Publication
New York : Scribner, 2014.
Physical description
241 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
9781476745749
Language
Collections
Description
A finely observed, wry social satire set in Philadelphia over the course of a single day, this soaring debut novel paints a moving portrait of a family at a turning point. Leopold Portman, a young IT manager a few years out of college, dreams of settling down in Philly's bucolic suburbs and starting a family with his fiancee, Nora. A talented singer in mourning for her mother, Nora has abandoned a promising opera career and wonders what her destiny holds. Her best friend, Stephen, Leopold's brother, dithers in his seventh year of graduate school and privately questions Leo and Nora's relationship. On June 16, 2004, the three are brought together--first for a funeral, then for an annual Bloomsday party. As the long-simmering tensions between them come to a head, they are forced to confront the choices of their pasts and their hopes for the future. Clever, lyrical, and often hilarious, The Sixteenth of June is a feat of storytelling and a sharp depiction of modern American family life. It delves into the tensions and allegiances of friendships, the murky uncertainty of early adulthood, and the yearning to belong. This remarkable novel offers a nod to James Joyce's celebrated classic, Ulysses, and it is about the secrets we keep and the lengths we'll go to for acceptance and love.… (more)
Genres
User reviews
LibraryThing member Beamis12
The Portman family is a well to do family, a family that in the words of their son Stephen likes to sweep things under the rug, not having to deal with things that do not fit into the view of their lifestyle. June 16th, 2004 is big day for this family, it is the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday, and
It is a story of a love triangle between Stephen and Leopold the Portman sons, and Nora, Stephens best friend and Leopold fiancé. She is dealing with a grief she cannot overcome, the death of her mother from cancer. They are all floundering in their own separate ways. Leopold wants nothing more than to marry Nora and have a house and normal family. He is also obsessed with food. Stephen is trying to complete his education, to complete his thesis which has been six years in the making. All seem stuck in place, just treading water, not making waves. All that will change on this day.
Modeled on the story Ulysses, this book too has 18 chapters, familiar names, internal monologues but is stilt very much its own story. I have never read Ulysses but as fate would have it I will be doing a buddy read in a group on this site. I still very much enjoyed this story on its on merits, wanted to see how each of these characters ended their stalemate, where they would end up and who with. The prose is wonderfully smooth, the story flows well.
A very good story abut the internal feelings of a family taught to hide much.
Show More
it is the funeral of the Portman grandmother. Every year Michael has a Bloomsday party and has no intention of cancelling this years.It is a story of a love triangle between Stephen and Leopold the Portman sons, and Nora, Stephens best friend and Leopold fiancé. She is dealing with a grief she cannot overcome, the death of her mother from cancer. They are all floundering in their own separate ways. Leopold wants nothing more than to marry Nora and have a house and normal family. He is also obsessed with food. Stephen is trying to complete his education, to complete his thesis which has been six years in the making. All seem stuck in place, just treading water, not making waves. All that will change on this day.
Modeled on the story Ulysses, this book too has 18 chapters, familiar names, internal monologues but is stilt very much its own story. I have never read Ulysses but as fate would have it I will be doing a buddy read in a group on this site. I still very much enjoyed this story on its on merits, wanted to see how each of these characters ended their stalemate, where they would end up and who with. The prose is wonderfully smooth, the story flows well.
A very good story abut the internal feelings of a family taught to hide much.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rmckeown
Ever since I read James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in high school, the Irish author has fascinated me to no end. Much of my graduate work focused on Joyce. When I heard of a novel loosely based on Joyce’s great work, Ulysses, I could not move faster to order and read the
The only drawback to the novel lies in the complicated family relationships, which I found hard to keep straight. I tried making a family tree, but gave up. Maya Lang’s website contains a list of sentences and paraphrased sentences, drawn from Ulysses. Great fun ferreting those out.
Lang’s prose ranks close to Joyce’s style. In Ulysses, every page is a puzzle, every character described in great detail. Lang’s characters also share names with the characters in Ulysses: Leopold and Stephen, and Nora – Joyce’s wife.
Lang’s Stephen is an English Professor, as is Joyce’s. Lang writes, “They continued talking, their discussion lightening as the sky grew dark. He told her about teaching, that sea of alien faces smirking at him. How they fidgeted, turning in papers that were a collective atrocity. And this is an Ivy League school! Next he was going on about his committee, the fatiguing levels of [butt]-kissing its members required. He felt as if he were getting a degree in babysitting, in appeasement, in coddling. ‘Stephen, don’t you have office hours?’ she interrupted, glancing at the clock. ‘No one ever comes anyway,’ he replied hastily, reaching for a cookie. He thought he saw a momentary gleam in her eye, but she said nothing, her head bobbing away” (29).
Numerous references to places I know and love abound in the novel: Rittenhouse Square, Spruce Street, Delancey Place, Chestnut Hill, Wawa – a deli/convenience store with great sandwiches, and my neighborhood, Fishtown. She even takes a jab at a Philly accent, when Nora asks if Stephen wants a drink. “She pronounced coffee as if it had a w. Cawfee” (109).
The characters spent a lot of time in their heads, for example, Lang writes, “Nora wonders if they aren’t so different from Ulysses. She had attempted to read it before her first Bloomsday party. ‘How do you people get through this thing?’ she asked Stephen. ‘They don’t,’ he replied. ‘That’s its claim to fame’” (88).
