Book 5: Way Station – Novel, 1963
Much lauded, Way Station won the 1964 Hugo Award for Best Novel and in an online poll conducted in 2012 by Locus, the novel was voted 47th best SF novel of the 20th century (City, at 40th was the only other Simak to make it into the top 75). This is without doubt a good SF novel, and must rank as one of Simak’s better books. Overall, I was impressed, and enjoyed it.
The plot concerns a man, Enoch Wallace, who fought in the American Civil War and was selected shortly thereafter by an alien visitor to Earth to man a “way station”, as the station manager. A network of way stations crisscross the galaxy and provide points to which the alien races can teleport to transport themselves between worlds. Enoch’s station (set up in his renovated house in Wisconsin) is different however – the position of a station on Earth is valuable to ‘Galactic Central’, but, Earth is not yet a member of the galactic collective of races. Man’s war-like tendencies are keeping her isolated. And so, Earth is simply a stopping off point for the various races of the galaxy, who perhaps stay with Enoch of a night before travelling on, and Enoch’s way station is hidden from all on Earth except for Enoch. In manning the station he is conferred with immortality, but is displaced by his isolation from what would have been his normal human life.
The power in the book resides primarily with the pathos in Enoch’s situation. His loneliness is well captured. To be within his family home, but at the same time feeling so isolated from humankind, he feels neither human nor alien – like a hybrid being with no single purpose. He vacillates in the book between feelings of loyalty and understanding of the aliens, and the pull of his human roots. His daily walks for the mail, and interactions with the deaf and dumb girl who lives nearby are touching. I felt it was those passages where he reflects on the passing of time, and the loss of family and his weakening connection to the Earth that were most successful. The plot idea of the way station is also successful and well realised.
Various aspects of the book are very ‘Simakian’, of course. The pastoral landscape of Wisconsin is well described and the protagonist is an 'everyman' figure. The overall feel of the book is of a gentle pace, and Simak manages to convey the slow passages of time for Enoch very well through his occasionally slow plot progression, coupled with Enoch's reflections on his situation. Rather than bore the reader, this approach of slowing the novel down at times delivers a sense of space and isolation and reflection in the reader to. To bring about a sense of time and wonder and loneliness in a short novel really impressed me. This is Simak writing at his very best. It reminded me in style of Time is the Simplest Thing, which also had more descriptive prose and greater depth some some other novels.
It’s not entirely perfect though. I personally felt the ending (which I shalln’t spoil) was a bit too ‘big’. It resolved too much for the reader and was a little too tidy. For me, the greatness of the book was to be found in Enoch Wallace’s loneliness and sense of dislocation from humanity, and I would have preferred an ending that continued this theme a little further, and in which the denouement was a little less ‘galactic’ in scope. If you have built your story on the emotional response to the individual, then I’d prefer a conclusion that was at the level of the individual too. That said, I enjoyed the book, and the main themes are dealt with very well in the main. I suspect it’s the sort of book that will stay with me for some time, as numerous scenes are very memorable and well delivered. Highly recommended.
Next up: Book 6 is “Why Call them Back from Heaven?”, a novel from 1967 which I managed to pick up in the Science Fiction Book Club hardback edition of 1968, for $6.
Much lauded, Way Station won the 1964 Hugo Award for Best Novel and in an online poll conducted in 2012 by Locus, the novel was voted 47th best SF novel of the 20th century (City, at 40th was the only other Simak to make it into the top 75). This is without doubt a good SF novel, and must rank as one of Simak’s better books. Overall, I was impressed, and enjoyed it.
The plot concerns a man, Enoch Wallace, who fought in the American Civil War and was selected shortly thereafter by an alien visitor to Earth to man a “way station”, as the station manager. A network of way stations crisscross the galaxy and provide points to which the alien races can teleport to transport themselves between worlds. Enoch’s station (set up in his renovated house in Wisconsin) is different however – the position of a station on Earth is valuable to ‘Galactic Central’, but, Earth is not yet a member of the galactic collective of races. Man’s war-like tendencies are keeping her isolated. And so, Earth is simply a stopping off point for the various races of the galaxy, who perhaps stay with Enoch of a night before travelling on, and Enoch’s way station is hidden from all on Earth except for Enoch. In manning the station he is conferred with immortality, but is displaced by his isolation from what would have been his normal human life.
The power in the book resides primarily with the pathos in Enoch’s situation. His loneliness is well captured. To be within his family home, but at the same time feeling so isolated from humankind, he feels neither human nor alien – like a hybrid being with no single purpose. He vacillates in the book between feelings of loyalty and understanding of the aliens, and the pull of his human roots. His daily walks for the mail, and interactions with the deaf and dumb girl who lives nearby are touching. I felt it was those passages where he reflects on the passing of time, and the loss of family and his weakening connection to the Earth that were most successful. The plot idea of the way station is also successful and well realised.
Various aspects of the book are very ‘Simakian’, of course. The pastoral landscape of Wisconsin is well described and the protagonist is an 'everyman' figure. The overall feel of the book is of a gentle pace, and Simak manages to convey the slow passages of time for Enoch very well through his occasionally slow plot progression, coupled with Enoch's reflections on his situation. Rather than bore the reader, this approach of slowing the novel down at times delivers a sense of space and isolation and reflection in the reader to. To bring about a sense of time and wonder and loneliness in a short novel really impressed me. This is Simak writing at his very best. It reminded me in style of Time is the Simplest Thing, which also had more descriptive prose and greater depth some some other novels.
It’s not entirely perfect though. I personally felt the ending (which I shalln’t spoil) was a bit too ‘big’. It resolved too much for the reader and was a little too tidy. For me, the greatness of the book was to be found in Enoch Wallace’s loneliness and sense of dislocation from humanity, and I would have preferred an ending that continued this theme a little further, and in which the denouement was a little less ‘galactic’ in scope. If you have built your story on the emotional response to the individual, then I’d prefer a conclusion that was at the level of the individual too. That said, I enjoyed the book, and the main themes are dealt with very well in the main. I suspect it’s the sort of book that will stay with me for some time, as numerous scenes are very memorable and well delivered. Highly recommended.
Next up: Book 6 is “Why Call them Back from Heaven?”, a novel from 1967 which I managed to pick up in the Science Fiction Book Club hardback edition of 1968, for $6.
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