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La sinfonía del azar
Nueva York, años 80. Embriaguez y excesos. Alice Burns, una prometedora editora en el Manhattan de la era Reagan, se enfrenta a la treintena, a su complicada vida sentimental y a un manuscrito demasiado técnico sobre la psicología de la familia. Un fragmento la marca de un modo especial: "Todas las familias son sociedades secretas. Reinos de intriga y de guerras internas regidos por sus propias reglas".
Tal vez sea porque su propia familia acaba de romperse en mil pedazos.
Así empieza esta gran epopeya americana que sigue los pasos de Alice, una chica que lidia con el acoso en el instituto, descubre el primer amor y el sexismo en una universidad de élite, vive una temporada en la Irlanda de los años setenta y sufre una tragedia que la envía de vuelta a casa, en el momento en que su país se enamora de un actor llamado Ronald Reagan. Y que también es la historia de sus padres y hermanos, personajes complejísimos que escriben su destino con las mentiras que se cuentan a sí mismos y a los demás.
La sinfonía del azar es una saga trepidante y enormemente ambiciosa, una novela triste pero llena de belleza que conectará de verdad con cualquiera que haya vivido con estupor el dolor que solo la propia familia es capaz de causar.
Tal vez sea porque su propia familia acaba de romperse en mil pedazos.
Así empieza esta gran epopeya americana que sigue los pasos de Alice, una chica que lidia con el acoso en el instituto, descubre el primer amor y el sexismo en una universidad de élite, vive una temporada en la Irlanda de los años setenta y sufre una tragedia que la envía de vuelta a casa, en el momento en que su país se enamora de un actor llamado Ronald Reagan. Y que también es la historia de sus padres y hermanos, personajes complejísimos que escriben su destino con las mentiras que se cuentan a sí mismos y a los demás.
La sinfonía del azar es una saga trepidante y enormemente ambiciosa, una novela triste pero llena de belleza que conectará de verdad con cualquiera que haya vivido con estupor el dolor que solo la propia familia es capaz de causar.
626 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2019
121 people are currently reading
569 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Kennedy
132 books1,187 followersDouglas Kennedy was born in Manhattan in 1955. He studied at Bowdoin College, Maine and Trinity College, Dublin, returning to Dublin in 1977 with just a trenchcoat, backpack and $300. He co-founded a theatre company and sold his first play, Shakespeare on Five Dollars a Day, to Radio 4 in 1980. In 1988 he moved to London and published a travel book, Beyond the Pyramids. His debut novel The Dead Heart was published in 1994.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
June 21, 2022
With shades of setting out to be a great American Novel type of read, this book follows the life of the upper middle class book editor Alice Burns, from her first cigarette smoke with her dad, through to finding true love; and mostly about her interactions and dealings with her family. War veteran Dad runs a mine in Chile, and may or may not be in league with the CIA! Older brother Pete, diametrically opposite to his father, is more of hippy clasping on to the tail-end of the 60s reactionary 'counter culture', he struggles forming and holding relationships. Middle child and college ice hockey star Adam, does all he can to make his father proud. Then there's the unhappy housewife Alice's mother, who it feels, is always at odds with her husband. Finally there's Alice youngest of the brood, literary type, and not sure if she trusts or truly likes anyone in her family! And there's certainly a huge lot of really interesting writing around family in this book, but it all feels specific to this family and/or affluent families; what makes this book tick is detailing the lives of people partially in the 1970s and throughout the 80s, it's a superb take on the mid to late Twentieth Century America from flower power, campus bullying and elitist privilege through to the NY literary world, the coming of AIDs, the coming of Reagan-ism and the move to the overt worship of material things.
This is a wonderfully detailed 550+ pages book that for me felt all about the impact of the changing tides in America at a family level, in this case a pretty well-off, erudite and political aware family, which probably resonates well with readers. The details around high school bullying, homophobia, the radical Left, the emergence of the acceptance of female sexuality (by some), the coming of AIDS, Reagan and super-consumerism all ring true, as well as being really interesting. It's hard to ever fault a Douglas Kennedy read, but I will say that the book might have been better if it decided to focus more on the family saga or more on the impact of the 1980s instead of focussing on both, although I must say that the family drama in this book, is pretty intense and compelling as it is! 8 out of 12.
2022 read
This is a wonderfully detailed 550+ pages book that for me felt all about the impact of the changing tides in America at a family level, in this case a pretty well-off, erudite and political aware family, which probably resonates well with readers. The details around high school bullying, homophobia, the radical Left, the emergence of the acceptance of female sexuality (by some), the coming of AIDS, Reagan and super-consumerism all ring true, as well as being really interesting. It's hard to ever fault a Douglas Kennedy read, but I will say that the book might have been better if it decided to focus more on the family saga or more on the impact of the 1980s instead of focussing on both, although I must say that the family drama in this book, is pretty intense and compelling as it is! 8 out of 12.
2022 read
January 25, 2019
‘All families are secret societies. Realms of intrigue and internal warfare, governed by their own rules…..’
