Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Light Perpetual
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
22 posts | 22 read | 11 to read
From the critically acclaimed and award?winning author of Golden Hill, a mesmerizing and boldly inventive novel tracing the infinite possibilities of five lives in the bustling neighborhoods of 20th-century London. Lunchtime on a Saturday, 1944: the Woolworths on Bexford High Street in southeast London receives a delivery of aluminum saucepans. A crowd gathers to see the first new metal in agesafter all, everythings been melted down for the war effort. An instant later, the crowd is gone; incinerated. Among the shoppers were five young children. Who were they? What futures did they lose? This brilliantly constructed novel lets an alternative reel of time run, imagining the life arcs of these five souls as they live through the extraordinary, unimaginable changes of the bustling immensity of twentieth-century London. Their intimate everyday dramas, as sons and daughters, spouses, parents, grandparents; as the separated, the remarried, the bereaved. Through decades of social, sexual, and technological transformation, as bus conductors and landlords, as swindlers and teachers, patients and inmates. Days of personal triumphs, disasters; of second chances and redemption. Ingenious and profound, full of warmth and beauty, Light Perpetual illuminates the shapes of experience, the extraordinariness of the ordinary, the mysteries of memory and expectation, and the preciousness of life.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
andrew61
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

In 1944, a bomb destroyed a South London woolworths. Among the 168 who died, the author has imagined 5 young children's lives at 15-year intervals until 2009. The life that might have been for each one is absorbing as we follow their various highs + lows + in parts is very moving. The book ends with a reminder not to dwell on paths not taken, and I put it down wishing there was more and wiping away moisture from my eye.

39 likes2 stack adds
review
Addison_Reads
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Mehso-so

I'm really torn on this book. 😕

The idea was intriguing. Lives of five children who died in a bombing in WWII are reimagined against an evolving London backdrop.

Personally, I wish the author had written about fewer children because it was difficult to follow the emerging storylines and become really invested in each character. It is beautifully written though which kept me reading.

review
Hooked_on_books
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Panpan

Ultimately, this book did not work for me. It follows 5 people who died in WWII London as children and imagines what their lives would have been had they not died. The prose is bloated in a way that detracts from learning more about the characters, one of the 5 is almost entirely ignored, and the framing conceit serves as a distraction rather than enhancing the story.

BookwormM I think this would have worked better if that while they died in the bombing conceit was dropped 3y
Hooked_on_books @BookwormM I think either that or choosing one character or siblings then having dual timelines, one where they lived and one where they died, so you can see how things are different. 3y
49 likes2 comments
review
kissmehardy
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

I both liked the conceit of this book and didn't at all understand why it was necessary for framing the story. Since this book is about divergent paths and choices in life, I suppose that's fitting. #historicalfiction

review
rachaich
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

Gosh, that felt like a mammoth undertaking although it's not a long novel in terms of pages.
I think it was incredible prose, such fine detail and description yet almost overwhelmed the actual story. I found it challenging to keep up with which character was which and had to keep checking.

blurb
rachaich
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image

Having been on the waiting list since the start of October, this one finally popped into my inbox from the library 😊😍. The opening chapter was rather unusual and took me a re read to understand...

review
Graywacke
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

The fictional alternate lives of five children killed by the Woolworth V2 rocket, which killed 160 people in 1944. This takes snapshots of their lives, one day every 15 yrs. What comes out is a post-WW2 history of the cultural changes of a fictionalized southeast London suburb. It‘s in some ways very simple, but also has something to it that is a little hard to pin down. Seems the more I think about it the more I appreciate it.

