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books about happy families
- Thread starter silin
- Start date
I don't mean that characters have to be happy all the time, just I want to see (to imagine) a realistic picture of two people loving each other and staying together. That's exactly intended to break MY scepticism about the issue of eternal love. So I want some serious literature to disprove my opinion if there is such at all.
novella
Active Member
One of the basic constructs of fiction is a primary character confronted with an obstacle or difficulty. For this reason, books that focus on families often have at least one event that presents an obstacle (like We Were the Mulvaneys, in which one member of a 'happy' family is raped).
In kids literature there are loads of happy families, but the kids will tend to be confronting other obstacles. The Hardy Boys have their mysteries to solve (though they are much loved and supported by Dad and Aunt Gertrude), Maigret has his loving wife at home, and the girls in Little Women each deal with their own issues outside the family circle. The book All of a Kind Family is about a happy family, but the characters DO face difficulties.
If you remove the 'problem' in the story, there's no story. So, I believe there is no lack of happy families in literature, but its hard to find any story without a crisis. Even every Brady Bunch episode has a hook.
In kids literature there are loads of happy families, but the kids will tend to be confronting other obstacles. The Hardy Boys have their mysteries to solve (though they are much loved and supported by Dad and Aunt Gertrude), Maigret has his loving wife at home, and the girls in Little Women each deal with their own issues outside the family circle. The book All of a Kind Family is about a happy family, but the characters DO face difficulties.
If you remove the 'problem' in the story, there's no story. So, I believe there is no lack of happy families in literature, but its hard to find any story without a crisis. Even every Brady Bunch episode has a hook.
novella
Active Member
If you want to just look at classics (BTW, 'classical' generally refers to the ancient Greeks, etc.), Dickens has at least one happy family in every story, though it generally is not the central family. Similarly Jane Austen's book always have a happy lovinig couple somewhere.
One of the forward moments of early modern novels is for an author (Woolf or Joyce, for example) to examine a family or a couple beneath the happy surfaces into what might be seen as psychological ruminations of the individuals. Are these people 'happy'? That's sort of a funny word to apply to anyone under that microscope, even in life.
If you think about the function of the novel or, prior to that, of drama, much of the entertainment comes out of satire and tragedy. If you remove those elements, what's left can be pretty dull.
One of the forward moments of early modern novels is for an author (Woolf or Joyce, for example) to examine a family or a couple beneath the happy surfaces into what might be seen as psychological ruminations of the individuals. Are these people 'happy'? That's sort of a funny word to apply to anyone under that microscope, even in life.
If you think about the function of the novel or, prior to that, of drama, much of the entertainment comes out of satire and tragedy. If you remove those elements, what's left can be pretty dull.
Thank you for a very analytical reply, novella. I'll be really interested to know some of the modern literature titles, which really describe family relations from inside (OK, maybe I'll get even more bitter and disillusioned after that..). Can you give me some suggestions what to read?
KristoCat
New Member
I just wanted to pop in here and throw out a few suggestions:
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is about a large American family who goes on a missionary trip to the Congo. The family dynamics are described in really close detail, with the mother and the daughters all getting monologues (the father is left out). Not the happiest story, though.
White Noise by Don DeLillo is about a college professor and his family, which consists of his current wife, Babette, and several children from both of their previous marriages. The family dynamics are the basis of the plot of the book. Again, perhaps not a really happy story, but DeLillo's writing is acrobatic and witty.
I also thought of Ordinary People by Judith Guest, but that's kind of depressing too. It's about a teenager who, in failing to cope with the accidental death of his older brother, tries to commit suicide and has to slowly readjust to "normal" life after a year in the hospital.
I would put all of these under modern classics though. All three books are written in a very skillful, literary manner.
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is about a large American family who goes on a missionary trip to the Congo. The family dynamics are described in really close detail, with the mother and the daughters all getting monologues (the father is left out). Not the happiest story, though.
White Noise by Don DeLillo is about a college professor and his family, which consists of his current wife, Babette, and several children from both of their previous marriages. The family dynamics are the basis of the plot of the book. Again, perhaps not a really happy story, but DeLillo's writing is acrobatic and witty.
I also thought of Ordinary People by Judith Guest, but that's kind of depressing too. It's about a teenager who, in failing to cope with the accidental death of his older brother, tries to commit suicide and has to slowly readjust to "normal" life after a year in the hospital.
I would put all of these under modern classics though. All three books are written in a very skillful, literary manner.
sirmyk
New Member
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has a few magazines they publish. One is called Ensign...nothing but happy stories in there. And yes, most of the stories within are about families becoming stronger. Mormon or not these mags uplift.silin said:
(for the record a part of my family is LDS, so copies of Ensign sometimes cross my path... but if the mags make me feel too religious-happy-hold-hands-feel-positive, I find pleasure in picking up a church hymnal book and adding "...in bed" to the ends of each song title)
novella
Active Member
silin said:
To the Lighthouse is excellent, about an English family staying at their house in the Scottish Hebrides for the summer.
Mrs. Dalloway also fits the bill, but I suspect you might prefer To the Lighthouse. These are both by Virginia Woolf.
As for American works, Hemingway's Nick Adams Stories are focused on a happy family and would fit this category.
BTW, I think Ordinary People as mentioned above is about one of the saddest, most dysfunctional families in literature. The parents get divorced, the mom is a frigid bitch who freezes out her remaining living son, the kid takes the blame for his brother's death, the dad is basicallyl absent for a lot of it. It's really not about a happy family in any sense.
For newer books, Amy Tan's books often have the sense of very close, loving family that is working out some historical secret or social adjustment. She's a very good writer as well.