Noah's Compass

by Anne Tyler

Liam Pennywell, who set out to be a philosopher and ended up teaching fifth grade, never much liked the job at that run-down private school, so early retirement doesn’t bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his new and spare condominium on the outskirts of Baltimore. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged. His effort to recover the moments of his life that have been stolen from him leads him on an unexpected detour. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is . . . well, something quite different.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Family, Book Club, Adult

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She graduated at nineteen from Duke University and went on to do graduate work in Russian studies at Columbia University. She has published 20 novels, her debut novel being If Morning Ever Comes in (1964). Her eleventh novel, Breathing Lessons , was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Reviews

[Mark Porton · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You’re going to sit all day and think? Said Louise, one of Liam’s daughters, when he announced his retirement. Personally, I couldn’t think of anything better.

This author has created wonderful, superficially simple, but entirely complicated characters in this story. Liam was someone who got completely under my skin, there is so much I identified with him, it was almost embarrassing, as he didn’t necessarily cover himself in glory. How does Anne Tyler know how to create such a real, believable male character?

Noah’s Compass by Anne Tyler is by far my favourite Tyler story and in my top 10 of all-time favourites. I devoured it and loved it. Happy, sad, teary, fearful, excited, sorry, nervous – you name it, I felt it.

Liam is a 60-year-old man from Baltimore who has been forced into retirement, he has also decided to scale down to a more comfortable small apartment in a rougher area of town, opposite a shopping mall. He doesn’t need much, his philosophy books, a comfy chair and his thoughts. Liam has 3 daughters, each of which he has a different relationship with – as expected. The overly religious daughter is hilarious by the way - but she doesn't mean to be. He has had two marriages, the first ended due to his wife dying, the second was a marriage that didn’t last (these aren't spoilers BTW). There are some surprises here (including one MASSIVE shock) so I wont spoil that. But this appears to be a very simple story on the surface, however it is complex, there’s a shed load of stuff going on.

It all really starts with Liam being assaulted in his apartment while he is asleep. He can’t remember anything about the incident, and this bothers him. His journey to try and recover the details of the event, lead him into a number of, humorous and touching encounters. There’s also an unexpected love story.

The place to the right of the building sold plumbing supplies; the place to the left was a mission for indigent men (Liam wondered – if indigent men would know the meaning of the word ‘indigent’)

It was this type of gentle, clever and unexpected humour that often made me ‘splutter-laugh’. An exchange with his recently pregnant daughter went something like this:

“I’m pregnant again”
“Congratulations”
“Aren’t you happy for us?”
“Yes, I’m happy”
“You don’t act it”
Liam sat up and gripped his knees and said “I’m extremely happy!!!”

Liam felt dealing with other human beings was tiresome. Something, no doubt, we can all identify with at times. He also had this nagging melancholy, no sense of direction, like he was just blowing in the wind. Maybe this is the reason for the title – because Noah was really going anywhere, he just had to float.

Liam spent a great deal of his life responding to “You always….” and “You never….” and “Why can’t you ever….” Always defending himself regarding each charge from whoever slung it at him, or sometimes just acquiescing into quiet submission. Liam thought he spent his entire life, not present, not remembering anything really. Perhaps his amnesia has been a life-long habit?

Oh my, Tyler created a character here that really made me reflect on my own life, I’ve spent most of the past few days not present at all – which is kind of the problem. Those closest to me have often shown frustration at my inability to recall events, some of them important, Liam would know how that feels. It’s a serious issue and something I can say I am very sorry for. This book really shook me up, for a writer to do this is no small thing. In fact, I’ve found the whole thing a bumpy emotional journey.

A fantastic, stellar piece of work.

5 Stars

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The trouble with discarding bad memories was that evidently the good ones went with them.”

Often while reading “Noah’s Compass” something I read would send me spinning off through my own memories and experiences because Anne Tyler writes in such a simplistic and truthful manner that captures the nuance of everyday life. At times while reading Ms. Tyler it is like reading a story about yourself.
Anne Tyler gets under my skin in all the good ways. Some examples:

This text has a few moments where the characters, and the reader, are experiencing uncomplicated joy. A small yet happy moment of life that is followed immediately (with no foreshadowing) by a gut punch. Not a big dramatic gut punch, a real life simple announcement that changes everything.

I found myself wrapped up in the emotions of the protagonist, Liam Pennywell, a man who comes across the page as all too (uncomfortably) real. In chapter 9 of this novel there is so much reality there that you hold your breath because you recognize and know the feel of the emotions depicted.

There is a moment in the text where my thoughts about a character should not be ambiguous, yet they are because Tyler once again binds me up in that oh so human conflict of more than one side to every issue. A father is talking to the child he messed up when he left his wife eons ago. He says, “I just couldn’t bear to go to my grave knowing I’d wasted my life. I just wanted my share of happiness. Can’t you understand how I felt?” Yes, yes I can, because this man is flawed, but not a villain.

Tyler also creates a palpable sense of loneliness throughout the novel, without using the word lonely to convey it.

This character study will give you a lot to think about, and you will reflect on your own life while reading. It is unavoidable.
I love that this novel ends in a realistic manner. It is not what the reader hopes for, but it rings of truth. The last 4 pages of “Noah’s Compass” reek of contentment. In a world where no one seems satisfied, it feels like more than enough.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading Anne Tyler in 1988. And though I've always loved her, there were times when I thought some of her characters were a bit too quirky. As I've gotten older, I've thought that less and less -- whether because I've met 'quirkier' people through the years, or because I'm now quirkier myself, I don't know. In any case, the characters in this novel are absolutely real. It is amazing how real they are. I don't know when I've seen a more real depiction of a 'normal' 17-year-old girl, for example.

