I
came across this book several times, and my interest of lighthouses kept
drawing me into the cover. Never judge a book by its cover is a rule I try to
go by, but a book about cats probably won’t have a lighthouse on it. By the
time I passed it for the third time in the library, it snagged me, and I found
myself checking it out.
The
book is, indeed, about a lighthouse. The story takes place in 1920’s Australia,
where a World War I veteran and his wife live at a remote lighthouse and a
corpse with a live baby wash up on their island.
What
drew me into the book was the style – the novel is lyrical and has some
powerful imagery and metaphors. Like “a pod of whales weaving their way up the
coast to calve in warmer waters, emerging now and again with a fluke of their
tails like needles through tapestry.” The writing style matches the lyrical
tendencies of the time, with the almost poetry of F. Scott Fitzgerald and
Virginia Woolf. A favorite metaphor of mine was when the farm boys of Point
Partageuse, the major town of the novel, are described as “Men who were the
prime cut to be sacrificed on tactical altars a hemisphere away.” The writing
style is a sigh of the first fall air after a long, hot summer: fresh, crisp,
and relaxing.
There
are a great deal of characters in this book, so much so I get lost on occasion
with some of the more minor ones. My favorite was the complex, mentally scarred
Tom Sherbourne, who is the protagonist of the novel. He was an officer during
the Great War, and is a beautifully distant, indulging character that I found
most sympathetic towards, from beginning to end. The rest of the characters I
became angry or annoyed with at point, but I always cheered on the sidelines
for Tom, almost wishing I could run in myself and help him. He was certainly
the best choice for the main follow. The story does take other characters and
points of view, as well as the omniscient views of the town and the effects of
war, but none of them hit the nail on the head like Tom.
The plot is decent, the
story has a real life feel to it. The story is rather slow. The novel takes
turns to the surroundings, and follows the life of almost every person affected
by the couple’s decision regarding the baby they found. Whole chapters recite
the pains that the war left on the town of Point Partageuse, and the scars that
continue to follow the residents. As the information is needed in context,
especially with the theme of children never coming home, form war or otherwise,
it does begin to grow monotonous towards the end. The story started slow, and
would not pick up until almost 70% in before I was sucked into what were the
decisions that were going to be made. Although, once the crisis passed, I put
the book down with my mouth in a thin line. I was not entirely pleased, it was
not a bad ending for sure, but I was hoping from this author, a slight glimmer
of hope and salvation. It might just be the Jay Gatsby in me, to hope for such
miracles. The end, as well, seemed a bit too much of a draw out. I had grown
quite attached to the characters, and to find the end of the story was more a
slap in the face for what I was hoping it would be. Although the way it ended
meshed with the rest of the novel, with the drawn out, to the very end details
and information, was just not enough for me.
Setting
is the magic of this book, especially when the lyrical description are thrown
into the mix. Reading about southwestern Australia in the 1920s is almost a
fantasy world, but the writing style is nonchalant and approachable, just
adding to the realization “this place is real.” I have even googled Janus Rock
and seen its isolation, but with that intimate feeling of being there from the
novel. When reading to escape the mundane of everyday and a heart to see the
great wide somewhere, this book is perfect for getting away. Like a mini
vacation, except for broke people. Plus the combination of lyrical style and
setting is a knockout. Reading a beautiful description of a bathtub is nice,
but of a relatively unknown place where two oceans meet that few people get to
see, is a whole new beast.
Overall, it was a decent
story with a great character, real life problems, told in a poetic prose.
Although the novel may not strike out as a home-run for my tastes, it was worth
the time to sit down and absorb the tale and feel the tragedy of the
characters. I would suggest giving this book a look over, if not the afternoon
to enjoy over a cup of tea.
No comments:
Post a Comment