It would be unfair to characterise this as an old man's book, but it does contain a great deal of the wisdom and the long outlook that one accumulates through age. Wilder wrote this when he was seventy, having not published anything for twenty years. We may therefore assume that he had plenty of time to think things through before setting pen to paper. The result is a wonderful book, which begins with one event and then works roughly outwards, starting with the people involved directly in that event, and then discussing their children, their parents, and so on. It shows how traits, good and bad, pass from parent to child (or grandparent to grandchild), how history passes from parent to child, but all the while reminding us that a "history" is too vast to fit into a single book.

I was recommended this book by stemonitis. It is very good (but a shame that the cover is falling apart, it might have to be restuck), and very long, even though the main story only takes up a month or so. It then goes on to consider the lives of the people involved before and since. It was fun to read and very thoughtful, with lots of people talking and writing philosophically to each other in the way that people probably don't really do, but in this book it did not sound clichéd, but rather believable, and the thoughts themselves were not horribly clichéd as they might have been. The people's stories are also interesting, and the book keeps you guessing until the end as to what really happened, when much is revealed. It is also quite a sad book, especially as we realise that bad personalities and traits will continue to be reborn. The characterisation of the main character is particularly interesting, especially because much of it comes from the views and analyses of him by the other characters.

The book shall be released somewhere in Vienna.

Released on Monday, March 29, 2004 at The Surgery, waiting room. in Brewood, England United Kingdom.

Released by proxy.