light years - james salter

A review...

In this lesser known novel by the A Sport and A Pastime author, James Salter analyzes marriage and the merits of independence vs. dependence. But, the novel is really a study of time. We know these characters through pin-points over twenty years. The writing is often stunning particularly as the characters travel through Europe in search of themselves and their true happiness. Salter is often oblique but because of this spare hand, some choices really mesmerize. He pays great attention to the changing of seasons and these shifts mark big changes for the characters. They are either skating on a frozen lake or swimming in it, red-faced from the sun. Amongst the despair of a tumbling marriage, there are the great joys of children, the family dog, and nature. The simple gifts of the earth don't go unnoticed. In the end, Salter is an ambassador for less is more. This book certainly achieves more because of what it holds back. There is something classic and mythical about his voice but also his subjects. The many lavish dinners and conversations that stretch over many pages are all in service of philosophy. He is also aware of the senses. During a tense conversation over the telephone he has our protagonist noticing that maids are dropping brooms in the hall. A lesser writer wouldn't have considered that in real life it's agonizing and yet real to have some awful sound obstructing the news you need to hear.

Nedra and Viri, our leads, betray one another. The center of the family breaks. As they fall apart and look for lovers, they realize the temporary exchange of their new lives. Lovers fade in and out or are incomparable to the first. They are becoming aware that happiness isn't coming to them. They are desperately looking for it. And then death comes. Nedra spends the bulk of the novel considering herself tough as a man but then, as she gets her freedom, she becomes intimate with other fears: poverty, loneliness, and rejection. Still, she surfaces the most. She realizes the love of her children can sustain her and give perfect love. Viri realizes too late that all he ever wanted was his children "to grow up in the happiest of homes." Which, as it turns out, was not their fate. He tries again by marrying badly to a woman who is not just obsessive but finds his role in her life as her only joy. He is wrecked by the anxiety of failure.

In the end, the novel has some moments of feeling slight. I was thrilled by the set-up for Franca, one of their daughters, but felt her character dropped off. We see her lose her virginity to someone she's met once and is too nervous to hold a conversation with so the result is chilling. Then, she peters out for the rest of the book returning but always at a great distance. The other daughter, Danny, is explored a touch more than Franca. Still, these girls are the descendants. I have to argue that there was an opportunity missed in their development.

Examples of favorite sentences and passages:

"Life is weather. Life is meals. Lunches on a blue checked cloth on which salt has spilled. The smell of tobacco. Brie, yellow apples, wood-handled knives."

"Her father's suits were laid on the bed to be taken by the Salvation Army, his shirts, his empty shoes. The earth had thudded down on the crypt where he lay. All the ornaments, hats, belts, rings--how plain and cheap they seemed without him."

"Beneath their brilliance women have a power as stars have gravity. In the bottom of her cup lay the warm, rich silt."

This book isn't for everyone. It's a book for writers. And readers who are willing to spend some time and absorb slowly. The story is an abstract one that is not driven by twists and intricate plotting. It unspools.