Simon's Night and ''My Simon's Night Journal''

by Jon Hassler

In this Jon Hassler classic, Simon Shea, a retired professor of English at a small Minnesota college, has begun to forget things and also experiences a few dangerous lapses in judgment. He commits himself to a private rest home where his encounters with other residents are variously strange, comical, and disquieting. A young doctor and her boyfriend enter Simon's life and attempt to persuade him that his new mode of life might be a cure worse than the disease. Reflections on his teaching career, his moribund marriage, his Catholicism, and an unforgettable week in Ireland with a former student flesh out Simon's unusual and complex character. The themes are more relevant today than ever before, and this new edition is further enhanced by the inclusion of Hassler's own ''My Simon's Night Journal,'' which offers insights into the author's thought processes during the novel's long gestation period.

360 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

Jon Hassler was born in Minneapolis, but spent his formative years in the small Minnesota towns of Staples and Plainview, where he graduated from high school. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from St. John's University in 1955. While teaching English at three different Minnesota high schools, he received his Master of Arts degree in English from the University of North Dakota in 1960. He continued to teach at the high school level until 1965, when he began his collegiate teaching career: first at Bemidji State University, then Brainerd Community College (now called Central Lakes College), and finally at Saint John's, where he became the Writer-in-Residence in 1980.

During his high-school teaching years, Hassler married and fathered three children. His first marriage lasted 25 years. He had two more marriages; the last was to Gretchen Kresl Hassler.

In 1994, Hassler was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a disease similar to Parkinson's. It caused vision and speech problems, as well as difficulty walking, but he was able to continue writing. He was reported to have finished a novel just days before his death. Hassler died in 2008, at the age of 74, at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.[1]

The Jon Hassler Theater in Plainview, Minnesota, is named for him.

Reviews

[Robert Strandquist · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1979, I read it circa 1989, but this recent 2013 edition contains Hassler's Journal that he kept while writing the novel. Thank you to Joe Plut, known as the hugging professor at Brainerd Community College, who took pains to arrange Jon's correspondence from January 1977 through November 1978 into a coherent whole. Herein we see 'behind the curtain' into Jon's doubts, victories and struggles as he creates "Simon's Night."
Most compelling for me is Jon's struggle to balance classroom English teaching, family responsibilities, and publishing concerns with his growing passion for solitude wherein he can think and write and write. One striking feature in this journal is his belief in the power of revision. He re-started this novel over twenty times - all on an electric typewriter using carbons between pages. Another point of fascination for me was Jon's understanding of his own limitations. He is fully aware of his strength to create life-like characters as well as his limitations with the shape of a plot line especially one with a suitable ending. I relish these revelations because they expose a respected writer's irregular shoreline among the high waves of inspiration and receding ebbs of vacuity. Thank you, Joe for this precious journal from your long-time friend.
Within "Simon's Night" itself, I was particularly drawn to Simon's inner struggle between his spiritual allegiance to his Roman Catholic faith with its keel of morality guiding him always close to the safer shore as he faces forces that lure him out to shimmering, deeper waters. Only once does he seek its allure. It's in the form of a mermaid, a former female student who unlikely appears in a Dublin pub. This sultry encounter provides Simon with enough guilt to eventually return to his estranged wife, Barbara. These scenes in Ireland are splendid because they allow Hassler to openly savor his love of Yeats as well as Ireland's rich Roman Catholic hertiage at the Rock of Cashel where Simon's epiphany reveals not only the flaw in his errant ways but also the solid ancient rock of his wavering faith in God. Good stuff, this.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent novel and a great source of insight into an author's writing process, this combination story/journal would be a fine addition to college writing courses. A longer review may be found at www.cloquetriverpress.com.
Peace.
Mark