Sometimes a book arrives that initially intrigues, immediately immerses and then just blows your mind. This epic piece of work from Douglas Kennedy was one such book.
The Great Wide Open is a powerful family drama, taking the reader on a journey from Connecticut to Dublin and New York. Just published with Hutchinson ( Penguin Random House ) on 24th January, it is a book I got completely lost in and quite frankly was bereft when I finished it. I’ll miss Alice Burns and her family…
From the opening lines of Part One, I was hooked…
‘Nostalgia is the domain of conservatives. All that talk about the good old days when life was simpler. moral and ethical values clearer, and people knew the rules – it’s the lingua franca of anyone who is ill at ease with the shifting mores of now’
Right there I knew I was going to set aside the time and invest in this book, written by an author, whose work I had heard of but had never picked up before. The Great Wide Open asks questions about our families, about our childhood, about the sadness, if any, we may carry with us on our daily journey through life. The Great Wide Open is about one family in particular, The Burns Family. A Catholic father, an ex-vet with a very big chip on his shoulder, a Jewish mother who feels trapped in the burbs after growing up on the streets of New York and three siblings, Peter, Adam and Alice, all fighting the daily negativity and sadness in their lives yet seemingly unable to fix it.
‘Us. The Burns. Two parents born in a time of 1920s abundance that quickly collapsed into hardship and national despondency. Three children, laterally arriving amidst all that mid-century peace and plenty. A quintet of Americans from the upper reaches of the middle class. And a testament – in our disparate, tortured ways – to the mess we make of life’
We are transported back to the early 1970s. Alice Burns is fifteen-years-old and struggling through those awkward teenage years. Alice and her close circle of friends are considered different, outsiders, making them the target for the cool kids, the bullying brigade. Alice likes to spend time alone in her room listening to her music and blocking out her parents arguments and the general grind of life going on around her. Alice suffers her first major traumatic event in these teenage years, eventually leading to her decision to move away to a small private college, a place where her unique qualities are nurtured a little more and where she can flourish, away from the unpleasantness of her home life. Alice settles in well initially. Her mother is upset that she has moved and now that her father frequently travels overseas, Alice’s mother becomes a lost soul who takes her own frustrations, of a life less lived, out on her children.
Alice creates a new home for herself and surprises herself by enjoying her early college years. Her father, at this stage is in Chili, with what appears to be very loose connections to the Pinochet regime. Her conversations with him are sparse and more often than not filled with anger and regrets. Her brothers are off making their own way in life but there is an obvious fracture in the sibling dynamic.
Alice’s trajectory through life is quite heart-breaking. As her college years shift to Trinity College Dublin, Alice negotiates this new city, her new home with great dignity and courage, taking every challenge in her stride. I loved reading this part of the book, the familiarity of the street names, the locations she visits, the iconic Bewley’s cafe for the sticky bun, her flat on Pearse Street. Douglas Kennedy has clearly researched this time in Irish history when The Troubles were on our doorstep and when some cruel fate was inflicted on many because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time…. It’s during this period that I really felt I knew Alice, that she was my college buddy, my drinking buddy, my confidante.
Alice leaves her home in Dublin with a trail of memories behind her, some good and some not so good at all. She becomes almost a recluse on her return to the US seeking out a teaching position in a school away from the madding crowd. Her family are in the throes of one crisis after another and her parent’s marriage is on the rocks.
As time passes Alice does move to New York. The world has changed, as has society. Wall Street is booming. Cocaine is on tap and Ronald Reagan is in power. But for Alice, her heartache is always present. The shadow of her past traumas and the underlying ever-present sadness prevails and she carries these feelings with her no matter which city she lives in. In New York Alice catches up with old friends and makes connections with new ones. The world is witnessing the arrival of an immunodeficiency infection that is sweeping through cities leaving a trail of death in it’s wake. There is a palpable fear. How many must die before the medical world can get a handle on the enormity of this ravaging disease.
The Burns family is a fractured one, a family that has suffered great losses and terrible tragedy. There were times reading this book that I got so caught up in their story, it became real. The parents, the three siblings were real people and this was their real life. It is an absolute tribute to Douglas Kennedy that he can do this to his readers. His writing is superb, the story so very emotive. I was not ready to leave this family behind.
The Great Wide Open is truly a magnificent read, completely compelling and powerful. It is historic in it’s narrative as we are reminded of an era where greed and avarice were both respected and admired, when the dollar was top dog and when the political map was changing.
Alice Burns witnesses her world imploding, her life changing beyond recognition, where her family is engulfed in sadness and heartbreak, almost becoming their norm.
The Great Wide Open is ultimately a coming-of-age story, a voyage of self-discovery and of finding out how one deals with the unhappiness in one’s life. Do we accept it or do we try to change it…
In Alice’s words – ‘We are not just the sum total of everything that has happened to us, but also a testament to the way we have interpreted all that has crossed our path. The music of chance intersecting with the maddening complexities of choice – and how, in the wake of bad judgement and self-sabotage, we so often rewrite the scenario to create one that we can live with.’
