China
by Alan Wall(Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s, $24.95)
Rarely do we see a novel actually live up to the responsibility of the form: to seek human meaning with all of fiction’s gifts deployed, all of its graces, its many advantages. Wall’s 10th book possesses a patient, sprawling scope, sliding as it does between the present day and expanses of the 20th century. Its pivot is the reclusive Digby Walton, an aging pottery magnate whose family business is coming to its end, though much of the plot surrounds Walton’s son, the jazz-entranced Theo. To look back and look ahead as life seems to rush right through you is a challenge. China, in turn, is, too.
This article appears in July 16 • 2004.