Hmm. I don't know most of the novels on the list, but Steven Millhauser's Martin Dressler is quite good, if not as strong as his best shorter works, while James Gould Cozzens's Guard of Honor is one of the very best novels about World War II (and about work, and power, and relationships, and, yes, honor).
It's at least still in print, though by all appearances Harvest books hasn't redesigned it since they first published it.
Without singling any of them out here, it is worth noting that quite a few other Pulitzer novels deserve to be forgotten; however, that speaks more to the flaws inherent in the Pulitzer prize process and most if not all other book awards which are, at best, subjective exercises driven by temporal political correctness, pressures of marketing, and scratch-my-back and I'll scratch-your-back favoritism among the literary in-crowds. On that note, I challenge anyone to point to and persuasively show any annual book award that is purely objective (if that is possible), free from outside (or inside) collusion, based upon artistic merits, and actually worthwhile as a meaningful tribute to literature. There is the challenge. Any ideas?
Hmm. I don't know most of the novels on the list, but Steven Millhauser's Martin Dressler is quite good, if not as strong as his best shorter works, while James Gould Cozzens's Guard of Honor is one of the very best novels about World War II (and about work, and power, and relationships, and, yes, honor).
ReplyDeleteIt's at least still in print, though by all appearances Harvest books hasn't redesigned it since they first published it.
Without singling any of them out here, it is worth noting that quite a few other Pulitzer novels deserve to be forgotten; however, that speaks more to the flaws inherent in the Pulitzer prize process and most if not all other book awards which are, at best, subjective exercises driven by temporal political correctness, pressures of marketing, and scratch-my-back and I'll scratch-your-back favoritism among the literary in-crowds. On that note, I challenge anyone to point to and persuasively show any annual book award that is purely objective (if that is possible), free from outside (or inside) collusion, based upon artistic merits, and actually worthwhile as a meaningful tribute to literature. There is the challenge. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteAs an Air Force beat, I found Cozzens' book one of the best on life in the military.
ReplyDeleteSorry,I meant "brat".
ReplyDeleteD.G. Myers has posted a list of ten "prize-winning novels that have been forgotten, but do not deserve to be."
ReplyDelete