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Aloft
The New York Times–bestselling novel by the critically acclaimed author of Native Speaker, A Gesture Life and My Year Abroad. At 59, Jerry Battle is coasting through life. His favorite pastime is flying his small plane high above Long Island. Aloft, he can escape from the troubles that plague his family, neighbors, and loved ones on the ground. But he can't stay in the air forever. Only months before his 60th birthday, a culmination of family crises finally pull Jerry down from his emotionally distant course. Jerry learns that his family's stability is in jeopardy. His father, Hank, is growing increasingly unhappy in his assisted living facility. His son, Jack, has taken over the family landscaping business but is running it into bankruptcy. His daughter, Theresa, has become pregnant and has been diagnosed with cancer. His longtime girlfriend, Rita, who helped raise his children, has now moved in with another man. And Jerry still has unanswered questions that he must face regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of his late wife. Since the day his wife died, Jerry has turned avoiding conflict into an art form-the perfect expression being his solitary flights from which he can look down on a world that appears serene and unscathed. From his comfortable distance, he can't see the messy details, let alone begin to confront them. But Jerry is learning that in avoiding conflict, he is also avoiding contact with the people he loves most.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 8, 2004
80 people are currently reading
1755 people want to read
About the author
Chang-rae Lee
30 books1,009 followersChang-rae Lee is a Korean-American novelist and a professor of creative writing at Stanford University. He was previously Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton and director of Princeton's Program in Creative Writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 307 reviews
February 4, 2009
Feb 2009 book club selection.
This book was very challenging for me to get through because I can't stand long sentences. It's really tough to remember what's going on if you didn't read this in one sitting, and it's tough to read this in one sitting because I didn't feel like anything drove the storyline. There's not so much a story as it is a glimpse in a period of a time in a 59-year-old's life. I suppose it's about family. But it reads like a journal with many topical detours that may have had a purpose, but because they were so verbose, it wasn't appealing to me. Definitely raises interesting issues of race consciousness. On the whole, I'd pass.
This book was very challenging for me to get through because I can't stand long sentences. It's really tough to remember what's going on if you didn't read this in one sitting, and it's tough to read this in one sitting because I didn't feel like anything drove the storyline. There's not so much a story as it is a glimpse in a period of a time in a 59-year-old's life. I suppose it's about family. But it reads like a journal with many topical detours that may have had a purpose, but because they were so verbose, it wasn't appealing to me. Definitely raises interesting issues of race consciousness. On the whole, I'd pass.
November 21, 2015
Audiobook performed by Don Leslie
From the book jacket: Aloft offers a reexamination of the American dream from the inside out, through the voice of Jerry Battle, a suburban middle-aged man who has lived his entire life on Long Island, New York. Battle’s favorite diversion is to fly his small plane solo; slipping away for quick flights over the Island, Jerry has been disappearing for years. Then a family crisis occurs, and Jerry finds he must face his disengagement in his relationships.
My Reactions:
Jerry Battle is the narrator of this character-driven novel. It is his unavailability – emotionally and physically – that colors all the relationships he has. He reflects on his deceased wife, Daisy, who is apparently bi-polar, and her death, but seems really not to understand (or want to face?) what really happened. His long-term live-in girlfriend has left him, though she is still a part of his family circle since she basically raised his children and they love her. He cannot seem to admit – to himself, or more importantly to Rita – how much he misses her, or how culpable he was in destroying their relationship.
He prides himself on how well he has handled his wife’s death, raised their children alone, and managed the family business, but he seems completely unaware of what is really going on. At times he behaves like a teenager – getting into ridiculous contest to prove to his ex-girlfriend, her current fiancé, and/or to himself that he is really THE ALPHA MALE. And then he’s perplexed by his own son’s need to prove the same … with a bigger house, fancier cars, etc.
My reactions to Jerry were as puzzling as his own reactions to what’s going on around him – I was angry, confused, frustrated, ready to give up, wanted to go on, and ultimately loved him and his family. I’ll definitely try another of Lee’s novels.
Don Leslie did a fine job performing the audio version. His inflection seemed to perfectly portray Jerry’s emotional distance, and tardy awakening.
From the book jacket: Aloft offers a reexamination of the American dream from the inside out, through the voice of Jerry Battle, a suburban middle-aged man who has lived his entire life on Long Island, New York. Battle’s favorite diversion is to fly his small plane solo; slipping away for quick flights over the Island, Jerry has been disappearing for years. Then a family crisis occurs, and Jerry finds he must face his disengagement in his relationships.
My Reactions:
Jerry Battle is the narrator of this character-driven novel. It is his unavailability – emotionally and physically – that colors all the relationships he has. He reflects on his deceased wife, Daisy, who is apparently bi-polar, and her death, but seems really not to understand (or want to face?) what really happened. His long-term live-in girlfriend has left him, though she is still a part of his family circle since she basically raised his children and they love her. He cannot seem to admit – to himself, or more importantly to Rita – how much he misses her, or how culpable he was in destroying their relationship.
He prides himself on how well he has handled his wife’s death, raised their children alone, and managed the family business, but he seems completely unaware of what is really going on. At times he behaves like a teenager – getting into ridiculous contest to prove to his ex-girlfriend, her current fiancé, and/or to himself that he is really THE ALPHA MALE. And then he’s perplexed by his own son’s need to prove the same … with a bigger house, fancier cars, etc.
My reactions to Jerry were as puzzling as his own reactions to what’s going on around him – I was angry, confused, frustrated, ready to give up, wanted to go on, and ultimately loved him and his family. I’ll definitely try another of Lee’s novels.
Don Leslie did a fine job performing the audio version. His inflection seemed to perfectly portray Jerry’s emotional distance, and tardy awakening.
