Light Perpetual

Difficult start - there is a stream of consciousness that takes a while to get used to. And oddly, I found the more I read, the more interesting it got.

So many excellent sentences - Ben reaching for a cigarette is my favorite, but lots of excellent stopping points. Not sure if it really does what it set out to do, but I enjoyed the ride.

This novel follows the never-to-be-realized lives of five children who were killed in the 1944 bombing of a Woolworth's in a working class part of London. The book starts with their deaths and then proceeds to track their might-have-been lives at intervals of about 15 years. I found myself drawn into those lives, caring about what was happening to the characters, but then being caught up short remembering that these characters were already dead.

Not all of the characters are likeable or lead exemplary lives. One does his best to make a fortune by scamming people. Nevertheless, the lives are rich, full of passion and striving, and moments of love and dedication. The city of London is also a character, predating and outliving its occupants in the background, filled with the lives of millions of others, and suggesting eternity.

I'm not sure if this novel needed the deaths of its protagonists in the first chapter. On one hand, it provides a kind of paradox to meditate on for the rest of the book. On the other hand, I found it to be a stumbling block. I had to “forget” about it to care about the characters and what happened to them.