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A review by anabradley
Grand Canyon by Vita Sackville-West
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Set in Arizona, in a hotel at the edge of the Grand Canyon, Vita Sackville-West imagines a world in which the Nazis have defeated England. The USA has signed a peace deal with Germany, but, inevitably, a peace that spans the grand canyon between evil and relative good is doomed to be broken. Written before the end of the second world war, S-W speculates on a vastly uncertain future. However, to describe 'Grand Canyon' purely as speculative fiction is only to recognise a facet of its substance.
For me, S-W is much more concerned with the canyon between life and death and the role of nature in human activity than she is with Nazism. In fact, the evils of Nazi doctrine are barely even brushed upon. Instead, those with Nazi sympathies appear to act with some sort of impartial desire to wreak destruction. In one such act, the patrons of the hotel are forced to take refuge within the walls of the canyon. Here, surrounded by the natural world, they are able to connect on a much deeper, more human, level.
The guests are kept informed of the plight of the outside world through radio bulletins reporting on the Nazi invasion of the USA. However, the world of the guests is confined to the walls of the canyon. They are neither here nor there, dead nor alive. 'Physical events, however terrible, however multiple, were neither larger nor smaller than the capacity of the heart to interpret them', remarks the narrator, demonstrating the detachment of the novel from its subject- war. 'Grand Canyon' is a novel of personal depth more than it is a speculation on a grand scale. It is also a novel that deplores the impartiality of war, in its tendency to harm everyone, regardless of good or evil.
In her final pages, S-W's dystopian New York is plagued by bombing, which triggers cataclysmic natural disasters. Soldiers and civilians from sides of the war are killed, demonstrating nature's 'grand impartiality', and the ultimate horror of war. 'Grand Canyon' is so much more than the speculative fiction it is described as. It is closer to a philosophical examination of what it means to be impartial.
For me, S-W is much more concerned with the canyon between life and death and the role of nature in human activity than she is with Nazism. In fact, the evils of Nazi doctrine are barely even brushed upon. Instead, those with Nazi sympathies appear to act with some sort of impartial desire to wreak destruction. In one such act, the patrons of the hotel are forced to take refuge within the walls of the canyon. Here, surrounded by the natural world, they are able to connect on a much deeper, more human, level.
The guests are kept informed of the plight of the outside world through radio bulletins reporting on the Nazi invasion of the USA. However, the world of the guests is confined to the walls of the canyon. They are neither here nor there, dead nor alive. 'Physical events, however terrible, however multiple, were neither larger nor smaller than the capacity of the heart to interpret them', remarks the narrator, demonstrating the detachment of the novel from its subject- war. 'Grand Canyon' is a novel of personal depth more than it is a speculation on a grand scale. It is also a novel that deplores the impartiality of war, in its tendency to harm everyone, regardless of good or evil.
In her final pages, S-W's dystopian New York is plagued by bombing, which triggers cataclysmic natural disasters. Soldiers and civilians from sides of the war are killed, demonstrating nature's 'grand impartiality', and the ultimate horror of war. 'Grand Canyon' is so much more than the speculative fiction it is described as. It is closer to a philosophical examination of what it means to be impartial.