The Light of Day

By: Graham Swift

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

George Webb is a divorced ex-policeman turned private investigator, a man whose prospects seemed ruined not so long ago. Kicked off the force for trying in all the wrong ways to put away the right man, he has recently crossed a line with a client - and upended his own life.

In this masterful novel, Graham Swift takes us inside Webb's mind. For one dazzling day, we see what Webb sees and know only what his thinking reveals. We learn about his childhood and the secret it forced him to carry; his changing relationship with his once-renegade daughter; the last moments with his ex-wife; his fall from grace as a cop; the unexpected ease with which he has turned his police-learned skills to the more delicate demands of his new profession. And we learn how those demands have put him in silent league with the fateful client, a woman he has come to love.

Fascinating in its slow and revelatory accumulation of physical and emotional detail, tender and humorous, intense and suspenseful, The Light of Day is a tour-de-force journey into human emotions.

©2003 Graham Swift (P)2003 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"He is a writer of immense gifts." (The Washington Post)

Dribble

Dribble. I am typing words on a keyboard. Funny, it's a QWERTY keyboard that has lots of letters on it that when one presses while thinking random thoughts might describe a trip to the grocery store or the restroom or what ever dribble may be in someone's head at any given moment. This is what this "masterfully crafted" book was to me. If reading this book was getting into someone's mind, I could not get it out of sight and out of mind fast enough. End of Dribble.

Sorry to say it, but: Boring

You should know that the story is told in a 'stream-of-consciousness' style, there isn't a plot to speak of, and no real mystery. The reader's voice is excellent, however, so if you're into literary experiments, go right ahead. I felt like I was caught in an endless loop, mainly because the narrator's observations are constantly repeated. About half-way through, I conducted my own experiment: 'Would fast-forwarding about an hour change anything to the story? Would I feel like I had missed anything?' No.

Interesting story - EXCELLENT narrator

This is an interesting book and I will try other Graham Swift novels at some point, but the real attraction of the book for me was the narrator who read two other books I read recently, motivating me to listen to this one which had been in my library for a very long time. The story is about a detective who is an ex-cop and deals primarily with women whose husbands are having affairs. He spends a good deal of the story contemplating how we choose to fall in love and how love ends or doesn't. I found it very pleasant and easy to listen to and very well written. But again, it was the narration that held me - the narrator is fantastic.

Meandering

The publisher's summary is most accurate in "For one dazzling day, we see what Webb sees..." Imagine a stranger listening to your thoughts as they wonder over one day in your life. If it sounds appealing, this title may be for you. Personally, the poetic descriptions are a plus. Otherwise, it fatigues me to listen.

Not so great

I found the story to be too slow for an audiobook.

Lovely writer/reader; flaccid story

This book is well written and the reader does a nice job of evoking the stream-of-consciousness style the author chooses to narrate with. But the story itself and the facts of the plot leave a bit to be desired. The story's overall arc transpires in a single day but we are treated to many reveries that the main character experiences throughout the course of that day. These flashbacks and wonderings detail the tragic events that have come beforehand in the life of the main character, a private investigator, and former clients (it involves cheating spouses and murder). While it's all well done, the listener becomes pretty clear on "what happened" in the past and the book seems like it wants to have some kind of surprise toward the end. Easily, by halfway through the novel, there isn't much "mystery" left, but rather, what remains is to get the full picture of every character's mind-set when the events transpired. It's not as compelling as it could have been. Imagine a second half of the book where not only do we come to understand everyone's mindset but we also come to learn that the facts of the story are actually different than we thought. This would be a welcome surprise and would turn the story on its ear. None of that happens here... we are simply treated to a well thought-out, delicate elucidation of the characters' thoughts but never are we thrilled by them. I hesistate to call the book boring, but it uses a lot of words and tortured fretting to relate an extremely simple story. While some readers might find that this is the very thing that makes the book special, it failed to impress me enough to give it more than three stars. Listen to this book if you like deep character studies, stories about P.I.s, or if you're thinking of cheating on your spouse!

Very well written.

I loved the choice of voice actor. I really liked the plot and character. It read very much like a work of literary fiction. Very modern in style with disjointed stream of consciousness narration. You really get the feeling of being in the main characters heaf. I also read the print version but it was nice to also hear it performed.

Better read than heard

This stream-of-consciousness style, with flashbacks, is well-done and worth a read. But if listening on-the-go is your style, pass this one up. I never did figure out who the Deason character was.

Graham and Graeme gave me a wonderful day!

This is the first time in a very long time that I have read a book from cover to cover and been tempted to reread it again immediately. It took me a few chapters to fully engage because of the story telling style, where I lived inside the protagonist's thoughts. Typically of that style the story is told through memories which jump around in time. It is quite voyeuristic and felt a bit invasive at times. And then it also felt like I was listening to him tell me his story over a cup of coffee. The prose is simple, spare and beautiful.

4.5 stars from me.

well written, but very implausible

What disappointed you about The Light of Day?

We are asked to believe that the detective, on the basis of having a cup of coffee with his client (the soon to be murderer of her husband), is permanently committed to the woman. We leave the book with no understanding of why the woman murdered the husband nor why the detective fell so in love with her.

Would you ever listen to anything by Graham Swift again?

I might give him a try, because the writing itself was very good.