflex, merely feeding a body to keep it alive. For what purpose? To live longer and drink more soup?

Alan didn't know how to answer Vanessa’s confusion; he stopped resisting, feeling only sadness. But he shared a school story, ending with, "Sometimes, I wish you could curse life instead of fighting it."

I love his description: ”you need to outsmart life, tell it where to go, dismiss it, and strategically - disdain it. Clear away problems. Don't tangle too long. Don't let snowballs grow bigger.”

This was Alan's heartfelt advice, his life's wisdom. He longed to know how to navigate the long yet short life, aware there was no experience to borrow. He too had walked this long journey back and forth, realizing the most intelligent approach was: ”don't tangle too long.” Ultimately, it's a matter of degree.

And Upstate, in some ways, ended at an appropriate place as Alan had hoped: he emailed his partner, planning to discuss starting a new venture with Helen soon, intending to stay in Upstate with Venessa for a while longer.

I feel ”don’t tangle too long” was also the attitude James Wood sought to convey. In every aspect, Wood desired moderation, hoping to understand what constituted just the right amount. He disliked hysterical realism and showy or overly clever novel writing, always seeking moderation in specific novel criticism and writing.

For some reason, or perhaps because some people are inherently happy, a sense of moderation is also an innate quality. In life or novel writing, some excess, some entanglement, some lingering (whether voluntary or involuntary) may be the norm, and it may be this excess that is the source of all charm.

Vanessa may not be unhappy.

3.9 / 5 stars

[Elyse Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

For 68-year-old Alan Querry....a British bloke, his two adult daughters ....
....”Vanessa and Helen, Helen and Vanessa”, dominated much of his inner thoughts. “Every time he saw his daughters, he experienced such hunger for them, and hunger was so simply satisfied that he was freshly amazed that he didn’t see them more often”.

Sometimes he thought about his first wife Cathy (their divorce- later her death - births - money — the weather - his aging penis, Candace, his present wife and her Zen Buddhism practice, foods he ate, books, his sleep, American phrases that never caught on in Great Britain- such as “Take It Easy”, The amount of toilet paper that Americans use, people shouting in New York, ( a city which was like “Heaven and Hell”), The depressed underground shopping mall...( I laughed silly...Damn... ALAN QUERRY was right... America looked pretty bad with crispy cream donuts, etc.) .....

But.... those little minor thoughts were nothing, compared to the thoughts he had about “Vanessa and Helen, Helen and Vanessa”.
I’ll say no more. If you like quiet books about families... about the inner thinking of a parent towards their adult children ... and appreciate great writing.... you’ll get the rest of the story about Vanessa and Helen.....@ a lot of thoughts about what Alan is thinking. Toss in music, and Philosophy to boot!

But please.... let the sun shine in New York and melt that snow. ⛄️

*note... I timed myself. This review was written in eight minutes while speaking into the phone and riding the spinnaker bike! This works for me! Thanks! Still a little long —- but so little time... and with no ARC books ... It’s a support these days too.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alan Querry is in his mid to late sixties and lives in Northumbria, in the north of England. His roots are working class folk made good. He has two grown up daughters and a once strong business that is going through troubling times. One of his daughters, Vanessa (Van), the more fragile one, lives in America where she lectures in philosophy at a relatively obscure college in upstate New York. Alan has been contacted by Van’s boyfriend, Josh, who is worried about her current depressed state. A journey to America beckons for Alan, where he will meet up with his other daughter – the robust and confident Helen – in NYC, before they both travel upstate to stay with Van for a few days.

As Alan sets out in his journey some background detail starts to get filled in: his wife (the mother of the two girls) left him some time back but then subsequently fell ill and died; he is a reasonably successful property developer but a recent big deal seems to have gone bad and the company cash-flow is now under severe strain. He now has a new woman in his life, memories of his deceased wife seem to be never far from his thoughts, or those of his daughters. As for the business, he just seems to be glad to escape the stress and strain of it all for a while.

I’ve read a couple of review from respected sources and both reviewers seemed to hate this book. That said, one of the reviewers did seem to have a personal or professional bone to pick (the author here being a fellow literary critic). However, I don't understand the criticism of this novel at all – I loved it! Maybe it was because although Alan is some years older than me, he’s close enough in age for me to have some sympathy with the key concerns that seem to occupy his mind, these being the health and wellbeing of his children and his own ongoing financial security (not to mention his ability to leave something worthwhile to his daughters).

In some ways little of any consequence happens but that would be to significantly underplay the interest here. As Alan becomes ever more concerned about Van’s down state I found myself routing for them both, hoping that answers could be found and a way forward identified. But the issues are complex – as they always are when it comes to mental health. And please don't think it’s all doom and gloom, it’s really not that. It's a well crafted, beautifully written and thought provoking story that I found totally engrossing. I was really sad when it came to an end, but only because I'd so enjoyed my time with Alan and his girls.

My sincere thanks to Random House UK and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Esil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upstate was a lovely read, in an understated way. Allan is in his 60s and has two adult daughters. He and his daughter Helen travel from the UK to upstate New York to visit his other daughter Vanessa. The trip is made because Allan and Helen are worried about Vanessa, who has a tendency toward depression. Not much happens in Upstate. It’s very much a novel of musings about family, love, regret and the thoughts and feelings that are hard to say out loud. The story is mostly seen from Allan’s point of view, with occasional peeks from his daughter’s perspectives. For those of us who are parents, it does a really good job of depicting that constant low grade hum of worry that keeps us tied to our kids wherever they are. It’s mostly serious, a bit melancholy, with tinges of humour about differences between life in the UK and life in the US. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this book purely due to its author - James Wood, currently both an academic and the literary critic of the New Yorker, a magazine I first picked up due to my monthly trips to the City but have carried on reading due to its in depth essays, not least its sometimes brilliant coverage of books, a great example being Wood’s wonderful article on Jon McGregor.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

James Wood was raised in Durham, made his critical breakthrough as a reviewer for the Guardian, and now lives in America with his wife, the novelist Claire Messud. This is his second novel, after the heavily autobiographical (and poorly critically received) The Book Against God of which Wood himself has confessed I didn’t feel I got the hang of it ……..That’s what first novels are for—not getting the hang of it.

In the same interview (in 2012) Wood had written 35 pages of the book that became this novel, and his interviewer described it as about an English businessman in his 60s who has two daughters, one of whom lives in Britain and works in music industry. The other teaches in the U.S. at a small college, but suffers from depression and tries to commit suicide. This spurs the dad to visit his daughter, though he hasn’t been to the States for some time.