And though I admit the multitude of exclamation marks in the main character's thoughts and in all the characters' dialogue bothered me at first, I must've gotten used to it near the end. The dialogue is also 'real' -- and funny -- quite a few times it prompted a chuckle of recognition in the back of my throat.

The ending, though, is what made the book for me. A scene in the penultimate chapter brought tears to my eyes, and the last chapter (including the last sentence) was perfect.

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anybody can write an interesting story about interesting people. But how about a good story about uninteresting people? That's a more difficult challenge. This novel meets that challenge.

This is a novel that features a normal person with ordinary abilities and no particular passion for life. Unmotivated readers (aging with nothing in particular to look forward to in life) will be able to identify with this story. It starts out a bit slow, but for the reader who makes it through to the end of the book will find it worthwhile reading. Even ambitious and passionate readers can enjoy the book too.

The main character is 60 years old, has lost his job as a teacher and does not feel like looking for another job. As a matter of fact he sees no reason to continue living. Then some things happen, he sees a glimpse of hope, his spirits are lifted, then it all falls apart, but then he makes it through with a new lease on (and appreciation of) life. He also has a degree in philosophy so he has the consolation of philosophy.

A quotation from this book:

“Epictetus says that everything has two handles, one by which it can be borne and one which it cannot. If your brother sins against you, he says, don't take hold of it by the wrong he did you but by the fact that he's your brother. That's how it can be borne.”

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/37218...

There are no characters in the novel named Noah. So why the title? There is a four year old grandson in the story named Jonah. Well, that's close but still doesn't explain the title for the book. At one point in the book the main character reads the story of Noah and the flood to his grandson Jonah (from a Bible story coloring book for children). He explains to his grandson that, "There was nowhere to go. He was just trying to stay afloat. ... So he didn't need a compass, or a rudder, or a sextant...Noah didn't need to figure out directions, because the whole world was underwater and so it made no difference." It's pretty clear to the reader that he's describing his own personal predicament.

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just read Noah’s Compass, I am left with a smile on my face and an ache in my heart. Anne Tyler has just written so many beautiful books that speak to our humanity, without a doubt, a treasure she is. But the magic in Anne Tyler’s writing is her ability to get down to the heart of our humanity in her snappy dialogue and simple prose that yet hold the essence of our existence.

This is one of Anne Tyler’s rich books as our hapless hero, Liam Penneywell has spent much of his life avoiding issues until his early sixties when he is abruptly laid off from his job of teaching elementary school students. And then he is attacked in his apartment with a loss of memory of the incident, as it begins to upend his life. It is this life-changing event that forces him to reflect on his life, once-widowed and once-divorced. He is the father of three daughters that are a delicious part of the narrative, particularly Kitty who moves in with him for the summer. And then there is the love affair with Eunice, a Bohemian at heart. But as in all of the Anne Tyler novels, we learn that to understand is to forgive as we are formed by our past. This was a subtle but powerful book by Anne Tyler. I loved it.

[Barb H · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I read this book, I was often reminded of the television show, Seinfeld , which was purportedly about nothing, but beneath the surface there was usually more. I have read and enjoyed many of Anne Tyler's novels. They all seem to share the trend of family disharmony and often are similar in style, if not content.

Noah's Compass is a low-key, meandering story. While sleeping, Liam Pennywell sustained a head injury as a result of an attack by an assailant who broke into his room. This concussion caused him to have amnesia surrounding the event. He felt great anxiety about this lapse. In fact, it appears that this entire novel is devoted to forgetfulness and remembering. He is a 60 year old philosopher, who seems to have lived his life in a state of oblivion. It is surprising that he had never utilized his chosen profession, nor did his character, who for the most part, seem to apply his knowledge in his actions. His relationship with others lacked many social graces- he is "clueless". In fact, he is devoid of deep friendships and firm family ties. As the story progressed he viewed his life.

"All along, it seemed, he had experienced only the most glancing relationship with his own life. He had dodged the tough issues, avoided the conflicts, gracefully skirted adventure." (p.241)

"I haven't exactly covered myself in glory. I just...don't seem to have the hang of things, somehow. It's as if I've never been entirely present in my own life. (p.263)

Tyler's style is pleasant, clear and illustrative, but lacks elements of tension. She does lend touches of whimsy and humor in many unexpected areas. Her characters, while clearly etched, are predominantly self-centered, rather unlikable and unattractive. Despite Liam's deficits, one can easily feel compassion for his state. His life is not completely devoid of human contact. An unexpected delight is his teen-age daughter, Kitty. While she is typical of most adolescents, she is the hopeful endearing figure in this story.

Although I have shown some lack of enthusiasm for this novel, I can state that it was an enjoyable, pleasant interlude for me.
3.5

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Melinda) The most compelling concept to me was actually the title. The story of the biblical Noah refers to a man chosen by God to survive the coming flood because "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Consequently, Noah survived and actually was led on to high and dry ground... And all of this without "steering" the ark! No compass, no map. Liam's grandson actually brings up the idea. Somehow,this theme is threaded into the fabric of this story making me wonder if Liam knew that if he just would ride the waves of his life that somehow he would end up on his own dry ground. He certainly didn't exhibit faith as we know it and instead chose to sort of lose his emotional peripheral vision (just as his father did). Anne Tyler cleverly leaves the thinking up to the reader and chooses only to present the experiences of her characters so that we have the delight of uncovering the treasure. Perhaps that treasure is different for each one of us. Some have called this narrative boring or slow..however, I think most of us have inner lives that plod along with occasional bursts of random experiences. As I read this book, I felt as if I was peeking through Liam's window, watching every move and understanding his passivity. Observing others always helps us to observe ourselves in a new and different way.

[Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

My feelings about this one fall pretty much in line with how I felt about her novel The Beginner's Goodbye. It was alright, enjoyable enough, but not super special. Interestingly, both of these books follow only 1 protagonist, both older men. I think I find her writing most affecting when she writes from multiple perspectives, and usually when it's from the POV of young people or women. But as always Anne Tyler's writing is observant and witty, and reading her books is just super comforting—this one being no exception.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Liam’s story, a 61 year old man who seems to have spent his life avoiding conflict or challenge.

And... Liam has no expectations of life and almost seems to have given up until an unexpected event occurring the night he moves in to a new apartment presses him into a sort of action.

Anne Tyler has the extraordinary ability to subtlety observe the quiet moments of seemingly ordinary lives and then describe in understated and beautifully composed prose how they deal with an unforeseen disruption or challenge.

But...It is up to us as the reader to decide how we want to navigate the story.

[Dave Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I am almost 60 and had a recent "forced retirement" I thought this would be interesting. Anne Tyler is smooth reading and the characters grow naturally to life in your mind. There is a fairly small cast of characters which is something I appreciate in a novel. I listened to this on audio but I think I would have preferred to read it at my own faster pace. It reminded me of a book I read a long time ago but I can't remember the details - it was also about an older retired professor who had stopped expecting anything out of life (for example, he had stopped voting) but I seem to recall that it was more satisfactory in it's resolution and character (I think it was Jon Hassler's "Simon's Night").
My thoughts about this one:
- Unexpected things will happen to you whether you plan anything or not.
- The next thing that comes along may not be what you really need (or the next woman!) but you can learn from it all.
- Some people will assume you are getting senile no matter what you choose to do.
- It's officially too late to ask dad what to do(ha!),
Sometimes you have to re-evaluate your past before you can go forward and that means finding forgiveness for yourself and from others.
- The compass that counts is your own moral compass.

[Katya]

Apesar de ter outros livros (bem mais antigos) de Anne Tyler nas prateleiras, algo me chamou para este mais recente cuja leitura revelou tratar-se de uma obra de maturidade no verdadeiro sentido da expressão - com uma narrativa enganadoramente simples, personagens complexas e peculiares, mas palpáveis e perfeitamente realistas, e um enredo banal trabalhado para resultar num retrato psicológico do espécime comum.
Para o fazer, a autora recorre a um protagonista de meia idade, com uma vida trivial e sem nenhum particular incentivo para existir: dois casamentos, três filhas (entre elas um bebé para salvar a relação), um neto e uma ex-mulher.

Despedido no dia em que faz 61 anos, Liam Pennywell pondera uma reforma calma, num apartamento modesto para o qual se muda em virtude do corte de despesas que terá de fazer agora que já não é um membro ativo da comunidade. E tudo ia bem, não fora Liam acordar no dia seguinte no hospital.
A amnésia que se segue dita o fio condutor da narrativa:

-Sou a doutora Rodriguez - disse-lhe ela. Vou-lhe mudar os pensos, antes de o mandar para casa.
(...)
-Como é que eu hei de ir para casa sozinho?
-Não vai. Não tem autorização para isso. Alguém tem de o levar de carro. E alguém terá de cuidar de si durante as próximas quarenta e oito horas.
(...) Liam duvidava que ela tivesse mais de trinta anos. A sua pele morena e brilhante não exibia a mais pequena ruga e o seu cabelo era preto-azeviche. Talvez fosse preciso ser mais velho para perceber que nem sempre era fácil encontrar alguém que ficasse por perto durante quarenta e oito horas seguidas.

Entre as várias sugestões sobre velhice, solidão ou dependência que preenchem as primeiras impressões de Liam deitado numa cama de hospital, daí em diante é imperativo descobrir o que lhe aconteceu:

Apetecia-lhe dizer que aquele não era o seu verdadeiro eu. Não era a pessoa que ele era realmente. O seu verdadeiro eu tinha-se escapado dele, tivera uma experiência crucial sem ele e não conseguira regressar.

A fratura entre quem foi e quem é agora sem uma parte essencial de si - a memória de um evento que o deixa fisicamente marcado - é um catalisador poderoso capaz de fazer um homem, cuja vida parecia caminhar para determinado sítio, ser colocada em causa:

Sentou-se na sua cadeira de baloiço e ali ficou, de cabeça vazia e mãos sobre as coxas. Há muito tempo, quando era jovem, costumava imaginar a velhice assim: um homem numa cadeira de baloiço, ocioso. Tinha lido algures que os velhos podiam sentar-se nas suas cadeiras e ver as suas memórias a desfilarem como se fossem filmes, infinitamente interessantes; mas, até agora, isso não lhe tinha acontecido. Estava a começar a pensar que nunca aconteceria.

De repente, abate-se sobre Liam uma espécie de crise existencial que traz à tona questões às quais sempre procurou fugir: a sua infância, os seus casamentos, a sua (falta de) ambição, o seu papel enquanto pai e o peso deste na relação com as filhas. O que o leva a uma questão maior entre aquilo que se escolhe lembrar e aquilo que se escolhe esquecer:

Se a memória da agressão lhe fosse devolvida hoje, perguntaria apenas: É só isso?
Onde está o resto? Onde estão todas as outras coisas de que me esqueci: a minha infância e a minha juventude, o meu primeiro casamento e o meu segundo casamento e o crescimento das minhas filhas?
Ora, ele sempre tivera amnésia.

