Tuesday, January 05, 2010

The New York Times on Noah's Compass

New York Times' reviewer Michiko Kautani offers the following assessment of Anne Tyler's new novel, Noah's Compass:
"But his story also turns out to be slighter than Ms. Tyler’s best work, tipping over into the sentimentality she is prone to and eschewing the ambition of her last novel, Digging to America. Whereas that book opened out into a commodious meditation on identity and belonging — what it means to be part of a family, a culture, a country — this one devolves into a predictable and highly contrived tale of one man’s late midlife crisis."
I think Kautani's review is fair and accurate. "Slighter" is a good word to describe Noah's Compass when compared to Tyler's earlier work. The book will disappoint her numerous fans.

The full review can be read here.

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