This novel was recommended to as a few peoples' "best of all times" in contemporary fiction, so I gave it a try. I did like it, quite a bit. It is a rather simple story of the friendship between two couples (protagonist Larry and Sally; and their friends Sid and Charity), from the '30s through to 1972. But I felt, almost as importantly, it had a lot to say on the institution of marriage and the foundations of family. I had sort of a difficult time really "liking" Larry and Charity, so at times, this book became a struggle, to care about what happened to them. However, the writing, language, observations are all so good, that was easy to get swept back up in all when I did pick it back up. There is a quiet beauty here, a lot about loving imperfect people and accepting them as they are. The end chapters try to tackle way too much material about life and death, with huge jumps in time/space, but having just lost a dear friend to cancer, much of it felt incredibly real. This book does resonate with you a bit, but overall I found it "good" not "great." ( )

Of course there are a multitude of novels out there that explore the complexities of friendship but I don't feel many probe as deep and perceptibly as Stegner does here. This story follows two couples over several decades, as they deal with life's highs and unexpected lows. The author's beatific prose is a joy to behold and he has created a wonderful character in Charity Lang, who along with the indomitable Olive Kitteridge, are two of my favorite literary creations this year! Here is a lovely description of Charity:
"Our last impression of her as she turned the corner was that smile, flung backward like a handful of flowers." ( )

So I read this book in Boise just before moving to Madison to start grad school. I had purchased it at Pioneer books in Provo (I think that's what the place with the millions of books and the tall strange owner who wears sandals with socks) a few years ago and then had never read it. I was at my parents' house one day when I decided to go out to their garage and try to find a couple of interesting books to read. I just felt like I should read this book, and I did. I felt like I had been purposefully directed to the book at a specific time in my life when it was most useful to me. It tells the story of a young married man beginning grad school in Madison, Wisconsin and his life-long friendship with another couple that he and his wife met there. Our first day in Madison, the EQ had tons of people arrive to help us move it, and we stayed up late talking with a couple named the Stock's. They were really really good to us the first few days as we were getting settled. A couple of nights later I mentioned to Dave that I had just read Crossing to Safety and they reminded me of that family. He confessed to having read the book a few months before when they were moving to Madison and having the same sensation. So this book, although worthy enough in its own right of five stars, has a special sentimental and deeply personal resonance for me. ( )

There are a handful of books I can read over and over again. These are rarely given as Christmas gifts (an odd practice, but one my children find amusing and typical of their father), and when they are, they are quickly purchased again and restored to the place of honor on the shelf beside my bed. This is one of those books. I find it almost a perfect book in its humanity and insight into a long-time friendship. My wife and I have similar, somewhat difficult friends, with whom we have shared nearly 35 years of Thanksgiving dinners. It is hard to imagine what our lives would have been like without them. Not so interesting or thought-provoking, certainly, to name just one difference. Anyway, this is one book I would take to a desert island and read over and over again, enjoying it each and every time as if I were reading it for the first time. ( )

One of my personal favorites in contemporary fiction. rwj ( )

I have never set foot in the USA and sometimes struggle to relate to the culture. However, this book, although distinctly American, somehow resonated. With enviable skill, Wallace Stegner deals with the really meaningful experiences most of us will have - family, new beginnings, upheavals, bad luck, good luck, illness, competition, conflict etc. The sense of purpose and of a whole new world opening up which comes with university life is also captured in this book, together with the atmosphere and conviviality of parties that typically celebrate that community. I could relate to that, even though I went to university at the bottom of Africa. To us though, Cambridge is in England and Hanover is in Germany! However, I have a friend in Madison, Wisconsin, which helps to provide a link. ( )

Loved it. Forming lasting friendships as a couple is a challenge. This novel makes it seem possible. Poetic use of the English language. ( )

I found the storyline dull and frustrating. The only thing that got me through was the poetic quality of Wallace Stegner's writing. He really is beautiful with words...but I found some his metaphors a bit too long. It often took me out of the story. I knew and felt like I was reading a book. I definitely didn't get lost in the story. ( )

Full of wisdom. ( )

It was a bit dated and much too cutesy, but he wrote well enough to get me through to the depressing ending. Gotta stop reading books about old people dying.

