The novel “Way Station” by Clifford D. Simak was published for the first time in 1963 in two parts in the “Galaxy” magazine as “Here Gathers the Stars” and later as a book with its final title. It won the Hugo Award for best novel of the year.
Enoch Wallace lives in almost total isolation in rural Wisconsin and yet has attracted the attention of an American intelligence agent because he appears to have fought in the Civil War a century earlier. Surveillance is conducted from afar, also because it seems impossible to get into Wallace’s home. There are some tombs near it, and one of them is really strange.
Enoch Wallace’s real job is to run a way station on behalf of an interstellar community made up of a lot of different species. In a century of service, he has learned a lot from contacts with aliens and fears that this may end because of the government’s interest.
“Way Station” belongs to Clifford D. Simak’s period of great maturity, when he put together all the best of his production in this novel. It represents a perfect synthesis between the rural settings that reproduce the places where the author grew up and the science fiction elements he had developed throughout his career.
Wisconsin was particularly familiar to Clifford D. Simak and it’s there that he set this novel, in what seems like a normal rural area but where there’s a very peculiar house. Its owner spent almost all his life there except for the years when he fought in the Civil War. For decades, his contact with the other inhabitants of the area has been minimal and usually involves the postman and Lucy, a deaf-mute girl who lives in the area.
Through the protagonist Enoch Wallace’s personal story, Clifford D. Simak offers a series of reflections on humanity and its possible role on a much broader level. For readers looking for action and fast pace, “Way Station” will be a bitter disappointment. The first half of the novel in particular is marked by long lyrical, almost poetic passages, in the style used by Clifford D. Simak to tell the life of Enoch Wallace between rural landscapes and chats with some alien passing through.
The author had already written stories in which he hoped for cordial if not brotherly relationships that would transcend the species beyond any type of tribalism. Enoch Wallace lives in contact with the interstellar community, which is not perfect but offers a cultural and even spiritual richness that goes far beyond what humanity can offer, as it’s still closed in its own tribalisms and pettiness.
Enoch Wallace has experienced the horrors of war and is worried that a new one may break out on Earth at a global level, more horrendous and destructive than ever. His reflections concern what he recognizes as a key moment in which humanity must decide whether to choose tribalisms and risk isolation or even self-destruction or a broader vision in which differences represent an enrichment.
In a period when there seems to be an absolute preponderance of dystopian stories, “Way Station” is like a lighthouse in the darkness. The themes developed by Clifford D. Simak remain topical today and are just included in a framework that is not made just of doom and gloom. The readers who can appreciate the type of reflections offered by the author with his typical style will find some passages of this novel of stunning beauty. Beyond the genre labels, it’s a novel that offers hope for a future that goes beyond tribalism, and also for this reason, in my opinion, it’s a must-read. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
