A Death in the Family

La mejor obra leída este año, por ahora. Difícil de superar, esta descripción de lo que supone la muerte de lo que amas en los que se quedan. Lo que hace la religión, a quién le sirve su consuelo y a quién no. Como vives la muerte si eres un adulto ya domesticado o si eres un niño en proceso de aprendizaje. La estructura de la obra con esos textos en cursiva, con todo lo que pasa por la cabeza de un niño de unos 7 u 8 años, situados donde el editor quiso ya que la obra estaba a medio rematar, no creo que varíen las intenciones del autor, que se salta una de las convenciones principales del escritor, no describas, muestra. Agee, no sé si por ser periodista, lo cuenta todo. Y aún así no es aburrido, ni pesado. Es show more sorprendete. Un milagro. show less

A beautiful, lyrical, poetic book that's simply a joy to read. Mainly taking place over a just few days, it paints a picture of a family before and after a much loved husband and father dies in a car accident. In addition, the book is a vibrant portrayal of 1915 Tennessee, when cars were beginning to take prominence in the cities and rural people still relied on horse power.

Much of the book is from the perspective of the son, Rufus, six years old at the time, who is a very observant and sensitive child, and very close to his father. Agee really puts us in the mind of a young boy trying to understand big concepts like death, religion, and his family's reactions to his father's death, in particular his mother's. Other perspectives are show more given and it feels like one of the themes is how we struggle to understand each other and, often unsuccessfully, try to decipher the thoughts of another.

The book intersperses almost stream of consciousness sections with straight-forward portrayals of scenes. Some of these are just stunning, such as in part 2 when Rufus's mother and great-aunt await news of her husband's accident and later her parents and brother sitting with her to console her. That the author can make these quiet, simple moments so engrossing, is amazing.

There has been some controversy over the years regarding how the book was edited as Agee himself died in 1955 before he could publish it. I can't imagine the book being much more perfect as is. It won the Pulitzer Prize, was adapted into a popular play and movie and has become beloved by generations of readers. show less

There are good reads that satisfy and are thoughtful and have lovely writing. And then there are the truly great reads that leave the reader longing to start the book over and reread it just as soon as one turns to the final paragraph. A Death in the Family is a great read.The story is very simple. Jay Follet, the dad and the husband in the family, receives a call from his brother that his father is very ill and is near death. Jay goes to be with his father and on his return is killed in an automobile accident.But there is so much more to this book that makes it a great read. The writing is beautiful, filled with wonderful words and phrases that feel fresh and new without feeling artificial. Agee gets inside each character's head so show more that each character seems unique and genuine. The reader is left with the mysteries of the story that so often occur in real life: Had Jay been drinking when the accident took place? Was Jay's father really seriously ill and, if not, why did Jay's brother call? What will happen to Jay's wife and children? How will the accident change their lives?A must read. show less

'nobody that ever lived is specially privileged; the axe can fall at any moment on any neck'
By sally tarbox on 3 April 2013
Format: Paperback
A heartbreaking work about the first few days after a death, from the point of view of a wife and her two small children.
For the first third of the book, Agee lets us into normal family life prior to the accident. The reader is constantly aware of the dreaded axe about to fall, and as good natured father Jay is called out in the middle of the night to visit his own sick father, the reader is aware of hints and symbols:
"It was just nearing daybreak when he came to the river; he had to rap several times on the window of the little shanty before the ferryman awoke."
The uncertainty in the immediate show more aftermath ;the confusion in the children's minds; religious dissent between family members (as their deeply Catholic mother struggles to maintain her faith: ' "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory", she said with almost vindictive certitude.')
Wonderfully written and with hope amid the tragedy... show less

Just finished reading A Death in the Family James Agee's novel for one of my face to face book groups.

Knoxville Tennessee. 1915. Husband and Wife and two small children and their extended family. Father goes out one night for a drive in his "Tin Lizzie" and dies on the way back. That’s it.