A wonderful book about growing older and the power of marriage and friendships. I had a stong personal identity with the characters, their values, the way they chose to live their lives. ( )

Great story. Great writing. ( )

This book is a gift to everyone who is a friend or has a friend - basically everyone. It is the beautifully-written story of two couples who remain close despite changes in physical location and life-altering situations. Wallace Stegner writes of each couple's unfailing courtesy toward and compassion for the other in truly memorabe prose. The reader is able clearly to see each person individually, as part of a couple and as a member of their quartet. I truly hated to see this book end and I already look forward to reading it again and again. ( )

I wanted to live in this book! ( )

Crossing to Safety, by the late Wallace Stegner, is an eloquent novel that explores the complicated nature of long term friendship. The Langs (Sid and Charity) and the Morgans (Larry and Sally) meet and embark on a 40 year friendship that is sustained through births, illnesses, job loss, cross country moves, career success, envy, generosity, thwarted ambition, and failure.

The story is told from the perspective of Larry Morgan, who, of the two men, is the more accomplished author, but the less financially stable. The couples meet when Larry and Sid, working together at a Wisconsin university, attend a party with their wives. The wives, both pregnant and due around the same time, are immediately taken with each other. The husbands also have much in common and have great respect for each other. The relationship of the foursome deepens over time and becomes more like family than merely friendly.

Crossing to Safety is honest and human. It unfolds slowly, meandering through reminiscences and meditations on what it means to be a writer, the power of friendship, the depths of love and marriage, and the realization that even your closest friends and loved ones are ultimately unknowable. No one, not even a very close friend, can ever know what truly goes on inside another person’s marriage.

The title of the book comes from the following quote by Robert Frost:
“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.”

I’m not a poet and I’m not sure how to analyze that, but I think crossing to safety as stated here refers to what remains of a relationship after it is over, after death.

Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1972. Crossing to Safety was Stegner’s final novel before his death in 1993.

I enjoyed Crossing to Safety. It is a quiet novel with no great dramatic action, no affairs between the couples or big plot twists. It is simply an extremely well-written, mature and beautiful tribute to enduring friendship. ( )

The best book about friendships I have ever read. This is one of those books I'd take to a desert island. I don't think I would ever get tired of reading it. ( )

Often pegged as a Western Writer, Stegner shows he is beyond categorization here. This novel takes place entirely in the Eastern United States.

Two couples meet, and share their lives. Without getting excessively voyeuristic, Stegner plays out the tragedy of their relationship, as he brings to the fore the weaknesses apparent in all relationships.

This is a novel about relationships, so if you are looking for action scenes, you will be very disappointed. If you want to the inner workings of Friendship and marriage, and don't mind a slower pace, this is a delightfully enlightening novel. This is not Stegner's best (I would put either Angle of Repose or Pretty Little Live Things in that category) but it is head and shoulders above the lot you find in the fiction section in most bookstores. ( )

Wonderful! A beautifully-written book about the relationships that make our lives worth living, about the people we cannot live without. Wallace Stegner takes a topic that may not sound all that interesting from a distance - the friendship between two couples over the course of 40 some years - and without gimmicks or shouting makes it a story you Absolutely. Must.Keep.Reading. The main characters will fascinate you with their strengths and weaknesses, dependencies and generosity.

Highly, highly recommended.

3367. Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner (read Nov. 10, 2000) This is a 1987 book which I think I read because of favorable mentions on book board. While the characters are "good people" I could not get much interested in them. I thought the other Stegner books I've read (Angle of Repose and The Spectator Bird) were more worthwhile than this thinly-plotted work, which I thought a little syrupy, tho Stegner is a master with words. ( )

A beautiful, slow book. I expect this would be of interest primarily to people who can relate to the academic lifestyle and its trials. ( )

The story of two couples, Sally and Larry, and Sid and Charity. Larry and Sid were on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, in the 1930s. The novel tells of their lives and friendship, coming from very different backgrounds. It is told from Larry's perspective, looking back through the years ( )

Second reading. Positive and yet not ... Not a complete abandonment to "there is no meaning" but no definition of that meaning either. Liked the book - thought provoking.

A young couple starting out in his new career as a Professor becomes friends wirh another couple. This story talks about thier life long fiendship. With a better appreiciation of marriage abd relationships. ( )

A decades-long friendship between two couples. Near-perfect literary, elationship-focused writing. Last third lags a bit. ( )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_... ( )