An extraordinary literary event, a major new novel by the PEN/Faulkner winner and acclaimed master: a sweeping, seductive, deeply moving story set in the years after World War II.
From his experiences as a young naval officer in battles off Okinawa, Philip Bowman returns to America and finds a position as a book editor. It is a time when publishing is still largely a private affairâ??a scattered family of small houses here and in Europeâ??a time of gatherings in fabled apartments and conversations that continue long into the night. In this world of dinners, deals, and literary careers, Bowman finds that he fits in perfectly. But despite his success, what eludes him is love. His first marriage goes bad, another fails to happen, and finally he meets a woman who enthralls himâ??before setting him on a course he could never have imagined for himself.
Romantic and haunting, All That Is explores a life unfolding in a world on the brink of change. I… (plus d'informations)
...this novel casts the last four decades in a completely new light, not coda but overture. The brilliantly compressed stories in which life is lit by lightning flash, the humane memoir that generously exalts, more than anything, the lineaments of ordinary existence — it’s all here, subsumed and assimilated in the service of a work that manages to be both recognizable (no one but Salter could have written it) and yet strikingly original, vigorous proof that this literary lion is still very much on the prowl.
An extraordinary literary event, a major new novel by the PEN/Faulkner winner and acclaimed master: a sweeping, seductive, deeply moving story set in the years after World War II.
From his experiences as a young naval officer in battles off Okinawa, Philip Bowman returns to America and finds a position as a book editor. It is a time when publishing is still largely a private affairâ??a scattered family of small houses here and in Europeâ??a time of gatherings in fabled apartments and conversations that continue long into the night. In this world of dinners, deals, and literary careers, Bowman finds that he fits in perfectly. But despite his success, what eludes him is love. His first marriage goes bad, another fails to happen, and finally he meets a woman who enthralls himâ??before setting him on a course he could never have imagined for himself.
Romantic and haunting, All That Is explores a life unfolding in a world on the brink of change. I
A travers la vie de Philip Bowman, officier de marine pendant la seconde guerre mondiale, marquée par une carrière éditoriale réussie et des amours en échec (narrés sur une trentaine d'années), on retrouve les thèmes chers à l'auteur : le couple, le sexe, l'évanescence et l'inaboutissement habilement rendus par un sens très maîtrisé de l'ellipse. A nouveau, le désir sexuel, l'exaltation de la beauté, l'alcool, les rencontres mondaines, les chassés-croisés de nombreux personnages, la fuite du temps vers la vieillesse et la mort occupent le terrain de l'écriture, fine, fluide et d'une fausse simplicité; Salter est un grand styliste.
Il n'est cependant pas toujours aisé de s'intéresser à ce protagoniste ordinaire qu'est Philip Bowman, assez peu incarné et dont le problème essentiel est finalement de confondre amour et désir sexuel.
Après avoir dévoré le roman "Light years" dont je suis sortie éblouie, j'avais envie d'adorer "All that is". Je l'ai seulement aimé.
Mais c'est déjà beaucoup. Car même si la beauté du style et le charme de l'écriture de ce dernier roman n'égalent pas, selon moi, ceux de "Light years", reste que l'immense majorité des écrivains pourrait légitimement rêver d'avoir le talent d'un James Salter. ( )