This serves as a perfect summary of the set up of the novel – written in the third person largely from the point of view of the father:

I am Alan, son of George (deceased) and Jenny Querry (still alive), former husband of Cathy Pearsall (divorced and deceased), partner of Candace Lee, father of Vanessa and Helen.

Although occasionally from Vanessa (a philosophy lecturer at a college) and Helen (a leading lights at Sony)’s viewpoint.

The book is set during a few days while Helen and Alan visit Vanessa, who lives in Upstate New York, but whose mental health has recently suffered a decided down-state. Helen is the mother of two twins, but the more thoughtful, less confident Vanessa has started her first really serious relationship with Josh, a younger man and writer for Wired and other tech magazines. Helen and Alan’s visit was effectively requested by Josh who contacted them to say that a recent broken arm Vanessa suffered seems to have been a results of a deliberate fall; cogniscent of her history of depression (some of it bought on by Cathy and Alan’s divorce) and impulsive acts Alan and Helen respond. While this is going on, the 60+ Alan is confronted by a crisis in his building business and Helen is on the verge of setting up her own streaming business.

Wood, an opinionated critic, in a review of Zadie Smith’s White Teeth coined the term hysterical realism, a strong contrast between elaborately absurd prose, plotting, or characterization, on the one hand, and careful, detailed investigations of real, specific social phenomena on the other

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hysteri...

This novel not surprisingly is very different – concentrating on very limited plotting, careful written but far from overblown prose and a focus on what the intimate cast of characters feel and experience.

The nature of the observations becomes critical in this type of novel and I struggled heavily early on with what seemed disappointingly clichéd examples:

Candace’s mother had been so relentlessly ambitious, so determined to get out of her impoverished provincial Chinese village, that her school friends mocked her as ‘the toad who dreams of eating swan meat’.

Da had instructed him in that particular hardship; it was the way a lad kept himself ‘hard’. (Though Dad’s baths were also cold.) In the north of England, ‘hardness’ mattered more than cleverness or beauty or gentleness.

Britain, where the pavements were sopped with cold rainwater and everyone seemed to have attended queuing school, to learn how to do it with the requisite degree of resigned submission.

However over time the novel grew on me.

One key area is Alan’s observations as a Northern Englishman on upstate New York; given Wood’s own background I felt many of these observations likely biographical and was fascinated to discover this 2014 article in the London Review of Books, some of the observations in which, appear in this book

https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n04/james-w...

Another key area, and one fascinating for me as the father of three young girls, is Alan’s paternalistic reflections on his daughters, their very different characters and how they evolved over time:

In happier times, Alan and Cathy had loved to observe the differences between their daughters. How often, in the evening, when other conversation faltered, the two parents talked about ‘the girls’, with the kind of fanatical wonderment –monotonous but somehow never boring! –that revolutionaries must lavish on their plans for the future ....... For a while, these differences seemed provisional, part of the scramble of growing up; everything was potential. But eventually, so Alan discovered ...... and, as if suddenly, while you were not properly attending to the matter (or so it seemed to him now), while you were too busy with your own foolish crises, your daughter became an adult, and those qualities that had seemed malleable were now hardened and fixed.

The other key idea in the book is the balance between happiness and despair – and the key dynamic in the book and one with which it ends is the generally optimistic Alan trying to persuade the depression-prone Vanessa for whom happiness is a “puzzle” she struggles to solve, that life is worth living regardless of circumstance.

‘But happiness,’ Josh said [to Alan], ‘doesn’t come easily to Vanessa. For some people, maybe for someone like me, happiness is like all the other things you take for granted –inner-ear balance, say, or the regular thump of my heart, or my ability to sleep at night. Not for Vanessa. It’s like she doesn’t have that inner-ear balance. You and I walk down the street and don’t fall down; for her, falling down is kind of like the default position. Not falling down is an achievement for her, something she has to work at.

[Vanessa thought} despair was never banished; the memory, and therefore the prospect of it, always lurked. She was often put in mind of a childhood holiday she had taken in Cornwall, and of her strange, uncanny sense that the blue thrill of the sea was always nearby. ....... Magical and a bit terrifying, was how she remembered it ....... For despair was like a sea. It threshed restlessly, just out of sight, always there: the deep enemy of human flourishing, inching away at its borders.

[Vanessa said] Dad, you said when we walked along the road, you said you weren’t “naturally buoyant”. Those were your words? But I don’t think that’s true. You were humouring me. I think for you it is natural. It’s innate. Is happiness just a trick of birth, a completely accidental blessing, like having perfect pitch? Josh has it: healthy, instinctive optimism. Helen has it, mostly. I don’t have it.

As I read through the book, many other passages struck me to highlight, for example – this comment which could only have been improved by reference to the ill-judged recent decision to open the Booker to US books:

It sometimes seemed as if in the last thirty years of his life, the little island nation that he grew up in, which for centuries had generated its own history and literature and record of prodigious scientific and industrial innovation, not to mention a fairly eventful politics, had meekly let the Americans come and restock the shelves with their own merchandise.

On family resemblances

Helen was leaning forward ...... Cathy used to lean forward like this. Sometimes the similarities were like a shocking plagiarism, an outrageous laziness on the part of the family genes.

On religion, which although far less prominent than his first novel, still features at a critical juncture in this novel:

And as for the question of God –well, he had a notion that ‘the question of God’ might all have been more or less sorted out in his lifetime, like Cyprus or polio. Vaguely, with lazy irritation, he imagined some final event of revelation, a kind of theological press conference. He didn’t know whether the final revelation would be that God existed or didn’t; what seemed strange, as he put his tired head down on the hotel pillow, was that it hadn’t yet been decided, two thousand years after Christ’s death.

And then on the American Eastcoast winter (which almost needs to be added to the character list)

It was coming down fast, in the passive-aggressive way of snow, stealthy but relentless, insisting on its own white agenda, the soft monotony cancelling all time, all resistance, all activity.

The book is far from perfect – as well as the early clichés, there are lengthy chapters written form each of Helen and Vanessa’s viewpoints and examining their worlds – pop/rock music and philosophy respectively – which I found tedious. Josh is partly characerised by his “wacky” t-shirt slogans – which reminded me of the character of Ruby Redfort in Lauren Child’s excellent (but still children’t literature) series about the schoolgirl agent.

But overall a worthwhile read – rounded to 4* if nothing else for the wonderful Jon McGregor article.

My thanks to Jonathan Cape for an ARC via Net Galley.

