Angle of Repose (novel) - Literary Significance and Criticism

Literary Significance and Criticism

Upon publication, Angle of Repose was praised nearly unanimously by critics for being both "...the most ambitious and deeply realized of works" and on a larger scale, "...a major piece of literature". While some felt that Stegner did not make the meaning of Susan Burling Ward's story clear enough to Lyman Ward, most critics agreed that the characters, plot, and historical setting of Angle of Repose are well-realized. Even the slightly delayed review from the New York Times (most newspapers reviewed the book in April while the Times reviewed it in August) was just short of entirely positive, with the reviewer praising the novel with the reservation that "...I reached page 569 convinced that an essential element was absent". Despite this missing "element", most critics agree that Angle of Repose is "...one of the most important American novels of the twentieth century..."

The reputation of Angle of Repose remains strong among critics as well as readers. In 1999, readers of the San Francisco Chronicle voted it the best 20th-century novel written about the western United States.