Crazeedi Wow this is something I didn't know, sounds intriguing 3y
Ruthiella Glad to hear a positive review! I loved Golden Hill by Spufford. 3y
Graywacke @Crazeedi it‘s on the Booker list. But I should warn you (and anyone else reading this) it‘s not universally liked. It‘s hard to explain why in a short review. Roughly it‘s essentially plotless and a little slow and a little too writer-friendly. Critics tend to like it more than readers. For me, i spent a chunk of the book wondering whether or not I was enjoying it, and the whole book wondering whether I should be. It‘s better in hindsight. 🙂 3y
See All 6 Comments
Graywacke @Ruthiella I only just heard of Golden Hill when reading about this one today. Glad you mentioned it and liked it. I‘m now very interested. 3y
Crazeedi @Graywacke it has an interesting plot line, that's what drew me to considering, I never knew about this. Thanks for the info ❤ 3y
Graywacke @Crazeedi I agree about the plot line. A curious thing is - how essential is this plot line set up to the heart of the book. I caught a few subtle ties while reading, and looking at the whole thing I‘m finding it ties in well in several different ways, some in the sense of 20th century themes. But it‘s possible the whole book could exist as just the lives of 5 ww2 era kids, without that setup. 3y
49 likes6 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image

Chasing the Booker longlist. I‘ll probably start this Monday.

review
quietlycuriouskate
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

It's very good, though the glorious opening chapter is tonally very different from what follows. I enjoyed the format: nicely observed slices of life down the years of Jo, Val, Alec, Ben and Vern. I don't think the premise adds anything; the lives they'd have lived had they not died as kids in the Blitz (in chapter 1). Oh, so, *imagined* lives, you mean? Of made-up people? Like they're characters? In a... what's it called now? A novel, perhaps?

Cathythoughts Great review Kate. I‘ve yet to give this one a try .. 👍🏻❤️ 3y
BarbaraBB Great review indeed! 3y
32 likes2 comments
blurb
bthegood
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs
Thanks for the tags @TheSpineView @EadieB

1. tagged
2. apple
3. Ill Shadows ( @jeannasser @WJCintron)
4. Family/friends

EadieB You‘re welcome! Thanks for playing! 3y
JudeCC 😲 💗 💖 💕 💓 ❤ 🙏
My heart... 🤗
This means the world to me!!
3y
EadieB You‘re welcome! Thanks for playing! 3y
25 likes5 comments
review
AnneCecilie
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Mehso-so

London, November 1944, several people in a bombing among them five school kids. A book about what if that hadn‘t happened and we get the potential stories of Jo, Val, Alec, Ben and Vern. At times I forgot that they hadn‘t died in the first pages.

I have mixed feelings about this book.

#BookerLongList2021

Brimful Generally enjoyed it but the women were too passive. The rise of feminism greenham common women‘s participation in the work force all invisible. 3y
Ruthiella I loved Golden Hill by this author, but most readers I‘ve encountered don‘t like this new one...what do the Booker judges see in it, I wonder? 3y
68 likes2 comments
review
rmaclean4
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

This novel is the reason I love to read award lists. Long listed for the Booker. Has a premise that I hate and would never have read this book because of it. In the end this was the perfect device to make the authors point. Large cast of characters and beautiful the writing. The end was everything! 4 🌟

review
Simona
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Mehso-so

What I liked the most in this story, where the premise is “what might have been”, is the structure - we follow lives of the five children (all five dies in the first chapter) in alternating chapters and each chapter begins 15 years later. I found this as a very interesting decision, which also allows to cover all the big changes/shifts in the society from the 1944 until 2009 … The characters are well portrayed, excellent first chapter … 👇

