The Holy Trinity
stoner/butcher's crossing/augustus
In the name of the father, the son, and Jim Morrison who is alive and well and living on a farm in Syracuse, New York. These three books are about as good of a run as any author has ever had. Three fastballs, belt high, right down the plate. But, the barbarian will conquer; it does not matter. Rome is not eternal; it does not matter.
John Williams wrote four novels, one of which he does not recognize as a part of his cannon, for reasons unknown. Good things come in threes. Williams writing life was slow and methodical, and it left us three perfect novels that all grapple with the same subject matter — the arc of man. Some left to a middling existence, some left to conquer the free world — and the parallel lives they lead.
“He is a man like any other…. he will become what he will become, out of the force of his person and the accident of his fate.”
Reading Stoner upon its re-release by NYRB was de rigueur a few years back. There was even a rumored film adaptation set to star Casey Affleck back in 2017. Lucky for us it was shelved, hopefully never to see the light of day. It is a perfect slice of mid-century literature that has been out of fashion for so long, that it has come back around as something groundbreaking.
Butcher’s Crossing is a part of the American Western hall of fame. Right up there with Blood Meridian (notably one of the few books I have started and refused to finish in my lifetime), Lonesome Dove and True Grit.
Augustus is nothing like I have ever read. An epistolary novel about the coming of age of Julius Caesar Augustus — the founder of the Roman Empire.
All three Williams novels lead to the same ultimate conclusion — the friction that exists between the poles of “force of person” and “accident of fate” over time blur into one — leaving us in a state of utter confusion. Middling in mediocrity, numb to the elements. But. Such is life.
The Trinity is listed as a lot on eBay for your bidding pleasure.