Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars.
Fiction
HarperCollins
June 9, 2020
Hardcover
800
Purchased
The bonds of family are tested in the wake of a profound tragedy, providing a look at the darker side of our society by one of our most enduringly popular and important writers Night Sleep Death The Stars is a gripping examination of contemporary America through the prism of a family tragedy: when a powerful parent dies, each of his adult children reacts in startling and unexpected ways, and his grieving widow in the most surprising way of all. Stark and penetrating, Joyce Carol Oates’s latest novel is a vivid exploration of race, psychological trauma, class warfare, grief, and eventual healing, as well as an intimate family novel in the tradition of the author’s bestselling We Were the Mulvaneys.
My review:
Before I begin my praise for this book, let's get one thing out of the way first. This book is 800 pages long! I say that because I know that is super daunting for some (myself included), so I wanted to be transparent about its length. Having said that, if you enjoy family sagas, you will love it, and you won't even notice the pages flying by! As is usual for this author, the writing is beautiful, her characters are splendid and so real, and the story deals with so many issues. The main theme of the book is how the different family members (5 children and a wife) react when the patriarch is killed. Each one reacts differently of course, and they all have opinions about how the others are dealing with this grief. There are also underlying themes about police brutality, race, moving on, and all the typical sibling interactions we find in this type of family drama. I was pretty smitten with the entire book, however Oates can wax poetic (or long if you prefer), and I did feel that a hundred (or so) pages could have been shaved off and still have had the same effect. The ending was mostly satisfying, although I was saddened by the resolution of the accident (it was the likely outcome, but not what I had hoped for).
If you love a masterfully crafted story about a family in grief, and a huge book is not a deterrent for you, I highly recommend this one! Lots of thoughts and situations to mull over, some of them pertinent to today's events.
I don't think the length would deter me, especially if I can really invest in the characters!
If you like lengthy family sagas, I think you will enjoy this one.