Digging to America was a joy to read, as I would expect from any novel by Anne Tyler. There is no great action, no great turmoil, and in fact very little self-analysis, although more in this book than some. But Tyler’s novels of everyday life and everyday people are so well drawn, so personal that the reader is pulled into the characters, feeling themselves a part of the family, as if these are people we know and care about on an intimate level.
It is a fairly complex story a story about culture, community, family, and fitting in. The truth is we all feel that we don’t fit at some point or another, or many of us, any way, but Tyler explores the ins and outs of family and cultural difference with a deft ear. The juxtaposition of two families, each adopting Korean infants, leaves room for a generous and tender exploration of American-ness, both through the Donaldsons, an American family in all its variations, and the Yasdans, an Iranian-American family. The book really made me think about culture and assimilation, foreign-ness and exclusion, and even what it means to be an American and what assumptions Americans tend to make no matter from where on the political spectrum they hail.
The writing is straightforward and simple. This is not a book you savor for the beauty of its prose, or for transporting you away to an imaginary place away from real life. And that is not to say that it is poorly written and not a joy to read. The spare simplicity is very evocative and effecting. It is a very well written novel. It is certainly not a literary novel though, and I don’t mean that as a critisism.
In some sense it is different than most books I love. I tend to love books for the writing, a true luxury that is, like slowly savoring the finest chocolate, or I love books for the story itself, the way it draws me in to a world of its own and takes me to some other place, outside of real life, a place were visions can become reality. These books are a necessity of sorts; we all have times when we need to escape from life as we know it into some fantasy world, be that a world of espionage and adventure, romance, beautiful clothes and expensive real estate, or just plain old fantasy. By being able to indulge in some fantasy life we are able to more easily accept and tolerate real life.
This book does not really provide that escape; it is a book that draws you in to the details of life, and perhaps, but only perhaps requires that you look at the people that make up that life a little differently. There were times I was exhausted and annoyed by each of the characters with their assumptions and beliefs and negative values. But we are all like that. We all blunder through life sometimes more successfully than others.
And yet the book was enjoyable in its own quiet, reflective sort of way. I finished the book hoping the characters will get a little closer to getting it right the next time, and perhaps hoping that I too, might be a little closer to that elusive goal.
In the end it is the story that I always fall for, and this story is no exception. Highly recommended.