June 4, 2017
I guess the point of this book is that it's kind of apathetic and just sort of drifts along with no particular direction. Which is all well and good, except that it doesn't make for a very good read. It's sort of boring and annoying. In this book, all the characters are flat, and rather unlikeable. Due to the first-person narrator, we don't even get much of a sense of the other characters; they're just sort of background-noise to the non-story being told. The effect is that we never really feel connected to the story, and don't really care about any of the characters. Also, our first-person narrator has an extreme tendency to ramble in run-on sentences. As a literary technique, I don't mind this too much, but when the character himself is boring, any little quirk in his voice becomes grating.
April 17, 2010
What a beautiful book. Aloft is the story of Jerry Battle, an almost-sixty partial-retiree who, by his own admission, floats above the problems of life through denial and self-centeredness. Chang-rae Lee doesn't make Jerry despicable, just pitiable, although there are moments in Jerry's stream-of-consciousness narration where he reveals sharp observational powers. These moments only serve to highlight his general laziness, though. The reader comes to know that Jerry could do a lot better by his family and friends if he just felt like it, but it often seems (to Jerry) like too much work.
Like A Gesture Life, Aloft deals with suburban American life, growing older in a culture ashamed of death, mental illness in a time when it was badly misunderstood (not that it is greatly understood now), and the almost-gentle racism that pervades a certain segment of middle aged white Americans, the kind that doesn't lend itself to hate speech or violence but to a subtle and pervasive separation.
My favorite part of the book is how Lee slowly reveals Jerry to be an unreliable narrator. Jerry is mostly irony-free, but he has his moments of humor and anger. I could see him making excuses for his bad behavior while simultaneously chastising himself for said behavior. The entire story is told from his point of view, but somehow the other characters are just as well-illuminated as he is. Chang-rae Lee is probably one of America's great contemporary writers, and reading his work is pure pleasure.
Like A Gesture Life, Aloft deals with suburban American life, growing older in a culture ashamed of death, mental illness in a time when it was badly misunderstood (not that it is greatly understood now), and the almost-gentle racism that pervades a certain segment of middle aged white Americans, the kind that doesn't lend itself to hate speech or violence but to a subtle and pervasive separation.
My favorite part of the book is how Lee slowly reveals Jerry to be an unreliable narrator. Jerry is mostly irony-free, but he has his moments of humor and anger. I could see him making excuses for his bad behavior while simultaneously chastising himself for said behavior. The entire story is told from his point of view, but somehow the other characters are just as well-illuminated as he is. Chang-rae Lee is probably one of America's great contemporary writers, and reading his work is pure pleasure.
November 26, 2010
Like eating a bowl of whipped cream, bland and fluffy, though well-crafted and containing a suitable number of tragic life events. Reads somewhat like an homage to Richard Ford.
March 31, 2011
I never thought I'd suggest that an author dumb it down, but here I am. Aloft is not a poorly-written novel -- the exact opposite, actually; you can tell Chang-rae Lee's really making use of his educational background. But that craftmanship is the reason that I didn't buy the narrator's voice. Maybe I just don't travel in the right circles, but Jerry -- the lead character and narrator -- spoke too eloquently to be believable. He's a blue-collar working stiff! Why's his internal dialog sounding like a Princeton English professor? (Well, the book was written by a Princeton English professor. That's why.) And from what I read (which admittedly wasn't much), there's nothing to indicate that Jerry's silent eloquence bubbles up from hidden depths. No one says to him, "hey, Jer, I never had no idea ya had such a, y'know, penetratin' worl'view. Guess hangin' around them college bimbos rubbed off, huh? Hey, let's find us some broads and go to town."
If Lee had decided to write in third-person narration, I might have really enjoyed this book. Instead, onto the "Abandoned" shelf it goes.
If Lee had decided to write in third-person narration, I might have really enjoyed this book. Instead, onto the "Abandoned" shelf it goes.
January 8, 2014
It's early yet, and the fall season will certainly bring some wonderful novels, but it seems safe to say that "Aloft" will be one of the best books of the year. Given the beauty of Chang-rae Lee's previous work, this isn't too surprising. In 1999, "A Gesture Life" appeared on many "best of the year" lists (including ours). Before that, his first novel, "Native Speaker" (1995), won several of those second-tier prizes that sometimes signal a great talent has entered the library.
Although the Korean-born author has written specifically about the Asian-American experience, Lee's audience has always been diverse, responding to his universal themes of dislocation and identity. With "Aloft," he moves even further from the outlines of his own cultural heritage, presenting a narrator who's Italian-American, a retired landscaper in an affluent suburb on Long Island.
But issues of race are still here - everywhere, in fact. The narrator, Jerry Battle (born Battaglia), notes everyone's ethnic and racial classification with the ironic self-consciousness of a white man who knows it's not kosher to note such things anymore.
He was married to a Korean woman who died 20 years ago; his Puerto Rican girlfriend has recently left him; his daughter is engaged to an Asian-American writer; he works part time with a young Hispanic man at a travel agency. In other words, Jerry is like most Americans, pretending to be colorblind in the most colorful country on earth.
Up in the sky, though, flying his little plane, he can't see anyone's face. It's a box-seat for a man who finds it easiest to appreciate people - particularly family - when gazing down on them from a "fetching, ever-mitigating" distance of 3,000 feet.
The novel opens with Jerry's Godlike pronouncement: "Everything looks perfect to me," and for the next 350 pages, he talks on and on to us in a voice that's maddeningly self-absorbed, wonderfully witty, constantly conflicted, often wise, and ultimately redeemed.
For many years, equipped with "a wide-range of people-shedding skills," Jerry has worked to secure the kind of isolation he's enjoying, but now living alone, cut off politely from his children and his father, he finds that the cup of absolute freedom has a bitter aftertaste.
He's not entirely sure why his girlfriend of 20 years walked out on him, but he suspects it may have something to do with keeping her a girlfriend for 20 years. His irascible, oversexed father is unhappily imprisoned in an expensive assisted-living facility, where Jerry has to visit only when the guilt becomes acute. His son has taken over the family landscaping business and turned it into a money machine that makes Jerry proud even while he worries "how this rush of prosperity is ruining him." And his daughter has a PhD in critical theory, which means that his hegemonic male privilege is the subject of her constant, dismissive analysis.
