Now that the Summer of 2015 is officially History--as the weather of recent days proves-- it is time to think of more serious literature. When I read Garth Stein's "A Sudden Light," Arthur Koestler's "Darkness At Noon" was referenced, at one point. I recalled the book had been sitting on my shelf for several years, waiting to be read, so I decided, after finishing Stein's book, I would finally tackle it.
I was glad I did.
If I were teaching a change called Political Fiction, this is one work I would include in the syllabus. How could it be avoided. It would be like excluding "Crime And Punishment," which, to me, this strongly resembled.
Koestler's strong use of language creates an atmosphere of isolation and misery so nightmarish the reader gets a sense of what it is to be entrapped. And to be penalized for your beliefs. It is a wrenching reading experience, and the last three pages, describing the actual execution, are almost unbearable. And I mean that as a compliment! Forget Norman Mailer and his thousand pages; Koestler does the job in less than three hundred.
Would I read "Darkness At Noon" a second time? Not unless I had to. But hose of you who haven't. and care about literature, should.
It exemplifies the right of freedom of expression, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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