So Long, See You Tomorrow written by William Maxwell is a confusing bore even at 100 pages. Written in the late 1970s, the novel doesn't hold up. I thought the fact that Maxwell was gay might offer interesting insights but that wasn't the case. ( )

William Maxwell sitúa su novela más famosa en un pequeño pueblo del estado de Illinois, en el que dos familias comparten muchas cosas, tantas que los celos llevan finalmente a un asesinato. El crimen sacude la comunidad y rompe la amistad que unía a dos niños solitarios: el narrador de la novela -un chico que ha perdido a su madre recientemente- y Cletus, hijo del homicida; tras el suceso no volverán a hablarse. Al narrador esa ruptura le afectará, pero no será hasta mucho después, casi cincuenta años más tarde, cuando se de cuenta de cuánto le ha marcado y vuelva sobre aquellos hechos: sobre su amistad con Cletus y sobre los acontecimientos que precedieron al asesinato.

“People neither get what they deserve no deserve what they get. The gentel and the trusting are trampled on. The rich man usually forces his way through the eye of the needle, and there is little or no point in putting your faith in Divine Providence…”

William Maxwell’s So Long, See You Tomorrow was a melancholic treat. A novella of sorts, the story takes us back to the writer’s childhood growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska in the early 1920s. It’s a rethinking, a piecing together of instances that led to a tragic event that cast to the winds the members of two families and those who knew them.

How often does one contemplate their own childhood acts and understandings that could have contributed to, if not making things worse, at least not making things better. It’s a disconsolate exercise, with nothing but the your own conscience and the people as you imagine them at the time standing for judgment.

Maxwell exhibits masterful writing throughout the book. What else is one to expect from the editor of some of my favorite author’s (John O’Hara, John Cheever, etc.). I found Trixie’s story particularly heart breaking – resulting in some spontaneous hugs and kisses to my own dogs during and after reading. ( )

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It still gets such great reviews considering it was written in 1980. Maybe it just wasn't the right time for me to read this. ( )

Cronica de un crimen pasional