He backs away from moments of intimacy, even while craving them, complaining to us confidentially that "those closest to you seem to clam up at every chance of genuine kinship." How much neater, anyhow, to travel the world, sampling unencumbering moments of intimacy, leaping "to aid all manner of strangers and tourists and other wide-eyed foreigners."
Jerry thinks he'd be happy to keep soaring above all the messy and irreconcilable complications of family relationships - relying on what his daughter calls his "preternatural lazy-heartedness." But despite his best efforts, what he refers to as "the Real" keeps calling him back down to earth.
First, there's his son's new opulence, all the flourishes of suburban royalty from teak cabinetry to nickel-plated faucets, wonderfully satirized by Jerry, who suspects the business won't support such excess for long. But of course, he can't bring himself to ask how it's going (too personal), and he knows (or wants to believe) that his offer to help would be declined anyway.
More troubling, his daughter announces that she's pregnant and diagnosed with cancer. Furious about her decision to delay medical treatment until the baby arrives, he nevertheless knows that she won't listen to him even if he could summon up the equanimity to speak calmly before his frustration and her pride blew them back into silence.
His affections, though well muzzled, refuse to stay quiet, even after a lifetime of avoiding "in-depth and nuanced discussions." In one of several very funny scenes, he tracks down his girlfriend at the mansion of her fabulously wealthy new boyfriend and proposes. When she scoffs at him - "You have no clue what you're saying or what it might mean!" - he wagers his plane in a tennis match with her lover.
But "Aloft" is not really a book of scenes or events, as funny, moving, or tragic as those are. Lee's genius is this confidential voice, full of cultural analysis, ironic asides, sexual candor, and unconscious revelations, laced along through one breathless paragraph after another in improbably extended sentences, perpetually buoyed by wit and insight. He's perfectly captured the conflicted confidence of a man who knows he can be a jerk but hopes that knowing that might win him some consolation.
Strung between his father, who taught him how "effective it can be to say grindingly little at the very moment you ought to say a lot," and his children, who can't imagine how much he needs and loves them, Jerry must finally learn how to speak from the heart - to move beyond the "patriarchal Post-it Notes" - before his family collapses in a series of financial and physical disasters.
This feels like Rabbit country, of course, the anxieties of a suburban man so masterfully tended by John Updike in those four devastating novels. But Lee is after something altogether more hopeful here, though no less sophisticated: the anti-Rabbit, at least an antidote to Rabbitism.
Jerry runs from his responsibilities with no less vigor than Harry Angstrom, and he's grown just as rich, but when he comes finally to rest, it's not in death or the clouds, but in the deep satisfaction of embracing his family with all those annoyances and entangling affections he thought he wanted to flee.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0309/p1...
Although the Korean-born author has written specifically about the Asian-American experience, Lee's audience has always been diverse, responding to his universal themes of dislocation and identity. With "Aloft," he moves even further from the outlines of his own cultural heritage, presenting a narrator who's Italian-American, a retired landscaper in an affluent suburb on Long Island.
But issues of race are still here - everywhere, in fact. The narrator, Jerry Battle (born Battaglia), notes everyone's ethnic and racial classification with the ironic self-consciousness of a white man who knows it's not kosher to note such things anymore.
He was married to a Korean woman who died 20 years ago; his Puerto Rican girlfriend has recently left him; his daughter is engaged to an Asian-American writer; he works part time with a young Hispanic man at a travel agency. In other words, Jerry is like most Americans, pretending to be colorblind in the most colorful country on earth.
Up in the sky, though, flying his little plane, he can't see anyone's face. It's a box-seat for a man who finds it easiest to appreciate people - particularly family - when gazing down on them from a "fetching, ever-mitigating" distance of 3,000 feet.
The novel opens with Jerry's Godlike pronouncement: "Everything looks perfect to me," and for the next 350 pages, he talks on and on to us in a voice that's maddeningly self-absorbed, wonderfully witty, constantly conflicted, often wise, and ultimately redeemed.
For many years, equipped with "a wide-range of people-shedding skills," Jerry has worked to secure the kind of isolation he's enjoying, but now living alone, cut off politely from his children and his father, he finds that the cup of absolute freedom has a bitter aftertaste.
He's not entirely sure why his girlfriend of 20 years walked out on him, but he suspects it may have something to do with keeping her a girlfriend for 20 years. His irascible, oversexed father is unhappily imprisoned in an expensive assisted-living facility, where Jerry has to visit only when the guilt becomes acute. His son has taken over the family landscaping business and turned it into a money machine that makes Jerry proud even while he worries "how this rush of prosperity is ruining him." And his daughter has a PhD in critical theory, which means that his hegemonic male privilege is the subject of her constant, dismissive analysis.
He backs away from moments of intimacy, even while craving them, complaining to us confidentially that "those closest to you seem to clam up at every chance of genuine kinship." How much neater, anyhow, to travel the world, sampling unencumbering moments of intimacy, leaping "to aid all manner of strangers and tourists and other wide-eyed foreigners."
Jerry thinks he'd be happy to keep soaring above all the messy and irreconcilable complications of family relationships - relying on what his daughter calls his "preternatural lazy-heartedness." But despite his best efforts, what he refers to as "the Real" keeps calling him back down to earth.
First, there's his son's new opulence, all the flourishes of suburban royalty from teak cabinetry to nickel-plated faucets, wonderfully satirized by Jerry, who suspects the business won't support such excess for long. But of course, he can't bring himself to ask how it's going (too personal), and he knows (or wants to believe) that his offer to help would be declined anyway.
More troubling, his daughter announces that she's pregnant and diagnosed with cancer. Furious about her decision to delay medical treatment until the baby arrives, he nevertheless knows that she won't listen to him even if he could summon up the equanimity to speak calmly before his frustration and her pride blew them back into silence.
