Ben Turnbull is retired and long-married to his former mistress Gloria, whom he now believes is waiting for his death and "the end of her captivity". Set in Massachusetts in the year 2020, the novel features a US devastated by war, where federal Government has been replaced by menacing characters demanding protection money. While there is a Walter Mittyish element to the discursive narrative, and Ben spends much of his time pondering his waning sexuality, this random, chaotic novel, for all its comedy and characteristically lavish Updike descriptions of sex and sin, is an extraordinarily moving meditation on life, nature, death and the passing of time. Not only is Ben a likeable character, as vulnerable as he is ironic, he is also a fitting spokesman for his creator. Updike's 18th novel, in a career spanning 40 years, is among his finest and often evokes an elegiac note of leavetaking. Anyone curious to see exactly what this most linguistically gifted of writers can do with language should read Toward the End of Time and wonder at both the ease and the pain of it.
Lavish, moving, ironic: John Updike
