Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This is the thread for the buddy read of Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner that begins on July 15, 2023.

I'm excited for this one! I've been longing for another Stegner since the day I finished Angle of Repose. I hope to start by the end of next week.

I'm planning to start reading tomorrow and be ready to put some thoughts by the 15th. I am going to take this slow, so a few chapters a day, and then discuss, would be perfect.

I thought we might start with a few thoughts on the Frost poem that inspired the title of this book.

I Could Give All To Time
– A Poem by Robert Frost
To Time it never seems that he is brave
To set himself against the peaks of snow
To lay them level with the running wave,
Nor is he overjoyed when they lie low,
But only grave, contemplative and grave.

What now is inland shall be ocean isle,
Then eddies playing round a sunken reef
Like the curl at the corner of a smile;
And I could share Time’s lack of joy or grief
At such a planetary change of style.

I could give all to Time except – except
What I myself have held. But why declare
The things forbidden that while the Customs slept
I have crossed to Safety with? For I am There,
And what I would not part with I have kept.

------------------

The title for this book comes from the poem I Could Give All to Time by one of my favorite poets, Robert Frost. He wrote it following the deaths of both his wife and his son, when he was no doubt experiencing floods of emotion. It seems to me to be about the disinterest of time in the destruction, or perhaps only change, it inflicts. The narrator says he “could share Time’s lack of joy or grief at such a planetary change of style.” That scale of change would not garner emotions, but the personal losses of life do, for as human beings we are forced to feel them, as Time is not; and we cannot escape them.

In the final stanza the narrator comes to terms with the reality that he would not trade the hurt, the pain, the loss for a state of unfeeling “lack of joy or grief”, because he has survived them and come away with the memories of both. The joy of his life, the experiences he treasures, have made the journey with him. He has crossed to safety, and in the end, he has kept the things that have made life complete and worthwhile.

Just my interpretation of the poem. I would love to hear what you all think of it. I wanted to keep it in mind as I read Stegner's book.

Beautifully put, Sara.

I didn't think I'd join in reading this novel as I read this and all 4 of his most-read novels on GR back between 2003 and 2006 and while I've read more since then, there are several left I want to read before I started with re-reads.

But on thinking it over, this one does seem perfect for a re-read and it would be with a GR group, a first for me with Stegner. So last week I decided I'm in. Another reason I hesitated is that I am currently in the middle of a previously planned slow read of Stegner's Collected Stories. But I'll put that aside while I read and discuss Crossing to Safety. I'll probably start about July 17th. I'm a bit excited about it. I see that this is a reread for several participants here.

Sara, as a poetically challenged reader I won't even attempt an interpretation of that Frost poem. So my comment is "what she said,' which applies to both Sara and Terry's comments.

Sara,
Thanks for providing this poem as an introduction to my first read of Crossing To Safety. I found the final stanza and your interpretation of it particularly moving and will keep this in mind as I read through this book. Looking forward to this so much 😌

Thank you Sara for this poem and your interpretation. I will not risk commenting on the poem as even though I read in English, poetry is something else! 🙂
This is my first book from this author. I do have Angle of repose on my TBR but did not get to it yet. Maybe that will be the push that I need to finally do.

I'm very excited for the group we have!

Brian, I still have a few Stegner's unread, including some of his non-fiction, but I also thought this was a good time to go back to where I began. I feel there is so much more I can get from a second reading, especially now that I have read others of his works.

Megan - thanks for inspiring me to do this now.

Lorraine - I am so excited that you will get this introduction to Stegner. I started with this book and it is still my favorite, but Angle of Repose is awesome as well. I think, once you have sampled him, you will be hungry for more.

Thanks for the poem, Sara. I love it and your interpretation. I've started on this and have been loving it from it's first words. I'm already feeling as I did with Angle of Repose, that this was written just for me. His writing is so warm and comfortable. I'm invested in all the characters and their friendship.

