What do you all think of Saroyan?

[hbfilmz]

Does he pale in comparison that much to Hemingway and Steinbeck, because he was just as popular at the time apparently, but now he is unread compared to the other two.
What is the reason?
I asked my professor, and he said we wouldnt be having this discussion if we weren't in California. And that he wouldn't be in the top 10 20th century American writers.
But then again, he has had all these honors and awards so it seems like he's forgotten but not forgotten at the same time.
What is the deal?

[Blasarius '33]

I fall into the apparently large group not having heard of him, but I'm glad to learn about him now. Sounds interesting and definitely worth a try, so I just ordered a book of his short stories from Amazon. Thanks for the tip.

[hbfilmz]

let me know what you think
he received pulitzer prize for the play "The Time of Your Life"
Johnny Depp considers it his bible apparently.

[dfloyd]

but he was never as popuular as Hemingway or Steinbeck. He wrote primaruly about his Armenium heritage of which he was somwhat maudlin. He did win a Pulitzer Prize, two I think. But a Pulitzer is a long way from from a Nobel Prize for literature.

He was a playwrite as well as a novelist, but his plays hold no immediacy today. If anyone wants to try him, please do so, but don't expect the quality of Hemingway or Steinbeck or many other American writers of the last half of the 20th century.

As for Johnny Dep, does anyone care what he thinks of literature? I certainly don't.

[Emil Miller]

Who's Johnny Depp?

[hbfilmz]

What makes him pale so much compared to Hemingway?

here's an article about what i mean
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2008/06/01/3475075.htm

[hbfilmz]

bumpp

[Artorius]

Saroyan is wonderful. I had My Name Is Aram on my shelves for years but when I finally read it, it didn't take more than a story or two to realize I was destined to become a fan.

[parap]

I think that like most or every prolific writer, there's going to be some good stuff in the pile, some not so good stuff, and some terrible stuff.

Saroyan, being a prolific short story writer and playwright, wrote some very good pieces, but also some very bad ones (according to my taste). On average, of what I have read, I think his stories and plays are okay. Many certainly contain moments that are worth considering.

Do I think he belongs in the American cannon? Yes. Absolutely. Or not. I don't know. If I have to compare him to some others who have made it into the American cannon, then yes. He ranks far above them. Otherwise, I'm not sure.

Do I think he should be taught in an American literary course at a higher level (university, for instance)? Yes, because he influenced a whole generation of young adults to write differently. The entire Beat Generation grew up having to read Saroyan in school. Some of them ended up acknowledging him in their works. Jack Kerouac was one of them. It's hard to ignore an author when he influenced so many respected ones, whether his writings are now considered good, average, or bad.

[crusoe]

Now that you mention him, I remember reading some of his stories. Forgot the writer completely.

[byquist]

Pleasant. Was once in his play that takes place in a bar -- The Time of Your Life. He could etch characterizations. But not like a more complex bar play, The Iceman Cometh.

[moriniq]

I don't know about popularity, but I like him much better than Steinbeck or Hemingway. Take a novel like `The Adventures of Wesley Jackson`. He narrowly avoided a court martial because of that book. I also like him a lot, because he was a great pacifist. Clever man.