Sometimes a book arrives that initially intrigues, immediately immerses and then just blows your mind. This epic piece of work from Douglas Kennedy was one such book.
The Great Wide Open is a powerful family drama, taking the reader on a journey from Connecticut to Dublin and New York. Just published with Hutchinson ( Penguin Random House ) on 24th January, it is a book I got completely lost in and quite frankly was bereft when I finished it. I’ll miss Alice Burns and her family…
From the opening lines of Part One, I was hooked…
‘Nostalgia is the domain of conservatives. All that talk about the good old days when life was simpler. moral and ethical values clearer, and people knew the rules – it’s the lingua franca of anyone who is ill at ease with the shifting mores of now’
Right there I knew I was going to set aside the time and invest in this book, written by an author, whose work I had heard of but had never picked up before. The Great Wide Open asks questions about our families, about our childhood, about the sadness, if any, we may carry with us on our daily journey through life. The Great Wide Open is about one family in particular, The Burns Family. A Catholic father, an ex-vet with a very big chip on his shoulder, a Jewish mother who feels trapped in the burbs after growing up on the streets of New York and three siblings, Peter, Adam and Alice, all fighting the daily negativity and sadness in their lives yet seemingly unable to fix it.
‘Us. The Burns. Two parents born in a time of 1920s abundance that quickly collapsed into hardship and national despondency. Three children, laterally arriving amidst all that mid-century peace and plenty. A quintet of Americans from the upper reaches of the middle class. And a testament – in our disparate, tortured ways – to the mess we make of life’
We are transported back to the early 1970s. Alice Burns is fifteen-years-old and struggling through those awkward teenage years. Alice and her close circle of friends are considered different, outsiders, making them the target for the cool kids, the bullying brigade. Alice likes to spend time alone in her room listening to her music and blocking out her parents arguments and the general grind of life going on around her. Alice suffers her first major traumatic event in these teenage years, eventually leading to her decision to move away to a small private college, a place where her unique qualities are nurtured a little more and where she can flourish, away from the unpleasantness of her home life. Alice settles in well initially. Her mother is upset that she has moved and now that her father frequently travels overseas, Alice’s mother becomes a lost soul who takes her own frustrations, of a life less lived, out on her children.
Alice creates a new home for herself and surprises herself by enjoying her early college years. Her father, at this stage is in Chili, with what appears to be very loose connections to the Pinochet regime. Her conversations with him are sparse and more often than not filled with anger and regrets. Her brothers are off making their own way in life but there is an obvious fracture in the sibling dynamic.
Alice’s trajectory through life is quite heart-breaking. As her college years shift to Trinity College Dublin, Alice negotiates this new city, her new home with great dignity and courage, taking every challenge in her stride. I loved reading this part of the book, the familiarity of the street names, the locations she visits, the iconic Bewley’s cafe for the sticky bun, her flat on Pearse Street. Douglas Kennedy has clearly researched this time in Irish history when The Troubles were on our doorstep and when some cruel fate was inflicted on many because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time…. It’s during this period that I really felt I knew Alice, that she was my college buddy, my drinking buddy, my confidante.
Alice leaves her home in Dublin with a trail of memories behind her, some good and some not so good at all. She becomes almost a recluse on her return to the US seeking out a teaching position in a school away from the madding crowd. Her family are in the throes of one crisis after another and her parent’s marriage is on the rocks.
As time passes Alice does move to New York. The world has changed, as has society. Wall Street is booming. Cocaine is on tap and Ronald Reagan is in power. But for Alice, her heartache is always present. The shadow of her past traumas and the underlying ever-present sadness prevails and she carries these feelings with her no matter which city she lives in. In New York Alice catches up with old friends and makes connections with new ones. The world is witnessing the arrival of an immunodeficiency infection that is sweeping through cities leaving a trail of death in it’s wake. There is a palpable fear. How many must die before the medical world can get a handle on the enormity of this ravaging disease.
The Burns family is a fractured one, a family that has suffered great losses and terrible tragedy. There were times reading this book that I got so caught up in their story, it became real. The parents, the three siblings were real people and this was their real life. It is an absolute tribute to Douglas Kennedy that he can do this to his readers. His writing is superb, the story so very emotive. I was not ready to leave this family behind.
The Great Wide Open is truly a magnificent read, completely compelling and powerful. It is historic in it’s narrative as we are reminded of an era where greed and avarice were both respected and admired, when the dollar was top dog and when the political map was changing.
Alice Burns witnesses her world imploding, her life changing beyond recognition, where her family is engulfed in sadness and heartbreak, almost becoming their norm.
The Great Wide Open is ultimately a coming-of-age story, a voyage of self-discovery and of finding out how one deals with the unhappiness in one’s life. Do we accept it or do we try to change it…
In Alice’s words – ‘We are not just the sum total of everything that has happened to us, but also a testament to the way we have interpreted all that has crossed our path. The music of chance intersecting with the maddening complexities of choice – and how, in the wake of bad judgement and self-sabotage, we so often rewrite the scenario to create one that we can live with.’
