A Sudden Light: A Novel

I have great admiration for a writer who can write a compelling novel with a confusing title and a dog as protagonist as Stein did with The Art of Racing in the Rain. It was a great read. This one, not so much. Stein is an excellent writer and there are moments when his brilliance shines through in this effort, but not many.

Fourteen-year-old “Clever Trevor” is just a little too clever to be believable. Yes, I know there are child prodigies and geniuses, but few possess the mature thinking powers of a middle-aged genius. I was put off and confused when Stein wrote as the young Trevor vs. the middle-aged Trevor.

Also, long journal excerpts from dead relatives included dialogue complete with quotation marks. Maybe some people write journals like they’re writing a novel, but I doubt there are many.

And the mystery of who was dancing in the attic was pretty easy to figure out early on.

I am not sure what the author was trying to prove with the homosexual ancestors’ journals and multiple incestuous relationships. Shock value? Didn’t work. Also attributing current environmentalist opinions to people in the early 20th century lacked credulity. I started wondering if this was a novel or a political opinion piece. And the naïve approach to estate planning and powers of attorney needed a little more research.

But I will keep reading Stein.

This book started strong and faded a bit toward the end. I loved Racing In The Rain. This book wasn't as good as that one, but it had enough potential to keep interested to the end. The story telling tell was very good and it was easy to imagine the characters, dialog, and spaces. With a stronger finish, I would have rated it 4 stars.

Enjoyed the Pacific NW connections,but not always in love with the plot. Read by my book club, who are very thoughtful readers, and the feedback was 50/50. Why did the woman have to be the crazy person?

The book was no where near the level of excellence of Racing in the Rain. The bar has been set high and this book did not quite measure up. The story is basically told in a series of flash backs about people long dead, and it makes it hard to connect to the characters. The book was good but had its flaws, it will not make my list of favorite books. It is a one time read, unlike Racing in the Rain.

I believe this was positively the worst book I have ever read. It was my Book Club's selection for the month, so I made myself finish it,
but it was a struggle. No one in our group liked it, but it did generate some interesting comments. I found the incestuous connotations to be uncomfortable. The basic theme of saving the trees/forest that had been in this family for generations (instead of bowing to a developer who wanted to put in condos for big $$) seemed a bit lame to begin with, and the story moved very slowly. The bizarre interactions of this dysfunctional family, seeing ghosts and being led by them, and their connection to the trees as part of their soul, etc. was just too "out there" for me to make it even the least bit believable or interesting. Don't waste you time or your money on this one.