Unfortunately, Thomas Wolfe's reputation within the American "canon" has faded over the last couple of decades. If I can use a bit of hyperbole, "No one reads Wolfe anymore. He is not relevant. He is just not very good" Well, I wouldn't say that but many of my colleagues would (did) say it.
I remember reading about the relationship between Wolfe and his editor (Max Perkins). That made my reading of Wolfe's novels even better experiences (long, long ago in a distant academic galaxy far, far away).
J.B. Priestley, of all people, addressed this problem nearly half a century ago: "American intellectuals, suspicious of his exuberance and underlying romanticism, should never sneer at this writer, for, to us who not Americans but know the place and the people, Wolfe is one of the small and invaluable company of essentially American creators, one of its huge, wild, shaggy poets whose creations, which have nothing of Europe in them, release in us the wonder, fear and affection we have felt so often as visitors to the American scene."
I was 20. Had a job working as a desk clerk in a housing project while going to school, but opted to bone up on library books instead of what I had to read for classes. Thomas Wolfe was one of the writers I read and I shall never forget the lessons he taught me.
Unfortunately, Thomas Wolfe's reputation within the American "canon" has faded over the last couple of decades. If I can use a bit of hyperbole, "No one reads Wolfe anymore. He is not relevant. He is just not very good" Well, I wouldn't say that but many of my colleagues would (did) say it.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading about the relationship between Wolfe and his editor (Max Perkins). That made my reading of Wolfe's novels even better experiences (long, long ago in a distant academic galaxy far, far away).
J.B. Priestley, of all people, addressed this problem nearly half a century ago: "American intellectuals, suspicious of his exuberance and underlying romanticism, should never sneer at this writer, for, to us who not Americans but know the place and the people, Wolfe is one of the small and invaluable company of essentially American creators, one of its huge, wild, shaggy poets whose creations, which have nothing of Europe in them, release in us the wonder, fear and affection we have felt so often as visitors to the American scene."
ReplyDeleteWell I enjoyed reading his quartet, very much.
ReplyDeleteI was 20. Had a job working as a desk clerk in a housing project while going to school, but opted to bone up on library books instead of what I had to read for classes. Thomas Wolfe was one of the writers I read and I shall never forget the lessons he taught me.
ReplyDelete