[Meike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why is it so hard for some people to be happy, while others seem to achieve happiness so easily? When 68-year-old Alan, a divorced widower, is informed that his grown-up daughter Vanessa suffers from another bout of deep depression, he urgently travels from Northern England to Upstate New York, where she teaches philosophy at Skidmore College. Vanessa’s sister Helen, who works as a record executive in London, also rushes to her side. In the snowy landscapes of the area, an intimate play unfolds, circling around the question why Helen seems to have a much easier time getting her life together than Vanessa.

Wood’s narrative strategy is hidden in a lecture that Vanessa gives on the history of ethics, and in which she explains to her students (and her father, who is also in the audience):

“(…) the only serious enterprise is living. That we can’t do without. Yet to be alive properly, fully, is also to reflect on being alive, to think about life. (…) so we come full circle. Thinking about life and living life.”

That’s exactly what the two sisters represent: Helen is living life, Vanessa is thinking about it, and they both are lacking something - in fact, we’ll find out that Helen has quite a few problems as well.

Their father, Alan, also has his own worries, financially and age-related, which both of his daughters do not acknowledge. He is starting to realize that he is entering a phase in his life in which he needs more care, while his daughters still see him as a rather strong (emotional) provider. At one point, he confesses to Helen: “Sometimes I get very tired, trying to be the one member of this family who is never ‘unhappy’. (…) I have to work at it the whole time, or I’ll sink in the water.”

And there’s another aspect at play here: Wood also discusses what it means to care for a mentally ill person. While her family desperately wants to help Vanessa, it is also a very difficult situation for them. The same is true for Vanessa’s younger boyfriend, Josh, who explains: “It’s very hard to live with someone’s absolute need. I just…I don’t know if I can be responsible for her happiness.”

All of this is fascinating, and I almost gave Wood four stars. What kept me from doing that is that I felt like the story partly loses focus, is not composed consequentially enough, and has some threads that go almost nowhere (e.g. the constant comparisons between the US and England – they could stand for all kinds of things, but end up standing for nothing, IMHO).

Still, this was a very enjoyable novel, and I am looking forward to reading more fiction by Wood.

[Ron Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Upstate,” a new novel by the literary critic James Wood, is a slim book with a tiny cast doing little in a remote place, but it captures the anxious plight of a loving father with exquisite delicacy. Indeed, “Upstate” feels like a finely cut rebuttal to the hysterical realism of those sprawling social novels that Wood has famously criticized. But its affections are large, and its wisdom deep — a wonderful exception amid the voluminous literature of bad fathers.

The story takes place over a few days in early 2007 when a British real estate developer named Alan Querry is just starting to smell the smoke that will eventually burst into flame and destroy the world’s economy. At the moment, though, Alan is more alarmed by a cryptic message about his 40-year-old daughter in upstate New York. Vanessa, a philosophy professor at Skidmore College, seems to have fallen into a dangerous bout of depression. Determined to figure out what’s wrong, he and his younger daughter, Helen, go for a visit. . . .

To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 review soon.

[Sine · Rating 1 out of 5]

nefret ettim. nef. ret.

“white people problem” sevmiyorum da ondan diye düşündüm önce, ama yoo, orhan pamuk’un zengin burjuva erkeklerini okurken hiç sinirlenmiyorum-ya da en azından, bu şekilde sinirlenmiyorum. ama gerçek bir white people tatavası.

aslında birkaç yerde güzel damarlar yakalamış yazar, vanessa’nın babasının iş yerine gittiği çocukluk günlerini hatırlaması mesela, orda babasının başka biri olduğunu izleyip büyülenmesini. böyle 3-4 an yakaladım okurken. hah, diyorsun, oluyor: yine dert olmayan dertlere geçiş. ne kızın sıkıntısından emin olabildik, ne kardeşinin işleri çözüldü, ne babanın maddi derdini çözdük… hiçbir şey olmayan ve hiçbir şey sonuca bağlanmayan kitapları da sevebiliriz elbette, maceraperest liseli değiliz ama o zaman edebi bir lezzet, derin derin anlatılar, bir şeyler ararız. ne edebi tatmin var ne hikayede bir katman açılıyor… öyle keriz gibi iki hafta kitapla dövüştüm özetle.

roza hakmen çevirisi tuzağına düştüm velhasıl. kitaba dair tek iyi şey çevirisiydi herhalde. canın sağ olsun roza hakmen. senin için kurşun atar kurşun yerim.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, rounded down.

I really enjoyed both Wood's prose stylings, and his gentle family drama, and even appreciated his skill at weaving in some philosophizing, and discussion about those well-trod issues of depression and despair. What kept it from a 5 star read were some moribund passages that made me put down the book from weariness, but luckily the short chapters guaranteed that any sluggishness was of brief duration. That sounds like damning with faint praise, but I found the characters both well-defined and relatable, and the novel often veered into surprising cul-de-sacs I wasn't expecting. And any book that contains a shout to THIS, deserves at least 4 stars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39RBm....

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two sentences in this book describe one of its themes, the difficulty for a parent to come to terms with adult children: "Though your child was only briefly a child, you never quite got used to seeing her no longer one...." and "...you both look like grown-up women to me, you do grown-up things, so why you should act like teenagers is a mystery." Alan Querry finds himself in Saratoga Springs where his younger daughter, Vanessa, is a professor of philosophy, and for the first few days, his other daughter, Helen, a successful Sony executive, joins them. And that's just one of the themes of this wonderful book.

That Wood has set this book in 2008 during the Bush administration is no accident, and it was while reading this that I was hit by the fact that the ensuing ten years has wrought massive changes, and 2008 is gone with the wind. We have subsequently experienced the entire Obama era, which is spoken of in hopeful terms since he is still the Illinois Junior Senator. That is the undercurrent that rang most sharply for me. These characters were still staring down the events of their time. In addition, the changes between the US and UK have never been dealt with so beautifully from this point of view. (Usually it's a Yank in Merrie Olde England, not the other way around.)

Alan has not spent much time in the United States, and early on, his comparisons and observations are far from complimentary. The noise. The sheer overblown size of everything. Even the train's obtrusive whistle (not realizing it is required to be sounded before every crossing, and not just for fun). The circus that he observes America to be. Also, his life which has been made comfortable by his estate business in Northumberland has been experiencing ominous rumblings of what is to come in 2009. Further, Helen makes a prescient observation about the business of the music business, drawing an analogy between music flowing through open taps instead of being purchased in expensive little Evian bottles, foreseeing the streaming services we now take for granted. In addition, thanks to Vanessa, there is some philosophical rumination, which I must admit I dashed through since it didn't further the plot. The ending, more like that of a short story than a full length novel, left many questions unanswered, leaving room for, I hope, more of the same in a sequel.

