More than once, I have read an author's most celebrated work only to consider it their weakest. At the same time, I understood why it attained its popularity. Simak's Way Station is unfortunately another such book. It starts off with a typically imaginative scenario by the science fiction great; Enoch Wallace is a 140 year-old who fought in the Civil War, but has the appearance of a man of 30. That's because his house is a rest stop/way station for intergalactic travelers, and inside of it, he doesn't age. The book is filled with Simak-isms. Sci-fi events occur in a rural, village setting that modern human civilization has largely forgotten. The aliens are mostly benevolent. It features powerful, mysterious, and original extraterrestrial artifacts. It even has a mentally simple/retarded character (in this case, a beautiful deaf-mute girl named Lucy Fisher) who possesses incredible mystical abilities. (For those who have read Simak's Hugo-award winning novella, The Big Front Yard, all of this should be familiar)And yet, in key ways, Way Station is different from Simak's other works. This is a science fiction book with Big Ideas. The nature of humanity. The inevitability of conflict. What it means to be (practically) immortal. The devastation and horror of war, and how it can be prevented.Simak devotes dozens of pages to nothing more than Enoch pondering these questions. Meanwhile, the story suffers. A conflict doesn't begin to take shape until 100 pages in, halfway through, and even afterwards, there are lulls. Also, as much as I respect Simak as a genuine pioneer and great of the genre, writing cerebral, philosophical ruminations simply isn't his strength. It might be for a Milan Kundera or Joseph Conrad (although they always kept their stories fresh and moving along at a brisk pace), but Simak isn't on that level. His insights are too conventional and uninteresting. There is nothing wrong with this; even my absolute favorite science fiction authors Heinlein and especially PJ Farmer couldn't carry a book solely on philosophical musings.As a result, the book often grows stale and boring, and has major pacing problems. Reading it, I kept comparing it to another Simak novel, The Goblin Reservation. Published 5 years after Way Station, it didn't win a Hugo, nor is it as well-remembered. However, it's a damn thrilling, exciting book that presents an action-packed story with excellent pacing. Moreover, its futuristic world is just so much more vibrant, fun, and alive than the drab, depressing one in Way Station. (Which reminds me too much of Thoreau's Walden)However, when Simak focuses on the plot, it's a good, creative one. His greatest strength was his wonderfully creative ideas, and there are plenty of them here, especially with regards to the alien races and artifacts Enoch stumbles across. And while the socio-philosophical observations might get boring, they're never stupid, and are written competently. I was set to give this book a grudging 3 stars (although it was more "decent" than "good") until the absolutely disastrous ending. Two major events occur there. The first resolves the plot for the Earth and universe as a whole. The resolution and revelation was so insanely predictable that it was my first idea when the conflict was introduced half a book earlier. I hoped that this was just a red herring and Simak would surprise me with something more creative. Alas. The second event is a resolution for the main character, Enoch Wallace. I will grant that it was utterly unpredictable. However, it was so goddamn stupid, I'm amazed that Simak wrote it, and his editor accepted it. (view spoiler)[Why the hell would Mary choose death over living with her love, Enoch? Of course it's utterly different than their previous relationship, and might not work. It doesn't between most couples that love one another. Is that reason to never even try? Or go to the drastic step of ending one's existence? As for Enoch remembering that she was originally a mental construction of his, so what? If that was the biggest problem facing most married couples, there would be a lot less divorce and marital strife. And if Mary realized her and Enoch could never be together, why did she show up in the first place? To give the book an emotional exposition scene? This is crap writing. (hide spoiler)]
Not long after the Civil War, Enoch Wallace, who fought in it, is approached by a space alien to serve as the custodian of a way station (his house) for interstellar travelers from a variety of alien races. Now, almost a century later, Enoch’s pleasant existence is threatened by neighbors and intelligence agents who wonder at his reclusive existence and his failure to age like everyone else. With the exception of a few of the book’s short chapters in the early going, the story is told entirely from Enoch’s viewpoint. Unusually reflective for a science-fiction novel, this story of the simple life of a solitary farmer and former soldier who stands on the threshold of the galaxy is told with an engaging, calmly graceful style that is equally atypical for s-f. The author seems primarily concerned with loneliness, with Enoch’s isolated position between humanity and the races of deep space, with his need to create fantasy friends (who are not like the fantasy friends of other earthlings), with his disenchantment with Man and his warlike ways that threaten to keep him out of the “cofraternity” of galactic races, and with his friendship with the equally isolated deaf-mute Lucy.The book, only around 70K words, plays itself out deliberately but not tediously, resolving the conflicts and drama in a way that is emotionally moving and intellectually satisfying. The only weakness I could see was a tendency to repeat certain thoughts or realizations from time to time.Among other high-profile s-f works of that era, I would rank this one 2nd only to "Dune." It’s actually the best written of all of them, and on that basis alone could just about stand unapologetically on a shelf of literary fiction. But it doesn’t have the scope and richness of Herbert’s vision and world. It is not as imaginative as "Babel-17," but it has a more transparent plot line and is more appealing in its humanity.