Anne Tyler é uma observadora perspicaz dos pequenos e anónimos momentos de cisão na vida do comum mortal, assim não é de estranhar que eleja um homem à deriva na sua própria vida como protagonista do seu romance. Como Noé (o título do livro é uma brincadeira bem pensada), Liam não tem bússola, mas também não precisa dela: o objetivo não é ir a lado nenhum, mas aguentar a tempestade:

Não havia nenhum lado para onde ir. Ele estava apenas a tentar manter-se a flutuar. Estava apenas a andar para cima e para baixo, por isso não precisava de bússola, nem de leme, nem de sextante...(...)Noé não precisava de calcular direções, porque o mundo estava todo debaixo de água, por isso não fazia diferença.

Embora com um ambiente de natureza singela e por vezes Saturnina, A bússola de Noé é um livro engenhoso e estóico, uma poderosa reflexão sobre o tempo e a idade, as relações humanas e a aceitação pessoal.

[Sandysbookaday (on indefinite hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

EXCERPT: In the sixty-first year of his life, Liam Pennywell lost his job.

It wasn't such a good job, anyhow. He'd been teaching fifth-grade in a second-rate private boys' school. Fifth-grade wasn't even what he'd been trained for. Teaching wasn't what he'd been trained for. His degree was in philosophy. Oh, don't ask! Things seemed to have taken a downward turn a long, long time ago, and perhaps it was just as well that he'd seen the last of St Dyfrig's dusty, scuffed corridors and those interminable after school meetings and the reams of niggling paperwork.

In fact, this might be a sign. It could be just the nudge he needed to push him on to the next stage - the final stage, the summing-up stage. The stage where he sat in his rocking-chair and reflected on what it all meant, in the end.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: From the incomparable Anne Tyler, a wise, gently humorous, and deeply compassionate novel about a schoolteacher, who has been forced to retire at sixty-one, coming to terms with the final phase of his life.

Liam Pennywell, who set out to be a philosopher and ended up teaching fifth grade, never much liked the job at that run-down private school, so early retirement doesn't bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his new, spare, and efficient condominium on the outskirts of Baltimore. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged.

His effort to recover the moments of his life that have been stolen from him leads him on an unexpected detour. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is well, something quite different.

We all know a Liam. In fact, there may be a little of Liam in each of us. Which is why Anne Tyler's lovely novel resonates so deeply.

MY THOUGHTS: This was my first Anne Tyler. I went into it with great expectations, and came out of it depressed. Somewhere in the second half of this book, there is a passage about misery that summed up my feelings about Noah's Compass very well. Unfortunately, I forgot to mark it. It is a miserable book. I must have missed the gentle humor. . .

The man is only sixty-one, for goodness sake! He is morose, has basically cut all ties with his family, he has poor self-esteem and nothing to look forward to. Whose fault is that? His own. He is capable of making a life for himself. He chooses not to. I wanted to tell him to get a grip, to grab life with both hands. . .

Not a recommendation from me. 😩😩.5

THE AUTHOR: Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1941 and grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She graduated at nineteen from Duke University and went on to do graduate work in Russian studies at Columbia University. She has published 20 novels, her debut novel being If Morning Ever Comes in (1964). Her eleventh novel, Breathing Lessons , was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

DISCLOSURE: I listened to the audiobook of Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler, narrated by Arthur Morey and published by Random House Audio via OverDrive. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was awesome. Funny and also real. I put this one in the top tier group of Tyler. I very much disagree that it is not her best works category.

This reaction / review could go VERY long. Combined families, divorce/ death aftermaths, all the juxtapositions! Well it's common. Serial monogamy being the long term result since about the last quarter of the prior century. In my USA, it has. Many are on their 3rd generation of Moms and Grandpas in more numbers than 2 or 3, at that. And have their Barbara's at most of their holidays too. But I will go short. There is just so much funny and good about this book and REAL that I won't elaborate. Read it.

Only Anne Tyler and very few others can get the fall outs as precise. Because like The Jerry Seinfeld Show that is all about nothing? Combined extended large family is OFTEN tragic, funny, and very human in the same way. And also all about nothing at the same time as it is all about everything underneath and entwined for memory, as well.

Liam is the milquetoast man again, that you see in so many of her novels. One who rarely expresses or exposes. A status quo "least is the best it can be" kind of guy. There are huge numbers of unexpressive men out there. Every culture has them too. Thanks, I never had one myself.

This is not only plausible but usual/ actual, IMHO. It gets even more complex in ages much more advanced than these people here. Let me tell you the story of just last weekend. A Northwestern Graduation extravaganza where somehow I was left to carry a 33 lbs toddler up about 200 stairs all by myself when theirs (parent, uncle etc.) was on a round of bathroom breaks.

The ending collaborations in this book? Better than great. Exactly where I though Eunice belonged.

Tyler's religion dissing is comparable to Donna Leon's. And as insightful too. Me thinks they do protest too much. But also totally agree that the older you get, the more apt to love Tyler's quirky, often weird, eccentrics. And the more you understand them as being instead "naturals". They are almost never smart either. Again, like most folks.

Here's for having much more than the least!

