Light Years (book)

Last updated

Light Years, published in 1975, is the fourth novel by American writer James Salter.

Contents

Plot summary

Viri and Nedra live with their children, Franca and Danny in an idyllic existence in the countryside. Viri works as an architect in the city, and the couple enjoy hosting dinner for a variety of friends. The first set of friends while leaving the house after dinner with the couple are divided in their opinion of the pair, with Peter admiring their semi-bohemian lifestyle, and Catherine sees Nedra as selfish. Around this same time, the family misplace their new pet tortoise.

While on the outside it seems like family have the perfect life, both Viri and Nedra conduct affairs, and imagine themselves travelling to Europe and expanding their circle of friends.

Nedra's father falls ill and dies, with his daughter travelling back to her small home town to say goodbye shortly before his death, and to clear out his belongings and sell his house. Nedra vows to herself to never return to this town.

With their children now teenagers, and young adults, the pair finally travel to England. Though appearing content, Nedra indicates that things will change for the couple when they return from their holiday.

The following year the couple divorce, and Nedra leaves again for Europe, having a number of encounters with other single men. Viri is left stunned, remaining in the house with his children that have started to make lives of their own.

Nedra returns to the USA for Danny's wedding, taking a flat in the city and trying to enter the arts world, encountering a disciplined theatre troupe that she tries to join, and is rejected for being too old. She continues to conduct affairs.

Peter falls ill with a rare terminal illness, bringing both Viri and Nedra to see Peter and Catherine more frequently before he finally dies.

Both in their late forties, both reflect on their lives, separately concluding that the biggest confirmation of their identity and that they have made their mark, are their children.

To everyone's surprise, Viri sells the house.

Nedra dies in the same manner as her father. After her funeral, Viri travels back to where the house was and in the field adjoining, finds the tortoise lost so long previously, still alive. He comes to understand his place in his life, and feels ready to face the rest of his life.

Characters

Reception

Although the novel received mixed reviews when it was released, [1] [2] Salter's novel is now highly regarded, [3] [4] with his work revived after his death in 2015.

Related Research Articles

Anya Seton American author of historical fiction (1904-1990)

Anya Seton, born Ann Seton, was an American author of historical fiction, or as she preferred they be called, "biographical novels".

J. M. Barrie British novelist and playwright

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote a number of successful novels and plays. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys, who inspired him to write about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens, then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, a 1904 "fairy play" about an ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland.

<i>Sentimental Education</i>

Sentimental Education is a novel by Gustave Flaubert. Considered one of the most influential novels of the 19th century, it was praised by contemporaries such as George Sand and Émile Zola, but criticised by Henry James. The story focuses on the romantic life of a young man at the time of the French Revolution of 1848.

<i>The Other Boleyn Girl</i> 2001 historical novel by Philippa Gregory

The Other Boleyn Girl (2001) is a historical novel written by British author Philippa Gregory, loosely based on the life of 16th-century aristocrat Mary Boleyn of whom little is known. Inspired by Mary's life story, Gregory depicts the annulment of one of the most significant royal marriages in English history and conveys the urgency of the need for a male heir to the throne. Much of the history is highly distorted in her account.

Sylvia Llewelyn Davies

Sylvia Llewelyn Davies was the mother of the boys who were the inspiration for the stories of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. She was the daughter of cartoonist and writer George du Maurier and his wife Emma Wightwick, the elder sister to actor Gerald du Maurier, the aunt of novelists Angela and Daphne du Maurier, and a great-granddaughter of Mary Anne Clarke, royal mistress of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany.

<i>Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation</i> 1962 film by Henry Koster

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation is a 1962 American comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring James Stewart and Maureen O'Hara. The film is based on the novel Mr. Hobbs' Vacation, by Edward Streeter and features a popular singer of the time, Fabian.

Margaret Grubb American aviator

Margaret Louise "Polly" Grubb was the first wife of pulp fiction author and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, to whom she was married between 1933 and 1947. She was the mother of Hubbard's first son, L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. and his first daughter, Katherine May "Kay" Hubbard.

Catherine Radziwill

Princess Catherine Radziwiłł was a Polish-Russian aristocrat. Born in Russia into the Polish-Lithuanian House of Rzewuski, her maternal family was the Russian Dashkov-Vorontsov family. In 1873 she married the Polish-Lithuanian Prince Wilhelm Radziwiłł.

Duchess Alexandra of Oldenburg Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Russia

Grand Duchess Alexandra Petrovna of Russia was a great-granddaughter of Emperor Paul I of Russia and the wife of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia, the elder.

