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The Light of Day
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The Light of Day by Swift - Buddy Read, Amanda moderating
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Diane
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Nov 24, 2022 08:43AM
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Hi folks: welcome to the December Buddy read. I know Gail and I are in on this, and hopefully some other people as well! To get started, here is a synopsis and author bio from Penguin/ Randomhouse:
Synopsis:
The Light of Day combines a powerful love story and a narrative of intense suspense into a brilliant and tender novel about what drives people to extremes of emotion. As in his Booker-winning novel Last Orders, Swift transforms ordinary lives through extraordinary storytelling.
This new novel from Graham Swift -- his first since the Booker Prize-winning Last Orders -- is the work of a master storyteller. The Light of Day is a luminous and gripping tale of love, murder and redemption.
George Webb is a divorced ex-policeman turned private investigator, a man whose prospects seemed in ruins not so long ago. Following the course of a single, dazzling day in George’s life, the novel illuminates not only his past but his now all-consuming relationship with a former client.
Intimate and intricate in its evocation of daily existence, The Light of Day achieves a singular intensity and almost unbearable suspense. Tender and humorous in its depiction of life’s surface, Swift explores the depths and extremities of what lies within us and how, for better or worse, it’s never too late to discover what they are.
Author Bio:
Graham Swift was born in 1949 and is the author of eleven novels; two collections of short stories; and Making an Elephant, a book of essays, portraits, poetry and reflections on his life in writing. With Waterland he won The Guardian Fiction Award, and with Last Orders the Booker Prize. Both novels have since been made into films. His work has appeared in more than thirty languages.
pre-questions:
1) Have you previously read anything else by Graham Swift, or is he a new author to you? (He has one other book, Waterland, on the list)
2) This is a unique 'mystery/murder' story in that it takes place after it has been solved. Have you read any other books that employ this device/that this reminds you of?
Questions:1) why do you suppose this story picks up after the murder/investigation into it that frame the whole narrative?
2) How do you feel about George and Sarah's relationship? Did you feel for them, or did the conditions of it put you off?
3) *One review wrote: "The Light of Day offers a master class in narrative. Everything is kept short - sentences, paragraphs, subsections and chapters (nearly 70 of them) - but every element comes together. Information is delivered in drips rather than surges and a number of interlocking stories are bound together, strand by strand." Do you agree with this assessment? Did you find the abruptness of style helped or hindered the story?
4). The same review states: " In the first place, it was Sarah, as much as her husband Bob, who had invited traumatised Kristina to live with them. When Bob started his affair with her, she tolerated his setting her up in a flat in Fulham. At the point where George was called in, Kristina was about to return to her homeland and the erring husband to normal life. The crisis should have been safely over." How do you make sense of what ends up happening considering this? How do you evaluate Sarah's feelings and motivations? How did you feel about Bob and Kristina?
5) Many reviews have drawn attention to the fact that there is a sense of claustrophobia that surrounds the story. Did you get this impression as well? what does it reflect about George's frame of mind and thoughts?
6) Reflection and Redemption are said to be main themes in his novel. How did you experience these themes while reading? What positions do you think were intended, and did you think they were conveyed well?
7) and as always, what did you think of the book, and did it earn its place on the list?
* the review I bring up twice is this Guardian review: https://www.theguardian.com/books/200...
Discuss!
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I have read Last Orders but even that was awhile ago. I have not read any other books by our author. I know I have read a mystery book in which the murder was solved before the actual events in the book take place but I currently can not pull up a title or even a specific story.
Kristel wrote: "I've read this one and Waterland and Light of Day. My favorite is Waterland. Graham Swift is an author I enjoy and hope to read Last Orders. Booker Prize 1996, but not 1001 book."Oh cool, I'm glad to hear a positive review. I haven't read anything by him previously, so am excited for this one. I also want to do the Booker books after the 1001 list, so will probably be reading Last Orders someday as well.
Gail wrote: "I have read Last Orders but even that was awhile ago. I have not read any other books by our author. I know I have read a mystery book in which the murder was solved before the actual events in the..."
