“October Light is, in its quiet, delicate way, a love story and a religious story. Comic and serious, endearing yet cruel, it unlocks emotion in our own past, the emotion that brings our present to life.”
This is how the second flap of the October Light dust jacket concludes. Had I read it before the book, I might have thought, “Balderdash!” or, “Poppycock!” but it’s probably fairly accurate to the book it covers.
There are quite a few stories within this book, including a book within a book that’s quite the read, but I’ll get to that in a moment. October Light, written by John Gardner, is based on two very specific things; a conflict between an old man and an old woman, as well as pieces of a fictional book that we read along with one of the characters.
The old man, James L. Page, and the old woman, his sister Sally Page Abbott, are conflicted in many ways which is as much about the old world and new world as it is about the philosophies of life. This would be compelling on its own.
But during James and Sally’s struggle, Sally finds a paperback of fiction in the room she’s in. With her, we read portions of that book, The Smugglers of Lost Souls’ Rock, which the dust jacket best describes as “an abrasive, quasi-metaphysical satire.” This is the second part of the overall novel.
Sally’s book is missing pages, and so I was as frustrated as she was when skipping portions of the book. Personally, through Sally, it’s the first time I’ve ever encountered a book missing a page. I do have to wonder how I would keep going if the one I was holding was missing more than a few pieces of information.
Anyway, that’s October Light. It’s two books intertwined into one. It’s the ballad of James and his sister Sally, two Vermonters born to live in “Freedom and Unity,” as the state motto goes. Their ongoing battle with each other eventually expands to some of their social circle and family. While all of that’s going on, we read with Sally from The Smugglers of Lost Souls’ Rock, which is quite a read of its own.
Here’s the thing: this book published in 1976 has this odd intractable pulse to cut through today’s own conspiracy theories and bullshit and get back to the heart of humanity and moral mentality – less about right and wrong, and more about thinking in the most simple terms imaginable.
Sure, you can write off Gardner as a Vermonter, writing about simple country Vermonters, but I don’t think that’s the case. Science is very often about explaining things in the most simple terms, and the complexities therein are because sometimes you can’t reduce things any further. Did I lose you? It’s possible, but the point I’m trying, albeit poorly, to make here is that this book is like an optional self-study Philosophy course.
There absolutely is THAT much in this book. Additionally, the book within the book, The Smugglers of Lost Souls’ Rock, by itself is a compelling argument about the modern world as it would have been in 1976. Amazingly even now, both books retain their value and relevance while also being engaging to read.
I know that I can’t recommend this to everyone, but it feels like too good of a book not to want to suggest it to at least some other people. It would make for a very interesting suggestion for a book club, but only because it may be so different from what you’ve been reading.
That’s an important point. This book is very much of its time. You can feel the mistrust of television, still a new-ish medium at the time. Now that we’ve come full circle and you can distrust any media of your choosing, it gives the book renewed relevance.
I’ll leave you with one quote from the book within this book. “He was not so naive as to doubt that the trashiest fiction is all true, as the noblest is all illusion.” October Light by James Gardner is very much a reflection of this sentiment, so take that as you will.
Read the Secret File of technical information and quotes from October Light.