May 9, 2019
I’m a Douglas Kennedy fan having read all his novels. I have particularly enjoyed how he writes so successfully from the female point of view. However that was not the case with this book. It felt like it was Kennedy’s male voice not Alice’s. I found that so distracting. Also I became irritated by certain phrases that he kept repeating, such as “ it was beyond cold” “it was beyond frightening” “ it was beyond distracting”.......
I finished the book, but was left feeling disappointed.
I finished the book, but was left feeling disappointed.
February 18, 2019
Quite disappointing. A family saga of lies and secrets, this was far too long and very poorly edited.
February 15, 2021
Sabía que no me iba a decepcionar! Qué gran historia.
Recomiendo un montón.
Recomiendo un montón.
June 11, 2019
Wow. Just ..... wow. I’ve loved all Douglas Kennedy’s books and this is his best. His writing style is superb, I could see all his characters in my minds eye, especially Alice. I would usually avoid a book described as an “American epic” as I find most of them a hard slog but this book is a microcosm of world life in the 70’s and onwards, school bullying, college life, Ireland, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, the horror that was the start of the AIDS epidemic, but above all the complications of family relationships and how they shape our lives. Loved every page of this wonderful book.
May 9, 2019
I usually leap into a new Douglas Kennedy tome with excitement and enthral, not usually able to put one down. I struggled with this book (however enjoyed Alice's time in Ireland), and felt there was too much detail in parts that made it distracting. It did depict the family dynamic and secrets well but I just found the plot too convoluted at times.
January 23, 2022
Me gustó todo este enredo de familia y secretos,pero se me hizo algo largo.
July 27, 2019
Grabbed this when I saw it at the library and read it on holiday. Another 4 stars for a fast paced, rippling yarn of a story which had me gripped, although I had to admit to some bubbles of scepticism at times. WARNING - SPOILERS! Was it really possible to be directly involved in the Irish troubles, the explosion of AIDS, Watergate, insider dealing, the Chile coup etc? Still, if you can suspend any disbelief and go along for the ride it's a great ride...enjoy!
June 28, 2023
Decepcionante. Tercera novela que leo de este autor y se me ha hecho excesivamente larga y aburrida. Parece una crónica sobre la sucesión de presidentes americanos en la década de los 70 y un diario tedioso de una adolescente que juega a ser madura. Diálogos y trama inverosímiles. Si has leído otras novelas de este autor, te das cuenta de que se vuelve repetitivo (esta es su última novela por el momento). Se me han quitado las ganas de seguir leyendo a Douglas.
March 3, 2019
Loved it. Every part of it especially the Ireland part. As usual various stages of betrayal are at the heart of a every relationship described here. Hard to put the book down.
June 5, 2019
It's the sort of book I normally like, so I'm not sure why this didn't do it for me. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and found the dialogue too pat to be believable.
September 14, 2019
By the time I got to the end of this book I really couldn't have cared less about Alice Burns or her family. They were all very unlikable characters.
November 16, 2020
Epic storytelling from Douglas Kennedy, surely one of our most under-rated authors.
Contender for my Book of the Year, 2020.
Earlier this year, Marian Keyes said she wouldn't read any book written by a man . . . her loss, because Kennedy definitely knows how to tell a love story, and how to get under the skin of his female characters.
Hugely recommended for anyone who was growing up in the sixties; for younger readers, it's a fascinating piece of historical fiction!
Contender for my Book of the Year, 2020.
Earlier this year, Marian Keyes said she wouldn't read any book written by a man . . . her loss, because Kennedy definitely knows how to tell a love story, and how to get under the skin of his female characters.
Hugely recommended for anyone who was growing up in the sixties; for younger readers, it's a fascinating piece of historical fiction!
April 27, 2019
Loved the Pursuit of Happiness and loved this. A huge American epic focused on family drama and the internal turmoil of individuals trying to navigate life - right up my alley.
January 30, 2022
Не зная как и защо съм пропуснала тази книга. Великолепна история.
January 5, 2020
Nice enough read, great in-depth family noir story. Especially the Ireland part is quite good. But overall, the impact of this book was so small that I almost forgot I read it at all.
September 28, 2019
‘Before Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins there was Douglas Kennedy, the original maestro of of ‘family noir’. For the past two decades Kennedy has been entertaining readers with barrelling novels in which a parent, sibling or spouse is often the devil in disguise.’ (Christian House ‘The Guardian’)
As I scribe this the first steps are being taken to impeach Trump. Towards the end of Kennedy’s ‘The Great Wide Open’ our heroine, Alice Burns, by now building a glittering career in NYC publishing, encounters the 1980’s version of the Great Buffoon. ‘I’m a writer too,’ Trump told Peter, then shifted his gaze toward me, looking me up and down, rating me on his Babe Meter (which I took to be a compliment). ‘In fact I'm writing a book that’s gonna make a ton of money – because everyone’s gonna want to read how I’ve made a ton of money. You should offer me a contract on the spot.’ At the end of the conversation that follows he boasts ‘I’m gonna be president one day.’ Let’s just see how long he lasts in that position now. We can only hope.