[merixien · Rating 4 out of 5]

İyi Bir Hayat Amerikalı yazarların çok sevdiği ve çok da iyi oldukları “aile romanı” kavramına İngiliz yorumu getiren ve bu türdeki benzerlerinden ayrılan bir kitap. Zira burada yüzleşmeler, ortaya dökülen sırlar, tarafların karşılıklı oturup hesaplaşması ya da kafanın içinde dönenlerin ortaya dökülmesi gibi bir durum söz konusu değil. Kriz anında ortamı terk etme, iki tarafı idare etme ve olaysız dağılma iç güdüsü gibi durumlar söz konusu ki bu kitabı daha gerçek yapan detaylar da bunlar aslında. Kitap çocukluğundan beri içine kapakı bir abla, onun tam zıttı karakterde gayet hareketli bir kardeş ve kızlarını sevse de onlarla nasıl geçinebileceğini pek bilmeyen bir babanın Amerika’da geçen altı gününü konu alıyor. Eğer devamlı hareket ve olay olan, aile tarihinin gözler önüne serildiği kitapları seviyorsanız bu onlardan değil. Oldukça durağan, pek olayın olmadığı sakin hatta biraz sessiz bir aile hikayesi bu. Kitabın kötü olduğunu düşünmüyorum ama illa okunmalı da diyebileceğim bir duygu uyandırmadı bende. Van’ın depresyonu bir silah gibi kullanıp dramlarından yararlandığı işaretleri de kitapla bağ kurup daha detaylı düşünmemi engellemiştir belki.

3,5/5

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book whilst I was reading it, and then I must have changed hats, moved into "assessor" mode and discovered I had a whole damning list of objections. And I'm not quite sure how to proceed - because it seems to have become a very personal "novel", and I think this is partly what I object to.

My Goodreaders friend Anni has provided a helpful label of "Auto-fiction", I think that is the correct term - someone's autobiography thinly disguised as fiction. It's a little too personal for my tastes - the other problem being that the book matches my own generation gap with my parents, precisely - my dad turned 78 yesterday - he was born just one year after the author/narrator/Alan Querry - who was 12 in 1951 - the year of the Festival of Britain, so I recognize many similar attitudes and stances, noticeable also I think because my father came from a background even further north than Northumberland and grew up in exceedingly impoverished conditions - they ate porridge for dinner when there was no other food in the house. Wood dates his novel back to 2008 just before the big financial crisis. He talks about Barack Obama as Senator of , and in the running for president, so Alan is 68 in the book.

Working out the dates that James Wood gives to his characters I am a year younger than the eldest daughter Vanessa, she was 16 in 1982, I was 15. We were listening to the same music and same television programs - W12 8QT - the Blue Peter address you sent all your competition entries to, "Don't You Love Me Baby" etc. So the "novel" covers a very personal background.

Our main narrator - (the sister's voices are brought in - they occasionally have their own short chapters)- but our man, Alan, grew up in Durham, a social climb from his original start in Newcastle. I spent 3 years at Durham uni, as an undergraduate, so when he talks about Elvet Bridge, or Saddler street, I know the exact spot. This is a lot of fun, and especially because of his interest in buildings - Querry is a property developer, he does a nice angle on descriptions of re-development in Newcastle (Eldon Shopping centre) and Durham - he mentions having afternoon tea in the very posh - Royal County Hotel, - been there, done that. It's really hard not to enjoy a book that delivers your own past.

And then he goes off to America for a reunion with his two daughters, Vanessa, and Helen. Meeting up with Helen in New York city; she works for Sony record producers, and then they travel by train upstate to see Vanessa who lives in Saratoga Springs; she is a philosophy professor at Skidmore College. (Real college, real company).

Again, I hugely enjoyed Alan's take on all things American. It's his first journey to the States and I have to say his observations are very much in line with my own - when I stayed in New Jersey - that Slow Train from Princeton, to New York or down to Philadelphia. I kept wondering as Alan does: when is the train going to - go?! And the train is exposed, no platform, you have to climb up past the huge wheels, and inside - vast expanses of orange and wide seats, etc. and the food: gallon jugs of milk, the prevalence of carbohydrates in diners, restaurants and malls - donuts, bagels, pretzels and weak coffee flowing... And the YIELD signs, and STOP on school buses and the beautiful brilliant blue skies and the campus hidden in trees, huge, magnificent trees everywhere - it felt like a New Land, even I could feel this when I went in 1994. And the downside - trying to find countryside and realizing as Alan observes:

He drove down Broadway, past the fabulous Alexandria, past the fine buildings and slowly out of town. All the better if he could get off the main road, into the fields and back lanes. Where the life is. ...
He was passing bare wintry fields and was in farming country, or so it seemed - a church-like barn, silvery silos standing upright like missiles. A quad bike with trailer. The road had no verge; a foolhardy pedestrian would have to make do with a grassy ditch. But the countryside never stopped being urban; a big modern high school came and went (Go Knights); there were petrol stations, and some kind of veterans' hall (Chicken Dinner, Monday); a beaten-up Ford pickup truck for sale, 92,000 miles, parked in the middle of a vast, clean, snowy front lawn, like one of those brutal modern poems self-consciously surrounded by a lot of white page; an unconvincing motel - tiny, low, wooden cabins somewhat resembling veal hutches - that seemed likely to have closed in 1957...

For miles and miles, so it seemed, the spoiled enterprising landscape persisted - or subsisted, thought Alan, for it was clear enough, clear as Navy coffee indeed, that outside Saratoga life was extremely difficult, hard, austerely poor in a way that strongly reminded him of North-east England and his childhood...

Alan is struck by names in the same way I was when I lived there - Troy, Malta -he wants to explore these places local to Saratoga, and I liked this very much - his curiousity, his astute, although I suppose biased observances. He perceives that Troy - the once centre of American steel is very similar to Newcastle, the once U.K, dare I say, World centre of shipbuilding, steel, and coal.

And now I suppose we must proceed to the novel - the narrative - I read some other reviews and was surprised when somebody said, that she "didn't like any of the characters", and on reflection I came to a similar conclusion. I particularly disliked Helen, whom I found harsh, hard, abrasive, as I suppose her character is intended, as observed through the eyes of her father, but then there is this added level of consideration: men of Alan's generation don't like "hard" women, and yet, from my own work experiences - you need to be hard to succeed. Any woman who works, needs a tough exterior - and it's certainly a criticism I've felt levelled against myself. So we'll go easy on Helen, especially as I think it is intentionally reversed that is is Helen, who is having the hard time - the daughter who is all action, and little reflection, and not Vanessa as the surface narrative intends us to believe.

