Cather, Willa (1922). One of Ours. Another novel that shows the “American Story” of the early Twentieth Century, One of Ours is one of the most disturbing war account novels I have read. The American Dream collides with the horrors of modern warfare with beautiful flashes of poetic insight, tales and descriptions of death, suffering, […]
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Poole, Ernest (1917). His Family. Won first Pulitzer Prize for Novel in 1918. I was reminded of Virginia Woolf’s The Years, but His Family is more personal and slightly less sweeping. The plotting is old-fashioned by today’s standards, but the characterizations are developed and strong. The theme is well executed. A great document of its
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So Big, Edna Ferber (1924) 1925 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction I am beginning to marvel at how universal the American Story is. The toiling, for generations,families’ vast economic fluctuations. economically. This book show that industry without humanity is greatly lacking. Selina is real, plucky it is called, as she sets out for an adventure and finds
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Tarkington, Booth (1921). Alice Adams. 1922 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Left with the thought of the fluidity of the American middle class. People work hard to a certain point, then it can come crashing down. The great opportunities presented by our economy sometimes can be cruel because people are able to prop themselves up artificially. Today
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The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder Winner of the 1928 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Thornton Wilder had an inspired idea with this book. It is a very obviously constructed book, enjoyable and hitting all the places it needs to, but obviously crafted. It borrows from a more classical style. The problem with works
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Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin spoke to me. I related to Mary personally; that was surely part of the intention: we all fail. We are all human. And American stories are always about people who don’t or can’t follow the rules or who do not do things the way others do them. The Gullah
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The Magnificient Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. Winner of the 1919 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. An engaging book, despite at several points wanting it to move along faster. The first half of the book is well constructed, and interesting because the central character is not presented as a likable fellow. Foreshadowing and hiding of the mother’s
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