Waiting for Sunrise

 

    William Boyd's contribution to the anthology Modern Delight (there's a short post on that book here) recalls a moment of well-being in his youth when he registered the stark contrast of the sun "hammering down" on the garden of his African home with the deep shade of the veranda on which he sat and the coolness of the drink in his hand. Still today, he says, he can recreate that instant of delight whenever he experiences strong sun from welcome shadow.

    I mention this because his new novel Waiting for Sunrise begins on "a clear and dazzling summer's day in Vienna [in 1913] in a skewed pentangle of lemony sunshine"; there is a "stirring of potential in the air, that possibility of audacity", a brightness that seems to bring with it hope and purpose. Then as the story unfolds, at different junctures and for different reasons, the main character is quite literally "waiting for sunrise", waiting for day to lighten darkness, and metaphorically waiting for dawning realisation, clarity, waiting to see clearly through the mist and murk of obfuscation, for all is not what it seems, and clouds have moved in front of the sun, casting doubt as well as shadow. For this reason as well as many others, the book's ending is particularly apt; will our man eventually find that elusive 'golden afternoon', or will his days be dark and dreich? Read it and you'll see!

    As you'll have deduced from the above, this is a story about truth and lies, identity and re-invention, about trying to discover who is really who and what is what, and it's no coincidence that the novel's 'hero', Lysander Rief, is a young actor from a well known theatrical family, a man for whom disguise and assumed personality, 'front' and feints, are all part of his stock-in-trade, something he will rely upon heavily in the dangerous world into which he falls by chance.

    Lysander has gone to Vienna to consult a psychoanalyst about a sexual problem, and while Sigmund Freud himself appears in a cameo, Lysander's therapist Dr. Bensimon is a practitioner of Parallelism, an adjunct of Freudianism, a theory and technique he has devised to help his patients deal with trauma or neurosis by replacing their painful memories with a new 'reality'. (The author himself explains his invention in a brief video, and it's a remarkably plausible construct). While in Vienna undergoing treatment, Lysander becomes obsessively involved with an English sculptress called Hettie Bull, and it is this relationship which - as war in Europe becomes inevitable - leads him into a world of espionage and treachery, of intelligence-gathering and feats of derring-do.

    It's clear that meticulous research informs and underpins every stage, every layer of this complex book, and William Boyd is such a master at setting a scene, placing a telling detail, 'seasoning' his narrative with just the right amount of factual flavour to balance and ground the fictional substance of the text, that his material is beautifully shaped and works to fully support his plot. As well as being astute, inventive and intelligent, he's a writer with an instinctive feel for rhythm and pace and a gift for making the reader want to turn the page while still being fully engaged with the deeper themes of the book and the ideas behind them, so his stories just flow and it's pure pleasure - on several levels - to float along with them!

    A thrilling spy story and a portrait of Europe at a time of enormous change, a bildungsroman and a picture of the human psyche under pressure, a book springing from intellectual heft and virtuoso narrative technique - it's too good to miss, so if you haven't already done so, please do enter the draw to win a copy of Waiting for Sunrise.

Comments

[Dark Puss]

If it is "too good to miss", what should I give up in order to read it and why? I cannot create any more free time (I don't sleep well as it is).

Advice sought ...

[Elaine]

Karen - a great review and expresses so much more clearly my thoughts over on Random. I thought this was such a terrific book I felt I did not do it justice as there was so much I wanted to say. Wonderful stuff

[David Nolan (dsc73277)]

DP, as I am sure you recognise, "too good to miss" is just a figure of speech. I am familiar with - and sometimes enjoy - your challenging comments around the blogosphere. It does not do any of us any harm to be politely taken to task for recycling sloppy opinions or resorting to cliche, and I would like to think that it is always your intention to be polite - I've not seen any evidence to suggest otherwise.

I've now read both Karen and Elaine's reviews of "Waiting for Sunrise". Neither of them have prompted me to rush out (or click) for a copy. Instead, I've mentally logged it on a list of books I might try if I happen to see it in the library. Perhaps the answer to your quandry would be to do the same?

Karen and Elaine have provided me, as good reviewers should, with sufficient information for me to reach my own assessment of whether I am likely to either enjoy this book, learn something from it, or both. I have concluded that, for me, it could be problematic. The psycho-analysis element is probably putting me off. On the other side of the balance, I am attracted by the period and Boyd's talent for, as Karen puts it, "making the reader want to turn the page".

[Dark Puss]

David, thank you for your comment. I do indeed endeavour to be polite, but I accept that I may come across as brusque or "spiky" in the way I make my comments. Karen rarely resorts (or perhaps I fail to notice) hyperbole, cliche, or figures of speech in her reviews so I took the too good to miss at face value.

I will take up your suggestion of borrowing (not that I do anything else these days) a copy and see if I agree with the opinions expressed.

[Simon (Savidge Reads)]

I am very much looking forward to getting this one Karen (I believe Alice has very kindly sent me a signed one as I had to pull out of the Bloomsbury event last minute, day job evils) as you and Elaine's review have tempted me. I should read more Boyd because I really enjoyed Restless and have heard so, so, so many people put Any Human Heart on their favourite books list.

[Cornflower]

Do read Ordinary Thunderstorms, too, Simon.

[Rose]

Thank you for the review of the latest William Boyd - I will be getting this as I absolutely loved Any Human Heart

[Cornflower]

That's one I haven't read, though it's here on the shelf - must move it up the queue.