Reviews

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

sabrinaliterary's review against another edition

3.0

Moore has a singular voice that is a pleasure to read, though this book's plot takes several clunky turns and its takes on the hot issues of 2002 have not aged particularly well.

byp's review against another edition

2.0

I wish I could give this 2.5 stars. For the first two-thirds of the book, I really did not enjoy reading it. This is mainly due to two things: 1) The narrator uses the past perfect (?) tense a lot. "I didn't know that was the last time I would see him" or "I would never again see that color and not think of her" or "Years later, a boyfriend would ask why I ever believed such a silly thing." It took me out of any sense of tension in the plot, and made me not really care about the characters, because it seemed like their story was over before it was really told. This brings me to problem #2: characters are introduced early on, with clear conflicts, and then aren't even mentioned until the last 60 pages of the book, when the main character realizes, "Oh, yeah! Why haven't I been thinking about these people the whole time?" I realize this is probably intended, but the effect was obnoxious, and made me want to quit the book..

The last third of the book was worth sticking it out, though. Bottom line: I love Lorrie Moore's short stories, and I think this novel would have worked better as a collection of stories about these characters.

catbrigand's review against another edition

1.0

I can’t believe this was written by the same person who wrote Like Life, one of my favorite short story collections. I absolutely hated this book.

smusie's review against another edition

4.0

I couldn't help comparing it to Freedom as I read--the white midwestern kids at college similarity, I guess. Its lightness of touch, the wit that sometimes just shimmers off the page, the wistfulness--all in all, I have to say I enjoyed it more than Freedom as a reading experience. The passivity of the main character was at times troubling, but after all that is the point. Better to keep those bright young people distracted by their college courses in sufism, winetasting and soundtracks to war movies, so that you can get their kid brothers to enlist to go die in pointless wars.

lastpaige111's review against another edition

5.0

Anything I can think to say about this book would be a spoiler, beyond that it's one of the most lyrical texts I've ever consumed, and consumed it I did, like sour candy. There.

book_concierge's review against another edition

3.0

Tassie Keltjin is a 20-year-old Midwest farm girl who is now away at college in a larger city than that in which she grew up. She gets a part-time job as a nanny to a couple who are eager to adopt a child; so eager, that she is hired before a child is placed with them, and she is asked to participate in the “parent” interviews. She has a roommate who is mostly absent - spending all her time at her boyfriend’s place - and a possible new romance with a Brazilian student she sits next to in “Intro to Sufism.” Her father grows organic, specialty potatoes that are all the rage in trendy restaurants as far away as Chicago. Her younger brother Robert is struggling in his senior year of high school and trying to decide whether to go into the Army, go to college, or attend the local truck driving school (the latter said only half jokingly), and he wants his sister’s advice.

If that plot summary doesn’t sound gripping, it is because it isn’t. This is more of a character study than a plot-driven story. Moore’s writing is wonderful in places; I kept reading aloud to anyone who would listen. She plays with words and images and completely entertained that part of my brain. But I kept wondering where the story was going.

There are some major things that happen to Tassie. And she is faced with issues of racism, terrorism in post 9/11 America, budding romance, loss of loved ones, etc. A lot of plot elements – big and small – seem to just … end, never to be mentioned again.

Spoiler

For example … Baby Mary-Emma is taken away, never to be heard from again. Reynaldo turns out to be not-only-NOT Brazilian, but probably a terrorist … or is he? Murph is nearly poisoned by a concoction made by Tassie’s nutso boss Sarah, apparently with the intent to poison her husband and/or his paramour … or not. The whole scene where she crawls into the casket with the remains of her brother is not just creepy, it’s completely unbelievable.

Okay then … what about character development? I like a character-driven novel. But I have to be able to connect to the character in some way, to understand her (even if I do not like her), to want to know what and how she thinks and feels and how her emotions and values affect her actions. I liked Tassie just fine. We do get a lot of her musings, but there is a lot of rambling in her thoughts and I don’t get a clear sense of who she is. I just didn’t connect with her strongly enough to overcome the lack of plot. As for the other characters in the book … I didn’t connect with them at all.

So I give it 3 stars primarily because I love Moore’s ability with words. Too bad she could not manage to give me a story line that engaged me and kept me wanting more Moore.

timna_wyckoff's review against another edition

3.0

another recommendation from amazon

small college town story...

Eh...didn't hate it, didn't love it. Parts were really interesting, but other parts were slow, odd, didn't seem to fit in....and I never quite cared enough about any of the characters.

aepstone's review against another edition

5.0

Beautifully written

tamilynn1313's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

mepresley's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

A coming-of-age story. I really enjoyed the narrator, Tassie--her sense of humor, her tendency to over-think and philosophize. In some ways, this is a retelling of Jane Eyre. A girl leaving her childhood behind takes a job as a childcare provider with a semi-mysterious employer. Rochester's ward is replaced by Edward (the name another nod to Jane Eyre) & Sarah's soon-to-be-adopted Mary- Emma. Their last name, Thornwood, invokes Thornfield Hall. Mary-Emma can also be viewed, however, as Bertha, significantly the middle name that Sarah gives her,--an Other who is

in some ways entrapped and victimized.

Mary-Emma's room is even in the attic of the Thornfield house. 

The employer's dark secret comes out into the open and our Tassie/ Jane figure parts ways with the household. Ultimately, where Jane Eyre ends with

Rochester and Jane reconnecting and the line, "Reader, I married him," A Gate at the Stairs ends with Edward calling Tassie to ask her out and Tassie telling us, "Reader, I did not even have coffee with him." LOL.

 

Sarah was also a compelling character, and I would have been interested to see (that part of) the story from her perspective, too. 

Moore explores racism and the post-9/11 world: Mary-Emma is half-black; Sarah starts a support group for other parents of minority children; Tassie dates a secret

Muslim extremist

; Tassie's brother, Robert, joins the military directly out of high school and is immediately sent to Afghanistan after Basic Training.