Glad you started with the poem Sara. I have wished we had more discussion of poetry in the group and have tried through nomination to encourage that discussion, but it is a hard sell. By incorporating the poem which provided the title into our discussion, and futher explicating it, you are stimulating the pleasure of poetry. I agree with your assessment of the poem though I think Frost may have alluded to the political world in the late 30's-early40's in his reference to crossing borders that makes the things forbidden have values that would have been associated with freedom at the time. I feel Stegner's use is emotional relating to characters but metaphysical in relationship to our recognizing and valuing what we have but I am only a few chapters into the novel and my mind could change.

I also wish we could do some in depth poetry analysis, Sam. It always means a lot when you dissect a poem with a group, because poetry, more than any other kind of writing, is subject to multiple interpretations, and few, if any, of us can find everything that might be lingering there alone. I whole-heartedly agree that Frost would have had the political situation in his mind. First published in 1941, so almost impossible that there would not have been a strong element of that nature running through it.

Chapter One: (view spoiler)[I find it amazing that Stegner can pull me into a place so completely. I can see the cottage and its surroundings so clearly and felt I was taking the walk with Larry up the Wightman Road. In twelve pages, he has also given us a very clear idea of who these four people are and the importance of their friendship in their lives.

I have already started marking passages. Can you imagine what it would have been like to have been a student in his classes? (hide spoiler)]

I also enjoyed reading your comments on the poem, Sara.

Regarding poetry, maybe it could be started small. A Poetry Corner selection.

I was thinking, someone might propose a Buddy Read of one poem per month. If it isn’t a book, isn’t too very long and if it is easily available for free online, I would participate. However, I am not the person to propose it. I just don’t have the background in poetry to know what to suggest.

They tried this in a group I was once active in, Terry, and it lasted a very short while and then it was down to two people who participated. I'm not sure why poetry is not more popular. I always feel elated when I think I have tapped into the true meaning of a poem..

Bionic Jean moderates some fairly erudite and extensive discussions of a weekly Thomas Hardy poem over in the Works of Thomas Hardy thread. Despite my relative ignorance, I do check in once in a while and they do get into some good insightful analysis - at least I think it is - some of the commenters really know the tricks of the poetry trade pretty well. Once, I even learned a few things about metre. If you're starving for a good poetry discussion, even if you're not fond of Hardy, it might be worth checking out.

Here's a master thread for the threads on each poem: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This is a beautiful poem, Sara. Thank you for posting it and giving us your thoughts which are perfectly expressed. I see that in the first line he also doesn’t believe Time to be brave and I see that he most likely sees himself as brave for the reasons you already stated- going through the pain and hurt and the fact that he has his memories to hold onto.

I am in the camp with the non poetry readers. I never really had much luck with poems in school so I tend to dismiss them. This one is short enough that you can read it over and over in order to glean meaning.

I am rereading this novel and know already that my enjoyment is going to be more this time. It was also my first Stegner and I read it when I was just beginning to dip into classics. My biggest issue was not understanding or knowing the literary references in the book. Seems an odd reason to not allow myself to enjoy the story more. I did fall for his writing and the characters. So I look forward to a new experience. I adored Angle of Repose so this should be no different!

Just finished chapter 3. I liked everything so far. The writing is very good and makes you feel like you are there with them, the characters. It is easy to get attached to them.
My favorite line for now is from Chapter 1: In fact, if you could forget mortality, and that used to be easier here than in most places, you could really believe that time is circular, and not linear and progressive as our culture is bent on proving.
Just beautiful. I think that Proust would approve

I am loving all the quotations! I find myself wishing I had this one on the Kindle so it would be easier to mark all the passages I love.

Lori--I think a re-read of this will leave us both with a greater understanding and appreciation (although how my appreciation could be greater, I'm not sure).

Matt--isn't it one of the ironies of life that we reach a point when we are looking back and longing for those days when we were "hard up" and seemingly struggling, but life was all ahead of us, there for the taking.