What do You think about Way Station (1992)?
What a beautifully wrought story. Simak's story about a U.S. Civil War veteran who seems to live a prolonged hermit's existence in the house his parents built in rural Wisconsin, but in fact manages a busy way station for intergalactic travelers, is deceptively cozy and simple on its surface. Yet in his gentle, pastoral narrative, Simak couches a serious meditation on war and human frailty. My tastes usually run darker, to the dystopian and apocalyptic, and yet I found myself welcoming Simak's qualified and bittersweet hopefulness by the end -- and appreciating his satisfying, but not overly-neat, conclusion. The characters, both human and alien, form the heart of this story, and they are wonderfully three-dimensional and compelling. I felt for protagonist Enoch Wallace in all of his loneliness and wonder as he shoulders the tremendous responsibility of being humanity's lone representative to the galaxy.It's easy to understand why this won the Hugo Award in 1964. I've read reviews that suggest it's a dated novel, but I didn't find this to be the case. I suppose today I'd question the speed and genuineness of the federal agent's (and his government's) cooperation with Enoch Wallace, but on the whole, the story wrestles with questions about human nature and human potential that are every bit as relevant today as they were in 1963. I will be reading more of Simak's work (and chiding myself for waiting so long to do so).
—Amy Sturgis
Teenage Tadiana: YES! Way Station! All the stars! I love this story of Enoch Wallace, a Civil War veteran whose home is being used as an interstellar way station, a stopping point for alien travelers journeying from one part of the galaxy to another. As part of the deal, Enoch never ages while he is inside his home. For 100 years Enoch isn't bothered by anyone--he lives in the backwoods and the local people leave him alone--but eventually the government becomes suspicious of Enoch's agelessness and the fact that no one else on earth is able to enter his house. Ever. Older, more cynical Tadiana: Hmm. Way Station. Pretty good SF. Loved it when I was a kid, but it's kind of old-fashioned, informed by the Cold War. 4 stars. Teenage Tadiana: *shrieks* 4 STARS! You're crazy! This book is the best! I love all the different types of aliens--they're really alien. And the PRESENTS they give to Enoch. SO cool. /gushingOlder Tadiana: Yeah, the aliens and their incredible gifts were pretty cool. But hillbillies? And a mute girl with the ability to charm off warts and fix broken butterflies, for realz?Teenage Tadiana: C'mon. This book won the Hugo Award in 1964. Back when the Hugo meant something! And how can you not love Enoch's funeral for an alien that combines this: "In my father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you" and this: "Here lies one from a distant star, but the soil is not alien to him, for in death he belongs to the universe.” Older Tadiana: *sighs* Okay, back up to 5 stars. I hope you're happy. Teenage Tadiana: Pffft. You know I'm right.
—Tadiana ✩ Night Owl☽
Way Station is an exceedingly charming science fiction story. Enoch Wallace, the protagonist, is a very earnest, endearing character made eccentric and quite wise by years spent alone or in the company of traveling aliens. Finishing the book, I was left most strongly with this impression of Enoch's character. There are several other levels on which this book is brilliant. It is not, as I was led to believe by a miscommunication, a mere exposition of Enoch's unique character and situation. It is rather a fairly epic drama in which “the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance.” Enoch's struggles with a crucial decision regarding his role in the fate of his civilization are an insightful exploration of some of the less triumphant aspects of the human condition. Simak was apparently not informed by ecological thinking like that expounded by William Catton, and thus his ideas of the problem of civilization seem a little naïve (i.e., there is discussion about what inherent evil causes humans to make war, and no mention of resource-based collapse). Product of its times, I guess.tOn the other hand, Simak throws in as an extra treat a number of inspired ideas about the diversity of knowledge, understanding, and ways of being that a plurality of sentient species in the galaxy would imply. This is something science fiction is chronically deficient at (although I'm sure there's a ton of great stuff that is full of it I've just not found yet – any recommendations?), including especially and unfortunately my love: Star Wars. The range of possible fields of knowledge, including a “machine” that allows beings to commune with the spiritual Force of the Universe; a universal pasimology that can communicate in any medium; social prediction systems that combine complex social metrics and advanced statistics; along with a host of other ideas that inspire one to feel the limits and uniqueness of the window the human mind offers us.
—Adam
