Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
Look Homeward, Angel is a long, rambling book. It has chapters of normal narrative, chapters that are slice of life, and chapters that are almost like poetry. At the heart is the Gant family, first the patriarch and then shifting to his youngest son, Eugene, but all family members have their turn in the spotlight.
The characters are round and strong. They each have a little charm, a lot of foibles, and not much to recommend them. You don’t find yourself pulling for them, since they face no monumental troubles nor do they have any strong ambitions. Any momentary crisis is put in perspective by the length of the narrative. Their main trouble is their inability to get along with each other. Like all families, real or fictional, they know how to get under each others’ skin and delight in doing it.
I didn’t dislike Look Homeward, Angel but have to admit to having a prejudice for plot. I prefer to know where a story is starting and where it’s ending. This one started a couple generations back and ended in mid-air. It was interesting to read at times but not satisfying as an overall work.