Noah’s Compass
Posted on January 19th, 2010
From the incomparable Anne Tyler, a wise, gently humorous, and deeply compassionate novel about a schoolteacher, who has been forced to retire at sixty-one, coming to terms with the final phase of his life.Liam Pennywell, who set out to be a philosopher and ended up teaching fifth grade, never much liked the job at that run-down private school, so early retirement doesn’t bother him. But he is troubled by his inability to remember anything about the first night that he moved into his new, spare, and efficient condominium on the outskirts of Baltimore. All he knows when he wakes up the next day in the hospital is that his head is sore and bandaged.His effort to recover the moments of his life that have been stolen from him leads him on an unexpected detour. What he needs is someone who can do the remembering for him. What he gets is—well, something quite different.We all know a Liam. In fact, there may be a little of Liam in each of us. Which is why Anne Tyler’s lovely novel resonates so deeply.
Noah’s Compass
- Published on: 2010-01-05
- Released on: 2010-01-05
- Format: Deckle Edge
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 288 pages
Customer Reviews:
A Slice of Life
I appreciate that Anne Tyler’s novels are not epic, earth shattering adventures where life problems are solved and all ends are neatly tied up in a compact answer package. Her stories are peeks into everyday lives where the reader is allowed to observe and relate to people who are trying to navigate their lives in the midst of relatives, jobs, and everyday occurances.
Her latest novel, Noah’s Compass will not disappoint if you enjoy reading this kind of book. There is normalacy as well as quirkiness not only in her main character Liam Pennywell but also with the people who are in his life. It is fun to see how Liam goes about trying to remember what happened to him his first night in his new apartment. I like the character descriptions as well as the description of Liam’s day-to-day routines.
The end of the book was very satisfying to me in that it may not be what I either wanted to happen or thought would happen but turned out to be what should happen.
Fall In Love With Tyler’s Characters!
Noah didn’t need a compass, a rudder or a sextant because he wasn’t going anywhere; he just bobbed along trying to stay afloat. Liam Pennywell, the 60 year old narrator of Anne Tyler’s latest novel, “Noah’s Compass”, has been getting by without a compass for years. Alone, unemployed, a little lonely, closed off, thinking his life is behind him, Liam has what we call a “life-changing experience”. In fact, he has two of them; one is physical and the other metaphorically dangles in front of him his much needed “compass” …if he’ll only recognize it.
To open an Anne Tyler novel is to open yourself to care about her characters and “Noah’s Compass” is no different. I fell in love with Liam Pennywell and Eunice Dunstead, (a “rememberer”). Even Tyler’s less loving characters are appealing through their all-too-human faults. Liam’s stern older sister, his brisk ex-wife, and his three daughters, are all endearing in their own way. One never wishes evil on a Tyler character because they all reflect back something of ourselves. Her characters are familiar, archetypal and “Tyler-esque”; in all her novels we see people who are stumbling around in the dark. They don’t even grope for their identities and their life purposes, those things just seem to fall upon them like odds and ends off an attic shelf.
One quirky character (a redundant term in Anne Tyler’s world!) misquotes: “Those that forget the past are doomed to regret the present.” Eventually Liam does take some ownership of his past mistakes, but will he use the insight to change his present? Will Liam wake up from his malaise and start living a full life? Will he grab his last chance at love? Will his life change? Should it? Is contentment enough?
The worst thing about a new Anne Tyler novel is the wait for the next one. In the meantime, I’ll re-read “Noah’s Compass” and several other of my favorite Tyler novels and I’ll love them as much as I ever did, and glean new insights from each.
Currently Noah’s Compass
Relate Links:
US: Buy cheap book online > Noah’s Compass
UK: Bestseller Books & Reviews (UK) > Noah’s Compass
Tags: Anne Tyler, Character Descriptions, Compass, Condominium, Early Retirement, Everyday Lives, Fifth Grade, Final Phase, First Night, Midst, New Apartment, Noah, Novels, Outskirts, Pennywell, Philosopher, Private School, Schoolteacher, Slice Of Life, Unexpected Detour
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