Chapters 2-3:

(view spoiler)[What a study in contrasts this is. Sally is quiet and contemplative; Charity is self-assured and effervescent. Larry is a self-made man; Sid (and Charity) are the elite that spring from the elite, neither has ever known want or struggle.

I, of course, relate to Sally and Larry. I remember building the same cinderblock bookshelves he describes in my first apartment and getting a discarded spool from the electric company for a coffee table. Mattress on the floor, couldn't afford the bedstead. I was never as excited about any house I have had as I was about that tiny apartment.

His descriptions of the profs at the college made me laugh, not in the least because I had the bow tie and tweed coat professor of linguistics at GSU in 1973–a throwback I never forgot. He did not drive his coupe, he "tooled" in it.

Sally is reading Jules Romains. I didn't know who he was, so I googled. He is a poet and here are some quotes from him:

"History: the category of human phenomena which tends to catastrophe." "Healthy people are invalids who don't know it." and "The world is an enormous injustice."

This sample made me think this was a bit of a joke on Stegner’s part…they are young, broke, it is the depression and Sally is mildly depressed herself, and she is reading Jules Romains–not the cheeriest of outlooks. No wonder she is so open to Charity!

I found it interesting that Larry felt some of the questioning invasive. I think that would have been my reaction as well. I don't feel comfortable when people want to know too much, too soon. But Sally She had poured us out like a libation on the altar of that goddess. We already have a sense of the dynamics that will be in play in these relationships. (hide spoiler)]

I'm not sure if anyone apart from Wendell Berry (who studied under Stegner and acquired a bit of his genius) can draw me into a character so efficiently and completely.

Sara,
I’m reading ‘That Distant Land’ along side this as it seems the perfect accompaniment to read a short story every day. I only discovered that Wendell Berry was Stegner’s student when I finished Angle of Repose. In the front of That Distant Land’ there is a dedication to Stegner. I couldn’t agree more with you. I’ve just finished chapter 3 and the description of Charity is like poetry particularly her smile ‘ Our last impression of her as she turned the corner was that smile, flung backward like a handful of flowers’ (pg 28). Already I find myself warming to Larry, and Sally for the determination to make something out of their lives out of such humble beginnings, you can not help but admire such fortitude and their obvious devotion to one another.

Anytime is the right time to read Berry 😁. I agree That Distant Land will be a good accompaniment for this.

It will be interesting to see how the different influence affects both of these couples. They are going to get a rare chance to really glimpse the other side.

Doesn't he give you a sense of Charity that is visual. I have a picture of her in my head, with that smile that wins everyone.

Sara, absolutely - it’s like painting a picture with his words. You can sense how utterly charmed and bowled over one would be upon meeting Charity and I feel such anticipation about how the fours relationship will develop, as we just witness it’s early origins here.

Sara wrote: "I'm not sure if anyone apart from Wendell Berry (who studied under Stegner and acquired a bit of his genius) can draw me into a character so efficiently and completely.."

All the CUOC talk about and comparisons to faves like Stegner and Haruf had me interested in reading Wendell Berry. So I recently purchased A Place on Earth much like I bought John Ehle's The Land Breakers when it was mentioned during the Group's prairie/frontier read discussions.

I blame the influence of the On the Southern Literary Trail GR Group that Sara frequents for these two additions to my ever-increasing TBR pile. I should send that Group the book bill. Or to Sara herself, maybe?

Now back to Crossing to Safety. Please excuse the interruption.

LOL. I would accept the blame, but I think we have to go back a bit and blame Diane. Maybe we could both bill her?

Sara wrote: "Chapters 2-3:

What a study in contrasts this is. Sally is quiet and contemplative; Charity is self-assured and effervescent. Larry is a self-made man; Sid (and Charity) are the elite that spring f..."

We had that electric spool coffee table too! My husband and I were so poor, we shared a twin bed for a few years, but I have the fondest memories of that one bedroom apartment and the times we had in it.

