Perhaps better known as the silent film Greed (1924) and based on a real murder case that shook San Francisco in 1893, McTeague is Frank Norris’s naturalistic novel about a sham dentist named McTeague and his “prim” wife Trina Sieppe, who at first have all the attributes of becoming members of the respectable middle class, but who then slowly spiral into degeneracy and destitution. ASan Franciscostory through and through, McTeague first focuses on one unlikely romance and one equally unlikely marriage before transitioning into a dramatic tale of a fight for survival.
A painting by O. Louis Guglielmi (1906-1956), a proponent of highlighting social conditions of cities and people in art.
The idea of the American Dream has been the cornerstone of the United States, the American way of life and experience. It has been an enduring emblem representing hope for the future, prosperity, and success for its hard-working citizens, and an ideal to reach for ardent new-comers, believing in the variety and richness of opportunities on offer in their new home-land. But, what does this concept really mean, and how it has been transformed in changing times? Also, what happens when it all goes wrong?
The US Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal”, with each person having a right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. However, as the Great Depression (1929-1941) showed, millions of even hard-working men and women of steely determination are not immune to sudden poverty, horrid destitution, and utmost ruin. Moreover, the grind of the wheels of capitalism can produce ruthless behaviour, resulting in the emergence of inhumane and horrendous-for-people environments, as Sinclair wrote in The Jungle. Nevertheless, though facing poverty, people could still have their “American Dream”, as in “hope”, in their hearts. All that began to change from the mid-1940s, when the concept of the American Dream started to be equated with monetary success only. It is at this point that both of its definitions began to crumble for good, as disillusioned people started chasing their own tails, as, in turn, their ideals turned out to be well-constructed mirages.
Many stories were written from various perspectives that detail the so-called “Fall of the American Dream”, both before and during the 1920s, during the Great Depression, and also after the World War II. Below are some classic story examples (with some plot spoilers in their descriptions) that feature this symbol meeting its demise under the pressure of stark reality. Some falls are self-induced in these stories, some unjustly inflicted, some dramatic, and some just quietly devastating (similar to the experience of James Tyrone Sr. in Long Day’s Journey into Night or of Esther from The Bell Jar), but all have one thing in common – their irrefutable tragedy, and its unfortunate continuation to the present day.
I. The Grapes of Wrath
Many Steinbeck’s classics centre on the Fall of the American Dream, but since The Grapes of Wrath deals with the immediate horrifying experience of the Great Depression, it tops the list. This is a resolute novel about the unattainability of the American Dream, as the story focuses on one family fleeing destitution of the mid-west only to arrive at California’s very own “human slaughterhouse”. “How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can’t scare him – he has known a fear beyond every other.”
I would like to wish all my followers a very Happy New Year! ✨ – let the year 2024 bring only joy, happiness and the fulfilment of all your wishes! Below is my list of 7 best books I read in 2023 (the best books I tend to read happen to be classics, and I am excluding non-fiction, graphic novels and short story collections).
I. My Ántonia [1918]
by Willa Cather – ★★★★★
This touching coming-of-age story by Willa Cather (Death Comes for the Archbishop, A Lost Lady) centres on Jim Burden’s friendship with one immigrant girl, free-spirited Ántonia Shimerda in Nebraska. Cather’s elegant prose simply enchants, and Jim’s distinctive voice is unforgettable, with each chapter brimming with soulfulness as it tells of immigrants’ hardships and sacrifices made through the years. It is a deeply nostalgic look at a life passed, as well as a sweeping expose of rural life in the late 19th and early 20th century America.
II. Go Tell It On The Mountain [1953]
by James Baldwin – ★★★★★
James Baldwin’s debut is a staggering book that focuses largely on John Grimes, step-son of the minister at the Pentecostal church in Harlem. John tries to make sense of his upbringing, environment and above all – all the expectations placed on him by others. This is a multi-dimensional and at times multi-perspective novel which also reveals issues of sexuality, racism and attempts at fitting in while remaining true to oneself. Baldwin’s prose cuts like a knife and yet remains touchingly lyrical throughout as the story recounts the accumulated heartbreak.
To a God Unknown [1933] by John Steinbeck – ★★★1/2
John Steinbeck’s third novel follows Joseph Wayne, who leaves his family in Vermont and makes for sunny California in hope of obtaining cheap land there. Taken by the “pioneer fever”, he desires nothing more than some acres of land to call his own, and soon, his three brothers back home, animal-loving Thomas, religious Burton and wayward Benjamin follow suit, establishing a big inter-connected farm in their new place – the valley of Nuestra Señora. Wayne makes friends with Mexican Juanito, who helps him build his house, and even woos local school-teacher Elisabeth McGreggor. The combination of Joseph’s obsessive veneration of one large tree (a symbol of promise and renewal), problems with his alcoholic brother Benjamin and then fears about some uncharacteristic weather conditions slowly sets the scene for tragedies to come.
Some of the world’s most powerful stories concern a scenario whereby a single, often eccentric, lonely or misunderstood, individual is pinned against a society that is often too uncaring, rigid or self-interested to accommodate or acknowledge their unique spirit, character or life outlook. These fictional characters often find themselves at sea with numerous societal expectations, rules or people around them, striving for understanding and meaning, while also perhaps battling prejudice. The list below comprises novels, both contemporary and classic, about such characters who are all trying to understand how they fit into this thing called Life, and why their outlook or personality appears so different from that of others. The surprising conclusion from the list below is that many of these stories are semi-autobiographical, dictated by the authors’ own real-life experiences.
