Blinding Light

Last updated

Blinding Light is a 2005 novel by Paul Theroux.

The novel had a mixed reception, with many reviewers not seeing it as entirely successful. [1] The novel depicts an American writer and his female companion on their trip to Ecuador and its backcountry. After returning to Martha's Vineyard, the book explores their relationship against the backdrop of the social scenery of Martha's Vineyard, the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal, and the process of book writing and publishing, among other things. [1] [2]

Contents

Themes

AV Club reviewer Scott Tobias notes that the novel follows in the tradition of Theroux's other travel writing and novels, taking the principal character to an exotic location to explore social and moral conclusions. [3] The New York Times notes that the novel explores the "texture of psychologically plausible character, real places, and so on" under a "contemporary naturalism". [4] For The Guardian , this writing reminded them of Theroux's travel writing, saying that the novel includes a "luxuriant and uncomfortable jungle setting, and nasty characters made up of inky national stereotypes and lists of commercial products." [2] The book touches on the drug and sex trade that accompanies the crude oil industry in Lago Agrio, in contrast to the suggestion of mysterious and yet undiscovered plants in Ecuador that have powerful affects on the mind and sexuality. Several characters and authors are referenced in the book in regards to blindness including Siegfried Sassoon, King Lear, Ishmael in Moby Dick, Blind Pew in Treasure Island, Jorge Luis Borges, and John Milton. The bible is referenced when the author compares the blindness of Alijah to the blindness of Isaac, Samson, Eli, Zedekiah, Tobit, and Saul. The author also mentions scriptural authority suggesting that God is blind. Sexual relationships focusing on age difference is explored, along with sexual fantasy and the act of sex as a form of trespass. Trespassing, both physical and the trespass into private life, is explored. Metafiction is a part of the text as the book's narrator works on two different books within the book itself. The established authority of medicine is discussed versus the knowledge of local shamanism.

Critical reception

Complete Review called the novel "generally lively and entertaining", and described the consensus of reviewers as having "varying degrees of enthusiasm, with no one thinking he really pulls it off". [1] For example, The New York Times concluded that cultural insensitivity and tone "blot what is otherwise an enjoyable and worldly allegory of the pitfalls of literary success, which retains some of the grandeur of its model." [4] The Guardian reviewer James Buchan described the novel as needing "a journeyman editor [who] would have cut out the repetitions, quotations, boasting, name-dropping, purple passages, dreams, hallucinations, score-settling, bombast and sex fantasies." [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>A Song of Ice and Fire</i> Series of epic fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin

A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, A Game of Thrones, in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who initially envisioned the series as a trilogy, has published five out of a planned seven volumes. The fifth and most recent volume of the series, A Dance with Dragons, was published in 2011, six years after the publication of the preceding book, A Feast for Crows. He is currently writing the sixth novel, The Winds of Winter. A seventh novel, A Dream of Spring, is planned.

Ursula K. Le Guin American fantasy and science fiction author (1929–2018)

Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the Earthsea fantasy series. She was first published in 1959, and her literary career spanned nearly sixty years, producing more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories, in addition to poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children's books. Frequently described as an author of science fiction, Le Guin has also been called a "major voice in American Letters". Le Guin herself said she would prefer to be known as an "American novelist".

Philip José Farmer American science fiction and fantasy writer (1918–2009)

Philip José Farmer was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories.

Paul Theroux American travel writer and novelist

Paul Edward Theroux is an American novelist and travel writer who has written numerous books, including the travelogue, The Great Railway Bazaar (1975). Some of his works of fiction have been adapted as feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel The Mosquito Coast, which was adapted for the 1986 movie of the same name and the 2021 television series of the same name.

Romance novel Genre novel on the theme of romantic love

A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." However, precursors include authors of literary fiction, such as Samuel Richardson, Jane Austen, and Charlotte Brontë.

Zadie Smith British novelist

Zadie Smith FRSL is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, White Teeth (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor in the Creative Writing faculty of New York University since September 2010.

LGBT themes in speculative fiction

LGBT themes in speculative fiction include lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) themes in science fiction, fantasy, horror fiction and related genres. Such elements may include an LGBT character as the protagonist or a major character, or explorations of sexuality or gender that deviate from the heteronormative.

The Position: A Novel is a 2005 novel by Meg Wolitzer.

Justin Theroux American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter

Justin Paul Theroux is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained recognition for his work with director David Lynch in the mystery film Mulholland Drive (2001) and the thriller film Inland Empire (2006). He also appeared in films such as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), American Psycho (2000), Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Strangers with Candy (2005), Wanderlust (2012), The Girl on the Train (2016), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), On the Basis of Sex (2018), and Lady and the Tramp (2019).

<i>Those Who Trespass</i>

Those Who Trespass: A Novel of Television and Murder (ISBN 0-7679-1381-7) is a 1998 novel by US television personality Bill O'Reilly. The story focuses on the revenge a television journalist exacts on network staff after disputes very similar to O'Reilly's real tensions with CBS. The revenge takes the form of a series of graphically described murders.