Yeah I know I've read several as well, but the only thing that came to mind immediately was that Caleb Williams also starts with the sentencing and then works backwards. One review compared this one to "End of the Affair" by Graham Greene (there's an affair, an investigator, a murder, etc) and I did like that one, so here's hoping for a similar response from the other Graham lol.
I picked up my library copy today. We have three weeks at the library, so I may not get to it right away.I've only read Waterland by this author, and it was so long ago that I can just barely remember enjoying it and that's all. I saw the movie of Last Orders, but I know that doesn't count ;)
One novel that sounds a little similar that I read this year is Beyond This Place by A J Cronin.
The Guardian review is very good.1) Why do you suppose this story picks up after the murder/investigation into it that frame the whole narrative?
I think it is because the author wants to make sure the reader understands that the book isn't really about "who done it" but rather about the nature of people and their relationship with each other. The book focuses on the events leading up to the murder, and the emotions of the participants, rather than the investigation afterward.
2) How do you feel about George and Sarah's relationship? Did you feel for them, or did the conditions of it put you off?
I felt for them as individuals. They were both so broken, reflecting, to use the author's phrase: "the missing thing, the missing part of our lives". However, I didn't wholly feel for the relationship between them.
3) *One review wrote: "The Light of Day offers a master class in narrative. Everything is kept short - sentences, paragraphs, subsections and chapters (nearly 70 of them) - but every element comes together. Information is delivered in drips rather than surges and a number of interlocking stories are bound together, strand by strand." Do you agree with this assessment? Did you find the abruptness of style helped or hindered the story? Yes, I agree with this assessment and I do think that the sparse style helped with the themes about what is missing, and what words can not convey, although it did make me feel as if the author was also playing a game with me.
4). The same review states: " In the first place, it was Sarah, as much as her husband Bob, who had invited traumatised Kristina to live with them. When Bob started his affair with her, she tolerated his setting her up in a flat in Fulham. At the point where George was called in, Kristina was about to return to her homeland and the erring husband to normal life. The crisis should have been safely over." How do you make sense of what ends up happening considering this? How do you evaluate Sarah's feelings and motivations? How did you feel about Bob and Kristina?
Sarah badly wants to be a good person and she did not want to throw Kristina out because as a refugee Kristina could be deported. Sarah also badly wanted to not lose all of Bob and so she compromised and tolerated the flat in Fulham. However, Sarah did not understand that she was accommodating Bob's emotional entanglement rather than a simple practical way of sharing Bob with Kristina. The crisis was not the complication of Bob having an affair with Kristina, the crisis was Sarah's realization of what she had done.
I kind of thought that Sarah was being incredibly naive but then again, people often talk themselves into things and use denial to protect themselves.
I thought that Bob and Kristina's affair was realistic. An older man finds a beautiful woman with incredible needs he can be protective of and then the beautiful person blooms into an independent person who no longer needs protection, leaving the older man devastated.
5) Many reviews have drawn attention to the fact that there is a sense of claustrophobia that surrounds the story. Did you get this impression as well? what does it reflect about George's frame of mind and thoughts?
As you spend the whole story in George's head and as his thoughts are so narrowly focused for the most part, and as you are learning about a person who is incarcerated, the book does tend to promote a feeling of being constrained. However, I did not get that sickly claustrophobic sense that I often get with stream of consciousness writing.
6) Reflection and Redemption are said to be main themes in his novel. How did you experience these themes while reading? What positions do you think were intended, and did you think they were conveyed well?
The whole story is one of reflection but as for the redemption part, I am not so sure. The assumption is that by giving Sarah a non-judgmental love and standing by her without question, George will eventually earn not only the ability to see Sarah in the light of day, but will also fill up the hole in his psyche left by a father who cheated, a mother he was not able to protect, a wife who judged him and left him, and by the lose of his personal identity as a police man. The assumption is that waiting for and loving Sarah is not only George's obsession but his redemption.