Simona … but story as a whole was very unsatisfied read for me, especially the last chapter was disappointment. I miss something in the execution to rate this #BookerPrize2021 as a pick, but if it wasn't on the longlist, I would have given it 3⭐️ #doublespin 3y
squirrelbrain Great review! The more books I‘ve read from the longlist, the more this has slipped further down the list for me. 3y
Simona @squirrelbrain Thank you 😊 I finished the longlist, well except for R.Powers book, and this one is definitely the weakest on the list. Readable, but not rememberable 🤷🏻‍♀️ 3y
See All 13 Comments
squirrelbrain Are you going to post your shortlist? I‘m just finishing Great Circle and The Sweetness of Water then I‘ve read them all. (Except Powers and I can‘t get a copy of the Jennings yet either) 3y
Simona @squirrelbrain I will first post my review 3y
Simona @squirrelbrain sorry I hit the send button too early … *reviews and then shortlist, day or two before shortlist. Am I wrong - or are you from Germany? (edited) 3y
Simona …. I have An Island, and if you live in Eu, I can send you a book. @squirrelbrain 3y
squirrelbrain I‘m in England Simona - it‘s very kind of you to offer to send it, but I can actually get hold of it for Qc.99 on Kindle (the only place - I can‘t get it from the library). I don‘t like paying that much for a Kindle book and I‘m just not sure if it will be worth it - did you like it? 3y
squirrelbrain It‘s very difficult to pick a shortlist -the list of my favourites is very different to those that I think will make the shortlist…. 3y
Simona @squirrelbrain At the end my shortlist is always mixture of the books that I liked and of those that I don‘t like, but I think that are prize worthy. I like An Island very much - it is on my shortlist… for know. It‘s quite simple book, actually it is the simplest book from longlist. 3y
Simona @squirrelbrain Here is the preview from my review - “Nothing experimental in the structure, simple/clean prose without any metaphors,scarcely in dialogues, but the story of the lonely old man on the island is very powerful, effective and interesting view on the freedom, solitude and inner demons.” I would say buy it, if you like uncomplicated, quite stories. 3y
squirrelbrain I do like those kind of stories Simona so I think I might go for it. Thanks for your input! 3y
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 3y
32 likes1 stack add13 comments
review
sarahbarnes
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

My favorite of the Booker long list I‘ve read so far, I think. Such exquisite writing about life, which is made even more powerful by the premise of the book.

Cathythoughts Nice review.. I havnt been drawn to this one .. but you have changed my mind 👍🏻 3y
sarahbarnes @Cathythoughts I actually wasn‘t either! It was the last one I read in the pile from the library. And then I loved it. 3y
vivastory I see that my library has this. I will be swinging by tomorrow to grab it. Looking forward to it! 3y
sarahbarnes @vivastory I‘ll be interested to hear what you think of it! 3y
28 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
mjtwo
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

30 Jul-19 Aug 2021
Booker Longlist 1 - will be lucky to finish in time for next year‘s longlist if they all take this long!
Spufford imagines the stories of 5 children who died in the Blitz. The narrative resembles the 7up series - dropping in on the 5 periodically for a quick catch-up of what occurred in the intervening years. I enjoyed these snippets and the wonderful descriptions of mundane activities, but unsure what the point ultimately was.

review
ClairesReads
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Mehso-so

Well I guess I knew what Spufford was trying to do here, but I just don‘t think it was done very well. Light Perpetual starts with a literal and figurative bang. The first chapter is out the gate EXCELLENT writing. From there? Fizzles like a sparkler at the end of its thread. In the end I felt like this novel had a lot of potential, that just wasn‘t realised. For the most part, I was unmoved by the plights of the 5 characters.

quote
ClairesReads
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image

review
KatieB
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Mehso-so

I wanted to love this. I thought the premise was clever and loved the idea of following characters through their whole lives. However…I really struggled to keep all the characters and their stories straight. This might just be my issue but I suspect we just didn‘t get enough time with each character to make them memorable. I‘d definitely be interested in picking up this author‘s other book however. #doublespin

ClairesReads Totally agree- so much potential but was just meh 3y
9 likes1 comment
review
squirrelbrain
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

I part-listened to this and part-read it on Libby. It‘s the story of what would have happened to 5 children had they not lost their lives in a WWII bombing raid. It‘s both sweeping, over many years, but also detailed and focused on the minutiae of life.

I felt a strong focus on one specific character though (not necessarily a bad thing) and would be intrigued to see if anyone else saw that or if it‘s just my perception.

#bookerprizelonglist

FelinesAndFelonies I've been waiting on my copy for two weeks from Harvard Bookstore. I'm so happy to read that you enjoyed it! I was hoping it was worth the wait. 3y
59 likes1 comment
review
Teresereading
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford
post image
Pickpick

What a magnificent book and such amazing use of language. Words layered upon each other like some enormous oil painting. Thanks to @thepigeonhole for the readalong.
I will definitely be seeking out more writing by Francis Spufford

4 likes1 stack add
quote
imyril
Light Perpetual: A Novel | Francis Spufford

‘Matter has its smallest, finite subdivisions. Time does not. One ten-thousandth of a second is a fat volume of time, with onion-skin pages uncountable.‘

9 likes1 stack add