Next Vanessa - she's viewed as the neurotic, weak, unsuccessful daughter - and yet as Alan finds out by attending her lecture, she is a highly proficient, confident; indeed a relaxed and charming lecturer - I would have said, very successful and yet - in the nature of fathers - she is viewed as not really surviving. She's had a dodgy past with mental illness and the reason for the current visit is because of an arm, broken, in dubious circumstances. However, I found myself querying Alan's judgements - he refers several times to an incident in Vanessa's past when at Oxford - she gave away all her possessions. When I read this, I thought so what? It's only later in a conversation between father and daughter when I realize, Vanessa along with me (similar social backgrounds), she/I belatedly understand - her parents had thought this giving away of possessions was a lead up to - Suicide! I think this is an extremely good example of that "generation gap". Likewise we are referred to Josh's "light footprint". Alan thinks he's just sponging off Vanessa, living in her house, with no intention of staying etc. etc.

And now we move to the character of Joshua - another reviewer, I noted said, she really liked, in fact the only character she liked was Joshua - God, I hated him. Yeuch, puke, spit, and now I see myself entirely aligned with my father's, and no doubt Alan's view of relationships. You don't get involved with someone - find out something you don't like - and dump them. Which is essentially what we are led to believe Josh intends to do with Vanessa.

For me the narrative centre of the book rests precisely on this conversation between Josh, and Alan, and to be honest I thought Alan took it very well, in fact, he relates to himself later:
He admired Josh, suddenly - their conversation had altered his estimation of the young man. It couldn't have been easy to speak in the way he did. Josh still loved Vanessa. But he could not live with her. He was fearful, he felt Vanessa's unhappiness like a threat.

I really thought here - that Alan makes allowances for Josh, entirely from his own perspective of finding it difficult to voice emotions. I thought SHIT! - What a shit - Josh that is. Especially after he had taken Vanessa to his parents for Christmas, allowing her to think that he was stepping up his commitment to her, but really calling in his parents as kind-of-reinforcements to help deal with Vanessa's depression - caused by his withdrawal.

I don't know, perhaps I am too harsh on Josh: Alan's had plenty of experience of his daughter's previous depressive episodes, so he probably understands way better than I do how difficult it is to help someone in this state.

And this is where I want to say, what a very brave book this is. It deals with all sorts of tricky family issues; parental help, or is it interference, parental judgement or is it concern, parental advice or is it just, the need to show that you have experiences which might actually help - the younger generation.

Me - I'm right in the middle ground, I am a daughter and a mother - with my own son away at university in the UK - at Newcastle believe it or not. Worried, concerned, certainly but at the same time realizing he has to make all his own mistakes and find out what is right, good and useful for him. Gosh I sympathise with Alan. But I also fully understand, both Vanessa, and Helen's stiffness. There is that quote early on in the book from Vanessa's diary:
"Van," said Daddy, "you won't like to hear this, but I'm not paying for your expensive boarding school down south so that you can marry a plasterer's son from Corbridge. It's not happening. His family have no prospects."

We do get Vanessa's version of the boy from Corbridge and I suppose this shows Wood's efforts to expose all these dynamics that change from one generation to the next.

Overall I liked the book very much - with some personal angsts and aggravations going on against some of the characters, but I think this is probably the sign of a very Good Book.

[Charles Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful, quiet novel about a British family gathering in America. Full of nice observations. Reminded me of a middling David Lodge, which is quite high praise from me - I love David Lodge - though the characters here are a little less defined and interesting and the voice less comic. Still, readable, smart, and wise.

[Anni · Rating 5 out of 5]

UPSTATE

It is a mysteriously long time since James Wood's first novel (The Book Against God) which I greatly enjoyed, but I found this worth the wait.
The title, referring to Upstate New York, where the novel is set, can also be seen as wordplay on being in an ‘up' state – or positive mood, which is the main theme of the novel : how to be happy - and whether it comes more naturally to some people than others. ‘Thinking about life and living life. What is the difference? Is there a difference?’ asks one of the characters.
The author illustrates this topic with a contemplative portrayal of the uneasy relationship between a father and his two very different daughters. Difficulties in communication are explored, not only those between generations but also between British and American world views, with philosophical musing on consumerism, capitalism and globalisation threaded in seamlessly to conversations
Although there is little in the way of plot, Wood is skilful at revealing character through dialogue and is also adept at evoking a sense of place and atmosphere. I love this inspired description of snowfall:
‘It was coming down fast, in the passive aggressive way of snow, stealthy but relentless, insisting on its own white agenda’
... exquisite!

Many thanks to the publishers for the ARC via NetGalley.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alan Querry is a property developer based in the north of England. The company is doing ok at the moment but he has his hands full with that and visiting his mother who is in a home. What he doesn't need is any more complications, but one of his daughters, Vanessa, Is suffering from depression again and has just broken her arm after falling down the stairs in her home in America. He decides he needs to get to America to see her and her boyfriend, Josh. He meets his other daughter, Helen, in New York and they get on the train to head upstate toSaratoga Springs where she is living with her boyfriend, Josh.

Over the next six days, they will slowly move around each other, probing for answers to questions that have not been asked, choosing not to reveal intimate details for fear of being seen as weak. They trawl through the history of the family in fleeting and shallow conversations. They talk about the divorce that Alan and Cathy went through just at the critical moment of their daughters' upbringing, Cathy's death a few years ago and why both daughters still dislike Alan's current girlfriend, Candace.

It was a strange novel really. Not a lot happens in terms of action, it is really about the interaction between a father and his daughters and how the conversation circles round without any of them getting to the crux of the matter. It kind of reinforces the thing that I have heard that says children are for life, as he still worries for them and their prospects even though they are grown women and have children of their own. In some ways, it reminded me a little of Stoner, a well written, gentle viewing of family life, except this time a little more intense as it is set over six days, not a lifetime.