His affections, though well muzzled, refuse to stay quiet, even after a lifetime of avoiding "in-depth and nuanced discussions." In one of several very funny scenes, he tracks down his girlfriend at the mansion of her fabulously wealthy new boyfriend and proposes. When she scoffs at him - "You have no clue what you're saying or what it might mean!" - he wagers his plane in a tennis match with her lover.
But "Aloft" is not really a book of scenes or events, as funny, moving, or tragic as those are. Lee's genius is this confidential voice, full of cultural analysis, ironic asides, sexual candor, and unconscious revelations, laced along through one breathless paragraph after another in improbably extended sentences, perpetually buoyed by wit and insight. He's perfectly captured the conflicted confidence of a man who knows he can be a jerk but hopes that knowing that might win him some consolation.
Strung between his father, who taught him how "effective it can be to say grindingly little at the very moment you ought to say a lot," and his children, who can't imagine how much he needs and loves them, Jerry must finally learn how to speak from the heart - to move beyond the "patriarchal Post-it Notes" - before his family collapses in a series of financial and physical disasters.
This feels like Rabbit country, of course, the anxieties of a suburban man so masterfully tended by John Updike in those four devastating novels. But Lee is after something altogether more hopeful here, though no less sophisticated: the anti-Rabbit, at least an antidote to Rabbitism.
Jerry runs from his responsibilities with no less vigor than Harry Angstrom, and he's grown just as rich, but when he comes finally to rest, it's not in death or the clouds, but in the deep satisfaction of embracing his family with all those annoyances and entangling affections he thought he wanted to flee.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0309/p1...
February 13, 2009
I bought Aloft for two reasons: first of all, it was on the bargain book table at Booksmith. But, more importantly, it is by Chang-Rae Lee. A few years ago, I read another book of his for my contemporary novel class, Native Speaker. For me, Native Speaker was one of those books that seemed like it was written just for me. It's easily one of my favorite books of all time. I didn't enjoy Aloft as much, but like Native Speaker, it tackles the themes of race and family and how those both factor in to identity. Also like Native Speaker, it is very well-written.
I think the reason that I like Lee's books so much is that they are about life situations that are entirely different from my own and yet are completely relatable. Native Speaker, in particular, focuses on race and assimilation, but it is framed in such a way that it's not just about how being Korean American affects the main character, but how we are all shaped by our families and our language and our geographic roots. I also appreciate that the characters, despite some extraordinary traits (the protagonist of Native Speaker, for example, is a spy), are pretty normal. They are no better or worse than the rest of us. They have strengths, sure, but they aren't saints. Similarly, they have weaknesses, but they aren't rapists or murderers. The characters are just like people that any one of us might know.
In particular, both Native Speaker and Aloft strike a personal chord with me because I know that so much of who I am is because of my family, for better or for worse. In fact, I'm probably a lot like Theresa in Aloft. As a teenager, she deliberately distances herself from her family and tries to be the opposite of what her father is (hey, don't we all to some extent?). And yet, because of that she is probably even more defined by her family than her brother, Jack, even if the definition is the opposite, if that makes sense. She comes around in the end, though, and is ultimately the "glue" that brings her family closer together than ever. Okay, so I'm not so conceited as to think I'll be the glue that brings my family together, but I have come to appreciate my family a lot in my twenties.
So, I really enjoyed Aloft, but nothing like the way I did Native Speaker. I also think the latter might appeal to a broader audience, so I highly recommend it and only recommend Aloft for people who have agreed with some of my other book reviews on this blog.
I think the reason that I like Lee's books so much is that they are about life situations that are entirely different from my own and yet are completely relatable. Native Speaker, in particular, focuses on race and assimilation, but it is framed in such a way that it's not just about how being Korean American affects the main character, but how we are all shaped by our families and our language and our geographic roots. I also appreciate that the characters, despite some extraordinary traits (the protagonist of Native Speaker, for example, is a spy), are pretty normal. They are no better or worse than the rest of us. They have strengths, sure, but they aren't saints. Similarly, they have weaknesses, but they aren't rapists or murderers. The characters are just like people that any one of us might know.
In particular, both Native Speaker and Aloft strike a personal chord with me because I know that so much of who I am is because of my family, for better or for worse. In fact, I'm probably a lot like Theresa in Aloft. As a teenager, she deliberately distances herself from her family and tries to be the opposite of what her father is (hey, don't we all to some extent?). And yet, because of that she is probably even more defined by her family than her brother, Jack, even if the definition is the opposite, if that makes sense. She comes around in the end, though, and is ultimately the "glue" that brings her family closer together than ever. Okay, so I'm not so conceited as to think I'll be the glue that brings my family together, but I have come to appreciate my family a lot in my twenties.
So, I really enjoyed Aloft, but nothing like the way I did Native Speaker. I also think the latter might appeal to a broader audience, so I highly recommend it and only recommend Aloft for people who have agreed with some of my other book reviews on this blog.
July 31, 2013
This is a family drama---which usually means a "chick lit" type of book. However, make no mistake: this is a guy's book. Even more specifically, it is a middle aged guy's book. I doubt that I would have found much to interest me if I read this at 20, but at 50 it resonated as closely as stories told at a family reunion and at times I felt like an uncle grabbed me and said "Don't laugh, have you thought we could be talking about you?"
Jerry Battle would be unlikable if he weren't so honest. That is probably also why this book works. As self centered as they come, he is also a keen observer of human nature---particularly his own. Jerry has to constantly remind himself of how he SHOULD feel or act at a certain time and take himself to task for falling short. Using the imagery of flight we take a seat next to Jerry as he, in his annoyingly detached way, describes the events of his life and those of his family. Always from a safe emotional distance in the clouds. From above one can survey the devastated terrain and accurately assess the damage, but does not get one's feet dirty.
That is until both metaphorically and physically he is taken on a white knuckled ride out of those clouds and onto the ground. And into the real. Where his presence makes the pain unavoidable and and where he can finally take his place among the people in his life.
