The Addictive Prose of “Light Years” by James Salter

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James Salter’s novel Light Years is a stunning testament to his talent, drawing readers into a narrative that feels both intimate and profound.

In the world of literature, few authors manage to capture the complexities of human relationships with the grace and nuance of James Salter. His novel Light Years is a treasure trove, offering a rich tapestry of language and emotion. Read on as Lauren Alwan explores the addictive prose of James Salter’s Light Years. Whether you’re an aspiring author or a devoted reader, there’s something in Salter’s world that beckons you to linger just a little longer.

“Light Years” by James Salter

Addictive Prose

First published in 1975, the novel Light Years is considered among James Salter’s most enduring. Known for the beauty of his sentences, ones that Jhumpa Lahiri called “so precise, so clean, so fervent and yet so calm,” Salter is the kind of writer whose prose is singular and satisfying to the degree that it can become addictive.

A World Not Of This World

Light Years, Salter’s second novel (the first, A Sport and a Pastime, was published in 1967 and a third, All That Is, was released in 2013), centers on the marriage of Nedra and Viri, a well-educated and chic couple who live in a ranging house by the river outside of New York City. Viri is an architect and Nedra a glamorous, intense woman, a wife and a mother who is creative and inspired—she makes handmade decorations for her children’s birthdays and beautiful dinner parties for their friends. Salter shows us this world as though it is not of this world; a dream, an invention too fine to last, and for me, this is where Salter’s art lies.

Their life is mysterious, it is like a forest; from far off it seems a unity, it can be comprehended, described, but closer it begins to separate, to break into light and shadow, the density blinds one. Within there is no form, only prodigious detail that reaches everywhere: exotic sounds, spills of sunlight, foliage, fallen trees, small beasts that flee at the sound of a twig-snap, insects, silence, flowers. And all of this, dependent, closely woven, all of it is deceiving.

The Yearnings of Love

As captivating as their charmed life seems, the book is, in a way, about unhappiness. For Nedra and Viri, this brand of unhappiness isn’t apparent until it dismantles the time and place of their lives. Salter takes his time to show what Nedra and Viri share: their children, their house, the changing seasons, the chickens in the greenhouse, the dog, the snow, the parties, and the long conversations over drinks or dinner. And eventually, he exposes the deep and contradictory yearnings of love and attachment.

He was reaching that age, he was at the edge of it, when the world becomes suddenly more beautiful, when it reveals itself in a special way, in every detail, roof and wall, in the leaves of trees fluttering faintly before the rain. The world was opening itself, as if to allow, now that life was shortening, one long, passionate look, and all that had been withheld would finally be given.

Artistry Bound To Last

Of Salter, Nick Paumgarten wrote in the New Yorker:

Among many writers, and some literary people, James Salter is venerated for his sentence-making, his observational powers, his depictions of sex and valor, and a pair of novels that, in spite of thin sales and obscure subject matter, have more than a puncher’s chance at permanence.

Nick Paumgarten, the New Yorker

For Salter’s characters, happiness may be a fleeting thing, but the artistry of Salter’s prose is bound to last.

~ Lauren Alwan

About James Salter

James Salter (b. 1925) was a novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. Salter grew up in New York City and was a career officer and Air Force pilot until his mid-thirties, when the success of his first novel (The Hunters, 1957) led to a fulltime writing career. Salter’s potent, lyrical prose has earned him acclaim from critics, readers, and fellow novelists. His novel A Sport and a Pastime (1967) was hailed by the New York Times as “nearly perfect as any American fiction.”

Other Titles by James Salter

Other LitStack Resources

Be sure and look at our other LitStack Recs for our recommendations on books you should read, as well as these reviews by Lauren Alwan, and these reviews by Sharon Browning.

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