My first Anne Tyler. About to finish my second (Back when we were grown ups). Very similar themes, and not sure what the deal is with Baltimore. A mundane background for mundane lives, that have moments of contentment, acceptance, and in the latter, self realization? Also, what's the deal with dumpy girls? I didn't mind listening to this book as a way to get through my commute. I thought of giving up on it, but stuck with it. What I had a really hard time believing is why this guy was so obsessed with getting back the 2 or so days he was unconscious. He didn't fuss much about anything and his life was so dull, so why was it so important to know the details of his time after the accident? I just didn't get that at all. Maybe there's something about that that's supposed to be profound, and I'm just not getting it. The other thing I find really hard to believe is that this guy is only 61 and I got the sense he was getting ready to die. That is just not that old. Again, seeing a similar theme in "Back When...."; In that book, one of the main characters is 53 and they way he is painted, you think he was 79. Overall, Meh. A refreshing book, though maybe not uplifting, but nonetheless accurately reflecting life. Liam is a teacher, forced into retirement. On the night he moves into his smaller apartment, he is assaulted and left with a concussion. He becomes obsessed by his hope of retrieving the memory of happened to him during the time he was unconscious. His quest for memory leads him to begin examining his life and he becomes aware that he has more or less drifted through his existence. The title, Noah's Compass, refers to the Biblical story of how Noah drifted, rudderless, powered by faith and eventually reached his destination. At book's end, Liam's journey has not led him to dry land or to a rainbow overhead but presumably the discoveries he has made about the people whose lives he has shared leaves him somewhat more anchored that before the critical concussion which awakened him to the reality of his life.
What do You think about La Bussola Di Noè (2009)?
An easy read from Anne Tyler. Good observations on life and how people can behave.
—Lisa
Easy read, but uninteresting characters, depressing story, and lackluster writing.
—saramatt
Of course I enjoyed the book. It's an Anne Tyler after all.
—Kathy
Listened too while driving through Northern California
—deborah