[Nilo0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

نوشتن از این کتاب سخته. یه کتاب عمیق درباره زندگی یه خانواده. دو خواهری که با بحران‌های زیادی در زندگی روبه‌رو شدن ازجمله طلاق والدین. اما ونسا و هلن ذاتا دید متفاوتی به زندگی دارن. ونسا که دختر بزرگ‌تره، در یافتن شادی زندگی‌ش ناتوانه و هلن برعکس، راحت شرایط رو کنترل می‌کنه و مشکلی با مفهوم زندگی و شادی نداره.
و پدری که همراه هلن، راهی آمریکا می‌شه تا به ونسا کمک کنن و در شرایط سخت و متزلزل زندگیش چند روزی همراهش باشن.
ونسا که معنای شادی زندگیش رو در پارتنرش، جاش، یافته و جاش که نگران ونساست چون می‌دونه نمی‌تونه همیشه و دائمی عامل خوشحالی ونسا باشه.
خانواده سه‌نفره کوئری که ساکن انگلیس بودن، حالا به‌خاطر ونسا در نیویورک جمع می‌شن تا کمی در کنار ونسا باشن.
ونسا فلسفه درس می‌ده و در عمق کتاب مفاهیم فلسفی بین صحبت‌هاشون به‌صورت خیلی روون و امروزی بیان شده. فلسفه زندگی و شادی در داستان دو خواهر که دنیاشون و دیدگاهشون به زندگی متفاوته. دوسش داشتم و بخش‌هایی از خودم رو در ونسا می‌دیدم.

[John D. Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is dry as a bone. It has a few good moments and a reasonably realistic picture of Saratoga Springs, NY, and Skidmore College, but mainly it’s dull. It might have worked better as a short story. The only lively character is Jewish, so think mid-level Philip Roth but written by a non-American and without the energy or the humor. Plus the setting of circa 2007 allows for some Englishman’s fantasies about how maybe “Senator Obama” will save the world. I could not tell if those were meant ironically.

[SueLucie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favourite type of novel and the opportunity to read it came along with perfect timing, right after the holiday break. I welcomed its author’s calm tone, insight and perception, along with a striking landscape of snowbound New York State.

I found this intellectually stimulating in an accessible way. At the heart of it is the question of happiness and how some people find it a more natural state than others. Themes dealt with through individual contemplation and family dialogue that particularly engaged me are the future of the record business, urban landscapes, comparison between British and American ways of thinking.

Classy writing - a couple of examples that particularly struck me:

‘The abolition of privacy combined with the intensification of privacy - everyone coddling his little relationship with his little device.’

‘For despair was like a sea. It threshed relentlessly, just out of sight, always there: the deep enemy of human flourishing, inching away at its borders.’

On the downside, the characters fell a little flat for me. I loved what they had to say and what they thought, and I enjoyed their interaction, but I somehow didn’t come to love them. I couldn’t believe Candace really existed, though I suppose the idea of her brought Alan back from the brink of being thought a lonely man just past his prime. The character that seemed most real for me was Josh, by far the youngest but as aware of himself as any of them.

A finely paced, thoughtful novel that I’d recommend highly.

With thanks to Penguin Random House, Jonathan Cape via NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can well imagine the challenge of publishing a novel when one is a world-renowned literary critic. Readers, critics, alike poring over your words and structure, voice and content to see if you hold up to your own skyscraper-high standards.

In defense of the quiet, character-driven novel, I am delighted to see this novel given a space on the shelf. But I, in my jaded-by-publishing state of mind, have to wonder if James Wood were not the author, would this novel have gone to print? It's winter in upstate New York, at least one of the characters is profoundly depressed, another is terrifically bored. The narrative is essentially internal reflection broken by the odd bit of conversation.

This novel is mannered, elegant, and thoughtful. Parts of it are simply beautiful. Its strength is in how low-key it remains in the expression of existential and emotional crises. But perhaps it's a little too restrained.

[Demet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap hakkında yapılan yorumlarda okuyucuların hemfikir oldukları tanıma ben de kayıtsız kalamayacağım. evet, kitap bir kemik kadar kuru. Sanırım yazar, edebiyat eleştirmeni olmasından sebep tekniğe ve hikayenin çatısını oluşturmaya o kadar odaklanmış ki bir hikaye anlatmayı atlamış. Baktığınızda bu uzun hikaye, karısının onu terk etmesiyle çocuklarının bakımını üstlenen bir baba ve iki yetişkin kızı arasında geçiyor ama içi doldurulmamış karakterler ve olaylardan ibaret olması hikayeyi yavanlığın eline düşmesinden kurtaramıyor. Modern bir aile ile ilgili kitap peşindeyseniz tavsiyem Domenico Starnone Bağlar isimli kitabı olur.

[Lou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lucid portrait of a family. There is no big twist, murder or revelations, but a simple minimalist tale of a father and his family, there is fair share of humour in some views of the father of this tale, a nostalgic looking back and forward and some social commentary being a stranger in a new land.

Echoing works of Cheever, Tobias Wolf and Raymond Carver.

If you care for some time reading a tale with family drama told with style and simplicity, then this may satisfy you.

Excerpts : https://more2read.com/review/upstate-by-james-wood/

[Barbara Rohde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the intimate portrait of family relationships and how they cope as a whole and individually with the vicissitudes of life. Beautifully written it invites much reflection on the bigger questions in life. How to do we cope with loss? Why are some of us more sensitive, more fragile than others despite being brought up in the same family? How do you develop resilience in your children?

The family we meet is Alan, the father of two grown up girls who have moved to America from England where Vanessa, the eldest, is a Philosophy Professor and currently involved with a much younger man, Josh, and Helen who lives in New York as a record executive for Sony. Alan's wife has died many years before in less than ideal circumstances and he is now with Candace. Thus the girls as teenagers had to deal with the death of their mother.

Alan and Helen are summoned by Josh after Vanessa has fallen down some stairs. Seemingly a minor event, both Alan and Helen are well acquainted with Vanessa's fragility and wonder whether Vanessa has had an accident in falling down the stairs or whether it had more purposeful intent.

Vanessa lives in Saratoga Springs so Helen meets Alan in New York and they travel together to see Helen. Helen and Alan are used to dealing with the problematic Vanessa and I'm sure most readers will recognise the situation of the 'problem' child/sibling dynamics that exist in such families.

I really enjoyed this portrait of an ordinary, middle class family and their relationships and interactions with each other that are exquisitely observed.

[Aslıhan Çelik Tufan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sanırım Yapı Kredi yayınlarının mağazasındaki görevli, aldığım kitaplara bakarak tavsiye etmişti bu kitabı, öyle satın almıştım. Bir dahaki gidişimde teşekkürlerimi sunarım.

Aile, birey olmak, ebeveyn ilişkisi, kardeşlik, rekabet üzerine son derece yalın bir anlatımla akan bir hikaye.