But I don't buy that.
Even if George does his time, even if Sarah learns to love him, I think that Bob will always be denying both Sarah and George forgiveness.
7) and as always, what did you think of the book, and did it earn its place on the list?
I think perhaps it does belong on the list for its interesting structure although I am not sure how influential it was, but I gave it only 3.5 stars.
** Warning: Spoilers ahead! **1) why do you suppose this story picks up after the murder/investigation into it that frame the whole narrative?
I too think the author didn't want people thinking it was a "whodunnit" and being disappointed that there is no mystery and no twist. This is a psychological study of character (mostly George's; also Sarah's but through a lens). Despite the dramatic events, it's not plot-driven.
2) How do you feel about George and Sarah's relationship? Did you feel for them, or did the conditions of it put you off?
I felt for George. I'm not sure about Sarah - she was harder to know. George thinks everything will be wonderful when she is released. I think that's when the hard part will start. She will feel she owes him, and his years of devotion will be a heavy burden for her to carry.
3) *One review wrote: "The Light of Day offers a master class in narrative. Everything is kept short - sentences, paragraphs, subsections and chapters (nearly 70 of them) - but every element comes together. Information is delivered in drips rather than surges and a number of interlocking stories are bound together, strand by strand." Do you agree with this assessment? Did you find the abruptness of style helped or hindered the story?
Overall, I liked the style of it. Sometimes I was frustrated when I wanted to know what happened next and we shifted to a different time, but mostly I was engrossed and didn't want to put it down.
4). The same review states: " In the first place, it was Sarah, as much as her husband Bob, who had invited traumatised Kristina to live with them. When Bob started his affair with her, she tolerated his setting her up in a flat in Fulham. At the point where George was called in, Kristina was about to return to her homeland and the erring husband to normal life. The crisis should have been safely over." How do you make sense of what ends up happening considering this? How do you evaluate Sarah's feelings and motivations? How did you feel about Bob and Kristina?
It's hard not to judge, since we only have George's point of view. It seems like Kristina was using Bob as a meal ticket, but who could really blame her, knowing how tough life is for asylum seekers in this country? It's a very real situation, and similar things are happening in a few cases with Ukrainian refugees who've been housed with families/couples this year.
Sarah made a big mistake investing so heavily in rekindling their romance as soon as Bob returned home. She would have done better to have let him go to his room and be miserable. It seemed like she had no idea how serious that relationship was for him, and the sudden realisation was devastating for her.
5) Many reviews have drawn attention to the fact that there is a sense of claustrophobia that surrounds the story. Did you get this impression as well? what does it reflect about George's frame of mind and thoughts?
The claustrophobia definitely fits with the prison setting, although it does seem to pervade George's life too. He doesn't seem to be master of his own destiny.
6) Reflection and Redemption are said to be main themes in this novel. How did you experience these themes while reading? What positions do you think were intended, and did you think they were conveyed well?
Not sure about this one. I agree with Gail that there's plenty of reflection, but the redemption is harder to see.
7) and as always, what did you think of the book, and did it earn its place on the list?
I really enjoyed this book, and yet I'm not sure about its place on the list. I don't think it's really groundbreaking...? But interesting, and with some food for thought.
This was my first book by Swift, I was slightly disappointed 1) why do you suppose this story picks up after the murder/investigation into it that frame the whole narrative?
I guess the idea is that the murder itself is not the main focus, it is understanding the events and emotional connections that led up to the murder, and the path that George and Sarah may take in the future. That knowing ‘whodunnit’ is not the same as understanding why and how things happen.
2) How do you feel about George and Sarah's relationship? Did you feel for them, or did the conditions of it put you off?
I feel the relationship is largely created in George’s mind and he drives it by continuing to visit Sarah (initially against her wishes) and providing a link for her with Bob by visiting the grave. I felt more for George as a child carrying his father’s secret, I didn’t care for or about them as adults.
