Peter S Beagle “Summerlong” (Tachyon, 2016)
The first thing I noticed when I started reading Summerlong was Beagle’s total command
of the language. By the time I had
finished the first page, I knew that this was a book that I’d enjoy. Mad
skillz. Sometimes you forget that there
really is an elite level to this craft.
Peter S Beagle is a member of that elite group of writers.
Sumerlong is a
modern fantasy. It’s so close to real life that it could pass as a “literary”
title. On a small island in the Pacific
Northwest, a couple meet a younger woman who has moved to the island. After
they invite the woman to live in their garage, some subtle but not normal
things start happening. Warm weather
lasts longer than it should, there’s just a greater sense of life and vitality.
Eventually they find out the woman’s secrets & learn why change has to
come.
For the most part I loved this book. There’s a great sense of place, and a small
cast of very well developed characters. It’s a lovely fable.
However, there’s something that really bothered me, and it’s
impossible to discuss without getting spoilery.
OK, eventually both of our protagonists find themselves
cheating. It gives me the same feeling
that I have when I remember reading some of the NY literary novels from the
60s. There’s a creepy sense of
autobiography in play. Now I don’t know
anything about Beagle’s life. But
there’s a subtext here that feels like he’s fictionalizing an infidelity and
subsequent dissolution of a relationship.
Did anything like that happen in real life? I have no idea. But I definitely had a creepy sort of “uggh
TMI” vibe going on. Maybe it was just
his skill as a novelist. I don’t know.
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