Fiction for adults …

… Paula Marantz Cohen: Making the Case for a Neglected Novel: ‘Marjorie Morningstar’ - WSJ. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Wouk includes in the novel lengthy discussions between Marjorie and her friends about the meaning of life and the importance of art and money. Critics at the time found these passages silly and overlong; I found them fascinating. One of the shortcomings of “The Portrait of a Lady,” it seems to me, is that James never shows Isabel in sustained, substantive conversation; we have to take James’s word that she is exceptional. Wouk makes clear that Marjorie is not just beautiful; she is a thinking, articulate being.