One family is much wealthier than the other and helps the other couple out with a loan that they pay off over time. Are they “reporters, prophets, crazies, entertainers, preachers, judges, what” and “who appoints them? I could smell the woods, feel I was inside the Langs' house and had picnics with them and their extended family.

Their financial situation is very different - the Morgans live paycheck to paycheck, whereas the Langs have a privileged financial situation. Their struggles are the stuff of our everyday existence, but no less important or significant as a result. I hoped I would have more to say about this encompassing read, but I have the feeling I've already said enough. The Hogarth Press where I’m working, is in the heart of the literary world, with authors coming in all the time.And I guess that’s what Stegner wants us to reflect upon, the nature of friendship and marriage, the sacrifices as well as the rewards. Dónde la velocidad, el ruido, la fealdad, todo lo que nos hace quienes somos y nos hace reconocernos en la literatura? I can’t reproduce the real Sid and Charity Lang, much less explain them; and if I invented them I’d be falsifying something I don’t want to falsify. Charity and Sid Lang are a well-to-do couple, with two children, from the east, while Larry (who narrates the story) and Sally Morgan are a far poorer couple from the west.

But I feel as if I owe some form of expression to one of the pioneers of Graduate Art Programs who helped developed budding artists like myself who can only wish she gains an ounce of the creative momentum Larry had in this novel.This was only our second waltz, but I’m going to leave plenty of room on the dance card for his name. They are generous when Larry has early writing successes “where smaller spirits might let envy corrode liking”. The novel is dedicated to Stegner’s own wife, and maybe that’s why Sally isn’t given any rough edges. Perhaps the best way to express my feeling about this book is conflicted: I know many loved it and while I can see its qualities, I cannot say that I had more than an appreciation for it.

When they were younger, sometimes the academic couples camped around a hill like this, enjoying the sunset; sometimes Larry and Sid sat on a bench like this, just above the hill, and they discussed career disappointments). Crossing to safety chronicles the 35-year friendship ( amicitia) between two couples, which started in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1937. But Stegner succeeds, and with all the wisdom of a life lived (he was 78 at the time) he creates a timeless and convincing classic.As well as showing us the value of deep friendship, Crossing to Safety explores how these four friends cope with the challenges and setbacks that confront them during their lives.