Hadn't read Agee before this and was just blown away by the craftsmanship of the writing - beautiful, simple, intense, poetic.

He has the gift to be able to show at once the grown up writer telling the story and the six year old boy living through it.

Don't think I've ever read a book that so clearly delineated the mind of a child dealing with all the strangeness and terror of a child's life.

Nice to read a book that shows a person of faith - a show more devout Southern Christian - honestly, simply and without caricature or grotesquery.

He gets the voices of the people right too -- what is said and what is left unsaid.

The last scene of the boy going to his father's funeral is haunting and memorable.

Glad I read it. What a writer. Wow. show less

I have never seen the portrait of grief drawn so vividly and sporadically as in Agee’s posthumous novel, A Death in the Family. Every space, light, distance, and shadow weigh heavy against every ounce of feeling derive from the minutiae of everyday gestures and conversations; and they weigh heaviest once they turn into a series of memories. Since this novel does not rely on a rich narrative but more on the inevitable wake of death, it painfully but genuinely communicates—in often repetitive but differently structured phrases—a confrontation with mortality through its band of characters. The children are confused, the others conflicted, one is ladened with guilt, the wife is submerged both in emptiness and a roller coaster of show more emotions because in A Death in the Family, no months or years roll by but a day by day painstaking coping until the funeral. But as much as Agee’s prose is stunning it feels incomplete with some characters underused and underdeveloped. The italicised parts which are interspersed between the present seem out of place, even dull and negligible. Whilst its religious themes are also appreciable I can’t help but notice how unpolished they are that they just meddle with the novel’s intent. It is always questionable to publish an author’s leftover works after a sudden death. They often look like a mosaic created from whatever scraps are available. This is noticeable in A Death in the Family but how palpably slow-moving this all is gives bereavement the potential to immortalise; its mourners surrounded by its many arms in whispers of gnawing thoughts of the departed. For this they live on. show less

James Agee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a stark, realistic portrayal of the searing emotional pain in human response to tragedy. The novel takes place over just a few days, as a close-knit family copes with the sudden loss of a loved one. FIrst, there is the waiting -- knowing an accident has occurred, but not yet knowing the outcome: This heaviness had steadily increased while he sat and waited and by now the air felt like iron and it was almost as if he could taste in his mouth the sour and cold, taciturn taste of iron. Well what else are we to expect, he said to himself. What life is. He braced against it quietly to accept, endure it, relishing not only his exertion but the sullen, obdurate cruelty of the iron, for it was the show more cruelty which proved and measured his courage. Funny I feel so little about it, he thought. (p. 136)

When the death is discovered, Agee delves deep into the souls of his characters and their varied responses. The adults try to explain the loss to two young children. One of the children, a 6-year-old boy, meets up with children on their way to school and uncomfortably revels in his celebrity status. Some of the adults become stronger in their grief, and take care of those who have fallen apart: "That's when you're going to need every ounce of common sense you've got," he said. "Just spunk won't be enough; you've got to have gumption. You've got to bear it in mind that nobody that ever lived is specially privileged; the axe can fall at any moment, on any neck, without any warning or any regard for justice. You've got to keep your mind off pitying your own rotten luck and setting up any kind of a howl about it. You've got to remember that things as bad as this and a hell of a lot worse have happened to millions of people before and that they've come thorugh it and that you will too. You'll bear it because there isn't any choice -- except to go to pieces." (p. 149)

This book is well written, and immensely powerful. Agee takes the reader deep inside the hearts and minds of his characters; I could identify with everyone in some way. He plumbs the depths of emotion, such that the book must be set aside every so often to work through feelings evoked by the text. I was most touched by the children in this story: the boy and his younger sister. Their emotional needs were largely ignored. The adults underestimated their ability to grasp the situation. Some wanted to exclude the children from the rituals of mourning; others took them under their wing and allowed them to grieve in their own ways. Agee writes from his own experience, having experienced a similar tragedy at a young age himself.

While it was a very sad book, I am glad to have read it -- it will occupy a place in my heart for a long, long time. show less