Review of The Night Watch

[dotinthesky]

Sarah Waters, The Night Watch, 2006
Waters' fourth novel -- her first one set during the 1940s -- revolves around the experiences of four characters during the Second World War. The novel is divided in three sections that move backwards in time, through the War, and that serve to explain why these characters (three women and one man) fell into their predicament. The novel echoes my grandmother's stories of life during the Blitz: the banality of death; the short-lived romances; the very British stoicism in the face of hopelessness and a city literally enveloped in darkness.

People at my book club found it disappointing that it didn't have the same energetic pace as Waters' previous novels, but I thought its subdued tone fit perfectly well a story that focused on the minutiae of everyday life rather than the epic events commanding the country. I found it far more interesting to learn how people got their coffee in the black market than what type of bomb blew up their neighbours. And it goes without saying that Waters' research into queer lives of that period (or her assumptions of it) are a major attraction of the novel. There's enough material there to fill another three novels (but, hopefully, with less ambiguity as to what goes on between gay men.)

Review's style inspired by flyingsauce

Comments

[msanthropist.livejournal.com]

I wish I belonged to a book club, maybe it would help me read more. I have so many tomes sitting on my bookshelves unread, and still I can't resist buying/acquiring more. The promise of a good read is almost as irresistable as the actual experience. Sort of like how the bittersweetness of missing your lover is almost as satisfying as loving them...

[commonpeople.livejournal.com]

Book clubs are not hard to start: most readers enjoy the idea of belonging to one, of having a set social gathering every month. The problem is that most people don't want to be the organizers (because every club needs that one person who reminds people of the meeting, e-mails everyone, etc.) If you can take the job on, I'm sure many of your friends and acquaintances would be up for it. Meeting once a month is really not that hard, all things considered.