Brilliant book. At times hilarious and heart-breaking. I read slowly and found myself stopping and re-reading countless times to enjoy the beauty of a phrase or to ponder the truth of what Lee is telling us.
Jerry Battle would be unlikable if he weren't so honest. That is probably also why this book works. As self centered as they come, he is also a keen observer of human nature---particularly his own. Jerry has to constantly remind himself of how he SHOULD feel or act at a certain time and take himself to task for falling short. Using the imagery of flight we take a seat next to Jerry as he, in his annoyingly detached way, describes the events of his life and those of his family. Always from a safe emotional distance in the clouds. From above one can survey the devastated terrain and accurately assess the damage, but does not get one's feet dirty.
That is until both metaphorically and physically he is taken on a white knuckled ride out of those clouds and onto the ground. And into the real. Where his presence makes the pain unavoidable and and where he can finally take his place among the people in his life.
Brilliant book. At times hilarious and heart-breaking. I read slowly and found myself stopping and re-reading countless times to enjoy the beauty of a phrase or to ponder the truth of what Lee is telling us.
April 10, 2011
I'll always read what Lee writes, but I'm baffled by the critical praise this book received. His narrator is a retired landscaper who's Italian-American, but I just never bought that Lee was comfortable in this skin. He alternates between overwriting aggressively long sentences and using slang and tough-guy talk that just never seems plausible, as if the narrator has to remind himself of his role but continues to fall out of character. Some sentences were so tangled by their ambition, I'd find myself unable to get past them; they were so intractable. It's not that I couldn't believe a landscaper could philosophize for pages about human potential, but that the man seemed to be torn between two voices that never quite met. Regardless of his narrator's background, Lee can get caught up in his love for particular words like "angle" (v.) and "accrue" and I couldn't help wondering if there was a 12-step program for getting over such a specific idiolect addiction (ah, an editor). Thankfully, he manages to make everything come together in that last tenth of the book and we understand what he's been building up to, like a puzzle that suddenly reveals itself (or perhaps that's my convincing myself it was worth the struggle), but it ultimately can't fully erase my memory of all the awkward passages that preceded it. (2.5 stars)
August 23, 2007
I just finished reading this book tonight. I've been putting it off until I realized he was publishing a new novel in 2008. I didn't want to fall behind. I don't know what to make of the book. It revolves around an Italian Ameican protagonist who basically is having to come to terms with the fact that he needs to more firmly ensconse himself in the lives of his family and friends.
Spoilers below with cast listing
Cast of characters:
Jerry Battle: protagonist, distant, mid-life crisis, enjoys flying airplanes, works for a Travel Company
Rita: former nanny, Puerto Rican American, now ex-wife, raised Jerry's kids
Daisy Han: Jerry's first wife, Korean American, once manic-depressive, drowns in family pool
Theresa Battle: Jerry's daughter, college professor, pregnant, suffering from Non-Hodgskin's Lymphoma
Paul Pyun: Theresa's husband and fictitious foil of author, Chang-rae Lee
Jack Battle: Jerry's son, whitewashed, married to Eunice with two kids who watch Britney Spears, mismanaging the "family" business
Spoilers below with cast listing
Cast of characters:
Jerry Battle: protagonist, distant, mid-life crisis, enjoys flying airplanes, works for a Travel Company
Rita: former nanny, Puerto Rican American, now ex-wife, raised Jerry's kids
Daisy Han: Jerry's first wife, Korean American, once manic-depressive, drowns in family pool
Theresa Battle: Jerry's daughter, college professor, pregnant, suffering from Non-Hodgskin's Lymphoma
Paul Pyun: Theresa's husband and fictitious foil of author, Chang-rae Lee
Jack Battle: Jerry's son, whitewashed, married to Eunice with two kids who watch Britney Spears, mismanaging the "family" business
December 28, 2010
Lee is a Korean-American author so I found it very interesting that he wrote a tale about a fairly typical Caucasian American family. Turns out the “hero” of the book, Jerry Battle had been married at one point to a Korean-American woman and had two children with her. So, maybe not so unusual, after all. The story centers around Jerry and his immediate family plus his long-suffering girlfriend, Rita. Jerry’s retired from his family’s business (which his son is now running) and works part time at a travel agency (for something to do) and flies his small plane around the rest of the time. He’s got some issues with his kids, with his father, with his girl; and he doggedly goes throughout the book trying to work everything out. He does a fairly decent job of it, too; but everything’s not always roses. I was fairly well engaged with this book; there’s good character development here. I read that perhaps the author was a “tad” stereotypical in his description of some very “American” things but somehow it all worked for me.
(Note: I wrote this review in 2007).
(Note: I wrote this review in 2007).
July 9, 2015
This was a quick read. I liked the main character. His life was coming apart and his problems were weighing heavily on him. I could empathize with most of them and I liked him as a main character. I liked the other characters as well. I found myself wanting more description of them. Some were a little vague.
My main problem was the format. It was a narrative one and I'm not a fan of that style. This could have ended up as 2 stars, but I think the fact that the MC was well liked helped. It also had a sweet ending.
My main problem was the format. It was a narrative one and I'm not a fan of that style. This could have ended up as 2 stars, but I think the fact that the MC was well liked helped. It also had a sweet ending.
April 16, 2016
Unless you have an interest in flying over central Suffolk LI, somewhat tedious.
May 1, 2010
Lee's third novel was the one which brought him to my attention. It was widely reviewed with mixed reactions and I put it on my TBR list for 2004.
The story is once again set in the suburbs of New York City, but the Korean/American character is in the background this time. It is a family saga about Italians and their landscaping business created by its patriarch, a crusty old guy who lives in assisted living at the time of the novel.
Jerry Battle, the main character, took over the business from his father after the other son was killed in Vietnam. Jerry retired and turned things over to his son who, in an attempt at expansion, has over-extended the company and is running it into the ground. Jerry has issues similar to Lee's previous main characters, revolving around an inability to connect with people and symbolized by his hobby. He owns a small plane and likes to fly over Long Island, feeling the detachment of being above it all.
