Aloft

In this nuanced saga of a Long Island family, the Battles, Chang-Rae Lee gives us not only the development of a man in late mid-life, but a snapshot of suburban culture in the early 21st century. When I finished Aloft, I gave the book a hug, so dear had its narrator, Jerry Battle, and his family become to me, character flaws included. Lee has all the observational powers and literary acumen of a Jonathan Franzen or a young John Updike, but he's kinder, even when he's judging the parenting and philandering of his aged father or the post-modernist chatter of his daughter and her husband or the materialism of his daughter-in-law. He's not even crazy about his grandchildren, yet they don't come across as monsters. The piloting of his small plane across Long Island (but only in good weather, no risks for him) and the distance it brings is an excellent metaphor for the way he has lived his life until this story begins. But as the woman who cared for his children when his wife died dumps him, and his daughter comes home pregnant and ill, and his son's over-reaching development of the family business becomes apparent, Jerry Battle has to stop delegating and live his life. I was astonished that a young writer like Lee brought such empathy to a character close to my own age. This is a great book to give your grown children-or your parents.

Chang-Rae Lee has written an inspired novel that is eloquent in its lonely disengagement, which is what most of us experience, if we're honest, with our own heartbreaking families. I recommend this one for anyone who loved Jennifer Paddock's lyrical and similarly cathartic debut, A SECRET WORD.

Chang-Rae Lee's third novel brilliantly evokes the angst of a man stunted by his own passivity. Jerry Battle, by his own account, is not a fighter. He flies his airplane in only the fairest weather, and usually does so solo since from that height, with no one making demands on him, "everything looks perfect." On the ground, though, his life is less than perfect. He would rather let the woman he loves live with another man than express his true feelings for her. He turns from the implications of his son's extravagance in running the family landscape business, and he prefers to keep his distance from his gruff father. If Jerry sees the signs of imminent destruction, he keeps them to himself, for to bring them to the fore would be to require action on his part. In fact, the last time in his life when he took charge of his personal life, he pushed his wife and the mother of his children to her early death. All in all, he'd rather not know about the crises embroiling his family. However, when his adult daughter breaks some distressing news, all his carefully constructed aloofness begins to crumble.With wit and insight, Lee has created not only a memorable character, but an unforgettable novel. The interior nature of the first person narrative might disappoint readers looking for more pizzazz to the plot, but the intimacy created as Jerry leads the reader through his thoughts - on everything from his young wife's death to his father's "years of being a pigheaded domineering irascible bull in the china shop of life" to his tender. confused feelings for his son and daughter - makes up for the lack of action. The emotional depth Lee provides is stunningly full. Although the imagery can be heavy-handed with its references to flight and being grounded, Jerry's wry acknowledgment of these elements rescue them. The decadence of contemporary culture and the melting pot of Long Island provide strong foils to this novel essentially about a fifty-nine year old man coming of age.Admittedly, this excellent novel is not for everyone. Its detailed examination of mundane but revelatory moments might get tedious for some. However, for those who like the quiet realism and intimacy of a man's struggle against his own nature, this will be one of the best novels of 2004.

In "Aloft" Change-rae Lee has written a novel of family relationships and lack of communication. He has won numerous awards for his writing. The "New Yorker" selected Chang-rae Lee as one of the twenty best writers under forty.Gerry Battle, father to Theresa and Jack, son of Pop and lover of Rita has avoided conflict, emotion, and any interaction that did not specifically relate to him his entire life.This has gone unnoticed by him- he has just not observed any of the issues that are relevant to his family and in the end to himself. He tells the story of his life, giving the basic information of how he helped to build his family's construction business, the story of his marriage to Daisy, and his relationship with Rita. Gerry feels the best, the most free when he is flying his plane, not for his love of flying, but to get him out of the house. After his retirement, he sat around the house and made a mess- annoying Rita who went off to work every day. Finally out of desperation, she gave him a gift certificate for flying lessons. This awakened in Gerry a new love, an independence, he did not have to report to anyone or talk to anyone. Interestingly enough, Gerry, shows more emotion and love to the couple who own the plane that he buys, than he does with his family. A one time meeting, but he understands they are giving him an important part of their life. Something stirs inside of him.After twenty years, Rita has finally had enough. There is something missing - Gerry does not give of himself - the emotion she needs is not there. She leaves Gerry. Into this morass enters Theresa and her boyfriend, Paul- they have announced their engagement. Gerry does not know that Theresa is pregnant and very ill. Jack has pushed the family business into bankruptcy, and Pop is not at all happy in the retirement settlement. Rita is gone, and Gerry is now faced with all the family problems. Will Gerry rise to the occasion; can he filter his emotions to meet the needs of his family? This story is an example of today's generation. The lack of emotional connection, and the need to accomplish, leaving the children to grow up as best they can with all of the gadgets and toys at their disposal. The story of Gerry and his family leads us to examine our own relationships and our own family. Hopefully, we are able to disclose our feelings and needs with our loved ones, so we do not need to face our battles alone. Recommend heartily. prisrob

Jerome Battle, a self-described "average American guido," has managed to live most of his sixty years "above it all," never quite engaging with those around him or becoming emotionally intimate. On weekends he is aloft in his small plane, his "private box seat in the world and completely outside of it, too," flying alone around Long Island, observing the apparent orderliness of the landscape without the "pedestrian sea-level flotsam" of everyday life. Unfortunately, Jerry also lives his personal life the way he flies his plane, as if he's seeing it from a great distance. Numerous personal catastrophes, enough to unhinge a man more sensitive to his surroundings, are now occurring around and to Jerry and his family, but Jerry's long experience in avoidance allows him to remain disengaged from these events. Slowly, inexorably, the author develops the family's crises until they finally force themselves onto Jerry's personal radar screen, and he realizes that "I cannot stay at altitude much longer, even though I have fuel to burn." By focusing on character, especially that of Jerry, rather than plot, and telling the story from Jerry's point of view, author Lee has created enormous challenges for himself. He must engage the reader's interest in a man who is not really interested in much of anything--a man who does not see family emergencies as the dramatic and heart-wrenching events that they would be to other people and who has no real interest in changing. So successful is the depiction of Jerry's phlegmatic point of view that the reader, too, may not see these events as very compelling or dramatic until Jerry himself starts to respond to them. Yet Lee's novel succeeds in its characterization. His depictions of Jerry and his family strike chords of recognition as he explores the universal questions of how we become the people we are and how we affect the generations which follow. Beautifully written, and full of penetrating observations and felicitous turns of phrase, the novel is a sensitive and often painful exploration of the human condition, filled with characters who are utterly isolated at key turning points in their lives. Subtle in its development, and rich in imagery and obvious symbolism (Sir Harold Clarkson-Ickes's attempt to fly a balloon around the world, the Discovery Channel's story of the defeat of a lion king), this quietly complex novel by a prodigiously gifted author offers evidence that even a man as determined as Jerry Battle to remain above the fray must ultimately connect with the earth. Mary Whipple