[Connie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liam Pennywell, a fifth grade teacher, is out of a job when his school downsizes. He's uncertain about what he wants to do in the next stage of his life. To conserve his savings, the sixty-one year old man moves to a smaller apartment. He goes to sleep in his new bedroom, and wakes up in a hospital after being knocked unconscious by an intruder. He can't remember anything about the incident.

While Liam is trying to recover the memory of the intruder breaking into his apartment, he's making connections and renewing relationships. The book has an understated plot with some sweet and humorous moments. There are no fireworks, but contentment seems to be what Liam needs at this point in his life.

[Lolly K Dandeneau · Rating 2 out of 5]

Normally I enjoy Tyler's novels, but with Noah's Compass I failed to see the point. I suppose if you look at it in a simple manner, just your average person living a mediocre life then it makes sense. There were certainly quirky moments, and Eunice started out as an interesting character but I kept expecting to be taken somewhere fun only to be returned home, and early. Kitty fed the novel a little but his other daughters didn't really give much to the storyline. The elder daughters were flat and undeveloped. The ending was a disappointment; I just sort of finished it with a 'that's it?' When Eunice left so easily after taking a leap coming to him, I felt cheated because any woman who has invested her emotions and walked away from 'security' to be with the man she loved would feel more passion and not just leave that easily, at least without explannation or giving away a piece of her mind. That alone made the characters unbelievable. I realize Liam Pennywell is a ho hum, go with the flow kind of man, one who never faces issues, doesn't take part in confrontation and let's just call him very blah, but in real life even people such as he would come up against those very things whether they'd like to or not. In this story there aren't any true obstacles. As we all know, no matter what kind of person you are, there will always be something and someone challenging you, even if you're calm and blah- someone is going to 'call you out' so to speak and with Liam it just didn't happen, not even when abruptly saying 'It won't work' Eunice just goes without a causing a stir. NOT at all realistic!

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly nice Tyler, but more on the whimsical side of her novels and with a main character I didn't really care for all that much. I don't know why she's so fascinated by rather boring middle-aged men struggling with normalcy, who are "just trying to stay afloat" and are constantly baffled by how the world works and especially baffled by anything 'modern'. I thought the love story here was interesting but the narrative fizzled out near the end. But still a quick and entertaining, and dare I say, comforting novel.

The Tin Can Tree (1965) - 4/5
A Slipping-Down Life (1970) 3/5
The Clock Winder (1972) - 2/5
Celestial Navigation (1974) - 4/5
Earthly Possessions (1977) - 4/5
Morgan's Passing (1980) - 4/5
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982) 4/5
The Accidental Tourist (1985) - 3/5
Breathing Lessons (1988) - 4/5
Saint Maybe (1991) - 4/5
Ladder of Years (1995) - 4/5
A Patchwork Planet (1998) - 4/5
Back When We Were Grownups (2001) - 3/5
The Amateur Marriage (2004) - 3/5
Digging to America (2006) - 4/5
Noah's Compass (2009) 3/5
The Beginner’s Goodbye (2012) - 3/5
A Spool of Blue Thread (2015) - 5/5
Vinegar Girl (2016) - 2/5
Clock Dance (2018) 3/5
Redhead by the Side of the Road (2020) - 3/5

[christa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anne Tyler's 18th novel "Noah's Compass" is more twee than Zooey Dechanel wrapped in the orange and brown tones of a home-knit afghan.

It starts in a good place: 60-year-old Liam Pennywise, once widowed, once divorced, a philosopher-turned-elementary-school teacher has been laid off from his job at a mediocre school. He begins downsizing an already modest life by moving into an apartment complex off the highway near the mall. He goes to bed his first night in his new home, and wakes up the next day in the hospital with his head bandaged and a bite mark on his hand. He is told that an intruder walked in an unlocked door in the night, there was a struggle, the neighbors heard the ruckus and called the five-oh. Liam can't recall a lick of what happened. While none of his belongings were taken, he feels like a chunk of his life has been stolen from him.

A flock of clucky women orbit Liam's world at the farthest reaches of his solar system: his high-school aged daughter Kitty, his sister Julia who can't be bothered to remember that Liam doesn't eat red meat, his bible-banger daughter Louise, his white-flabby thighed ex-wife Barbara, and eventually, the frumpy and socially awkward Eunice. Aside from Kitty, who is sparring with her mother and wants to live with Liam instead, these women are all disapproving of Liam's hapless wardrobe and the way his existence is becoming more and more muted. They have grudge bags teeming with his failings, while he maintains a sort of shrugging inability to understand any of them.

Liam is introduced to Eunice in the waiting room of a neurosurgeon's office. She is working as a "rememberer" for a local billionaire, whispering into the old man's ear the details that he is embarrassed to be unable to recall -- like that the receptionist's name is "Verity." Although Liam knows a rememberer won't be able to tell him what happened the night of the attack in his apartment, he gets hopped up on the idea that he could have an assistant like that, keeping track of his existence and reminding him of the details. He stalks Eunice, and eventually officially meets the 38-year-old disheveled woman with questionable choice in accessories. They develop first and briefly a friendship, which eventually turns into a very chaste love affair.

Meh. I'm not buying it. It's a pretty flimsy thread and some naive brainwork that brings these two together in his living room. What passes for intimacy is Liam sitting on the arm of her chair. The simple See-Dick-Run language, and the Skip-Jane-Skip sentimentality is just too precious to be taken seriously. When their relationship reveals a particularly brutal bit of rot, neither character's actions seem realistic. It's all just words on a page with no feeling. Like an servers at the Olive Garden singing Happy Birthday to a stranger.

