James Salter’s Light Years juxtaposes several infinitely malleable themes. The oldest, in the tradition of Madame Bovary, dissects the flawed diamond that is the institution of marriage, and examines the inherent loss of freedom. The marriage is set within the politically and culturally empowering decades of the sixties and seventies. The individuals within the marriage are New York Jewish intellectuals, at once familiar and known to readers of Roth, Ozick and Bellow. This combination, in the hands of a talented observer and writer, is a precious and exotic combination.
Posted in Fiction Tagged: 20th Century, American Literature, Cynthia Ozick, Gustave Flaubert, James Salter, Philip Roth, Saul Bellow
