The Pursuit of Happiness By Douglas Kennedy

Manhattan, Thanksgiving Eve, 1945. The war was over, and Eric Smythe's party was in full swing. All his clever Greenwich Village friends were there. So too was his sister Sara -- an independent, canny young woman, starting to make her way in the big city. And then in walked a gatecrasher, Jack Malone -- a U. S. Army journalist just back from a defeated Germany, and a man whose world-view did not tally with that of Eric and his friends. Set amidst the dynamic optimism of postwar New York and the subsequent nightmare of the McCarthy witch-hunts, The Pursuit of Happiness is a great tragic love story; a tale of divided loyalties, decisive moral choices, and the random workings of destiny. The Pursuit of Happiness

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The story starts with Kate at her mother’s funeral and a stranger who appears at the funeral. Then it goes back to tell is who this woman is, why she came to the funeral and what her interest is in Kate. I liked the way the story went back to fill in the background and history of Sara Smythe and Jack Malone.
This is a story of choices and consequences that have far reaching effects on others. The characters are complex and well portrayed. Even if I didn’t agree with their choices, it was easy to understand how they arrived at them. The writer has a good understanding of what motivates people and the way they will react to events. Three quotes that particularly appealed to me and in a way sum up the novel for me are:
‘I think that is the hardest thing about bereavement – coming to terms with what might have been, if only you’d been able to get it right.’
‘Forgiveness is the hardest thing in life and the most necessary. But it’s still the hardest.’
‘Pride is the most blinding and self-indulgent of all emotions.’
At times I became bit bored with all the McCarthy information, yet it was essential to the story. It is the characters that make the novel memorable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be interested to try another of this author’s books.
656 Awful preppy girl meets awful smug guy, falls in love, then spends the rest of the novel reflecting on it over coffee. It's an 'epic' - so expect awful kids to grow up into awful people too.
There is a section where the nightmare of Kate's domestic situation is played out as Gothic melodrama in a tiny village, under the watchful eye of the mother in law from hell, which is fantastic; as is the part exposing the pomposity and callousness of the HUAC. After that, it's all downhill.
We are constantly told how funny the three central characters are but, believe me, they hide it well. My biggest beef though is with Kate - she writes one short story (one) and is compared to Hemingway; people remember it for years - she even lands an internationally read column on the back of it. If she could only have mustered up the energy to write one more (or maybe just a poem) they would have given her a Pulitzer, but she was too busy, y'know, reflecting profoundly about life.
A literary heavyweight that lacks punch. 656 O carte cat o viata de om! Ce este viata pana la urma? O suma de incercari, o sumedenie de alegeri si decizii care ne pot schimba irevocabil destinul. Cartea asta este despre viata a doi oameni atat de perfecti impreuna si atat de tragici si tristi separat. Mi-a lasat un gust amar povestea lor de viata. De cele mai multe ori i-am judecat, mai ales pe Sara, pentru ca in general nu am inteles deciziile ei. Dar in anii aceia imediat dupa razboi, ma intreb cine oare ar fi avut curajul sa procedeze altfel? M-a impresionat faptul ca in ciuda tuturor jocurilor destinului, ei au avut parte de o iubire cum doar putinor oameni le este dat sa traiasca. O iubire care i-a si pedepsit pe fiecare in parte, ceea ce m-a facut sa ma intreb daca nu cumva ar fi mai bine sa ai parte de mai putina dragoste dar sa ai o viata mai tihnita si sa gasesti placere si frumusete in lucruri marunte. Cel mai mult insa, m-a indignat Dorothy. De ce ai alege sa traiesti astfel? Dar fiind in anii '40 probabil optiunile ei erau aproape inexistente, si totusi...
Nu degeaba se spune ca suntem suma tuturor alegerilor noastre. Am suferit pentru Sara si m-am tot pus in locul ei, ma intrebam mereu daca eu as fi procedat altfel si m-a impresionat putere ei de a o lua mereu de la capat. Va recomand cartea, mi-a placut mult. 656 Douglas Kennedy es un autor de los que acomplejan al lector. Muestra tal dominio del lenguaje, de la trama, de los sentimientos que siempre me resulta un reto y además de los difíciles porque también es un maestro del detalle. Qué gran trabajo hacen sus traductores, por cierto.
Una historia real, creíble, dura e incomprensible a veces. Muy recomendable. 656 Емоционално опустошаваща . Думите ми няма да са достатъчни , за да изразя всичко онова , което извика в ума ми тази книга. И в душата ми. Много ме разстрои и ме разплака. Много пъти.
По думите на автора -Плачът е самосъжаление. А самосъжалението не решава нищо.

Невероятни диалози както винаги.

Човек всъщност никого не познава истински. Мислиш , че познаваш някого, накрая той направо те изумява. Особено ако е човек , с когото те свързва любов.

Никога не си поставяй за цел да се влюбиш.

Мъжете са винаги десет пъти по-привлекателни, когато просто седят и слушат.

В момента , в който повериш своето щастие на друг човек, ти застрашаваш самата възможност да бъдеш щастлив.Защото елиминираш фактора лична отговорност от уравнението.Ти казваш на другия човек: направи ме завършена,пълноценна,желана ,обичана.Но истината е , че единствено самият човек може да накара себе си да се чувства завършен и пълноценен.

Любовта не трябва да бъде форма на зависимост......

Толкова е странно да откриеш с колко много неща в живота можеш всъщност да се справиш.