Bir baba(ki bekar baba diyebiliriz.) ve birbirinden oldukça farklı iki kızının bir nevi hesaplaşma tadındaki kavuşma ve eteğindeki taşları döküşünün hikayesi. Mutlu aileleri herkes sever, ya mutsuzlar diyorum hep, mutsuz olduğunu bile farketmemişler peki? Buna kitabı okunduktan sonra karar verirsiniz diye düşünüyorum.

Keyifli okumalar 🌼

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#readingismycardio #aslihanneokudu #okudumbitti #2021okumalarım #okuryorumu #kitaptavsiyesi#neokudum #yapıkrediyayınları #yapıkredikültür #modernklasikler #jameswood #rozahakmen #iyibirhayat #dünyaedebiyatı #çevirikitaplar

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really appreciate the good writing but the digressions into nothingness and banality left me yawning.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alan Query, late middle aged property developer facing liquidity issues, a mother in an expensive retirement home that he may not be able to afford and a much younger, new-agey Asian live in girlfriend makes a trip from north England to upstate New York because one of his daughters may be in trouble. He meets up in NYC with Helen, the other daughter, a successful music exec at Sony who now wants to branch out on her own because she doesn’t think the company is giving enough attention to her ideas. Moreover, she wants to spend more time with her twin kids. Together they travel upstate and is surprised at how well Vanessa is doing. Turns out this is attributed to her handsome, smart boyfriend with an unfortunate lisp. Throughout the weekend they spend together the family gets reacquainted finds out problems are more entrenched and in that decidedly British way, talk around it but never getting to the point.

This is the problem I have with the novel. It’s what you expect from a critic, a mannered novel, very well-edited, ticking all the boxes (class differences, depression/human condition, economics, future shock, romance inequality) but it doesn’t broach anything new and I feel like I’m seeing the characters through a pane of glass, like in a museum exhibit. And it ends, well it doesn’t. We get all the problems laid out and then a gone with the wind, tomorrow is another day hopefulness. End scene.

It’s imminently readable and entirely forgettable.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of paternal love - even when your children are grown up, you are still a parent and would cross continents for them.

Alan has two daughters; Helen is a confident Sony executive who takes life head on, and Vanessa, a philosophy lecturer who questions life's purpose. Vanessa's boyfriend writes to Helen suggesting that Vanessa would appreciate a visit from her family as she has been struggling recently. Helen and Alan go to America, as they go they remember previous episodes when they have had to rush to Vanessa's side.

The book is beautifully written. Alan parental guilt stems from his divorce, the death of the children's mother, his new partner, his failed business - however I felt great sympathy for him as he was there for his children, even now when his business is collapsing.

Helen is so focused on herself that she has limited sympathy for her sister, but perhaps that is her coping mechanism, when she has seen her sister fall apart so many times.

And Vanessa, as a philosophy lecturer, she is doomed to question and examine relationships and life which rarely results in happy conclusions. Would she be 'happier' if she didn't think so hard?

A book that made me appreciate my life and relationships, as this tale acknowledges the thoughts, anguish and love that go into being a family.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Wood is the acclaimed English-born America-based literary critic at The New Yorker and this is his second novel. A career spent criticising other people’s books makes him vulnerable to being criticised for his own attempts at fiction but it is evident that he has learnt much about the art of novel writing. This is a well-written and well-constructed book about the plight of the parent who must watch his children grow up and suffer whilst being powerless to help them. Alan is a retired property developer who joins his daughter Helen on a trip to the US to visit his other daughter Vanessa who is apparently in some sort of mental turmoil. Each daughter needs different things from him. One needs material help which he’s reluctant to give and one needs more spiritual help which he’s incompetent to give. As an examination of being a parent to adult children, I found the book reasonably compelling and certainly well-observed. The characterisation is, on the whole, empathetic and convincing, and overall I enjoyed the book. But it wasn’t one that absorbed me at all and in many ways it felt quite an ordinary read. Perhaps I expected more, given Wood’s reputation. Nevertheless it’s a quietly enjoyable novel and well worth the time spent with it.

[Onur · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Wood’un belli ki en az eleştirmenliği kadar yazarlığı da başarılı ve özgün. Kitabı çok beğendim. Okuduğum aile temalı metinler arasında en özgünlerinden biri. Babanın sorumluluğu ne zaman biter ya da ne zaman tekrar başlar? Yaşlılık, sorumluluk almaya engel olur mu? Çocuklarımızın hayat tercihleri bizimle mi alakalı? Kitap bu sorular üzerine keyifli bir okuma sunuyor.

[Gavin Armour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wenn auf einem Buchumschlag davon die Rede ist, daß es inhaltlich um die Suche nach dem Glück gehe, davon, daß „mit großer Zartheit“ von den „sorgenvollen Bemühungen“ eines „liebenden Familienvaters“ erzählt werden wird, dann gehen bei einigen alle Alarme an. Das entsprechende Stichwort lautet: Erbauungsliteratur. Etwas auf dem Niveau von TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE (1995), Mitch Alborns Bericht von den Begegnungen mit seinem ehemaligen Collegeprofessor, der an einer unheilbaren Krankheit stirbt, aber allerhand Weises und Kluges über das Leben und das Sterben mitzuteilen hat. Das mögen viele, was aber wenig über die Qualität solcher Literatur aussagt. Eben Erbauungsliteratur, etwas fürs Gefühl.

So also ist in etwa die Erwartung, wenn man James Woods UPSTATE (Original erschienen 2018) aufschlägt. Nun ist Wood einer der anerkanntesten Kritiker der angelsächsischen Literaturszene, zudem Verfasser eines sich als Standardwerk gebenden Buchs über die KUNST DES ERZÄHLENS (HOW FICTION WORKS; 2008), man erwartet also auch einiges von einem Roman aus der Feder eines solch Er- und Belesenen. Vorweg: UPSTATE ist kein Stück Erbauungsliteratur, die schlimmsten Erwartungen bleiben unbestätigt. Und anders als in Hubert Winkels elegantem Verriss in der Süddeutschen Zeitung vom 30.01.2020 angemerkt, erstarrt das Buch auch nicht in rein formaler Bemühung. Wood erzählt eine zugegeben unspektakuläre Geschichte, aber es gelingen ihm doch durchaus differenzierte Portraits eines Mannes und seiner beiden sehr unterschiedlichen Töchter. Daß er dabei nicht um jedes Klischee herumkommt, stimmt zwar, doch auch diese versteht er zumindest zu brechen.

