The Rags of Time

The Seasons

by Maureen Howard

The magnificent conclusion of Maureen Howard's ambitious quartet of novels.

Maureen Howard is one of America's most esteemed authors, beloved both for the lyricism of her writing and her dazzling intellect. The Rags of Time is a moving meditation on memory and imagination that, in its interplay of history, politics, art and life, explores the very necessity of telling stories. Focusing on a New York writer with an ailing heart as she reviews her own history and the lives she imagined in her fiction, the novel interlaces the sorrows and consolations of private moments with the undeniable memory of the public record. The result is nothing less than a deeply profound exploration of American life.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Ebooks

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Maureen Howard is the author of seven novels, including Grace Abounding, Expensive Habits, and Natural History, all of which were nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award. 'Facts of Life' is an award-winning autobiography. She is a 1952 Smith College alumnae and has taught at a number of American universities, including Columbia, Princeton, Amherst, and Yale, and was recently awarded the Academy Award in Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

[James Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been raining here for two days. The splendid golden fall depicted in Maureen Howard's The Rags of Time is gone, replaced by raw weather and a lowered, starless sky.

This, autumn, is the fourth volume of Howard's tetralogy about the four seasons. I can't imagine anyone making sense of it if they haven't read the three previous volumes. I know she's a challenging novelist, and I'd reread the previous 3 novels this year, but I still found it very difficult.

All the characters who'd appeared before return in one form or another. Louise and Artie from A Lover's Almanac play a principal role. One addition seems to be an aging writer--perhaps closely modeled on Howard herself--engaged in her own history, immersed in memory. History is Howard's focus. She dedicates one long section to Frederick Law Olmsted, the creator of Central Park which sits in the middle of both the city and the novel. To each character it's an Eden of sorts. I think discovery is a theme as well. The novel begins on Columbus Day. References to him and to Genoa continue to the end of the novel. The elderly writer lives in a building along the edge of the park called El Dorado. Associations are made with this and with Sir Walter Raleigh's search for the fabled city in South America. But I'm not sure the modern characters discover anything. I was never even sure from whose point of view a particular narrative section was spun out.

Expecting redemption, I noticed only a winding down. Increasing cold. A chill wind ruffling the waters of The Lake behind the Bethesda Fountain.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

What did I just read? I started this book 5 years ago and had to put it down because I couldn't follow it. I picked it up again this year, and was still unable to follow what was happening. I forced myself to get to the end, hoping that maybe things would come together and it would all make sense. I was just as confused as in the beginning. The prose is all over the place, and I often wondered what a sentence was even trying to convey. The book moved in and out of storylines in a way that was difficult (pretty much impossible) to follow. Please don't be like me and trudge to the end, it doesn't get any better.

[Paschalis]

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[Mandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made the mistake of trying to come into this series with this book, not realising that it was part of a series. I just couldn't engage with the story and the characters. Perhaps I need to start from book 1 and work back to this title but I don't have the patience to persevere with a book that's not working for me.

[Kathy Reback]

Rare for me but after two tries, I gave up on this book. In fairness to the writer, with whom I was unfamiliar, this is the fourth book in her "seasons' series and had I read any of the previous three, the references might be more clear. Instead I found the stream of consciousness narration of the older lady to be self-indulgent and impenetrable.

[Betty]

I abandoned this book: too disjointed to follow. The narrative moves from one character to another but there was not enough difference between the voices (or other helpful clues) to follow the switch. Maybe starting with the first of the quartet, A Lover's Almanac, would help. Until then, I'm moving on.

[Lucinda Fleeson]

Just beginning. . an end of life book by a beautiful writer. . .

[Cynthia]

Odd. Just a bunch of disjointed sentences and random thoughts. Made little or no sense.