Jerry's wife was a Korean who eventually went insane back in the days when their family doctor knew little about treating mental illness. Her tragic death, witnessed by their two small children, left deep wounds in them all, but Jerry never confronted any of it. In the novel, it all comes to a head and he has to find a way to deal with several damaged family members.
Right from the beginning, I became engrossed in the story and the characters. Jerry Battle is a complex fellow with a rather twisted sense of humor. He reminded me of friends I had in Michigan who worked with their hands doing small construction and roofing jobs. I had an uncle who worked for Ford Motor Company in Detroit who also falls into this category of men who work physically hard all day and have barely enough energy left for their families despite being, deep down, soft-hearted and fairly faithful husbands.
I wouldn't have expected this author to write such an American story and demonstrate this depth of perception into American suburban life. Perhaps the critics were surprised as I was by this big leap of difference from his two earlier novels. The ability to entertain evidenced in Native Speaker is in fully realized form here. The characters and their actions belie the touchy-feely approach to family that supposedly characterized late 20th century American life, which I found refreshing and thought provoking and probably quite true.
July 8, 2010
This was sitting on my shelf for a long time so I figured I should give it a whirl.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think Lee didn't get the protagonist's voice at all. The honeyed language he uses seems completely wrong for an Italian building contractor. Lee tries to rectify this by using slang like "my chubby" every once in while but he doesn't pull it off (at all). Having heard Lee read a portion of the book in 2002 (that's why I got the book to begin with, funny how taste's change), I feel as if Lee, as a person, is very far from this character and, at some level, was doomed to fail in trying to reproduce the character's dialogue and feelings accurately.
At the same time, it's actually really nice to have this protagonist exist at all. I get the feeling that if this protagonist were a writer, he would most likely write Tom Clancy-style fiction, less emotionally-sensitive prose. So perhaps I should be happy that Lee brought the story out to begin with, despite its flaws.
The story itself cobbles together a number of upper middle class white America clichés but I was surprisingly moved by the ending--what the book is trying to say is, dare I say it, Important. I just wish I found the story a little more believable on my way there.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think Lee didn't get the protagonist's voice at all. The honeyed language he uses seems completely wrong for an Italian building contractor. Lee tries to rectify this by using slang like "my chubby" every once in while but he doesn't pull it off (at all). Having heard Lee read a portion of the book in 2002 (that's why I got the book to begin with, funny how taste's change), I feel as if Lee, as a person, is very far from this character and, at some level, was doomed to fail in trying to reproduce the character's dialogue and feelings accurately.
At the same time, it's actually really nice to have this protagonist exist at all. I get the feeling that if this protagonist were a writer, he would most likely write Tom Clancy-style fiction, less emotionally-sensitive prose. So perhaps I should be happy that Lee brought the story out to begin with, despite its flaws.
The story itself cobbles together a number of upper middle class white America clichés but I was surprisingly moved by the ending--what the book is trying to say is, dare I say it, Important. I just wish I found the story a little more believable on my way there.
May 11, 2017
For a novel like this--a portrait of a Long Island multi-generational family in the midst of many challenges--I want a flawed but sympathetic protagonist who experiences a clear transition between his state at the beginning and at the end. Here the protagonist is 60-year-old Jerry Battle, retired from running the contractor business started by his grandfather (his son is now in that role). He's never completely come to terms with the tragic death of his wife years before, and is struggling with his relationship with his girlfriend and others. Yet I never got a grasp of Jerry, who is the story's narrator. He's a weekend pilot (the title is a rather obvious metaphor for staying 'aloft' amid life's turbulence) and seems like a nice guy. Yet practically everyone harbors some degree of resentment or dislike for him. Why? I never quite got it. Plus there is far, far too much detail. Lee stuffs the book to the bursting point with tons of information on not only the main characters but practically everybody else--what they eat, where they shop, what they watched on TV at 3 p.m. Pages and pages of this, with little discernible benefit to the overall story. Yes, it's good to flesh out your characters, but give me a break.
June 7, 2010
Loved this book. I heard Chang-Rae Lee read from his most recent book Surrendered at Lemuria not long ago. He read only a few minutes and then just TALKED about his writing and took questions. I think he's one of the most accessible, articulate writers I've heard in a long time.
One disclaimer: this book has what may seem to some people a "pesky" voice. The style is unusual--long, convoluted sentences--but it's the way the character thinks, and it fits his persona. I wound up loving it. It's a powerful portrayal of a "post-modern" man who sees his life slipping by, and he knows it (he) isn't worth much. It may be a bit like Updike's Rabbit books, or even Richard Ford's. But Lee is a talented writer with his own distinctive voice. Try him out. I'm going to read A Gesture Life next. Can't wait.
One disclaimer: this book has what may seem to some people a "pesky" voice. The style is unusual--long, convoluted sentences--but it's the way the character thinks, and it fits his persona. I wound up loving it. It's a powerful portrayal of a "post-modern" man who sees his life slipping by, and he knows it (he) isn't worth much. It may be a bit like Updike's Rabbit books, or even Richard Ford's. But Lee is a talented writer with his own distinctive voice. Try him out. I'm going to read A Gesture Life next. Can't wait.
September 13, 2012
I couldn't relate to any of the characters. In the opening paragraphs the main character describes himself as "overcome by ennui" or some such phrase, and by god he means it. Sort of a coming-to-terms-with-mid-life story with no particularly pleasant people around to help the main character through it. As the reader, you're essentially taken through three or four critical weeks of this man's life, and in the end, I just wasn't sure if he really cared that they had been critical weeks and events. Left me feeling empty and sad and absolutely sure that it would be traded in at the first possible moment. Which it was. Thank you, Milwaukee airport used book store.
May 20, 2014
I wish there were half star ratings so I could give it a 3.5-- it deserves more than a 3.