Der Immobilienunternehmer Alan Querry, beheimatet im Norden Englands, reist in die USA, um nach einer alarmierenden Mail des Freundes seiner Tochter Van (kurz für Vanessa) zur vermeintlichen Hilfe zu eilen. Josh, so der Name des jungen Mannes, berichtet von Depression, einem Treppensturz und möglichen Suizidabsichten. Helen, Vans Schwester, weilt ebenfalls in Amerika und erklärt sich bereit, den Vater einige Tage nach Saratoga Springs, wo Van als Dozentin für Philosophie an einem College lehrt, zu begleiten. Hauptsächlich aus Alans Perspektive erzählt, erfahren wir von Vans früheren psychischen Problemen, von den so unterschiedlichen Charakteren der beiden Frauen, die er weitestgehend allein aufgezogen hat, nachdem seine Gattin ihn verließ, später an Krebs starb. Alan reflektiert seine Ängste und das schlechte Gewissen, das ihn plagt, da er sich nie sicher war und ist, ob er seinen Aufgaben als Erzieher und Ernährer je wirklich gerecht wurde. Einmal in der winterlichen Stadt „upstate“ New York angelangt, entpuppen sich die Probleme als nicht gar so gravierend, es kommen aber doch die alten Strukturen der Familie Querry zum Vorschein und so erhält der Leser Einblick in die tieferen Schichten einer durchschnittlichen englischen Mittelstandsfamilie. Wobei Alans Aufsteigergeschichte durchaus als Hintergrundrauschen eine Rolle spielt.

Ängste, Karriereplanungen (Helen, Vans Schwester, ist Managerin bei SONY und überlegt, sich selbstständig zu machen, braucht dafür des Vaters finanzielle Unterstützung), Neidgefühle, durchaus auch die Frage nach dem geglückten Leben, entfalten sich vor dem Leser, werden von Wood aber nicht überdramatisiert. UPSTATE kippt nie ins Melodramatische, im Gegenteil – da hat Winkels durchaus recht – bleibt die Erzählung immer distinguiert, zurückhaltend und im Ton eher ruhig. Zudem thematisiert Wood immer auch die Unterschiede zwischen England und den USA. Alan blickt teils belustigt, teils aber auch mit großer Ehrfurcht auf dieses Land, das er nicht wirklich versteht und ihm auch Angst macht. Der Winter im nördlichen New York ist für einen Engländer von kaum fassbarer Härte, die Schneemassen, die Kälte, die Glätte sind Alan unbekannt. Ohne auch diese Erkenntnisse sonderlich zu betonen, lässt Wood seinen Protagonisten langsam begreifen, daß die USA bei aller kulturellen Verwandtschaft zu Europa und gerade Großbritannien eben ein völlig eigenständiges Gebilde sind, das längst eigene kulturelle Prägungen hervorgebracht hat und vor allem auch im 21. Jahrhundert noch sehr elementare Herausforderungen an seine Bürger stellt.

Wood gelingen immer wieder kleine Dialogszenen, in denen die Familiensystematik der Querrys deutlich wird, ohne daß der Text sich dem Leser aufdrängen würde. Ein Mann, der sich vor allem dem Aufbau seines Geschäfts widmet – und widmen möchte – und zwei Töchter, die eben sehr unterschiedlich sind, bilden einen Familienverbund, der kaum einheitlich wirkt, zugleich aber doch auch als zumindest rudimentär funktional betrachtet werden kann. Das „Problemkind“ Vanessa, verträumt, belesen, ernsthaft, auf der einen Seite, und dem entgegengestellt die Macherin Helen, die immer hinaus ins Leben wollte, die eine zwar nicht allzu glückliche, aber durchaus funktionierende Ehe führt, zwei Kinder hat, denen sie sich verpflichtet fühlt, die sie liebt, die sie aber ihren eigenen Ansprüchen nach zu stark vernachlässigt – es entsteht ein Spannungsverhältnis, das Wood durch einzelne Sätze und Beschreibungen kleiner Gesten und Szenen zu vermitteln versteht. So entsteht ein realistisches Bild innerfamiliärer Konflikte, die nie offen ausgetragen wurden, die sich tief eingefressen haben, die aber nicht zu allzu dramatischen Auseinandersetzungen führen, sondern weitestgehend ausgehalten werden. Wood erzählt das manchmal fast beiläufig, lässt das Wesentliche eher aufblitzen, konzentriert sich scheinbar auf die Betrachtung von Landschaften, fremden Verhaltensweisen und die Bewältigung des Jet-Lags.

Woran es diesem Roman allerdings eklatant mangelt, ist Humor. Da ähnelt er dann leider doch den meisten Beiträgen zur Erbauungsliteratur. Zwar kommt das hier alles weder überernst oder gar pathetisch daher, Wood vermeidet Züge in solche Richtungen geradezu pedantisch, darin ganz britisches Understatement. Doch vermag er seinem Text keinen Witz einzuschreiben. Natürlich sind Themen wie Altern, Depression oder Familienkonflikte an sich nicht gerade humorbeladen, doch könnte man bspw. Alan Querrys Zugriff auf ein Amerika, das sich ihm nicht erschließt, doch auch mit etwas mehr Humor erzählen, als Wood dies tut.

So bleibt ein kleiner, unaufgeregter Roman, dessen Autor bemüht ist, sich an die von ihm selbst aufgestellten Regeln fiktionalen Erzählens zu halten, dem es gelingt, einige sehr britische Figuren glaubwürdig zu beschreiben und der sich nie wichtiger nimmt, als er ist. Letztlich verlassen wir Alan so, wie wir ihn vorgefunden haben: Irgendwo in seinem Leben, vielleicht an einer Weggabelung, vielleicht aber auch einfach an einem Punkt, wie es sie in allen Leben gibt, einer Talsohle, die zu durchschreiten man sich anschickt, um dann den einmal eingeschlagenen Weg weiter zu beschreiten. Wir wissen es nicht und uns wird auch nicht mitgeteilt, wie es weitergeht mit den Querrys und ihren so ganz unterschiedlichen Lebensentwürfen. Ob Alan Helen unterstützt bei ihren Versuchen, sich selbstständig zu machen? Ob Van Josh wird überreden können, sich ihr anzuschließen und nach England zu übersiedeln? Ob Alan sein Herzensprojekt, eine Galerie in Newcastle, noch wird umsetzen können? Wir erfahren es nicht. Nur, daß Alan noch ein wenig länger als geplant in Amerika verweilen wird, um seine Tochter Vanessa zu unterstützen, das wissen wir, wenn wir die Querrys wieder verlassen.