The Reader and the Writer

“Order is indeed the dream of man, but chaos, which is only another word for dumb, blind, witless chance, is still the law of nature.” (p. 191)

Welcome back to Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner. In this episode, Shari and Rhea talk (somewhat obsessively) about Charity Lang and her extreme need to control, and how it affects, well, everything! They talk more about Larry, the long-view narrator, the various narrative techniques Stegner uses through him, and how it continues to impact our understanding of Charity, Larry, both marriages, and the friendship at the heart of this story. They talk about the farce of control itself—how very little we actually have—what makes a person decide he or she has “no choice” but to sacrifice for the sake of another, and what it looks like to bend and not break. Oh, and they talk about the continual Eden imagery: Adam and Eve, and that damnable lurking snake.
Next week will be their fourth and final episode with Crossing to Safety.
Show note:
Here is the quote Shari was talking about from Madeleine L’Engle’s book, Walking on Water (in reference to bringing order from chaos):
Leonard Bernstein tells me more than the dictionary when he says that for him music is cosmos in chaos. That has the ring of truth in my ears and sparks my creative imagination. And it is true not only of music; all art is cosmos, cosmos found within chaos. At least all Christian art (by which I mean all true art, and I’ll go deeper into this later) is cosmos in chaos.
—Madeleine L’Engle (p. 8)

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And so, by circuitous and unpredictable routes, we converge toward midcontinent and meet in Madison, and are at once drawn together, braided and plaited into a friendship. (p. 96)

Welcome back to Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. In this episode, Shari and Rhea continue their discussion of the long-view narrative style of the story’s first person narrator, Larry Morgan. They discuss his generous story telling style, his telling of deep intimacies, and the way they find themselves, at times, so overcome by the quiet beauty of the narrative they could weep. They continue to relate Larry and Sally’s story to their own marriages, and their own younger-self lives. They discuss Larry’s imagined historical telling of Sid and Charity’s meeting and early love: what more is revealed about Larry the narrator, and what Stegner the author gains by this creative narrative technique. They discuss Charity in-depth: her name, its meaning, and how Stegner, through his narrator, is training us in the way of true, charitable and lasting love. They talk about C. S. Lewis. Shari comes up with a fitting Hamilton quote about Sid.
In their next episode, they will be reading through the end of Book One (pp. 142-239)
Here’s a link to Rhea’s excellent reading guide for Crossing to Safety:
Here is the poem by Robert Frost that inspired the story’s title:
I Could Give All To Time by Robert Frost
To Time it never seems that he is braveTo set himself against the peaks of snowTo lay them level with the running wave,Nor is he overjoyed when they lie low,But only grave, contemplative and grave.
What now is inland shall be ocean isle,Then eddies playing round a sunken reefLike the curl at the corner of a smile;And I could share Time’s lack of joy or griefAt such a planetary change of style.
I could give all to Time except – exceptWhat I myself have held. But why declareThe things forbidden that while the Customs sleptI have crossed to Safety with? For I am There,And what I would not part with I have kept.

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Welcome to R&W’s next 2026 read: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. In this episode, Rhea and Shari discuss the powerful beauty they see already this story of the mundane that makes both marriage and friendship lasting and gold. They talk about Stegner’s great influence on the American literary canon—both through his own work, and his teaching of those literary giants who followed him, Shari’s personal favorite being Wendell Berry. They spend a long time talking about the 1st person long-view narrator, and the effect it has our view of the story itself, the characters, and the events being narrated. They talk about the ways they see the themes of the story: marriage, friendship, and vocation, already being expressed and given foundation in these early chapters. And they wonder how all three will survive and thrive over the course of the decades to follow.
Below is a link to Rhea’s reading guide for Crossing to Safety. Please do check it out. She has some great stuff in it!
Also, here is the full poem by Robert Frost that inspired Crossing to Safety’s title:
I Could Give All To Time
– A Poem by Robert Frost
To Time it never seems that he is braveTo set himself against the peaks of snowTo lay them level with the running wave,Nor is he overjoyed when they lie low,But only grave, contemplative and grave.
What now is inland shall be ocean isle,Then eddies playing round a sunken reefLike the curl at the corner of a smile;And I could share Time’s lack of joy or griefAt such a planetary change of style.
I could give all to Time except – exceptWhat I myself have held. But why declareThe things forbidden that while the Customs sleptI have crossed to Safety with? For I am There,And what I would not part with I have kept.
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Welcome back to Middlemarch, our year-ish long read. In this episode, Rhea and Shari discuss what it means to be old and young, to have desire and duty, and the making of a person and a marriage. They talk about the various relationships in Middlemarch and how they are continuing to shape into being. They spend considerable time discussing the “big-hearted” narrator, and all they appreciate about her commentary. And they go through several quotes from Book 2, and scratch their heads over each one’s meaning.
Be sure to check out our Middlemarch page:
Be sure to find our chat section on the Middlemarch page for each week’s reading and join in the conversation!
Our next Middlemarch episode covering Book Three is scheduled to air April 3rd. Until then, read wide and read well!
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Welcome to our final episode of Frankenstein. In this episode, Shari and Rhea revisit the nesting narrative, also called framing. They examine each frame through the lens of several different themes and motifs. They ask what ideas they see repeatedly, and how the characters express the various themes. They talk about Shelley’s exploration of love through the pairing of different characters together, and how Victor and the Creature combine in such a way that desecrates love as well as one another. They discuss the significance of names in Frankenstein, and the extra-significance of the De Lacey family at the center of the story. And they circle back around on earlier discussions about creators and creations, not taking responsibility for what we make, not “killing our darlings” when we should, and the ways we end up with monsters of our own making.
Journal Prompts for Frankenstein:
Rhea had some excellent reflective questions we didn’t have time to discuss. I (Shari) would like to offer them here as journal prompts in case you’d like to do some final noodling over Frankenstein.
* On Creation: What does Shelley want me to notice about creation? About my relationship with creation? My responsibility to creation? My responsibility to what I create?
* On Companionship: What does Shelley want me to notice about companionship? About my expectations about companionship? My responsibilities within companionship?
* On Love: What does Shelley want me to notice about love?
We’d love to hear your thoughts or discoveries on any of the above. And if Frankenstein spurred you on to consider other big ideas, please share these, too!
Our next slow read is Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner. We will be reading it over four weeks. Our first episode will drop March 10th. No new episodes will air between now and then. Great time to catch up on your Middlemarch reading!
If you need a refresher of our 2026 reading list, you can find it here:
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