On the whole, this novel felt like listening to a close friend speak frankly, with humor and acceptance, about their life, albeit a friend who was capable of incredible insight and turns of phrases that made you stop in wonder. There is such poignancy revealed in the in-between moments of everyday life, which he manages to reveal with such a light touch; nothing is heavy-handed. There were, perhaps, a couple of slower-moving parts for me, but on the whole, I felt it to be a quietly affecting, enjoyable read. Thanks to my beautiful A for lending it to me.
On the whole, this novel felt like listening to a close friend speak frankly, with humor and acceptance, about their life, albeit a friend who was capable of incredible insight and turns of phrases that made you stop in wonder. There is such poignancy revealed in the in-between moments of everyday life, which he manages to reveal with such a light touch; nothing is heavy-handed. There were, perhaps, a couple of slower-moving parts for me, but on the whole, I felt it to be a quietly affecting, enjoyable read. Thanks to my beautiful A for lending it to me.
July 10, 2014
Very poignant. About how certain types of people cope with pain by distancing themselves or escaping; delves into emotional and moral responsibility and laziness, and how the protagonist and his father cope with life by staying adrift and aloft at the expense of women who love them.
Not a book for everyone. To be fully enjoyed, it needs to be read under the right life circumstances.
Probably hard to take for people who are currently emotionally settled. People who are currently "adrift" in life, however, or experiencing loss/transition, will relate.
Not a book for everyone. To be fully enjoyed, it needs to be read under the right life circumstances.
Probably hard to take for people who are currently emotionally settled. People who are currently "adrift" in life, however, or experiencing loss/transition, will relate.
January 24, 2015
A very fine novel, really 4.5 stars. If you like the novels written by Richard Ford or Richard Russo, you will enjoy this novel. Much to my surprise and delight, Chang-rae Lee is as accomplished a writer as they are but with more humor and candor and, dare I say it, more depth. This is my first Chang-rae Lee book but it won't be my last. The writing is superb, the characters memorable and fully developed, and the slice-of-life story interesting from the first to the last page. A most enjoyable read.
June 16, 2016
Beautifully written book which highlights middle age through the perspective of Jerry Battle, whose series of family crisis eventually brought out the best from his usual passive personality. On the downside I thought there was a lot of flowery descriptions which may be difficult to absorb by the ordinary reader. Overall if the author had focused more on simplifying and expounding ideas rather than using ostentatious words which would complicate the idea itself, I would have appreciated this book more.
August 7, 2010
I read A Gesture Life and it was just okay for me. It was hard to get through. I thought I'd give the author another try. Same thing happened. It's just too hard to get into. I don't care for the long sentences and paragraphs. It's written in first person and it just felt a bit too philosophical and it droned on and branched off. Snore... Not interesting at all. I think I've learned my lesson and will not read another Lee book...
May 30, 2008
snoozer
December 26, 2017
I thought this was a beautiful look at a man's struggle to connect with his family.
May 21, 2020
3.5 stars
This was complex, deep and meaty but the ending was a bit unsatisfying. Sort of like meat and salad but without the potatoes. (Why do I compare books to food so often?)
Lee is a genius writer. He takes this apparently boring person, living a regular life, rambling on about his boring days, and it all stabs me right in the heart with all the feels. How does he do it? I have no idea.
Here we have middle class Jerry Battle of Long Island, just another vaguely sexist Italian American who made his $$$ in construction (Battle Brothers, founded by his father). This is Joey Buttafuoco’s Long Island, there can be no mistake. Jerry starts off talking about his plane, then backtracks a bit and talks about his ex-girlfriend, Rita, and his adult children Jack, who now runs Battle Brothers, and Theresa, a tenure-track professor, who loves her father but is also justifiably disgusted with his vaguely sexist and racist ways, the racism particularly galling since her deceased mother was Korean American. That’s really boring, right? Nothing much happens. Jerry just sort of stream-of-consciousness babbles, and he’s completely tone-deaf and remains stubbornly unaware of his own inner emotional state. But it’s enormous. Gradually, it becomes clear that his life is absolutely not boring. Because - of course - no one’s life is boring. Thats a key fact that is often so hard for us to see when looking at our own lives.
And although Jerry sort of blunders through his life, he is not completely unaware. He has a vibrant inner voice, and he skitters just on the edge of the crux of the issue - whatever issue is at hand (aging, mortality, loneliness, etc), Jerry senses it, and then slowly backs away from it. He doesn’t feel capable of handling it, so he doesn’t. His interpersonal interactions can be a bit lacking. As Theresa points out, Jerry is like tofu, he is mild and takes in the flavor of the broth around him.
Jerry himself can be a pretty offensive guy at times, but the book itself always holds you in its good hands, the skilled hands of the author. So fear not. Jerry may be spouting bigotry at times, but the author is always there. This book never spiraled down into dick-centric offensiveness.
Some readers may think “aw what does Jerry know, he’s an uneducated blue collar concrete salesman,” but I think that’s part of the point here. Maybe sometimes readers like to think they are superior to the less educated? But, you know, we’re not. My dad was an uneducated blue collar construction worker, and yeah he was tone deaf, and prone to saying some insensitive things, but he was a person with the same richness of emotion and thought as any person.
The ending did not satisfy me, however. It was an ending like tomorrow is an ending - the day is over, but what has been resolved? What is next? Did I miss something? I thought perhaps Jerry would finally wake up and open his heart to the people around him. I didn’t see that. I didn’t feel like Jerry changed or learned anything, he just sort of spent some time examining his unexamined life and then went back to blithely not examining it, even after what could have been a life-changing tragedy. Maybe I missed something. He’s at peace, but he still seems to be the tofu.
Don Leslie is positively brilliant reading this. I probably would not have loved this book as much if not for him.
This was complex, deep and meaty but the ending was a bit unsatisfying. Sort of like meat and salad but without the potatoes. (Why do I compare books to food so often?)
Lee is a genius writer. He takes this apparently boring person, living a regular life, rambling on about his boring days, and it all stabs me right in the heart with all the feels. How does he do it? I have no idea.
