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My Name Is Aram
William Saroyan 1940 (An open and curious boy growing up in an Armenian community in California encounters the rich quirkiness of his family and neighbors.) Writing from the spirit of memory. Not a record of specific memories, but effortless intuitive writing that naturally conjures the ethos, tinged with wistfulness, that can accompany the distant remembrance […]
The History of Mr. Polly
H. G. Wells 1910 (A man of precisely 37.5 years of age can’t seem to find success or happiness in life… perhaps he has to do something drastic.) “HOLE!” said Mr. Polly, and then for a change, and with greatly increased emphasis: “ ‘Ole!” He paused, and then broke out with one of his private and […]
Tom Jones
Henry Fielding 1749 (Tom really wants to be good for the sake of his love Sophia, but his nature keeps getting in the way!) It is prudent to be morally pure– there can be weighty unseen consequences to any moral failure. Fielding’s signature novel has this ponderous theme, and yet manages not to be at […]
Great Expectations
Charles Dickens 1860-1861 (Pip tells us of his lifelong love, the unexpected rise and fall of his fortunes, and the lessons he learned about what makes a gentleman.) In describing a novel, everyone, myself included, seems to have as the central focus an explanation of what the book is about, whether plotwise or themewise. So it […]
The Catcher in the Rye
June 7, 2014 / Leave a comment
J. D. Salinger 1951 (He may not know what he wants to be in life, but he sure knows one thing he doesn’t want to be—phony! Unfortunately, the world doesn’t seem to agree with him). Holden Caulfield is a unique and precious personality in literature. Although I surely would not want to be subjected in all my […]
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