Was It Beautiful?: A Novel

By Alison McGhee

Book Overview

In luminous, haunting prose, McGhee pays loving attention to the details of life in the Adirondacks and to the small kindnesses and idiosyncrasies that make each member of a community precious and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609609785
• ISBN13: 9780609609781
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Crown
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.9" x 5.7"

Customer Reviews

LIGHTENING THE WEIGHT OF GRIEF

The answer to the question posed by the title of this wonderful addition to my library is a resounding `yes!'. That's not the way the title was intended to be taken, of course, but nevertheless...I first came across Alison McGhee's writing in the form of her acclaimed novel SHADOW BABY - it impressed me so much that I sought out RAINLIGHT, which in no way let me down. When I heard about the release of this, her third novel, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy. With this work, anyone thinking that McGhee was a one- or two-hit wonder should be convinced that she's very much for real - and one of the best writers around today.Like her previous two works, this story is set in the Adirondacks - rural upstate New York, small-town America, complete with its fair share of mildly eccentric characters. The eccentricity of McGhee's creations never gets in the way of the story, as it might in the hands of some writers - her people never become caricatures. She is such a gifted writer that the humorous side of them blends effortlessly with the more serious issues that they face - and, as a result, the inhabitants of her fiction are always completely believable, as real as they could possibly be. They feel joy, they experience uncertainty, and they wrestle with the obstacles life throws their way. In this story, as in her other novels, there are no really `bad' characters - everyone is simply who they are, pure and not-so-simple, and McGhee's portrayal of them in this way accomplishes two things: it allows the reader to more closely identify with the characters, and it keeps the reader from being distracted by a too-easily-seen good-versus-evil set-to. McGhee respects her characters, her story - and her readers - too much to stoop to such techniques, and the result is a treasure of a book.The `culprit' in this novel is Grief - how to bear it, how to understand it, how to process it, how to lighten its load. The main bearer of grief in this story is one William T. Jones - described by many (and on the jacket flap) as `the happiest man in upstate New York, a self-proclaimed king of the world who laughed loudly and often'. William T. is blessed with a son whom he loves more than anything, a devoted wife, and his best friend Burl, a quiet, reserved man who knows more about those around him - and in a deeper way - than anyone suspects. William T.'s son is William J. - and this is only confusing for a little while - and is blessed with the gift of music, which he manifests by constructing wind chimes, and by his love of listening to his father's friend Burl (who has perfect pitch) sing in his beautiful Welsh tenor voice.William T.'s world is indeed perfect - until William J. is suddenly and inexplicably stricken with Cogan's syndrome, causing a rapid deterioration of his hearing, to the point of deafness. William J. - and his father and mother - are desperate to understand his condition, and each, in their individual way, devastated by the unfairn

an absolutely beautiful book

I love a book like this. The words move like colored water through the pages. The story unfolds gracefully and the descriptions are gorgeous. The story is simple but the character's emotions are not. The author allows you to enter into this world and for one moment to live in a place where someone you love has died- and the world stops.

Pitch Perfect

One of the many questions asked in this book is whether there is such a thing as "perfect pitch". Well, to reverse the order, this book is pitch perfect in its writing.Frankly I was a little scared when I picked it up. The loss of a son just seems like it would be too sad a tale to bear. It is sad, but McGhee manages to convey the deep sadness without overplaying it. There is no melodrama here. The characters are strong and sympathetic. The writing is lyrical.This was a wonderful book, and Ms. McGhee's first novels are now definitely on my "to read" list this summer.

It is beautiful, indeed

This is the third novel from Alison McGhee. Her first two novels (?Rainlight?, ?Shadow Baby?) were quite exceptional and quickly made McGhee one of my favorite authors. ?Was It Beautiful?? fully deserves to be mentioned with McGhee?s other novels. It is just as good. The title of the books asks the question: Was It Beautiful? While this is really a question for the protagonist, William T, I believe that the question also fits the novel itself. To answer the question, yes, it was a beautiful novel. Very.McGhee revisits the Sterns community in the Adirondacks Mountains. We get to see Crystal and Johnny (?Rainlight?, ?Shadow Baby?) and see a glimpse of Clara and Tamar Winter (?Shadow Baby?). With these characters appearing, it is easy for McGhee to build the very strong sense of place that we get with Sterns. Some of the locales are back. Crystal?s diner plays a strong role in this novel, and readers of McGhee?s work are immediately familiar with this world. This time around, we get the story of William T Jones. Everyone calls him William T. William T?s life used to be pretty good. He had a loving wife, a son, and a job he was proud of. Unfortunately, he didn?t get the life he thought he had. His son was hit by a train and died. His wife left him. His job, while he was still proud of it, wasn?t as special as it was when his life was still beautiful. This is how we begin the novel, with a 50 year old man dealing with the grief over his life and his losses. In the hands of a lesser writer, this could be the start for cheap melodrama. In the sure hands of Alison McGhee, we are given a compassionate story about a broken man and how his friends can help begin his healing. We do not have to wonder about the title and if it was beautiful. With a novel by Alison McGhee, we know that it is.

Superb

I've been a fan of McGhee's soulful writing since I picked up her book Shadow Baby from my local library. In that book, I fell in love with Clara winter, and now I've fallen in love with William T. Jones. McGhee creates a world that my mind never leaves upon finishing her books. It stays with me--a feeling, an image, sometimes a sadness. This is a worth follow-up to Shadow Baby, and I will eagerly await another book from this very talented writer.