There are parts where cutesy works a little bit. Liam's daughter Kitty and her alleged druggie boyfriend add good color to an otherwise beige story. Liam's grandson's fresh perspective on bible stories is cute-ish, a nice break from the blunt force of being smothered in an avalanche of stuffed animals.

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is easy to write about larger than life, exciting characters. Not so easy to write about the everyday and ordinary. There is probably not a writer around who can handle small moments and the lives of ordinary people as well as Anne Tyler. Retrenched from his job as a teacher, 60 year old Liam decides he needs a new start and moves into a new and smaller apartment. After going to sleep the first night in his bed in the new place, he wakes up in hospital. He cannot remember what happened. That troubles him. He tries to piece together the events after information gleaned from his ex wife Barbara and his three daughters. But some of what they say seems to raise more questions and doubts. They are not agreed about who is responsible for putting Liam in hospital. In the process of trying to move forward Liam reviews his life and comes to some interesting conclusions. If you are looking for a book with a fast paced plot this is not for you. But if you are looking for a book that reveals a lot about characters then you should enjoy it as I did. I have to admit to being an Anne Tyler fan.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobody writes quite like Anne Tyler. I love that she lives in Baltimore and mentions neighborhoods, street names, even neighboring counties, etc., that are familiar. To a great extent, it’s like going back in time, reading her books. (The action takes place mostly in an apartment near a shopping mall and the beltway, which reminds me of my first place, etc.)

Liam is 60 and has just been let go from his teaching job. He moves to a smaller apartment, something happens that I don’t want to spoil, and then he finds that his memory about that event has gone missing. Recovering it becomes a major focus for him, and is the catalyst for the events to come. Themes include family and extended family, love, marriage, divorce and friendship, reconnecting, aging, etc.

Tyler makes the ordinary extraordinary. Her writing is quite smooth and easy to fall into. Her books aren’t thrillers, but they tend to be page-turners. I actually borrowed this audiobook to help me fall asleep, but it always kept me awake. Quite a few of her novels are available both on Hoopla and Libby. I may read a few more of hers this year.

[Gila Gila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine you are an aspiring young author (which in my case would take quite the elastic stretch of imagination) and as you attempt your first novel, fretting over whether anyone would ever want to read this story or would more likely use the pages for kindling - there’s a whoosh! And the Fairy of Future Fiction appears by your side and says: Don’t worry. You are going to publish at least two dozen novels, many of them hugely successful, some turned into major motion pictures; you’re going to win, amongst other literary awards, a Pulitzer. The only thing - and listen to me Annie, because this is non-negotiable- is that just about all of your books will be from the point of view of an emotionally, romantically and professionally dissatisfied main character living in suburban Baltimore with a lot of family around. Other than that, it’s Liberty Hall. Ha! You cry, like THAT is going to happen! A lifetime of writing fiction about small, quiet lives of people stuck in small, quiet Baltimore neighborhoods? I think not, thank you, and my name’s not Annie or Anne or anything like that, so away with you, out!

Until, of course, that book sprite finally makes it through the right window, and lands on Anne Tyler’s desk. The force of nature which created her gifts, her singular ability to capture the beauty and sorrow of everyday life, is formidable. Tyler’s Baltimore becomes so many other easily recognizable American towns. Her characters ring as true as common memories - someone’s parent, child, an ex, the woman at the library, that guy at the hardware store.

Noah’s Compass didn’t hold me particularly at the outset. We begin with a robbery - but it seems just part of the downward spiral that the novel’s anti-hero is experiencing. Liam is a divorced 60 year old man who has unexpectedly lost his teaching job, and severely downsized his solo living space. Loneliness is a recognizable Tyler trademark, but in the opening chapters here, that sense of being horribly cut off from the outside world is particularly acute. When Liam quickly becomes a crime victim, his family (all women, this being Tyler Country) bustle around him but he remains separate and apart.

I don’t remember the precise moment I fell into this novel, became immersed in it, only that it happened pretty much as I imagine an out of town visit with a lesser known family member might go. At first it’s awkward, perhaps not exceptionally interesting, and then something shifts: instead of counting hours until you can leave, you’re hoping for more time there.

Liam becomes obsessed with learning who broke into his new home and assaulted him. Nobody, he feels, is even listening to him. He wonders why his family isn’t by his side and then wishes them away when they are. He is as exasperating as he is (mostly silently) exasperated himself. Nothing is really as he thinks it should be. He looks down on young mothers who carry their babies in front packs feeling that they’re showing off. (This brief side note also tells us plenty about just how involved he was in the daily parenting of his 3 daughters when they were little).

What I missed initially was that Liam keeps himself company with an all but unspoken dry sense of humour. A friend complains of her husband -
“Last spring he kept a day to day tally of all the dangling modifiers in the Baltimore Sun, and at the end of the month, he sent the list to the editor. But it was never published.”
“Such a surprise,” Liam murmured.”
There are a couple of scenes that had me laughing out loud (Liam’s Bible Taught 4 year old grandson is as hilarious as he is worryingly believable).

A dramatic shift arrives mid novel that jolts; perhaps, with a more attentive reader, it wouldn’t have. Or perhaps with a reader less versed in Tyler’s novels, where there are generally fewer ground shifting surprises half way through than there are realizations, or a new yet somehow anticipated character showing up on a doorstep.