Christian science fiction is a subgenre of both Christian literature and science fiction, in which there are strong Christian themes, or which are written from a Christian point of view. These themes may be subtle, expressed by way of analogy, or more explicit. Major influences include early science fiction authors such as C. S. Lewis, while more recent figures include Stephen Lawhead.

<i>Batman: The Ultimate Evil</i> Novel by Andrew Vachss

Batman: The Ultimate Evil is a novel written by Andrew Vachss and published in 1995 by the Warner Aspect imprint of Warner Books. Vachss was an attorney specializing in child abuse cases, as well as a crime novelist best known for his series of books featuring the character Burke, a private investigator who also takes on child abuse cases. A representative from DC Comics approached Vachss about the possibility of writing a novel featuring Batman. Viewing this as an opportunity to reach a completely different audience, Vachss agreed and wrote a draft. He continued with his themes concerning child sexual abuse and explored the topic of child sex tourism. The publisher required Vachss to follow certain rules, like making a clear distinction between fiction and reality and prohibiting the Batman character from killing, cursing, or having sex.

<i>Laura Warholic</i>

Laura Warholic; or, The Sexual Intellectual is a 2007 novel by Alexander Theroux. The plot concerns the relationship between Eugene Eyestones, the writer of an advice column called "The Sexual Intellectual", and his editor's ex-wife, Laura Warholic, whom Eyestones pities more than likes. This basic story provides the jumping off point for Theroux's satire of American culture.

<i>Jungle Lovers</i>

Jungle Lovers (1971) is the fifth novel by American author Paul Theroux. Set in post-colonial Malawi, it was published by Houghton Mifflin (US) and The Bodley Head (UK). The author worked in Malawi from 1963 to 1965 with the United States Peace Corps, before being deported for public criticism of dictator Hastings Banda. Because the Banda regime did not like the novel, it was banned in Malawi for many years.

Marlon James (novelist) Jamaican novelist (born 1970)

Marlon James is a Jamaican writer. He is the author of five novels: John Crow's Devil (2005), The Book of Night Women (2009), A Brief History of Seven Killings (2014), which won him the 2015 Man Booker Prize, Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019), and Moon Witch, Spider King (2022). Now living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the U.S., James teaches literature at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is also a faculty lecturer at St. Francis College's Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing.

<i>Welcome to Temptation</i>

Welcome to Temptation is a contemporary romance written by Jennifer Crusie and released in 2000. The novel explores the love story between Sophie Dempsey, a screenwriter making a movie in the small town of Temptation, and the mayor, Phinneas "Phin" Tucker. Over the course of the story, they solve a murder and deal with conflict around Sophie's movie, which is alternately a documentary or a porn flick. The lead characters appear in supporting roles in the sequel, Faking It, which centers on Sophie's brother, a secondary character in Welcome to Temptation.

Tessa Hadley British author

Tessa Jane Hadley is a British author, who writes novels, short stories and nonfiction. Her writing is realistic and often focuses on family relationships. Her novels have twice reached the longlists of the Orange Prize and the Wales Book of the Year, and in 2016, she won the Hawthornden Prize, as well as one of the Windham-Campbell Literature Prizes for fiction. The Windham-Campbell judges describe her as "one of English's finest contemporary writers" and state that her writing "brilliantly illuminates ordinary lives with extraordinary prose that is superbly controlled, psychologically acute, and subtly powerful." As of 2016, she is professor of creative writing at Bath Spa University.

Jennifer Stevenson is a Chicago-based American fantasy and romance author who mixes romantic comedy with magical realist, regional, working-class, and sex-positive storytelling. She is an active member of the American feminist speculative fiction community.

Nicole Dennis-Benn Jamaican novelist

Nicole Dennis-Benn is a Jamaican novelist. She is known for her 2016 debut novel, Here Comes the Sun, which was named a "Best Book of the year" by The New York Times, and for her best-selling novel, Patsy, acclaimed by Time, NPR, People Magazine, Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. She lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is a notable out lesbian and feminist author who explores themes of gender, sexuality, Jamaican life, and its diaspora in her works.

Beatrice the Sixteenth: Being the Personal Narrative of Mary Hatherley, M.B., Explorer and Geographer is a 1909 feminist utopian novel by the English transgender lawyer and writer Irene Clyde, about a time traveller who discovers a lost world, which contains a postgender society.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Blinding Light - Paul Theroux". www.complete-review.com. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  2. 1 2 3 Buchan, James (2005-08-12). "Demon eel". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  3. ↑ "Paul Theroux: Blinding Light". www.avclub.com. Retrieved 2016-04-23.
  4. 1 2 Kunzru, Hari (2005-06-05). "'Blinding Light': Trespassing". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2016-04-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.