One Day

by Wright Morris

In consequence of the finding of an illigitimate infant at the local pound and President Kennedy's assassination, a dozen residents of a small California community search out their past lives for an explanation of the two shocking incidents

433 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1965

About the author

Wright Marion Morris was an American novelist, photographer, and essayist. He is known for his portrayals of the people and artifacts of the Great Plains in words and pictures, as well as for experimenting with narrative forms.
Morris won the National Book Award for The Field of Vision in 1956. His final novel, Plains Song won the American Book Award in 1981.

Reviews

[Daniel Grenier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relecture, une décennie plus tard. Morris au sommet de son art, un gros roman qui se passe sur une journée (celle de l’assassinat de Kennedy), les monologues intérieurs d’une dizaine de personnages, citoyens d’une petite ville californienne, filtrés par une narration omnisciente et joueuse, toute en discours indirect libre. Morris y multiplie les phrases interrogatives, auxquelles les réponses appartiennent à on ne sait pas trop qui. À nous?

Plusieurs passages me sont revenus en mémoire à mesure, mais je suis frappé par cette phrase que je suis pas mal certain d’avoir déjà partagée à l’époque… On dirait que je la revendique encore comme le début d’une théorie de l’art, de l’écriture.

« The surface of this life was so transparent it left very little to be seen through. Alec sat with a volume of Valéry’s poems in her lap. They went unread. What was the point of being so subtle if life was so obvious? The surface of life seemed to be more sufficient. The depths were a bore. »