John Gardner
Paperback | Pages: 720 pages Rating: 3.94 | 718 Users | 60 Reviews
Point Containing Books The Sunlight Dialogues
| Title | : | The Sunlight Dialogues |
| Author | : | John Gardner |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 720 pages |
| Published | : | April 4th 2017 by New Directions Publishing Corporation (first published 1972) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Literature. Classics. American |
Ilustration In Pursuance Of Books The Sunlight Dialogues
In The Sunlight Dialogues, John Gardner's vision of America in the turbulent 1960s embraces an unconventional cast of conventional citizens in the small rural town of Batavia, New York. Sheriff Fred Clumly is trying desperately to unravel mysteries surrounding a disorderly, nameless drifter called "The Sunlight Man," who has been jailed for painting the word "LOVE" across two lanes of traffic, and who is later suspected of murder. The men battle over morality, freedom and their opposing notions of justice, leading each to find his own state of grace. Their conflict is mirrored in the community of middlebrow politicians and their church-going wives, Native Americans, working-class immigrants, farmers, soldiers, petty thieves, and even centenarian sisters too stubborn to die. Gardner's alchemy is existential: from the most raw, vulnerable, and conflicting characters in the American melting pot, he transmutes common denominators of human isolation and longing. With unnerving suspense, his acute ear for American speech, and permeated by his deep-rooted belief in morality, this expansive, sprawling, and ambitious novel is John Gardner's masterpiece: "A superb literary achievement," noted The Boston Globe.Particularize Books As The Sunlight Dialogues
| Original Title: | The Sunlight Dialogues |
| ISBN: | 0811216705 (ISBN13: 9780811216708) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Containing Books The Sunlight Dialogues
Ratings: 3.94 From 718 Users | 60 ReviewsEvaluation Containing Books The Sunlight Dialogues
this book is completely, completely amazing. it is very long, and at times goes slowly, but I was entirely engrossed in it - the writing is so beautiful and the world of the story so complex. I found it randomly on a shelf in the library and picked it up on a whim, and nobody I know has ever read it. I get the feeling that it might not be for everyone, but I highly recommend it.Totally guessing at the date; I read it so long ago. One of the most enjoyable fiction books I've ever read. It is intriguing, complex, philosophical and humorous.Want to read it again.
According to the quotations on the back cover of the 1983 Ballantine paperback, The New York Times hailed John Gardner as "a major American writer whose promise...seems unlimited". The work itself, The Sunlight Dialogues has also been praised by Time as "A compassionate portrait of America in the uneasy 60's" and "A novel in the grand line of American fiction...a superb literary achievement" by The Boston Globe. Although it isone of his better known works, Gardner remains best known for Grendel,
Fred Clumly is the chief of police in Batavia, NY, nearing retirement, when a strange bearded man, known only as the Sunlight Man ends up in one of his cells, accused only, for the time being, of painting LOVE across two lanes of traffic. But the Sunlight Man is not the harmless funnyman he appears to be. Who is the Sunlight Man, and what does he have in store for the inhabitants of Batavia, New York? The people of Batavia will never be the same, and an old and storied family, in particular,
The stars are from memory - it has been so long. Enough to say that from that moment on i bought everything of his in hardback til he died. His generosity, insight and brilliance were the counterpoint i was hungry for when my college teachers were drooling over Barthe. Not to put Barthe down, but I wanted confirmation that brilliance did not require disdain in order to shine.
I'm a fan of John Gardner, but reading him does feel to me like listening to a manic depressive: sometimes he rises to heights of brilliance unimaginable, but he often hits lows, too, of boring passages, flat and irrelevant characters and plodding prose. In Grendel, those lows are forgivable as the novel hooks you with its premise and voice and doesn't let go. In Sunlight, however, I feel Gardner abused his audience. Too many characters and too many plots that start and come to no end. After
Ugh! So glad to be through this. Finally. I've read several books by Gardner that I've really enjoyed, so I had pretty high expectations for this.Reading this was like 700 pages of a William Faulkner whose passion is philosophy, but he's insecure so he's got to demonstrate his IQ throughout the novel. 700 pages of this tedious, dense, convoluted, multi-generational mess. Is Gardner brilliant? Yes. Does this novel demonstrate an ability to engage an audience? Definitely not. (You know, the first
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