While I would not go so far as to call William Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow (1980) "one of the great books of our age" (as Michael Ondaatje has), this is a special novel, dark and understated. I enjoyed reading it, and found myself moved by its simple - but always poignant - passages:
"And some things, once they are done," writes Maxwell, "can't be undone."
I'd be interested to learn more about Maxwell's critical reception.
I recently read So Long... for the first time (Maxwell is little known on this side of the pond) and ffeel much the same about it as you, Frank (no surprise there). There's an extraordinary gracefulness about the writing - perfectly sufficient, no more no less - a rare quality. I've been passing the book on too, and everyone who's read it has been equally impressed. Maxwell seems to me a hugely underrated writer (at least over here). I'm moving on to The Folded Leaf next...
ReplyDeleteThat was my colleague Jesse Freedman's post, Nige. I have Maxwell's novels on the shelf waiting to be read this summer on vacation, but have not got to them yet.
ReplyDeleteSo it was - another like mind , it seems...
ReplyDeleteNige: You'll have to let me know how you feel about The Folded Leaf... --Jesse
ReplyDeleteThe New Yorker had a nice critical article recently to mark the publication of Library of America editions of Maxwell's work. Worth checking out to get a sense of his career.
ReplyDeleteI have just returned from a conference at which I learned that Michael O. was a pupil at the same school as Raymond Chandler, in Dulwich, south-east London. (They were not contemporaries, in case anyone was wondering..)
ReplyDelete