Quartet for the End of Time
In 1924, Congress voted to provide World War I veterans a bonus, to be paid in 1945. In 1932, during the depths of the Depression, tens of thousands of unemployed veterans, known as the Bonus Army, marched to Washington, DC, hoping to persuade the government to pay the funds immediately. While most aid-seekers were orderly and respectful, increasing hunger and desperation in the crowded encampments aided the infiltration of Communist and other anti-government elements. On July 28, there was a riot and shootings on the Mall. Skibsrud’s philosophical narrative portrays the brief intersection of two families, and four lives, during that summer and the long-term consequences of betrayal.
The novel’s structure mimics that of Olivier Messiaen’s quartet of the same name, with eight sections spoken in different voices, complete with an interlude, indicated here by a series of photographs and diagrams. Along the way, the characters attempt, like Messiaen, to capture a moment in time, or even to go beyond time itself, pondering concepts of faith, truth, perception, and free will. Codes are everywhere: in photographs, art, newspapers, small actions, along with endless possibilities of meaning. While there is a great deal of thoughtful abstract discussion, it is all grounded in historical activity, from the fields of Virginia where tobacco-picking leaves one’s hands numb, to the tiny towns in the south, where watery photographs attempt to capture the lives and emotions of the hard-working poor. We see World War II from multiple perspectives, as well as Messiaen’s imprisonment, all of which continue the discussion of meaning and perception. Rich writing and small details help ground this unique work: there’s plenty of history, character, and narrative here to capture readers’ attention, plus an abundance of thoughtful, if unanswerable, questioning, of the meaning of time and existence.