‘The Great Wide Open’ is a big canvas, big enough for Trump even. Approaching some 600 pages it sure took some reading. Big doesn’t make for better, but it doesn’t necessarily make for bad either.
Before I tackled this opus, as a prelude I made my way through the author’s 2011 effort, ‘The Moment’. It had been sitting on my shelves for a while. In truth this was better written, albeit a less ambitious product. Instead of family noir here we have a writer receiving a blast from the past in the form of a package arriving at his remote Maine hideaway. This takes Thomas Nesbitt back to his days in Cold War Berlin where, as a journalist, he was attempting to get a handle on life over on the other side of the Wall. Aiding him in this is his mysterious translator Petra, a refugee from the East with a shocking past, trying to rebuild her life in the West. But is she all she seems as Thomas quickly becomes smitten? Soon he’s headlong into the world of the Stasi on one side and his own spooks on the other. Kennedy handles the convoluted events that follow with aplomb, although he’s no Le Carré.
Was DK attempting to write ‘...nothing less than a fictional overview of our times; a statement of what it means to be American in the postwar world’? Alice’s brother, Peter, after his first taste of literary success, offers these pretentious words – they are as bombastic as most of the language in this, well, I guess, sloppy novel from Kennedy. ‘The Great Wide Open’ is a far cry from the tomes that first bought him notice earlier in his career; books I thoroughly enjoyed.
There’s no doubt that this could have been so much better and as it was, I had no problem ploughing through it. I always wanted to see what came next. It remains a readable yarn. But it’s almost wrecked with his breathless, ‘Days of Our Lives’, overheated prose. He’s certainly no TC Boyle in his command of language – he works too hard to impress with his linguistic wordsmithery. The story can speak for itself with a less frenetic, fraught approach. It’s as if he’s trying to win gold at the linguistic Olympics.
Ms Burns takes us, initially, to the coast of Connecticut and her college days, highlighted by homophobia and the disappearance of one of her bosom buddies. That’s followed by some time in Dublin, dodging IRA bombs, not entirely successfully. Meanwhile, her father and two brothers have become involved in the business in Chile, on either side of Augusto Pinochet’s regime, after the coup. Alice, fleeing the trauma of Ireland, spends some time in a backwater teaching. Of course she is fabulous at that – so empowering of her students. Then she falls into publishing in the ‘Greed is Good’ era. Inevitably she’s a godsend with that too. In between there’s several lovers and estrangements with family members, each of whom seem to have a love/hate relationship with the other. There’s always much, much angst. ‘Days of Our Lives’ indeed.
Hopefully the Great American Novel is now out of Douglas’ system and he is in a place where he can go back to a smaller scale, recapturing the tone of earlier successes such as ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’, ‘The Job’ and ‘The Big Picture’, Far, far worthier places to commence for a reader than either of these titles.
As I scribe this the first steps are being taken to impeach Trump. Towards the end of Kennedy’s ‘The Great Wide Open’ our heroine, Alice Burns, by now building a glittering career in NYC publishing, encounters the 1980’s version of the Great Buffoon. ‘I’m a writer too,’ Trump told Peter, then shifted his gaze toward me, looking me up and down, rating me on his Babe Meter (which I took to be a compliment). ‘In fact I'm writing a book that’s gonna make a ton of money – because everyone’s gonna want to read how I’ve made a ton of money. You should offer me a contract on the spot.’ At the end of the conversation that follows he boasts ‘I’m gonna be president one day.’ Let’s just see how long he lasts in that position now. We can only hope.
‘The Great Wide Open’ is a big canvas, big enough for Trump even. Approaching some 600 pages it sure took some reading. Big doesn’t make for better, but it doesn’t necessarily make for bad either.
Before I tackled this opus, as a prelude I made my way through the author’s 2011 effort, ‘The Moment’. It had been sitting on my shelves for a while. In truth this was better written, albeit a less ambitious product. Instead of family noir here we have a writer receiving a blast from the past in the form of a package arriving at his remote Maine hideaway. This takes Thomas Nesbitt back to his days in Cold War Berlin where, as a journalist, he was attempting to get a handle on life over on the other side of the Wall. Aiding him in this is his mysterious translator Petra, a refugee from the East with a shocking past, trying to rebuild her life in the West. But is she all she seems as Thomas quickly becomes smitten? Soon he’s headlong into the world of the Stasi on one side and his own spooks on the other. Kennedy handles the convoluted events that follow with aplomb, although he’s no Le Carré.
Was DK attempting to write ‘...nothing less than a fictional overview of our times; a statement of what it means to be American in the postwar world’? Alice’s brother, Peter, after his first taste of literary success, offers these pretentious words – they are as bombastic as most of the language in this, well, I guess, sloppy novel from Kennedy. ‘The Great Wide Open’ is a far cry from the tomes that first bought him notice earlier in his career; books I thoroughly enjoyed.
