Sloan Wilson (1920–2003)

En la sociedad norteamericana de los cincuenta, casi todos los hombres de la alta clase media llevan vidas similares: viven en urbanizaciones a las afueras de las ciudades, van cada día a trabajar en tren, visten trajes de corte parecido y, al llegar la noche, se relajan con la copa que les ha preparado su mujer. Se supone que no se le pueda pedir más a la vida. Tom Rath parece tenerlo todo: una casa bonita, tres hijos, una mujer que lo quiere y un sueldo razonable. Sin embargo, esa fachada no logra aplacar su angustia: abducido por su nuevo trabajo en una gran corporación y perseguido por sus recuerdos de la segunda guerra mundial, Tom no es capaz de sosegarse.… (mere)

In a way, this book made me sad. It reminded me of my mom and dad, when they were young and in the early days of their marriage. My dad had mental illness, clinical depression, and he and my mom had seven kids, that they were ill prepared to support financially and emotionally. As a result, many of my early memories are of my dad pounding his head against the wall, and my mother crying and saying she wanted to run away, that she was only an old workhorse. My father worked for the company Bendix, as a computer programmer, and working for an organization, as the protagonist in the story did, certainly couldn't have been any fun for him. He was an idealist, and idealists have a very hard time working in corporations. They don't like what they see, and even if they keep their mouths shut, their co-workers and their bosses can "read"their disapproval. This does not make for a smooth ride.

In this book the protagonist is trying to make his way working for the United Broadcasting Corporation, in a job that he just does not believe in, and his wife is trying to help him believe in it enough so that they can build their future. The story reverts back and forth between the protagonist's memories of being in WWII, when he was a paratrooper, and had to kill many enemy soldiers when they dropped behind enemy lines, and the present, where he's struggling to adjust to the business world, and being a husband to his wife and a father to three kids. There are all sorts of obstacles in their way, but what I did like about this biok is that the author has them keep on going and not give up, which is what happens to so many marriages when they hit the rocks. I also liked that the author had the boss of the protagonist (the president of the United Broadcasting Corporation) actually listen to him and try to do his best for him, which is not what happens in reality. In my experience a person usually goes through their whole life trying to duck their head and do their work in a soul-sucking job, just so that they can make their living and get to their retirement age in a fairly healthy state of body, so that they can eke out the rest of their days on whatever tiny little pension they have, added to their tiny little social security.… (mere)