Customer Reviews

First Light (Contemporary American Fiction)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Baxter begins this book with a glimpse into the life of a family in a state of static malaise. Rather than take the story forward he begins drifting backward in time, layering in incidents and moments that start to explain how the family got that way. In the hands of many writers this would feel like a gimick, but Baxter has the grace and skill to pull it off beautifully. With each chapter our questions are answered and our understanding grows.

Although Charles Baxter is best known as a master of the short story (BELIEVERS etc.), this novel is his finest piece of work. It is the story of the complicated relationship between a brother and sister, told backwards, from end to beginning. Each individual chapter has the tight logic of a short story, but as a whole the novel is rich and complex. A magnificent study of the bonds of love and friendship.

Charles Baxter is better known as a short story writer, but his novels are little-known gems. First Light takes an "ordinary" relationship--that of a brother and sister--and shows how complex it really is. The book travels backwards in time: each chapter takes place at an earlier age in the characters' lives than the previous one. What could be a constricting or gimmicky literary device becomes magical in Charles Baxter's hands. The ending is beautiful. The characters sometimes exasperate but then, doesn't your brother or sister sometimes exasperate you?

I read First Light when it first came out. Charles Baxter writes with a beautiful, stunning style. His characters are interesting and complex. I have read all his books, and I think that his work is compelling and beautiful. Christine

When I realized that this book's format was to recount the lives of the characters - backwards, I was immediately put off, thinking I'd be bogged down by the device. But I quickly forgot that, and was engrossed in the vivid details and non-sentimental portrayal of the characters.

I just reread First Light, and it's even better on the second reading, in part because the reverse chronology takes on a whole new dimension when you have some recollection of what has happened earlier. It's a sensitive story of a brother-sister relationship, with all the resentment, competition and love that such relationships entail, and it's told by a man with an eye for detail and a prose style just about unmatched in contemporary American fiction. Enjoyed A Feast of Love too, but I think First Light is always going to be my favorite Baxter novel.

I feel that the praise for this novel, particularly on this site, has been somewhat extravagant. Though it is a decent first novel, it pales in comparison to Baxter's later work, which I read before reading this. I'm a huge fan of Baxter, however, I found the book anticlimactic and consequently unsatisfying. Using an unconventional narrative form, Baxter takes us backwards in time though the characters' lives. However, nothing happens. Yes, we get a great deal of insight into the lives of these characters, but they are, for lack of a better word, quite passive and frankly unentertaining. Where I can point out nothing wrong with Baxter's style or subject matter, I simply found that the book fell short of where I expected Baxter to take me. Still, if you're a fan of Baxter its worth the read, if only to get a taste of how his work has changed over the years. Check this one out from the library, but buy A Relative Stranger (a collection of short stories well worth the money).

Years ago, a friend read this book, then immediately gave it to me because, she told me, I'm also an astrophysicist who once lived in Buffalo, NY. Those facts are irrelevant -- I would have loved this book in any event.

Charles Baxter created the people in his book so exquisitely that I always feel I am there, traveling along in the story with them whenever I read it. I've never had such a close personal experiences with written characters.

He defines and develops his people as they alternately live in their present, and in their receding pasts; his creativity results in characterizations that are very strong.

I find myself unexpectedly writing this review after wanting to check if the book is still available; I'm not surprised to find that it is. And happily for me, as my copy is in pieces.

If a modern novel could be perfectly written, "First Light" would qualify as a canidate. I admit that I'm partial to Baxter's writing, but you'll have to forgive me because he's a really good writer. He turns ordinary people into interesting specimens, looking at their lives through a literary microscope, making the reader want to look ever closer.

This is exactly what happens in "First Light." Baxter starts at a certain point in his main characters' lives, then proceeds backwards to the moment on one of their births. At each new intersection, we learn something about their lives, getting an understanding of how their experiences and views of the world are shaped. As the reader goes through the novel, he/she really understands why they are acting the way they do. As a literary device and metaphor, light figures prominently, and at the end of the novel we really do see the first light of morning, literally and figuratively, and wish to tell the characters how their lives will unfold. But alas, we can't, but we can analyze our own lives and wonder how we got to where we are.

This is one of Baxter's better works, and the four stars are to be taken as a comparison to his other writings.