Noah’s Compass steers us to territory both familiar and less so, off center, if not immediately shattering. As I read, I thought of how frequently Anne Tyler provides the gift of caring for characters - just liking these people whom the world might otherwise have found irksome, or more likely, ignored. A timid, twice divorced, quietly irritable older man as central character? I would have declined. And then I would have missed out. I would have missed out on where Liam was, and was not going. That unforgettable closing line.

[Ron Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobody will raise a Botoxed eyebrow at the claim that men age badly. It's not just our bodies; it's the whining, the self-absorbed fear, the carcinogenic rage. Even the best writers follow the hoary advice to write what they know, and if they live long enough, what they know is old age. Shakespeare closed his last play with Prospero saying, "Every third thought shall be my grave."

Our modern masters have been just as grim. Rabbit Angstrom aged through the second half of the 20th century until John Updike finally gave the old basketball star heart disease and laid him to rest. Updike's final collection of stories, published six months after he died last year, describes people moving about "with the aid of pacemakers and plastic knees, retired and taking up space." Philip Roth has degenerated from the sexual exuberance of "Portnoy's Complaint" to prostate surgery and incontinence in "Exit Ghost." Don DeLillo and Paul Auster have shuffled into this conversation with Old Man novels of their own. It's only a matter of time until Jay McInerney gives us "Bright Lights, Big Hip Replacement." Centenarians are the fastest-growing demographic, so it would not be surprising if novels shifted their focus from preparations for marriage to Preparation H.

But if women experience courtship differently from men, they also experience retirement differently. Which brings us to Anne Tyler's 18th novel, "Noah's Compass," a small story that provides an interesting variation on those dismal tales of aging by Roth & Co. Her protagonist is Liam Pennywell, a 60-year-old divorced man of quiet desperation who has misspent his life "teaching fifth grade in a second-rate private boys' school." After years of silently harboring irritations and offenses (e-mail, cellphones, poor grammar), he's laid off in the novel's opening paragraph. He really doesn't mind. "It wasn't such a good job," Liam thinks. "Things seemed to have taken a downward turn a long, long time ago, and perhaps it was just as well. . . . In fact, this might be a sign. It could be just the nudge he needed to push him on to the next stage."

Those of us who love Anne Tyler know that uncomfortable nudge, that promise of an unknown next stage. In one tragicomic novel after another, we've seen frightened, disoriented people -- just like us -- pushed out of their comfort zones into quirky occupations and difficult family arrangements. With determined enthusiasm, Liam moves into a smaller apartment -- "He had accumulated far too many encumbrances" -- and he tries to embrace his new, refocused life. But the solitude of the first day surprises him, and the problem of filling up all the remaining days yawning before him is daunting. "Most probably, this would be the final dwelling place of his life," Liam thinks. "What reason would he have to move again? No new prospects were likely for him. He had accomplished all the conventional tasks -- grown up, found work, gotten married, had children -- and now he was winding down. This is it, he thought. The very end of the line. . . . He was going to be one of those men who die alone among stacks of yellowed newspapers and the dried-out rinds of sandwiches moldering on plates."

A passage like this, with its subtle, depressive humor, makes you wonder if you haven't accidentally picked up a book by Anita Brookner, who every year for two decades has published an exquisite novel about some dull sad sack like this, wasting away in tidy loneliness. But with Anne Tyler a moment of such cloying self-pity always signals an impending reversal: Liam wakes up in a hospital with an enormous bandage around his head. He was mugged in his new apartment on the first night and beaten unconscious.

That violent act is the trigger for this sensitive, witty story about a man who's forced to realize he's not dead yet -- he's not even out to pasture. Released from the hospital a few days later, Liam finds that he has no memory of the assault, and the loss of that little part of his life sends him on a frantic quest that's unfathomable to the hectoring women in his life: his condescending ex-wife, his three impatient daughters and his dismissive sister. "They said he didn't pay attention. They claimed he was obtuse. They rolled their eyes at each other when he made the most innocent remarks. They called him Mr. Magoo." He knows better, though, and he's determined to reclaim that missing evening. But this is an unusually small novel with a plot so slight that I won't say anything more about what -- or whom -- he finds.

That evocative title, though, is just one lovely element of "Noah's Compass." It stems from a tender moment with his grandson, who's dropped off at his apartment now and then. While working on a Christian coloring book, the boy asks Liam where Noah was going in the ark. "There was nowhere to go," Liam tells the boy. "He was just trying to stay afloat. He was just bobbing up and down, so he didn't need a compass, or a rudder, or a sextant."

"Just trying to stay afloat" -- neither sinking into Roth's existential despair nor ascending into Oprah's blinding self-delight -- that's the difficult, totally unhip theme that Tyler takes clear to the end of this understated novel. In fact, "Noah's Compass" is likely to dissatisfy many of the author's fans, who have come to count on her for more fully resolved tragedies or more satisfying personal insights. Instead, with Liam, she has articulated the melancholy stasis of many older people's lives. "I'll be fine," Liam says near the end, "and he meant it." So, buck up -- we can do this.

