In the Deep Midwinter

"In the Deep Midwinter" is one of the most elegant and moving novels I have read in a long time. It wrestles with the subtleties of family relationships, the restrictive social norms of the 1950's, and the consequences of one's choices, but with an uncanny eye for the nuances and shades of human emotions. Clark's gift with language allows the reader to grasp immediately a feeling, a stream of thought, that, for most of us, would be nearly impossible to describe with any accuracy. The book is neither didactic nor polemical, but a sensitive and compassionate look at the pain human beings cause to the ones they love the most and the redemptive power that comes from struggling through loss. It moved me to tears. The members of my "guys' book group" were equally taken with it. While critically very well received when it came out in 1997, it never achieved the recognition it deserves. In my estimation, it should have been awarded a Pulitzer or National Book Award. A real gem.

In the Deep Midwinter certainly evokes the 50s -- the drinks before dinner, the roast beef and creamed corn, the wife waiting at home for the husband, the moral and legal prohibitions. But the issues it addresses are timeless: is silence the better part of love? is it wisdom or hypocrisy to look the other way? The prose is stunning and poetic. The characters are well-drawn. Charles' pointless evening snowed in at home and afraid of his own shadow while Anna is across town growing sicker could not have been more disturbing and revealing. I immediately picked up Mr. White's Confession by the same author and found it an entirely different book but equally as moving. Highly recommend them both.

This is a beautifully written book. I marveled over the wonderful language, subtle and full of wisdom. The author merges themes of love, betrayal and moral standpoints in the crisis of an illegal abortion. It does not remain in the 50s morality but transcends to universal themes with which we debate today.

I read about this author's new book Mr. White's Confession in Esquire, where Greil Marcus raved about it and about In the Deep Midwinter. So I went back and found this one in paperback. If you like John Cheever's books, or especially the novels about Mr. and Mrs. Bridge by Evan Connell (does anyone remember those?), this book is for you. It's set in the 1940s, but it doesn't feel stuffy or old--I disagree with a couple of the previous reviewers on that score. Clark uses the past to frame a story that has contemporary meaning. Two big things in this book--an abortion that one of the characters decides to have, and the crisis of religious faith in another--are treated dramatically and deeply. Because the book is set 50 years ago, those events have an enormity that today's novels might treat with irony, and so dismiss. I highly recommend this novel for patient readers.

I liked the way characters were developed in this story and the way the author dealt with them. I felt he saw and portrayed their frailities, yet wasn't condemning of even the weakest of them while not letting them off either. If you lived through the fifties, had parents who lived through the fifties, or if you are interested in understanding the fifties, then, I think, this book is for you.It's a bit staid and somber but not unbearably so. However, i would have liked a little more joy in the book. Surely the characters experienced some.. At least Anna and her mother. Even Richard must have known some quiet joy. Next time, I hope Robert Clark will put some spring and summer into his novel!