Here we have middle class Jerry Battle of Long Island, just another vaguely sexist Italian American who made his $$$ in construction (Battle Brothers, founded by his father). This is Joey Buttafuoco’s Long Island, there can be no mistake. Jerry starts off talking about his plane, then backtracks a bit and talks about his ex-girlfriend, Rita, and his adult children Jack, who now runs Battle Brothers, and Theresa, a tenure-track professor, who loves her father but is also justifiably disgusted with his vaguely sexist and racist ways, the racism particularly galling since her deceased mother was Korean American. That’s really boring, right? Nothing much happens. Jerry just sort of stream-of-consciousness babbles, and he’s completely tone-deaf and remains stubbornly unaware of his own inner emotional state. But it’s enormous. Gradually, it becomes clear that his life is absolutely not boring. Because - of course - no one’s life is boring. Thats a key fact that is often so hard for us to see when looking at our own lives.
And although Jerry sort of blunders through his life, he is not completely unaware. He has a vibrant inner voice, and he skitters just on the edge of the crux of the issue - whatever issue is at hand (aging, mortality, loneliness, etc), Jerry senses it, and then slowly backs away from it. He doesn’t feel capable of handling it, so he doesn’t. His interpersonal interactions can be a bit lacking. As Theresa points out, Jerry is like tofu, he is mild and takes in the flavor of the broth around him.
Jerry himself can be a pretty offensive guy at times, but the book itself always holds you in its good hands, the skilled hands of the author. So fear not. Jerry may be spouting bigotry at times, but the author is always there. This book never spiraled down into dick-centric offensiveness.
Some readers may think “aw what does Jerry know, he’s an uneducated blue collar concrete salesman,” but I think that’s part of the point here. Maybe sometimes readers like to think they are superior to the less educated? But, you know, we’re not. My dad was an uneducated blue collar construction worker, and yeah he was tone deaf, and prone to saying some insensitive things, but he was a person with the same richness of emotion and thought as any person.
The ending did not satisfy me, however. It was an ending like tomorrow is an ending - the day is over, but what has been resolved? What is next? Did I miss something? I thought perhaps Jerry would finally wake up and open his heart to the people around him. I didn’t see that. I didn’t feel like Jerry changed or learned anything, he just sort of spent some time examining his unexamined life and then went back to blithely not examining it, even after what could have been a life-changing tragedy. Maybe I missed something. He’s at peace, but he still seems to be the tofu.
Don Leslie is positively brilliant reading this. I probably would not have loved this book as much if not for him.
June 4, 2025
What an unexpectedly addictive and heartbreaking novel!
I kept this book at work and read it during my breaks, and I often found myself wishing I had it at home to read before bed and looking forward to snatching a few pages during lunch. Lee's prose is natural and flowing and beautiful and will randomly pack a gut-punch, and I'm absolutely hooked.
The main character, Jerry Battle, is as middle-aged-upper-middle-class-white-guy as they come, but the web of characters and situations around him and his insight into them creates a compelling narrative. His main role in the novel, and in his life, is to observe, letting major events unfold around him without much action on his part. Despite his inactivity, his narration is deeply moving and insightful.
Lee's meandering prose and movement back and forth through time are a huge strength within the story. It's as though we're actually in Jerry's mind, following his thoughts and flowing through past and present naturally and seamlessly. In doing this, Lee brings us completely into Jerry's perspective and creates an impressive amount of pathos for a character that would otherwise be quite boring to read about.
I found this to be an easy and relaxing read that didn't require much heavy lifting on my end (kind of like Jerry's entire existence-- another way of completely bringing you into his mind, Lee you sly dog). However it did leave a bit of room for reflection on my own life, relationships with my family, and the agency I take (or don't take). Again, almost becoming Jerry himself.
I kept this book at work and read it during my breaks, and I often found myself wishing I had it at home to read before bed and looking forward to snatching a few pages during lunch. Lee's prose is natural and flowing and beautiful and will randomly pack a gut-punch, and I'm absolutely hooked.
The main character, Jerry Battle, is as middle-aged-upper-middle-class-white-guy as they come, but the web of characters and situations around him and his insight into them creates a compelling narrative. His main role in the novel, and in his life, is to observe, letting major events unfold around him without much action on his part. Despite his inactivity, his narration is deeply moving and insightful.
Lee's meandering prose and movement back and forth through time are a huge strength within the story. It's as though we're actually in Jerry's mind, following his thoughts and flowing through past and present naturally and seamlessly. In doing this, Lee brings us completely into Jerry's perspective and creates an impressive amount of pathos for a character that would otherwise be quite boring to read about.
I found this to be an easy and relaxing read that didn't require much heavy lifting on my end (kind of like Jerry's entire existence-- another way of completely bringing you into his mind, Lee you sly dog). However it did leave a bit of room for reflection on my own life, relationships with my family, and the agency I take (or don't take). Again, almost becoming Jerry himself.
August 11, 2021
Pidin kirjailijan kerrontatavasta tosi paljon, ihana uusi kirjailijatuttavuus. Päähenkilö oli kanssani juuri samanikäinen, lieneekö sekin vaikuttanut siihen, että tapa tarkastella elämää tuntui kovin tarkkanäköiseltä? Olen vihainen siitä, että kirjan kansikuva on näin lattea ja väritön, suorastaan harhaanjohtava. Kannen vuoksi lykkäsin kirjaan tarttumista vuosia, eikä kannen perusteella voisi ikinä arvata, että kirjan kieli on värikästä, elämää pursuavaa ja hauskaakin. Täytyypä googlailla, onko tältä korealaissyntyiseltä kirjailijalta suomennettu yhtään muuta teosta.
February 23, 2023
This was a really good book. The style was a little too poetic at times but I really liked the main character, who had a lot of flaws and good side to him, and that it was about someone reaching the later stages of life rather than a coming of age story, which seems to be 90% of fiction.
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