I related to Larry and how he felt with too many questions. I remember one of my best friends since around age 19, bombarded me with questions when we first met and it made me take awhile to warm up to her. It felt like she was looking for my weaknesses or something but she was just looking for things we could bond on. We were just talking about that a couple of weeks ago.

I'm already amazed at how much I relate to the situations he creates.

From chapter 4:

(view spoiler)[I love when he says "I have heard of people's lives being changed by a dramatic or traumatic event - a death, a divorce, a winning lottery ticket, a failed exam. I never heard of anybody's life but ours being changed by a dinner party"

and then on the same page "Coming from meagerness and low expectations, we felt their friendship as freezing travelers feel a dry room and a fire. Crowded in, rubbing our hands with satisfaction, and were never the same thereafter. Thought better of ourselves, thought better of the world"

Even though Larry sees their life change from a seemingly insignificant event, I think it's pretty common actually. Especially when it comes to friendship and love.

The second quote rings true also. Love and friendship do make people feel better about themselves and the world. Stegner words are brimming with authenticity.

I couldn't necessarily relate to it, but I loved when Sally reads the Oddessey in Greek and then how they dissect the Housman poem "Easter Hymn" (hide spoiler)]

Chapter Four: (view spoiler)[a chilly Octoberish smell of cured leaves rose from the ground, the indescribable smell of fall and football weather and the new term that is the same almost everywhere in America.

I always felt an exhilarating feeling when school started again and the weather was part of that. Now, when the weather turns, it always brings back memories of school.

What the disorderly crave above everything is order, what the dislocated aspire to is location.

How lovely it is to be chosen, how flattering to have such bright eyes on you as you divide the light from the darkness.

I long for the days, long before my own, when a dinner party consisted of conversation, singing and the reading of poetry. Can you imagine how people would look at you today if you suggested such a thing?

The Ehrlichs are the antithesis of the others, staid and scholarly vs. young and spontaneous. Their departure seems to echo Sally and Larry arrival, and clearly Larry feels that

I know how they felt, and I hated it for their sakes. But I also knew how I felt. I felt wonderful. (hide spoiler)]

I just picked up the book to start and by the end of the second paragraph I was struck once again by how much it feels like Stegner is talking directly to me.
I have cataracts and am in the process of scheduling my cataract surgery. I now look forward to seeing how it will feel when my bandages are removed.

Sue wrote: "I'm already amazed at how much I relate to the situations he creates...."

Yup. That's Stegner

Hope the surgery is a great success, Brian.

What makes him so remarkable a writer is that he can make every reader feel that way. Wish I knew exactly how he does it.

I finished Chapter 6 when Sid went up to the camp at the lake for the first time. I'm loving all these characters and wish I could meet them in person. My grandparents had a small lake cottage overrun with grandchildren, and my grandmother shared some qualities with Aunt Emily. I think we all need an Aunt Emily (or a Dickens' Aunt Betsy) in our lives.

My husband's grandparents had a place on the river where he spent his childhood summers. The idea of that is so appealing. How lovely that you also had that memory, Connie. I agree we need an Aunt Emily in our lives. I was surrounded with them.

I planned to read along with the buddy read because my book club was planning to read it soon. But it got changed from September to October and I hate to read it so far ahead! So I will probably not start it until September, but I will look back at the comments here.
I have high hopes for this book! Everyone seems to love it :)

Chapter Five: (view spoiler)[ I loved this thought, because I also believe we are all gifted with something if we discover how to use it.
I believe most people have some degree of talent for something–forms, colors, words, sounds. Talent lies around in us like kindling waiting for a match, but some people, just as gifted as others, are less lucky. Fate never drops a match on them.

This is very wise advice Larry got from his father, and it makes the contrast stark that these men were raised in two different ways.

He used to tell me, ‘do what you like to do. It’ll probably turn out to be what you do best.’