There’s no doubt that this could have been so much better and as it was, I had no problem ploughing through it. I always wanted to see what came next. It remains a readable yarn. But it’s almost wrecked with his breathless, ‘Days of Our Lives’, overheated prose. He’s certainly no TC Boyle in his command of language – he works too hard to impress with his linguistic wordsmithery. The story can speak for itself with a less frenetic, fraught approach. It’s as if he’s trying to win gold at the linguistic Olympics.
Ms Burns takes us, initially, to the coast of Connecticut and her college days, highlighted by homophobia and the disappearance of one of her bosom buddies. That’s followed by some time in Dublin, dodging IRA bombs, not entirely successfully. Meanwhile, her father and two brothers have become involved in the business in Chile, on either side of Augusto Pinochet’s regime, after the coup. Alice, fleeing the trauma of Ireland, spends some time in a backwater teaching. Of course she is fabulous at that – so empowering of her students. Then she falls into publishing in the ‘Greed is Good’ era. Inevitably she’s a godsend with that too. In between there’s several lovers and estrangements with family members, each of whom seem to have a love/hate relationship with the other. There’s always much, much angst. ‘Days of Our Lives’ indeed.
Hopefully the Great American Novel is now out of Douglas’ system and he is in a place where he can go back to a smaller scale, recapturing the tone of earlier successes such as ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’, ‘The Job’ and ‘The Big Picture’, Far, far worthier places to commence for a reader than either of these titles.
February 25, 2020
I'm a Douglas Kennedy fan and read this book on holiday. It was not light holiday reading, it was far too deep for that. I found the beginning slow, thick with details of American schools and college, and thin on the disappearance of Alice's friend Carly but, when Alice's family step in, the book swings into action and I could not put it down. The Burn's family is complex. It loves and hates. It fights and wounds. It's passionate, cruel, loyal, and destructive. It makes for a compelling read and delivers a twist and an inconceivable betrayal.
January 28, 2024
This is well written but I hated every character!! I was at page 500 and I seriously couldn't, for the life of me, remember the main characters name! She complains about her horrible family the whole time but spends her horrible life completely entwined with their horrible doings! It's full of horribly boring politics!! There should be a warning on the back of this book “do not read this if you find politics unbearingly boring”.. oh and the author uses the work cantankerous so much it’s like he is trying to make up for these awful characters that you hate by using big fancy words.. but as a result it just comes off wanky, self-righteous, and repetitive. Blurk. Oh and even though the book is full of horrible people they all manage to fall in and out of unrealistic relationships with additional horrible people.. I’m so angry at myself for finishing this book. It’s going on a great wide open adventure to the recycling bin after I post this.
April 20, 2020
Encontramos en esta novela varias de las características que me enganchan a un libro: la historia de una familia, un personaje en pleno proceso de entrada a la edad adulta con su evolución personal y emocional, un marco social y político que no es un simple decorado... En fin, que al leerlo tengo la sensación de que no dejan de "pasar cosas".
De todo esto, lo que más me ha gustado es el retrato de la familia, una institución que crea lazos que unen pero también pueden ahogar. Los Burns, la familia de la protagonista, están llenos de secretos y eso les condiciona en sus relaciones, escapar de ellos resulta casi imposible. Alice lo intentará buscando la distancia tanto emocional como geográfica, sin embargo, la vida, o quizá el azar, no le permitirán alejarse.
Una narración llena de giros dramáticos y diálogos muy dinámicos. Muy recomendable.
De todo esto, lo que más me ha gustado es el retrato de la familia, una institución que crea lazos que unen pero también pueden ahogar. Los Burns, la familia de la protagonista, están llenos de secretos y eso les condiciona en sus relaciones, escapar de ellos resulta casi imposible. Alice lo intentará buscando la distancia tanto emocional como geográfica, sin embargo, la vida, o quizá el azar, no le permitirán alejarse.
Una narración llena de giros dramáticos y diálogos muy dinámicos. Muy recomendable.
May 3, 2019
I am an admire of Douglass Kennedy, all his books are very special. This last one did not disappoint
me, a great story, a fantastic retrospective of the American and the European history. The fictional family is at the centre of the monumental events unfolding at the last century. The atmosphere of change, of history being made, that continue to shape out current reality, all of it made a great impact on me.
me, a great story, a fantastic retrospective of the American and the European history. The fictional family is at the centre of the monumental events unfolding at the last century. The atmosphere of change, of history being made, that continue to shape out current reality, all of it made a great impact on me.
March 10, 2019
The best book he has written since The Pursuit of Happiness.
January 31, 2021
Mi libro favorito del mes, es verdad que tiene algunas partes de la trama poco creíbles pero en general refleja bien parte de la cultura americana de los últimos 50 años y se lee maravillosamente.
February 10, 2020
I loved this book. I’m a big Douglas Kennedy fan. Maeve Binchy was a mentor of his. I remember reading an article where he was feeling quite pleased with himself after finishing a book and Maeve apparently said to him: great, and what are you doing next?
