From The Terrace

FROM THE TERRACE
by John O'Hara

 Nomination: National Book Finalist 1959

 Date Read: April 28, 2006

 From The Terrace was a delicious novel and I cherished every page. Harking back to the gilded age, this novel focuses on how events influence a person's character and, conversely, how a person's character influences events.

 The main character, Alfred, is a man of high ideals and integrity yet, as with all human beings, incredibly flawed. For as much plot as there is in these 912 pages, I cannot help but conclude that this novel serves to chronicle the America O'Hara witnessed in his early years - from eastern Pennsylvania and New York, to the Hollywood scene in California. Each character is so richly drawn that you cannot help but feel you have known someone exactly like each of these at some point in your life.

 While some may feel familiar with this tome through the movie adaptation, the movie tells less than half of the true story O'Hara intended. For the full scope of O'Hara's intentions, you must read From The Terrace to fully grasp that there is a bit of each of these characters within all of us, the good and the bad, and that we are all, to some degree, a product of our families and the generations that have come before.

 Looking Forward: Ten North Frederick

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