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[Mauoijenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay.
I really did not get into it as much as I have on some of Tyler's other books.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tyler’s specialty is the ordinary dramas of family life. Her plots may be thin but her characters are complex. This is Liam’s story, a 61 year old man who seems to have spent his life avoiding conflict or challenge. As the novel opens, Liam is passively moving through several major life transitions which culminates in a night time intruder leaving him unconscious from the attack. Waking up in the hospital, he has no recollection of the home invasion, a memory loss that obsesses him to such an extent that he uncharacteristically initiates some actions to try to restore the memory. As his misguided actions to restore his memory play themselves out, his ex-wife and three mildly distant daughters, his somewhat estranged father and step-mother, move in and out of his days in fairly normal patterns, but which lead him to dawning insights about his life. I appreciate the way
Tyler explores the quotidian. At the same time, I often felt as if I were seeing puzzle pieces that looked right, until they were forced into place, they just did not fit comfortably. I often have that sense with those who populate Tyler’s novels, that there is something almost imperceptibly off , a sense that things don’t exactly flow from point to point. One example of that in this novel was the development of the relationship between Liam and Eunice. 3.5 stars

[Pekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Päätin tutustua Anne Tyleriin jo aikoja sitten. Kyselin suosituksia ja merkitsin ne kalenteriini. Vuodet vierivät ja kalenterit vaihtuivat.

Lopulta viime perjantaina satuin nappaamaan lähikirjastosta tämän. Lauantaina lainasin pääkirjastosta lisää. Sunnuntaina tunsin, että lähitulevaisuuteni lukijana on turvattu. Se on mukava tunne.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anne Tyler has the extraordinary ability to subtlety observe the quiet moments of seemingly ordinary lives and then describe in understated and beautifully composed prose how they deal with an unforeseen disruption or challenge. In "Noah's Compass" we meet Liam Pennywell, a 60 year old private school history teacher. Forced to take early retirement, he decides to economize and move into a smaller apartment. On his first night in the new place he goes to bed and wakes up in the hospital with no clue as to how or why he got there. He becomes obsessed with finding out what happened during the missing hours when he was unconscious and, in his quest to uncover this mystery, he encounters various people some of whom will have a profound effect on his new life.

As a long-time reader of Ms. Tyler's work I must confess that Mr. Pennywill is not the most compelling of her many characters. He's kind of an ineffectual man who is constantly saying the wrong things and always seems to be a bit overwhelmed by his circumstances. It took this reader quite a way into the book to finally warm up to him but that is probably because he evolves as the book progresses. Anne Tyler fans should enjoy this read but, readers new to Tyler may want to choose from her vast catalog such literary masterpieces as "Dinner At the Homesick Restaurant", "Breathing Lessons", "The Accidental Tourist" or, her most recently published work, "A Spool of Blue Thread".

[Lori Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some may find Anne Tyler too formulaic.... "quirky character muddles through life and suddenly has epiphany"...however I personally find reading her books as comforting as a warm blanket on a cold night or a nice chat with a good friend. Noah's Compass doesn't disappoint as the main character, Liam, is a retiree who has stripped down his life to the bare bones, moving into a small, gloomy condo with a few books, a couple chairs, and some canned soup. He has almost no friends and is disconnected from his family. Liam has no expectations of life and almost seems to have given up until an unexpected event occurring the night he moves in presses him into a sort of action. The way he goes about trying to fill a blank in his life is almost comedic and as the circle of his life expands, the moments are both tender and funny...and sometimes sad. As usual, Tyler takes the most nondescript people and brings them alive in all their everyman glory. Though not my favorite of her books, I enjoyed it.

[Booker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I've read all of Anne Tyler's books and this is probably the weakest. In other books her characters tend to live on the fringes of society, outwardly losers, but through Tyler's eyes we get to like them and understand their often odd behaviour. Liam Pennywell, the main protagonist of Noah's Compass, provokes none of this sympathy. With his grumpy disconnection from the modern world, deliberate obtuseness in conversation and total lack of concern for his family he is a weak, unlikeable and really quite boring character. The women surrounding him, an ex-wife, sister and two daughters, are all competent, bossy and basically interchangeable. Pennywell's impulsive pursuit of the local tycoon and his memory coach seems out of character and we get no plausible explananation of why he embarks on this route.

Having said this, of course Tyler is incapable of writing badly. The young daughter Kitty provides a brillianly observed portrayal of teenage behaviour and the book is worth reading for her character alone. Overall a disappointment though.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters were well developed but I never really got to the POINT of the book until Liam's grandson was so ticked off at Noah for letting so many animals die and Liam was telling his grandson about Noah and the ark. These few paragraphs made the book make sense, albeit a little late. Maybe worth a re-read. Not a waste of time, I just didn't get it until the last few chapters.

[Jane Woodcock]

OMG! What a waste of my time. Would not recommend this book to anyone. God knows why it's called Noah's Compass, I could think of a couple more titles for it! lol. Not even worth one star. Sorry Anne.

[Stuart]

I liked this book a lot. It is very simply written, about a man who is very ordinary. I liked that. It’s nice to sometimes read about someone who is not a superhuman being, who knows how to parachute out a plane with just an umbrella or some such. The main character, Liam, at age 61, has just lost his job, not that he liked it much anyway, and has moved to a small apartment, and seemingly has no-one in his life and little to do. But suddenly and then in growing numbers, people begin to populate his life. First he is burgled and assaulted, waking up in hospital with no memory of the event. This event seems to precipitate the return to his life of the several women who once were part of it – his ex-wife, his three daughters and his sister. And then surprising, a girl friend. The book is like a “fall and rise” – Liam starts off downsizing everything and contemplating an empty life, and ends the book quietly satisfied, with enough contact and reason for living. The book is well written, with simple sentences that allow the flow of the story to lull you onwards. You really feel you have become part of Liam’s life. I was a bit mystified by the title, though. The only mention of Noah’s Compass is when Liam explains to his grandson that Noah did not need one. Did the author mean that Liam also did not need a compass? That wasn’t clear to me at all. But a good four out of five and recommended.