This is a powerful family drama, spanning Connecticut, Dublin, and New York. The Great Wide Open is about The Burns Family. A Catholic father, an ex-vet with a boulder on his shoulder, a discontented Jewish mother, and their three kids , Peter, Adam, and Alice.
It’s the early 1970s. Alice Burns is 17 and she’s a bit of a dweeb. The cool kids don’t like her or her equally uncool friends. After a horrible event, she moves to a small private college. She flourishes there, away from her constantly bickering parents, and the unpleasantness of her home life. Her self centred mother resents her having escaped. I enjoyed some of the one liners. Shakespeare’s “he Jests at scars that never felt a wound”, quoted by her favourite professor. He follows up with: “wounds define us. Wounds underscore all national destinies. Just as you will discover in your own lives, wounds are an implicit part of your own personal destiny. “
Her college years move to Trinity in Dublin. Kennedy, married to a Cork woman, clearly knows Dublin well. It’s very well described, and he sets the historical and political scene well. Alice departs from Dublin with a trail of mixed memories behind her, for work in the U.S.
Alice moves to New York after a while. Alice is a sad person, carrying past upsetting memories with her always. She makes new friends. Her tragedy plagued and fractured family features once again. The greed centred excess swamped 80s also play a part in this engrossing story.
This is a powerful and emotional read. I found it hard to put down. Its characters still remain with me.
A couple of commenters (commenters who don’t allow others to respond unless they’re “friends”) griped about the book being too long, and being poorly edited. One pedant complained about the letter w being left out of rung. Jeez, shoot the editor at dawn for a typo! This is hardly a daunting tome at 584 pages. I read it in the one day.
This is a powerful family drama, spanning Connecticut, Dublin, and New York. The Great Wide Open is about The Burns Family. A Catholic father, an ex-vet with a boulder on his shoulder, a discontented Jewish mother, and their three kids , Peter, Adam, and Alice.
It’s the early 1970s. Alice Burns is 17 and she’s a bit of a dweeb. The cool kids don’t like her or her equally uncool friends. After a horrible event, she moves to a small private college. She flourishes there, away from her constantly bickering parents, and the unpleasantness of her home life. Her self centred mother resents her having escaped. I enjoyed some of the one liners. Shakespeare’s “he Jests at scars that never felt a wound”, quoted by her favourite professor. He follows up with: “wounds define us. Wounds underscore all national destinies. Just as you will discover in your own lives, wounds are an implicit part of your own personal destiny. “
Her college years move to Trinity in Dublin. Kennedy, married to a Cork woman, clearly knows Dublin well. It’s very well described, and he sets the historical and political scene well. Alice departs from Dublin with a trail of mixed memories behind her, for work in the U.S.
Alice moves to New York after a while. Alice is a sad person, carrying past upsetting memories with her always. She makes new friends. Her tragedy plagued and fractured family features once again. The greed centred excess swamped 80s also play a part in this engrossing story.
This is a powerful and emotional read. I found it hard to put down. Its characters still remain with me.
A couple of commenters (commenters who don’t allow others to respond unless they’re “friends”) griped about the book being too long, and being poorly edited. One pedant complained about the letter w being left out of rung. Jeez, shoot the editor at dawn for a typo! This is hardly a daunting tome at 584 pages. I read it in the one day.
September 3, 2019
3.5 stars.
This book was readable, page turning, as one expects from a Kennedy novel, but not as gripping overall as some of his previous novels.
I was more able to put this one down from time to time and do other things, whilst his previous books were much harder to put down, whatever their faults.
The story of Alice and her life in the 1970's and 80's is good, but the characters (especially her family) are not wholly likable, and whilst they themselves were imperfect and dysfunctional, they seemed to be incredibly snobbish and condescending, looking down on others, especially to those from the burbs, or what was on one occasion termed "third-tier-cities".
The mother, Brenda Burns, was especially like this and became somewhat annoying after a while, always flying off the handle and so on.
Still, Kennedy being Kennedy, the book was still readable, still a page turner, although it could have been at least 100 pages shorter.
I thought I saw a few blunders in the book. On page 486 (of my copy) there is a scene where a "1940's potboiler" is discussed - presumably CASABLANCA. Yet it is stated that Claude Rains and Hedy Lamarr star in it. Hedy Lamarr?
On page 494, there is a scene set in 1984 where they meet Donald Trump. He is described as being in his late forties. Wouldn't he have been in his late thirties back in 1984? The author just a mere decade out. On page 527 Adam's pal Tad becomes Ted. Anyone notice these things?
Some people have suggested that the author intends a sequel, but I don't think the final sentence in the book really implies that - but time will tell.
This book was readable, page turning, as one expects from a Kennedy novel, but not as gripping overall as some of his previous novels.
I was more able to put this one down from time to time and do other things, whilst his previous books were much harder to put down, whatever their faults.
The story of Alice and her life in the 1970's and 80's is good, but the characters (especially her family) are not wholly likable, and whilst they themselves were imperfect and dysfunctional, they seemed to be incredibly snobbish and condescending, looking down on others, especially to those from the burbs, or what was on one occasion termed "third-tier-cities".