Хората никога не могат да ти създадат чувство за сигурност, когато имаш нужда от него.

Когато се стигне до прошка,може думите да имат значение,но жестът е всичко.Защото всеки жест поражда друг жест.Защото ,когато прощаваш на другия имаш право да простиш и на самия себе си.

Животът е нещо дълбоко несъвършено.Никога не постъпваме правилно докрай.Повечето от нас тръгват с добри намерения.Опитваме се да направим най-доброто, което можем.Но толкова често губим ориентация и подвеждаме другите.Какво друго можем да направим,освен да опитаме отново?

Трябваше ми нов прочит на книгата, за да мога да осмисля или поне да опитам , всичко онова , което се съдържа в нея.
Много ме разстрои отново.
Няма смисъл да преписвам всяка една мисъл, която ме накара да се замисля, ужасно много са .
Ще продължавам да си я припомням. 656

Reading this book I fell in love with Kennedy's writing... And bought the rights for his first (and only so far) Serbian edition... Everybody who read the book fell in love as well... but as it usually happens, when I left the publisher nobody continued to take care of my author... His books are big bestsellers in France as well and many of his novels made it to big screen...
MUST READ! One of my most valuable editorial picks... 656 I really enjoyed this book. At times, it felt a bit light and predictable, but it dealt with a very interesting time and place, and Sara was a great character. Also, unlike many books I have read, it got better and more complex as the story developed. I often find that books start well and then fizzle out. This book certainly did not follow that pattern. I think I will read another book by Kennedy sometime soon. 656 4.5 stars

Before reading The Pursuit of Happiness I had almost no idea about the American political landscape of the 1950's and though I may have heard of McCarthyism I certainly couldn't have said what it was. Though this theme was prevalent in Douglas Kennedy's novel I wouldn't describe it as a political novel. At its core it was a tragic love story, written in a most compelling manner and I was fabulously impressed by this reading experience.

The story opens in 2001 at Kate's mothers funeral. Naturally she's not happy on this day but she struck me as a generally unhappy character. As a single mother, overworked with a strained relationship with her ex husband and her brother she was described as having ...a real talent for unhappiness. So, when approached by a mysterious stranger at the funeral it was hardly surprising that Kate was uninterested, even angry, at what this stranger - Sara- had to say.

The vast majority of the story was from Sara's perspective and we got to know her and her brother Eric quite intimately. Sara's story opened on the night in 1945 when she met Jack, the man who was to be the love of her life. This was no straight forward love story though as the very next day Jack was shipped out on a nine month stint with the American army. Sara was prepared to wait but was eventually forced to accept Jack had other ideas. As her life went into freefall Eric stood by and supported her. As the story progressed we heard about Sara's life, the people she loved and those she loathed. We heard about her losses but also her successes. And we heard about her enduring love for Jack.

Jack's story was complex and thanks to some unfortunate timing and his own moral standards he found himself locked into the role of husband - but not to the woman he loved.

Eric's story was one of lows, highs, and yet more lows. At the peak of his success in both his work and personal life Eric found himself on one of McCarthy's blacklists and his life began to unravel. Given the choice of naming names or losing everything Eric made the ultimate sacrifice and remained true to his own ethics but not everyone acted that way. ...That was the worst thing about the blacklist - the way it scared everyone away from acts of common good, and appealed to the most basic of human instincts: personal survival ...at all costs.


The denouement brought all the stories together beautifully. Personally I was invested in these characters and wanted only the best for them but I fear my pursuit of their happiness seemed futile. This was very much a story about the lasting impacts of our chance encounters and the choices we make. It was a story of betrayals, the importance of forgiveness and the consequences of withholding that forgiveness.

I'm not sure what else Douglas Kennedy has written but I'd be more than willing to tackle any of his other novels if this was indicative of his standard. Highly recommended reading. 656 Douglas Kennedy writes women so well; he writes about how women think, like a female writer does. There is no insult meant in that comment. A wonderful story set in 1940-50s America; this novel will teach you something about McCarthyism if you are unaware of that shameful time in USA.

New Years Eve, a party at struggling playwright Eric's apartment. A gatecrasher Jack, an army journalist looks across the room at Sara, Eric's sister, and so begins a powerful but tragic love story. It is not a soggy romance, simply a great love story. This is a story I could see done like a black and white movie. Just doing this short review years after I first read this makes me decide to read this novel again (for about the tenth time).

My first Douglas Kennedy book and I've been hooked on this writer ever since. For me, this novel is so a 5★ 656 4,5
Menudo novelón. Que un libro de más de 700 páginas no se te haga aburrido tiene, para mí, un mérito brutal. Decir que Douglas Kennedy escribe bien es quedarse corta (él está a otro nivel) por lo que me costará empezar nueva lectura. Los personajes femeninos me han parecido increíbles; todas son distintas pero tienen muchísima personalidad, sobretodo Sara.
Douglas Kennedy nos regala decenas de frases y párrafos bonitos; de esos que te hacen reflexionar o pensar, y que a mí tanto me gustan.
Dicho todo esto, ¿por qué no ponerle entonces cinco estrellas?. No tengo una razón concreta; es por el sentimiento que me ha quedado al cerrar el libro, como si me hubiera faltado algo.
En cualquier caso, En busca de la felicidad es un novelón, y quiero agradecer a Lidia que hable tan bien de este escritor americano al que no conocía. Si he leído su libro ha sido por ella. ♡ 656

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