Alex Ross —
Alex, in a text to Joan, writes:
What a great book (using “great” literally). I’m about halfway through and I don’t think I’ve ever experienced any novel before that combines a propulsive plot with such deep examination of the characters’ motives and emotional states. How does anyone only 38 already know so much about the human heart?? The 18th-19th-century novels I really love–the Brontes, Austen, Trollope, Galsworthy–all seem, in comparison, like impeccably costumed Masterpiece Theater sketches. (That’s not really fair, of course; I’m obviously too influenced by image pollution from tv and films.)
Was trying to think of any 20th century. novel that affected me like this. Read Dreiser’s American Tragedy as a teenager. Clyde Griffiths falls in love with a society girl and has a chance of “marrying up” into wealth (actually the same theme that’s treated as a part of Augie March), but then discovers he’s made his working-class girlfriend pregnant and spoiled his prospects. But when I try to bring it back into sharp focus, all that pops into my mind is Mongomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in the film version. Ack!
Anyway, I’m really eager to know what critics whom I respect have to say about it, if anything. Are they as enthusiastic? People like Cynthia Ozick, Zadie Smith, Geoff Dyer, Vivian Gornick, etc. The James Atlas bio of Bellow seems to be considered the best so far, and he’s a writer I’ve always found intelligent and amusing. Also, Martin Amis apparently really respects Bellow and Nabokov above most other modern novelists, so it’ll be fascinating to see what he has to say. Several of the essays in his 2019 collection, The Rub of Time, are on Bellow.
Sorry, obviously bursting with enthusiasm about Bellow, and had to open an escape valve, so to speak. Funny, I remember my parents excitedly (for them) discussing Augie March in 1953 when it came out. I was 11 and barely understood what they were talking about, except noting that it was kind of an unusual title for a novel. Well, better late than never, I guess.
7/17/2021