The works of Thomas Wolfe earned him a legacy as one of the very best American writers. Standing alongside literary luminaries such as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner, this unique genius delivers a largely autobiographical novel that is a feast of wordplay and sumptuous descriptions.
Eugene Gant pines for a more expansive life after being born to a father whose bouts of maniacal raving are fueled by a prodigious appetite for drink. As he makes the first steps toward manhood, Eugene finds his early life informed by the constraints of society, exemplified best by the vivid characters of his fellow townsfolk.
Interestingly enough, a number of people in Wolfe’s own town took great umbrage to the presentation of characters who struck a little too close to home. Look Homeward, Angel is firmly established—and justly celebrated—in the American Romantic tradition.
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"The language is rich, but the plot is slow and sparse. As a book, I would give it 3 stars (5 for the language, at most 2 for the plot). It is the language that was beautiful to listen to, truly among the best expression in the English language, but it is not enough to keep one's attention if the minimal plot drags along. The plot is basically the story of a dysfunctional family, one in which it is not clear why the elder Gants ever got together as a couple. Eliza married him to get away from her family? But I could sum up the plot as "a dysfunctional couple has a lot of kids, some of whom die young, none of whom achieves much by the end of this book, and others who are downright failures." The depiction of the way all the men (and boys) relate to women is most troubling (perhaps the couple who runs the private school is an exception). Women are clearly just objects for their pleasure, and more troubling is the fact that the women are shown as wanting this kind of treatment. Wolfe did not do a good job of presenting female characters, such as the African-American prostitute, Ella Corpening. I can think of much 19th century non-American literature whose authors comprehend much better the desperation of women who turn to prostitution. This is not shown here. It might not be the point of the novel, but it is lacking. We just see the callousness and cheap attitude from Eugene's angle, which is rather pathetic. It makes me wonder whether Wolfe himself was any better. So what brought this up to 4 stars? The reader - he did a great job, and since I am writing as a listener, I have to take that into account in my rating."
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Dfkinj (4 out of 5 stars)