![]() In fact, the book begins with two simultaneous incidents: a starlet passing out from heat exhaustion in the middle of filming a movie scene, and a pastor - Clarence Wilmot - losing his faith in God with equal suddeness. ![]() Likewise, Updike's story itself, although it focuses on four individuals from the same clan, effectively utilizes two contrasting symbols that could very easily have become heavy-handed icons: religion and the movies. Although the details of America's growing pains are ever-present and, even more important, amazingly done, they never overshadow the story of the Wilmot clan, never seem tacked on just for authenticity's sake. ![]() The balance between the two is delicate, but Updike's sparkling prose never loses its focus. It follows in intricate detail the pulses and patterns of an entire family through four generations, giving us not just a powerful look at the evolution of the family, but of the country in which they live. ![]() But this is Updike, an author who could write riveting and gorgeous VCR instruction manuals. The plot of "In the Beauty of the Lilies" is as ambitious as the title itself, and in the hands of a lesser author, I daresay the story would've run out of steam by page 30. ![]()
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