In one scene, Lang writes, “…Stephen clacking away on his beloved typewriter. 16 June 2014” (121). Of course June 16th is Bloomsday, the date Ulysses is set. So those were fun, and kept me reading, but I think I will read this again in a little while and see if deserves more than 4 stars.
--Jim, 8/21/14
Show More
novel, The Sixteenth of June by Maya Lang. As a bonus, she set the story in Philadelphia. All kinds of landmarks figure into the story, as they do in the Dublin of Ulysses. Those who enjoy puzzles and word games will find this a pleasant and worthwhile read.The only drawback to the novel lies in the complicated family relationships, which I found hard to keep straight. I tried making a family tree, but gave up. Maya Lang’s website contains a list of sentences and paraphrased sentences, drawn from Ulysses. Great fun ferreting those out.
Lang’s prose ranks close to Joyce’s style. In Ulysses, every page is a puzzle, every character described in great detail. Lang’s characters also share names with the characters in Ulysses: Leopold and Stephen, and Nora – Joyce’s wife.
Lang’s Stephen is an English Professor, as is Joyce’s. Lang writes, “They continued talking, their discussion lightening as the sky grew dark. He told her about teaching, that sea of alien faces smirking at him. How they fidgeted, turning in papers that were a collective atrocity. And this is an Ivy League school! Next he was going on about his committee, the fatiguing levels of [butt]-kissing its members required. He felt as if he were getting a degree in babysitting, in appeasement, in coddling. ‘Stephen, don’t you have office hours?’ she interrupted, glancing at the clock. ‘No one ever comes anyway,’ he replied hastily, reaching for a cookie. He thought he saw a momentary gleam in her eye, but she said nothing, her head bobbing away” (29).
Numerous references to places I know and love abound in the novel: Rittenhouse Square, Spruce Street, Delancey Place, Chestnut Hill, Wawa – a deli/convenience store with great sandwiches, and my neighborhood, Fishtown. She even takes a jab at a Philly accent, when Nora asks if Stephen wants a drink. “She pronounced coffee as if it had a w. Cawfee” (109).
The characters spent a lot of time in their heads, for example, Lang writes, “Nora wonders if they aren’t so different from Ulysses. She had attempted to read it before her first Bloomsday party. ‘How do you people get through this thing?’ she asked Stephen. ‘They don’t,’ he replied. ‘That’s its claim to fame’” (88).
In one scene, Lang writes, “…Stephen clacking away on his beloved typewriter. 16 June 2014” (121). Of course June 16th is Bloomsday, the date Ulysses is set. So those were fun, and kept me reading, but I think I will read this again in a little while and see if deserves more than 4 stars.
--Jim, 8/21/14
Show Less
LibraryThing member LiterateHousewife
Dull. Story about pretentious New Yorkers who have moved to Philadelphia. Parents pretend to love James Joyce and celebrate each Bloomsday. Two sons and one fiance are all messed up with first world problems. Little of interest, but the audiobook narrators did a fine job with the material.
LibraryThing member lkernagh
Having never read any of James Joyce's works, I was a little daunted when I realized that his Ulysses] plays such a big role in Lang's story. The good news is, one does not need to read Ulysses to fully appreciate The Sixteenth of June, although I did feel as though Joyce was hovering in the wings
Overall, if you have actually tackled Ulysses - and if so, kudos to you! - or loved Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, this story has the same constraining vibe and feel that may appeal to you, as it did for me. A wonderfully written debut novel and I can highly recommend the audiobook version narrated by Julia Whelan, Will Damron and MacLeod Andrews.
.... and yes, I am now motivated to read Joyce's Ulysses, or at least attempt to listen to the audiobook, thanks to the wonderful section in the story when Stephen and his Ph.D. advisor, a Joyce expert, engage in discussion about Ulysses.
Show More
the entire time. The story is centered around two themes: the funeral of the Portman's family's paternal grandmother, and the family's annual Bloomsday party to celebrate Thursday, June 16, 1904, the day depicted in Joyce's novel. Focusing on Nora, Leo and Stephen, this story carries a strong influence of Virginia Woolf, in particular her novel Mrs. Dalloway, which I happen to love. As with Mrs, Dalloway, this story is very much an examination of relationships; of ambitions, worries and regrets, and of secrets. No character is 'lovable'. Each character is portrayed as a flawed, constrained individual, more concerned with projecting their outward masks of normalcy while inside they are in varying stages of fall apart or excel at outward projection of superiority to mask insecurities. What was hard for me to do while reading this one was to sit back and observe certain characters exhibiting signs of needing release and failing to find a supportive outlet for that release. Talk about a great portrayal of dysfunctional family dynamics, divisions of social class structure and the tensions and allegiances of both friendships and family! The use of multiple narrators really helps provide that "inside voice" point of view, to depicting it in such sharp contrast to the outside mask being projected. The Philadelphia setting is wonderful, and familiar, which is always a bonus when reading a story. Overall, if you have actually tackled Ulysses - and if so, kudos to you! - or loved Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, this story has the same constraining vibe and feel that may appeal to you, as it did for me. A wonderfully written debut novel and I can highly recommend the audiobook version narrated by Julia Whelan, Will Damron and MacLeod Andrews.
.... and yes, I am now motivated to read Joyce's Ulysses, or at least attempt to listen to the audiobook, thanks to the wonderful section in the story when Stephen and his Ph.D. advisor, a Joyce expert, engage in discussion about Ulysses.
Show Less
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2015)
Center for Fiction First Novel Prize (Longlist — 2014)