The Build-Up

THE BUILD-UP

by William Carlos Williams

 

Nomination: National Book Finalist 1953

 

Date Read: October 28, 2021

 

Having not read the previous two books in the Stecher trilogy, I was concerned It wouldn’t fully follow this novel. It turned out not to matter a bit. I was able to fall in love with this family just from this single dose. Joe and Gurlie are European immigrants looking for their piece of the American dream. While Gurlie is terse and abrupt, shattering any uncomfortable remarks with a hearty laugh, Joe is more mild-mannered and bends to Gurlie’s will more often than not.

 

Their daughters, Lottie and Flossie, are diametrically opposed. Not particularly close but not enemies either they both go about the business of growing up in their own unique ways. From an early age, Lottie shows clear promise as a musician, while Flossie is a typical little girl, running around with her friends and getting into minor trouble.  In their mid-teens, Gurlie decides to return to Norway to visit family and during that trip, Lottie is placed at a music conservatory in Germany. 

 

Later in their lives, Joe and Gurlie welcome a son, Paul, who runs around behind the scenes as Gurlie, having conquered society in their New Jersey town, Gurlie has her heart set on a farm, similar to the one she grew up on in Norway. After several years spent searching for the perfect place, they finally find their country house, although it needs a lot of work.

 

By this time, Flossie is engaged to Charles, a young and promising physician. Lottie remains single, back in the U.S. and impressing one and all with her incredible talent at the piano. Her talent, in fact, earns the family and invitation to a local artist’s studio who happens to have a Steinway. Ives is an odd man with a simmering disposition boiling just under the surface. Lottie is put off by him but Gurlie is insistent she should take him up on his proposition of painting Lottie’s portrait. Against, her better judgement, she complies with her mother’s wishes. Gurlie is, after all, very difficult to say no to.

 

As they make plans for their country house, the machinations of WWI are already under way and Joe being German begins to lose his tether to his adopted country. He feels more scrutinized than ever and the country he had learned to love begins to cast a wary eye his way. In short order, they lose Lottie to the arms of Ives in a scandal all of the tabloids dreuled over. They had already lost Flossie to matrimony and motherhood. They lose Paul to a tragic shotgun accident. They feel they are losing their country. Once again, it’s Joe and Gurlie forging ahead and living their lives finally for themselves on their ideal country farm.

I know Williams is known for his poetry and novels but I haven’t read anything by him until now. I adored this book with it’s simple charm and sturdy characters and depictions of family life that ring so true. This is a treasure that I would definitely read again.