Sid’s guilt over the switch to literature from economics makes such perfect sense to me. When people saddle us with their expectations and dreams, they also saddle us with the guilt and sense of failure when we either do not pursue the path they lay out or we fail miserably at it.

Larry and Sid have a great discussion of what makes a writer write. I couldn’t help asking the questions of myself, and I wondered how Stegner would have answered them--not as a character, but as himself.

I like the way Stegner now shows us that Charity is flawed. Now we see Charity is not the ideal wife, she doesn’t want Sid to write poetry–she wants him to get promoted. She has researched and knows what gets you tenure. He says it is because she is from a family of profs and wants him safely ensconced, but what it amounts to is that she wants him to do what is right for her.

There is an undercurrent of falseness today after the feeling of total genuineness the night before. Larry notes with the exuberance of the champagne opening…Abruptly he is manic, reviving the shouting conviviality of the night before. His excess leaves me faintly uncomfortable.

Sid feels a lack of self-confidence and a bit of envy of Larry, who is obviously a writer who is likely to go somewhere.

The tension builds and then passes with the overflight of the geese. They have passed over us like an eraser over a blackboard, wiping away whatever was there before they came. The effect of nature, and of true beauty--a recurring theme for Stegner. It is nature that re-balances the day and makes it serene again.

But I have become aware of unexpected tensions in their relationship, and to my own surprise have begun to feel a little protective of a man whom only last evening I thought the luckiest and most enviable man alive.

He describes the camaraderie and makes you understand the attraction, the pull, but he also reveals the depth of the emotions that bind them together and that might push them apart.

When they leave the ice skating and go back to the basement apartment, he says Red faces, tingling skin, exuberant vitality, laughter and for Sally and me the uncustomary pleasure of giving instead of taking. One of the hardest things in an unequal economic relationship! I know about this one first-hand. (hide spoiler)]

Terris wrote: "I planned to read along with the buddy read because my book club was planning to read it soon. But it got changed from September to October and I hate to read it so far ahead! So I will probably no..."

You will love it, Terris. I'm sorry not to have you here, but I completely understand!

Love your airport bookshop story, Matt. I also know what you are saying about mental bias regarding states. I used to think it was only the South that was victim to that, but I had a friend in college from Upstate New York and she was furious that everyone thinks the whole state is just NYC.

Thanks for the link to the Henry Adams book. I have been stopping and looking up most of these references Stegner makes, and many of them are interesting people I had not ever heard of.

Matt wrote: "Just finished chapter 4.

A couple thoughts:
The setting is in a college town Madison, WI. If there are any Wisconintes (what do people from Wisconsin call themselves?) please don’t take offense ..."

My thoughts are the same of WI as Charity in chapt 4 when she says:
"Sid an I feel so lucky. Back in Cambridge some people felt sorry for us, going away out to Wisconsin, as if it were Siberia. They just don't know. They don't know how warm and friendly and open and eager it is. And bright, too.
"Maybe the students aren't as well trained as Harvard students, but a lot of them are just as bright.

And a few lines later she says "I don't know about you, but Sid and I think a little city like this, with a good university in it, is the real flowering for the American dream. Don't you feel it?

I've felt it and I love it. I've had great admiration for The University of Wisconsin-Madison ever since my friend and I would visit her cousin there. It's a beautiful campus and it had/has a cool unique vibe. It's very warm, friendly and intellectual.

I've been to many places in WI from Eagle River way up north to More central Oshkosh, Green Bay & Door County to Lake Geneva & Milwaukee near the IL border and also a few small lake towns scattered throughout. It's pretty consistent that the people are warm and friendly there whether blue collar or more wealthy.

