The Comedian
04-23-2012, 09:33 PM
I just finished reading a work by an American author that I've long had on my "to read" list but have never gotten around to until now.
I finished reading McTeague by Frank Norris. The novel, while about many things, seem to me to be most about money. You see, there's this event when one character lucks into a significant amount of money. And the stuff ruins the lives of everyone that comes in contact with it -- that theme is not that original. But what give the novel its creative flourish is that the money is never spent. Not one cent, unless some other reader of the novel can point to me a passage where some of it is.
Norris is firmly planted in the school of naturalism, inspired by the French novelist Zola, and grouped with other American writers such as Theodore Dreiser and Jack London. Norris's McTeague is a stripping down of social and psychological veneer donned by all of the characters in some way, and as a result, readers see the slow return to our basest conditions. Without the social critique of realism, Norris' work is focused on a critique of the individual (or individuals) in the novel, and far less on the social conditions that make them who they are.
As a reading experience, I rather enjoyed it. I remember once remarking to the Mrs., when she asked now the novel was, telling her that "I've seldom read a novel with so many peaks and valleys". That is the thing starts off slow, then a huge event occurs and loads of fallout as a result. Then a lull. Then another huge event. . .but the as the novel nears its conclusion, the pace (in terms of pure excitement) picks up and remains consist to the end.
In all, I think that it's the best novel that I've read this year (not counting a couple re-reads of old favorites) and one that I might revisit sometime in the future.
4/5
I finished reading McTeague by Frank Norris. The novel, while about many things, seem to me to be most about money. You see, there's this event when one character lucks into a significant amount of money. And the stuff ruins the lives of everyone that comes in contact with it -- that theme is not that original. But what give the novel its creative flourish is that the money is never spent. Not one cent, unless some other reader of the novel can point to me a passage where some of it is.
Norris is firmly planted in the school of naturalism, inspired by the French novelist Zola, and grouped with other American writers such as Theodore Dreiser and Jack London. Norris's McTeague is a stripping down of social and psychological veneer donned by all of the characters in some way, and as a result, readers see the slow return to our basest conditions. Without the social critique of realism, Norris' work is focused on a critique of the individual (or individuals) in the novel, and far less on the social conditions that make them who they are.
As a reading experience, I rather enjoyed it. I remember once remarking to the Mrs., when she asked now the novel was, telling her that "I've seldom read a novel with so many peaks and valleys". That is the thing starts off slow, then a huge event occurs and loads of fallout as a result. Then a lull. Then another huge event. . .but the as the novel nears its conclusion, the pace (in terms of pure excitement) picks up and remains consist to the end.
In all, I think that it's the best novel that I've read this year (not counting a couple re-reads of old favorites) and one that I might revisit sometime in the future.
4/5