3) *One review wrote: "The Light of Day offers a master class in narrative. Everything is kept short - sentences, paragraphs, subsections and chapters (nearly 70 of them) - but every element comes together. Information is delivered in drips rather than surges and a number of interlocking stories are bound together, strand by strand." Do you agree with this assessment? Did you find the abruptness of style helped or hindered the story?
I thought the choppy style was appropriate to the way Swift intended to tell the story. The issue for me was that the revelations themselves were very obvious and predictable, but that’s not the fault of the writing. I think it shows Swift is a skilled writer, but this story wasn’t the right vehicle for me.
4). The same review states: " In the first place, it was Sarah, as much as her husband Bob, who had invited traumatised Kristina to live with them. When Bob started his affair with her, she tolerated his setting her up in a flat in Fulham. At the point where George was called in, Kristina was about to return to her homeland and the erring husband to normal life. The crisis should have been safely over." How do you make sense of what ends up happening considering this? How do you evaluate Sarah's feelings and motivations? How did you feel about Bob and Kristina?
I felt Sarah did not allow for Bob’s emotional involvement. She felt that by being reasonable and pragmatic, she could control the outcomes. The realisation that the Bob who came back was not the Bob she expected was too much of a shock. With Bob and Kristina, as Rosemary says we only get George’s perspective so it’s hard to judge and he also adds his own imagined scenes to the story. Kristina had suffered a lot of loss and trauma, and maybe Bob was what she needed to regain her strength and purpose, but their betrayal of Sarah’s kindness is hard to excuse on the face of it.
5) Many reviews have drawn attention to the fact that there is a sense of claustrophobia that surrounds the story. Did you get this impression as well? what does it reflect about George's frame of mind and thoughts?
I didn’t really get a sense of claustrophobia, it was more the secrecy and hiding the truth that stood out for me.
6) Reflection and Redemption are said to be main themes in his novel. How did you experience these themes while reading? What positions do you think were intended, and did you think they were conveyed well?
Reflection came across well - George’s whole day is spent reflecting, not only on Sarah, but also about his parents, his wife and daughter, and the loss of his job. However, although he begins to see things in a clearer light, his obsession with Sarah is now colouring his perspective. Agree with previous posters that redemption is harder to see, especially as I’m not convinced Sarah really sees George in the way he hopes. Maybe with more years passing there will be some redemption - I liked the parallel with Empress Eugénie and the idea that she lived a whole new life after her husband’s death.
7) and as always, what did you think of the book, and did it earn its place on the list?
I wasn’t too keen on this book overall, I feel it’s pretty typical of the 90s ‘twisted romance’ but it was too dull and predictable for me. I wouldn’t put it on the list for its plot or characters, but possibly would include it for the skill of the writing style.
Great answers from everybody here: sorry that I have been negligent, it's been an exhausting month for sure!Overall I kind of agree with Pamela, that it was a 3 star read. The prose quality and writing skill were evident, but I wasn't fully enraptured with the narrative.
I'm not sure how much I have to add answer wise that hasn't been said already:
1)I agree it isn't about the whodunnit but rather the effect the case has had on George.
2) I didn't really feel for George and Sarah's relationship to be honest? I understood George's need for connection after the story of his wife is revealed, and felt sympathy for that, and how Sarah's life was upturned by one event that got out of control, but as a couple...eh. I feel like it was more "I'm banking on this relationship to fix things" as opposed to a healthy maybe even genuine relationship I was rooting for? And I'm not sure if the book was on my side or not about that one.
3) I did like the writing style in how it facilitated George's reflection, his hectic thoughts, etc.
4) I really like Pamela's answer here and agree: Sarah thought if she could act logically about it everyone else involved could on her terms too.
5) I did kind of get this claustrophobic sense from the writing, which makes sense for how contained George's thoughts still are on Sarah and the incident.
6) I agree with everyone that the reflection is clearer than the redemption. I got the impression that George seemed to think that loving Sarah would redeem everything though.
7) I thought this book was well written, but not the most impactful thing I've read. I enjoyed it well enough, but not sure I would have put it on the list.