One caveat - In Milwaukee for Brewers/Cubs games, they weren't quite as nice but nice for rivals ; )

Matt wrote: " Wisconsin is not the first place I think of when I think of literature or academics"

While I'm from Illinois I have spent much time in Wisconsin including several work stays in downtown Madison. As an Illinois resident and a graduate of the University of Illinois law school I say this reluctantly but the University of Wisconsin is at worst the second of the Big Ten Midwest Public Universities to Michigan in overall academic reputation. Both have more widespead geographic appeal than the others.
As to having a Midwest school with a literary reputation, consider the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Matt wrote: " In my prejudice of Wisconsin I expected blue collar/run down industrial towns which is not the truth at all."

Actually they do exist as I've spent time in LaCrosse and Eau Claire and four non-consecutive weeks in Portage, Wisconsin. Granted, some are not so run-down but they do have a blue-collar mentality.
Wisconsin is an odd state with the liberal Milwaukee and Madison areas in conflict with people in rural areas and those "blue collar/run down industrial towns." On reflection, that seems to be how California is too so maybe not so odd.
When Wisconsin does something politically strange I just remind myself that it's the state that sent both Joseph McCarthy and Robert La Follette to the Senate.

Matt wrote: " what do people from Wisconsin call themselves?"

We Illinoisans refer to them as Wisconsinites or, more often, Cheeseheads. I think Wisconsinites call themselves both too.

Brian E wrote: "Matt wrote: " Wisconsin is not the first place I think of when I think of literature or academics"

While I'm from Illinois I have spent much time in Wisconsin including several work stays in downt..."

I was thinking of University of Iowa too, Brian! It's another American Dream example like Charity's description. My Grandmother moved there and met her husband, who was a Professor there. I also visited there often.

Being French Canadian and having studied at The University of Montreal, I cannot comment on the American Universities. We are very lucky to have four universities in Montreal. Two that are Francophone and two Anglophone. But more and more people go to one or the other not taking the language into consideration but what each university is the best in the subject they want to study. (Hope my English make sense)

I finished chapter 7. I really like his writing. His description of people, the way he writes the dialogue, really brings you in the room with them. I do not feel he is talking to me but he is a great storyteller. I look forward to the next chapters.

On a funny note, it was interesting for me to learn that (view spoiler)[ ‘New England women, left behind had few men to pick from except the Irish, Portuguese, Italians and French Canadians, all of them religiously, economically, and socially unacceptable.’ It is always interesting to see how your neighbors see you. (hide spoiler)]

I finished Chapter 5. Sara posted some passages from that chapter that contain Stegner's typically insightful observations about writing and life. I thought that this following passage was an excellent example of Stegner using plain language to capture the suspense and excitement contained in what in most instances is a mundane human activity but here may be a momentous event:

"Out in front, the mailman is just arriving, He hands me a letter and I see the return on the envelope. My eyes jump to meet Sally's. A hope as startling as a stray bullet ricochets off up Morrison Street. When I stick my finger under the flap, Sally frowns slightly. Not now, don't open your mail in public. Sid is holding open the station wagon door.
But I can't wait. I never could. I have been opening my mail in public all my life. I can no more refrain than Noah could have refrained from taking the sprig of green from the dove's beak. Already moving to get in the car, I rip open the envelope and snatch a look. I let out a yell."

Brian, I couldn’t agree more, I was struck too by that sense of suspense. Totally caught up in the moment, how many times I have had this feeling when you are waiting for the information and news that you’ve been hoping for. Stegner makes his reader suddenly feel the same anticipation, and all we want to do is know what’s inside the letter too. The more I read the more I revel in the genius of Stegner’s prose.

Megan wrote: "Brian, I couldn’t agree more, I was struck too by that sense of suspense. Totally caught up in the moment, how many times I have had this feeling when you are waiting for the information and news t..."

So true! I loved the way he used the letter to introduce the news, so that it wasn't bragging that revealed it to the others; but then the fact of the acceptance influenced the tenor of the day and revealed to us a lot about the other characters. Sally didn't want him to open it in front of others, and Sid and Charity's reactions sparked Sid's bit of revelation about himself.

