"I am an American, Chicago born -- Chicago, that somber city -- and go at things as I have taught myself, free-style, and will make the record in my own way".
The Adventures of Augie Marsh by Saul Bellow took the literary world by storm when it was published in 1953 and today it is considered one of the great novels of 20th century literature and I am in full agreement. There isn't much of a plot to the book though. Augie goes about his life haphazardly in an effort to find his place in the world. That said, what makes this novel so good is the writing, a "cascade of prose" as it has been described. The amount of talent and work it must have taken Saul Bellow to produce this classic is awe inspiring.
And so when The Adventures of Augie Marsh begins it is the 1920's and Augie is a young boy growing up in a poor section of Chicago. Augie lives with his mother Rebecca, his older brother Simon, his younger mentally disabled brother George and Grandma Lausch. The father is absent and Augie's mother is a sweet woman but timid. Grandma Lausch runs the show and she is not a loving presence.
it's not a happy household and Augie leaves home while still a teenager. We follow him as he tries to make his way during the Great Depression. Augie will take on many jobs and get involved in all kinds of off the wall schemes. But whether it's his brother Simon, his friends, employers, romantic partners who try to enlist him in their plans there is something stubborn about Augie. He will go along for a time but then sabatoge those plans that others have made for him so he can be free to follow his own path. He's just not sure what that path is.
The novel ends in Paris after the war where Augie is living with his wife. Its been a long journey to get where he is and on the surface it sounds like Augie is settled but the reader suspects otherwise. The Adventures of Augie March has been called the Great Novel of the American Dream and Augie is a character always looking for what's over the next horizon and there is something very American about that.
I found The Adventures of Augie Marsh a very difficult book to summarize and my apologies for giving such a bare bones description. There are so many moving parts to this book, adventures, characters, jobs etc that I found it impossible to recount it all. But what I do want to reiterate again is the quality of the writing. I thought about quoting passages but its the sort of writing that needs to be read in context. Saul Bellow would later say that The Adventures of Augie Marsh was the novel where he found his voice and it was a voice worth finding.
The Adventures of Augie Marsh fulfills the category - choose a very long classic for my 2019 Back to the Classics Challenge hosted by Karen K at Books and Chocolate
I should read this. It takes place at a time that seems so long ago, but this was my parents time so maybe it was not so remote.
ReplyDeleteI guess a book such as this can work very well with a light plot. Sometimes episodic stories are the best.
Hi Brian, its worth reading. That's a good word for it episodic. Saul Bellow a great writer. There is an energy in this book and an optimism that some critics say got a bit darker in Bellow's later novels came
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing your very long classic! I'm probably not going to complete that category this time around. ;D
ReplyDeleteThanks Lark, Actually its not the longest classic I picked for the 2019 Back To The Classics Challenge. I have Trollope's The Way We Live Now for the 19th century choice and now I'm thinking I made a mistake picking two long classics to read this year. I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to complete all twelve books in the challenge. Better to read 8 classics on one's list and really absorb them than to speed read through 12.
DeleteWell done! I have to admit, I really hated this book when I read it. It was about 20 years ago, however, and I think I am a better reader now; able to understand that I don't have to love every classic book but can appreciate it for other reasons.
ReplyDeleteI have read some Bellow since and will probably still continue here and there to read his books. I just read Humbolt's Gift last year.
I agree, his prose is a cascade. I think I found that wearying in Augie March. Augie has so much to say.
Thanks Ruthiella, I know what you mean about not necessarily loving every classic and to be frank though I so admire the writing and the effort it took to produce this book, that said Augie Marsh is not going down as one of my favorite reads. Problem is there isn't anyone to really like in this book. Augie is problematic as well. But I felt after finishing Augie Marsh somewhat similar to when I finished Wuthering Heights many years ago. Many of the characters in that book were unpleasant as well and I felt the book dragged in parts but I never doubted that the writing was genius. Was Humboldt's Gift any good?
DeleteHumboldt's Gift was good if you like Bellow's style. It definitely has a real 1970s feel to it. But like with Augie Marsh, I don't know if there is any sympathetic character.
DeleteThanks Ruthiella. I was curious about Humboldt's Gift because the critics say the main character, Humboldt I believe, is based on the life of the poet Delmore Schwartz who Bellow was a protege of. I agree the lack of sympathetic characters is sounding like a pattern in Bellow's novels. That's maybe how he saw the world but one wants some lightness in a novel and not all dark.
DeleteI have been meaning to read Saul Bellow for decades now, but still haven't. This might be a good book to start with as I like these sprawling, ambling life journeys that reflect the American dream/promise.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to encapsulate books like this into a reasonable post, but you did a good job and whetted my appetite.
Thanks Jane, Augie Marsh is an amazing feat of writing. What I will say though is that the deeper I got into the book the more I had a problem with how the female characters are portrayed. I probably should have mentioned this in my post but I do want to mention it now if you decide to read the book and if you do I so look forward to your review.
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