Catherine Pavlovna of Russia Duchess George of Oldenburg

Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia later Queen Catharina Pavlovna of Württemberg, was the fourth daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia and Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. She became the Queen of Württemberg upon her marriage to her first cousin Crown Prince William who eventually became King William I of Württemberg in 1816.

<i>Caddie, A Sydney Barmaid</i>

Caddie, A Sydney Barmaid is the fictionally embellished autobiography of Catherine "Caddie" Edmonds, who worked as a barmaid in Sydney during the Great Depression. Published anonymously in 1953 under Edmonds' nickname, which was coined by a lover who likened her to "the sleek body and class of his Cadillac motorcar", Caddie attracted wide critical acclaim upon its original publication in London, and became a bestseller when it was adapted into a feature film in 1976, one year after International Women's Year.

Catherine Dickens

Catherine Thomson "Kate" Dickens was the wife of English novelist Charles Dickens, the mother of his ten children, and a writer of domestic management.

Frances Minto Elliot

Frances Minto Elliot (1820–1898) was a prolific English writer, primarily of non-fiction works on the social history of Italy, Spain, and France and travelogues. She also wrote three novels and published art criticism and gossipy, sometimes scandalous, sketches for The Art Journal, Bentley's Miscellany, and The New Monthly Magazine, often under the pseudonym, "Florentia". Largely forgotten now, she was very popular in her day, with multiple re-printings of her books in both Europe and the United States. Elliot had a wide circle of literary friends including Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope and Wilkie Collins. Collins dedicated his 1872 novel, Poor Miss Finch, to her, and much of the content in Marian Holcolmbe's conversations in The Woman in White is said to be based on her.

Dora Annie Dickens was the infant daughter of English novelist Charles Dickens and his wife Catherine. She was the ninth of their ten children, and the youngest of their three daughters.

<i>Hollywood Wives: The New Generation</i>

Hollywood Wives: The New Generation is a 2003 American made-for-television drama film directed by Joyce Chopra. The film is based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Jackie Collins, which was a spin-off from the 1983 successful novel Hollywood Wives.

<i>The War of the Roses</i> (film) 1989 drama comedy movie directed by Danny DeVito

The War of the Roses is a 1989 American black comedy film based upon the 1981 novel of the same name by Warren Adler. The film follows a wealthy couple with a seemingly perfect marriage. When their marriage begins to fall apart, material possessions become the center of an outrageous and bitter divorce battle.

Maria Pypelinckx

Maria Pypelinckx was a writer from the Southern Netherlands, best known today as the mother of the painter Peter Paul Rubens.

How to Make an American Quilt (1991) is the debut novel of Whitney Otto. The novel tells the intersecting stories of several generations of women who together are part of the same quilting circle in the fictional town of Grasse, California. The novel was made into a movie of the same name in 1995 directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and starring Winona Ryder as Finn Dodd.

<i>Joseph</i> (2018 film) 2018 Indian crime thriller film

Joseph is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film directed by M. Padmakumar and written by Shahi Kabir. It stars Joju George, Dileesh Pothan, Irshad, Athmiya Rajan, Johny Antony, Sudhi Koppa, Malavika Menon, and Madhuri Braganza. The story, an investigation thriller, develops through the life of four retired policemen. Some scenes in movie is based on real life experience from the writer, Shahi Kabir. Joju won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actor and also won Special Mention in the National Awards.The film is being remade in Kannada as Ravi Bopanna starring V. Ravichandran and in Tamil as Visithiran starring R. K. Suresh. The core theme of the movie has many similarities with Benyamin's novel 'Sareerasaasthram'.

James Patten Paul

James Patten Paul was a Mormon pioneer from Ayrshire in Scotland who trekked to Utah with the David H. Cannon Company in 1861. His chief claim to fame is that he was the stepfather and mentor of doctor, suffragist and first female state senator of the USA Martha Hughes Cannon ("Mattie"). He was also the father of Professor Joshua Hughes Paul, a Mormon university president and newspaper editor, Utah detective Adam Milroy Paul, and silent actor Logan Paul, who, during his career in New York, portrayed, among others, Abraham Lincoln.

References

  1. ↑ Nast, Condé (April 7, 2013). "James Salter, a Writer's Writer". The New Yorker.
  2. ↑ Broyard, Anatole (June 25, 1975). "Books of The Times" – via NYTimes.com.
  3. ↑ Lahiri, Jhumpa (June 26, 2015). "Spellbound".
  4. ↑ "Book Of A Lifetime: Light Years, By James Salte". The Independent. January 19, 2012.
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.