Sara, I was just wondering if the event of the letter, rather inadvertently overshadowed the day. It obviously bought up a lot of strong emotions in Sid - ‘if only I had received such a letter myself ‘ sort of musings born out by the conversation the two men had about careers and aspirations. I don’t think he was bitter or jealous of Larry, he was genuinely delighted at his success, but perhaps it did cast a shadow over his mood and highlight his own perception of himself as a failed poet.

Well said, Megan. It did put a momentary damper on the day. Sid was suddenly faced with this success and it obviously made him think of his own relationship with his father. It also struck me that, after being so discouraged by his father, Charity did much the same--albeit in a different way.

I thought he was feeling envy of Larry and fought it down. I think he might look at Larry and see a lot of things that are missing in his own life. Charity is a charmer and a ball of dynamite and others envy him for having her, but I think he might become envious of Larry for having Sally, who is supportive and proud of who Larry is--no pressure.

Often in life we feel the sting of seeing others achieve the things we only aspire to and we have to learn not to transfer that over into resenting the person for his achievements. Sid, I think, has a moment of that here, and it is a foreshadowing of how complicated this friendship might become as they grow to love each other but also perhaps compete with one another.

Matt, Brian beat me to the answer! yes, Cheeseheads! And for those of us Illinoisans, Wisconsin is “Behind the Cheese Curtain! Said affectionately, of course!

Glad everyone is enjoying the book. I think it is a book for mature readers — more meaningful to read when older. I am not sure my younger self would have enjoyed it so much, even though the prose would be appreciated.

I have been quiet since i have a lot of reading to finish and am at the start of section two. Stegner reads like a writer's writer and the novel reads the better when one considers the effort he puts into things like stucture or dialogue. The little flashback interude of chapter six was a nice break in the narrative for me and how clever to introduce Charity's family prior to their meeting Larry and Sally. There are so many small things like that which I applaud the author's doing. I will stay at the end of section one till others catch up.

I'm not Sara, but I'm putting my two cents in anyway, Megan, :) In a way I'm intercepting a letter sent to Sara, opening it, and replying before she can. Well, I see Sara replied while I was typing so this is actually after she replied, thank goodness.

The overshadowing certainly wasn't inadvertent on Stegner's part thought. The letter opening brought complexity to what looked to be a routine picnic celebration. The letter opening added both an increase in the overall celebratory tone and an increase in a complex tension as Sid's melancholy battled his celebratory feelings at times.
The addition of the letter event served to reveal more about the characters of Sid and Larry at this still early stage.
I thought Larry's inability to wait to open the letter was not so much due to self-centered impetuousness but was instead due to him being a non-procrastinating doer. He always opens letters immediately because he doesn't waste time dawdling; its part of his superb time management skills.
Sid, on the other hand, is more reflective and self-deprecating, so of course his mind can't help to drift to thinking about his "own perception of himself as a failed poet." A little jealousy toward a comrade in such situations is normal and not a bad thing; it depends on how you channel that jealousy. It can serve a positive purpose if it helps motivate yourself and if you don't hold it against the other person. Sid's character is such that he won't hold it against Larry; in fact it just increases his respect and fondness for this new best friend. It's just whether he wallows or gets motivated. A little competition can help build friendships.

Brian , ah I see this now too, how perceptive of you :0) Having not read it before I did however get a sense of foreshadowing- how will this relationship between the two men develop? Will it blossom into friendship, friendly rivalry, etc. I think it’s worth reflecting as you say Sara about our early impressions of characters . I’ve now read on, so my perception of Sid and Charity is constantly developing but I felt rather uneasy by some of his remarks and revelations and what it might mean to the development of their relationship.

Apologies everyone for multiple postings my internet connection has gone haywire!!!

No problem, Megan, I edited out the extras.

Brian - I agree there is nothing accidental in Stegner's writing. Every word well thought out and carefully placed. Each scene he paints seems to emphasize the contrasts in personality between these two men and yet the unquestionable affection and joyful friendship they feel for one another.