Pnin (1957) by Vladimir Nabokov
One eccentric émigré professor finds himself increasingly out of depth in his own classroom and his new country of residence – this is the premise of Vladimir Nabokov’s witty novella, which he wrote relying on his own experience of teaching Russian literature at Cornell University in the 1950s. In an episodic fashion, the story presents the character of Professor Timofey Pavlovich Pnin in various situations as he tries to navigate the academic life of one university in the United States – Waindell College (a fictitious establishment). Professor Pnin confronts a language barrier, culture clash, and painful memories from his past as he tries to make sense of the increasingly-confusing-to-him life around him. Pnin might not have achieved its mainstream popularity the way Nabokov’s novel Lolita (1957) had, but it is still as sharp-witted and as brilliantly told. Nabokov’s observational powers in fiction were second to one, and they are on full display here, in this bitter-sweet story about trying to fit into a new environment.
A charming novel with a deceptively simple, beautifully-written story that reveals so very slowly & elegantly its moving & provoking character study.
“Her eyes, when they laughed for a moment into one’s own, seemed to promise a wild delight that he had not found in life. “I know where it is”, they seemed to say, “I could show you!“….She had always the power of suggesting things lovelier than herself, as the perfume of a single flower may call up the whole sweetness of spring” [Willa Cather, 1923: 136, 137].
I have been so impressed with Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop[1927] that I have decided try out another book by her. I ended up liking A Lost Lady even more than Death Comes for the Archbishop. The novel’s location is Sweet Water, a town in the “American West”, which is one of the hubs of the transcontinental railroad business activity. Marian Forrester, the young wife of successful Captain Daniel Forrester, holds a fascination for the entire community, from the most hardened, aging businessmen to the children of local grocery men. Mrs. Forrester only comes to town to stay for her summer holidays, but her name is well-known and her coming is eagerly anticipated, especially by young Neil Herbert, the nephew of JudgePommeroy. Mrs. Forrester is, indeed, “bewitching”, the very definition of charm, grace and sophistication, “belonging to a different world”, “with a glance that made one’s blood tingle” [Cather, 1923: 38]. Amidst challenging times for the community, with financial hardship in sight for everyone, can Marian Forrester and her “elegant” world of principles survive? And then, who Mrs. Forrester really is?
Tennessee Williams (A Streetcar Named Desire [1947]) published his partly-autobiographical play The Glass Menagerie in 1944 and this debut became an instant theatrical success. The play only has a handful of main characters, and centres on Amanda, a domineering mother to her two grown-up children – quietly rebellious Tom and completely submissive and “hopeless” Laura who “lives in a world of her own”. When Tom arranges for “a young gentleman caller” to come over for dinner so that he can meet Laura, the family’s hidden neurosesand insecurities come to the surface. Still reliving her years as a southern belle (probably as a way to cope with the Depression era realities), Amanda “overpowers” each individual around her, and her children devised special strategies to deal with their mother’s encroachment, and general isolation and loneliness. If Tom “goes to the movies” and drinks, Amanda’s unmarried and disabled daughter Laura retreats in her own imaginary world of glass figurines (which stand for the fragile world of dreams that is about to be shattered by the brutal reality).
“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth” [Ecclesiastes 7:4].
In this book, Lily Bart, a young woman from once aristocratic but now impoverished family, has reached her twenty-ninth year without finding a husband. Her beauty and financial resources declining, she notices changes in the society’s perception of her. Miss Bart, free-spirited, fun-loving, popular and, in her own words, “horribly poor – [but] very expensive] [1905: 12], soon faces an unenviable position worsened by the fact that she still loves shopping, jewellery and luxury. To what extent can she still count on the kindness of others to survive in the world that is increasingly becoming unforgiving and even hostile, full of social traps and intrigues? Considered scandalous upon its release, but converted Wharton into a successful author virtually overnight, this satire on New York City’s high society through the in-depth portrayal of a modern and increasingly fragile woman conveys the sheer pathos of a situation whereby individual willpower and the independence of spirit find themselves at odds with societal demands and expectations.
This American classic by John Williams is a great, even if heart-breaking read. It tells the story of university professor Stoner as he finds his way through life. He means to lead a simple life, but certain tragedies and disappointments in it get the better of him. The book is beautifully-written and is a quiet meditation on life and its meaning. The book can be compared to Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure [1895] and to Jack London’sMartin Eden [1909]. Continue reading “May 2020 Wrap-Up: From Stoner to Smoking Poppy”→
“He was not sure that he wanted to see the Countess Olenska again; but ever since he had looked at her from the path above the bay he had wanted, irrationally and indescribably, to see the place she was living in, and to follow the movements of her imagined figure…The longing was with him day and night, an incessant undefinable craving, like the sudden whim of a sick man for food and drink once tasted and long since forgotten. He could not see beyond the craving, or picture what it might lead to…He simply felt that if he could carry away the vision of the spot of earth she walked on…the rest of the world might seem less empty” [Edith Wharton, 1920: 191].
“He was not sure that he wanted to see the Countess Olenska again; but ever since he had looked at her from the path above the bay he had wanted, irrationally and indescribably, to see the place she was living in, and to follow the movements of her imagined figure…The longing was with him day and night, an incessant undefinable craving, like the sudden whim of a sick man for food and drink once tasted and long since forgotten. He could not see beyond the craving, or picture what it might lead to…He simply felt that if he could carry away the vision of the spot of earth she walked on…the rest of the world might seem less empty” [Edith Wharton, 1920: 191].
Thoughts on Papyrus 