The mother, Brenda Burns, was especially like this and became somewhat annoying after a while, always flying off the handle and so on.
Still, Kennedy being Kennedy, the book was still readable, still a page turner, although it could have been at least 100 pages shorter.
I thought I saw a few blunders in the book. On page 486 (of my copy) there is a scene where a "1940's potboiler" is discussed - presumably CASABLANCA. Yet it is stated that Claude Rains and Hedy Lamarr star in it. Hedy Lamarr?
On page 494, there is a scene set in 1984 where they meet Donald Trump. He is described as being in his late forties. Wouldn't he have been in his late thirties back in 1984? The author just a mere decade out. On page 527 Adam's pal Tad becomes Ted. Anyone notice these things?
Some people have suggested that the author intends a sequel, but I don't think the final sentence in the book really implies that - but time will tell.
February 5, 2020
At book club I have learnt some important lessons. The first is : when the authors name is bigger than the title the author is one who is much revered and renowned. The second is : when our literary queen of the group says in regard to a book such as this taken on approval ‘ Douglas Kennedy is Douglas Kennedy’ I should really know who Douglas Kennedy is. Well I didn’t - and when a friend stated that she had just finished a Douglas Kennedy I realized that it was time to remedy my ignorance. Especially when I saw cretin forming in her mind . So I am relieved to announce that I have joined the circle of literary connoisseurs. I listened - and listened - and listened to all 19hours and 49 minutes of this Douglas Kennedy wondering whether he writes it, dictates it, types it or sub contracts it? I guess when Douglas Kennedy bestows another book on the world, the world is duly honored and grateful. The fact that it is long - very long is just a bonus, right? For others maybe. For me, NO thank you. My remaining life is too short to devote any more of it to this lengthy ramble. I prefer tight and nuanced. I prefer protagonists that aren’t quite so holier than thou - and some character development is always appreciated. I’m happy to be able to nod along sighing Douglas Kennedy is Douglas Kennedy whilst voting for the other choices in the book club offering.
January 24, 2020
Douglas Kennedy is one of my favourite authors. I particularly love how he builds his characters and places his epic (love) stories in a certain time frame in history (my favourites being "The moment" set during the Berlin Wall, and "The pursuit of happiness" during the McCarthy era).
Therefore, I was really looking forward reading this new book. Unfortunately it felt like a disappointment. There are too many events in the book which don't contribute to the overall story line. The "big secret" introduced in chapter 1, hardly plays a role in the rest of the book and by the end of the book you already forgot that there had been a secret. Maybe my biggest problem with the book is Alice herself. She can't step out of her victim role. "Unhappiness is a choice" and Alice made that choice, making it harder to sympathise with her.
I did enjoy certain sections of the book though. Kennedy is good at bringing in the sentiments of the 70s and 80s (the Troubles in Ireland, HIV/AIDS) and the language used to reflect on life itself. Maybe my expectations were just too high.
Therefore, I was really looking forward reading this new book. Unfortunately it felt like a disappointment. There are too many events in the book which don't contribute to the overall story line. The "big secret" introduced in chapter 1, hardly plays a role in the rest of the book and by the end of the book you already forgot that there had been a secret. Maybe my biggest problem with the book is Alice herself. She can't step out of her victim role. "Unhappiness is a choice" and Alice made that choice, making it harder to sympathise with her.
I did enjoy certain sections of the book though. Kennedy is good at bringing in the sentiments of the 70s and 80s (the Troubles in Ireland, HIV/AIDS) and the language used to reflect on life itself. Maybe my expectations were just too high.
May 19, 2020
I can never pay enough compliments to the authorial wonder that is Douglas Kennedy. His books are notoriously well-written, almost always with lengthy dives into the past and featuring heavy, yet relevant, doses of politics and culture.
This book is no exception. Alice Burns is a young woman growing up in a time of rapid change. Charting the lives of her and her family through the 1970s and 80s, it is an examination of how families pull together and push apart over time, and how secrets can tear irreparable holes through the close-knit fabric of family life. We watch as Alice experiences love and heartbreak, education, work, and how her loyalties to those around her are divided as she struggles to balance her ties with the damage their secrets can cause.
Kennedy has a gift for complex plots that leave the reader guessing where the narrative may lead next, and not only does this make for a book that is immensely pleasurable to read, the context in which he sets his story means you inevitably learn something as well.
This book is no exception. Alice Burns is a young woman growing up in a time of rapid change. Charting the lives of her and her family through the 1970s and 80s, it is an examination of how families pull together and push apart over time, and how secrets can tear irreparable holes through the close-knit fabric of family life. We watch as Alice experiences love and heartbreak, education, work, and how her loyalties to those around her are divided as she struggles to balance her ties with the damage their secrets can cause.
Kennedy has a gift for complex plots that leave the reader guessing where the narrative may lead next, and not only does this make for a book that is immensely pleasurable to read, the context in which he sets his story means you inevitably learn something as well.
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