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April Hopes
William Dean Howells (1837-1920) was an American realist author and literary critic. He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1871, but his literary reputation really took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which describes the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur in the paint business. His social views were also strongly reflected in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888) and A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890). While known primarily as a novelist, his short story "Editha" (1905) - included in the collection Between the Dark and the Daylight (1907) - appears in many anthologies of American literature. Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Ibsen, Zola, Verga, and, especially, Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of many American writers. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence.
- GenresClassics
346 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1888
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
William Dean Howells
1,181 books101 followersWillam Dean Howells (1837-1920) was a novelist, short story writer, magazine editor, and mentor who wrote for various magazines, including the Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Magazine.
In January 1866 James Fields offered him the assistant editor role at the Atlantic Monthly. Howells accepted after successfully negotiating for a higher salary, but was frustrated by Fields's close supervision. Howells was made editor in 1871, remaining in the position until 1881.
In 1869 he first met Mark Twain, which began a longtime friendship. Even more important for the development of his literary style — his advocacy of Realism — was his relationship with the journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison, who during the 1870s wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly on the lives of ordinary Americans.
He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1872, but his literary reputation took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which described the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888), A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), and An Imperative Duty (1892). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.
His poems were collected during 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills was published during 1895. He was the initiator of the school of American realists who derived, through the Russians, from Balzac and had little sympathy with any other type of fiction, although he frequently encouraged new writers in whom he discovered new ideas.
Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and, especially, Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of American writers Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles W. Chesnutt, Abraham Cahan, Madison Cawein,and Frank Norris. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence. In his "Editor's Study" column at the Atlantic Monthly and, later, at Harper's, he formulated and disseminated his theories of "realism" in literature.
In 1904 he was one of the first seven people chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became president.
Howells died in Manhattan on May 11, 1920. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Noting the "documentary" and truthful value of Howells' work, Henry James wrote: "Stroke by stroke and book by book your work was to become, for this exquisite notation of our whole democratic light and shade and give and take, in the highest degree documentary."
In January 1866 James Fields offered him the assistant editor role at the Atlantic Monthly. Howells accepted after successfully negotiating for a higher salary, but was frustrated by Fields's close supervision. Howells was made editor in 1871, remaining in the position until 1881.
In 1869 he first met Mark Twain, which began a longtime friendship. Even more important for the development of his literary style — his advocacy of Realism — was his relationship with the journalist Jonathan Baxter Harrison, who during the 1870s wrote a series of articles for the Atlantic Monthly on the lives of ordinary Americans.
He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1872, but his literary reputation took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which described the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur of the paint business. His social views were also strongly represented in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888), A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890), and An Imperative Duty (1892). He was particularly outraged by the trials resulting from the Haymarket Riot.
His poems were collected during 1873 and 1886, and a volume under the title Stops of Various Quills was published during 1895. He was the initiator of the school of American realists who derived, through the Russians, from Balzac and had little sympathy with any other type of fiction, although he frequently encouraged new writers in whom he discovered new ideas.
Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Henrik Ibsen, Émile Zola, Giovanni Verga, Benito Pérez Galdós, and, especially, Leo Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of American writers Hamlin Garland, Stephen Crane, Emily Dickinson, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Sarah Orne Jewett, Charles W. Chesnutt, Abraham Cahan, Madison Cawein,and Frank Norris. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence. In his "Editor's Study" column at the Atlantic Monthly and, later, at Harper's, he formulated and disseminated his theories of "realism" in literature.
In 1904 he was one of the first seven people chosen for membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he became president.
Howells died in Manhattan on May 11, 1920. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts.
Noting the "documentary" and truthful value of Howells' work, Henry James wrote: "Stroke by stroke and book by book your work was to become, for this exquisite notation of our whole democratic light and shade and give and take, in the highest degree documentary."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 19, 2013
After several iterations of Howells's continuous rant against the effects of "sentimental" novels on how people in the late nineteenth century viewed love and romantic relationships, this LONG novel (too, too long) hopefully will be the last word on it I read for quite a while. There are some very entertaining parts here and there (I particularly liked the critique of the upper class from the point of view of reasonable Christian morality during the picnic scene, and the last paragraph is absolutely perfect and devastating), but there is such a LONG way to go along with some very wishy-washy and unlikeable characters to find those bright spots that it's really not worth the effort.
September 30, 2020
(My ranking of Howells' best novels: https://azleslie.com/posts/howells-ra...)
A revision or at least a partner of A Modern Instance, April Hopes follows the ups and downs of a mismatched young couple: Alice fixates on unreasonable (if pleasant sounding) ideals and Dan sticks to shallow (though pleasant) social conveniences. In one sense this is the classic Howellsian romance vs realism dichotomy, but he doesn't leave it there. The novel is really more interested in the inconsistencies of character, the slow bending we all do, and the way social or familial ties pre-commit us. Do opposites attract? Can love actually overcome? The novel's length is key to rendering some of these long processes, but given the novel's relatively narrow cast and concerns its length does count a bit against it too.
A revision or at least a partner of A Modern Instance, April Hopes follows the ups and downs of a mismatched young couple: Alice fixates on unreasonable (if pleasant sounding) ideals and Dan sticks to shallow (though pleasant) social conveniences. In one sense this is the classic Howellsian romance vs realism dichotomy, but he doesn't leave it there. The novel is really more interested in the inconsistencies of character, the slow bending we all do, and the way social or familial ties pre-commit us. Do opposites attract? Can love actually overcome? The novel's length is key to rendering some of these long processes, but given the novel's relatively narrow cast and concerns its length does count a bit against it too.
December 4, 2022
Pour ce roman, Howells fut fort critiqué: on a dit que ses personnages étaient ennuyeux, qu'on avait du mal à voir où il voulait en venir. Ce à quoi il répondait qu'il lui semblait assez, voire trop, évident qu'il voulait dire que l'amour seul ne suffit pas à rendre heureux en mariage, qu'il en faut plus et qu'on lui prêtait trop souvent des intentions cachées.
Nous avons donc deux personnages principaux: Dan Mavering et Alice Pasmer. Dan est le fils d'Elbridge Mavering, un industriel américain qui possède une usine de papier peint à Ponkwasset Falls. Il termine ses études à Harvard et son père lui demande de choisir entre une carrière dans le droit ou travailler dans l'entreprise familiale. Les Pasmer reviennent à peine d'Europe (entre autres parce qu'Alice n'aurait jamais été en mesure d'épouser un lord). Ils s'installent à Boston, un peu désargentés. Lors du "Class Day" à Harvard, Dan tombe amoureux d'Alice et lui présente toutes les sections: il est fort sociable et très populaire, Alice est assez renfermée. Malgré ses parents unitariens, elle est très versée dans le rite anglican et s'est attirée la sympathie d'un certain nombre de dames âgées à l'île de Campobello où les Pasmer se sont installés, en particulier l'obèse et sarcastique Mrs. Brinkley. Elle a aussi une amie, Miss Julia Anderson, au nez tordu et à la voix masculine. Un jour, Dan Mavering débarque à Campobello et demande sa main: elle refuse après une soirée théâtre, où il a joué avec Miss Anderson le rôle de Jupiter et elle Junon. Il revient à la charge, ils se fiancent puis rompent. Il passe à Washington pour l'entreprise familiale et une histoire de brevet. Il y rencontre Julia et Mrs. Brinkley qui favorise leurs retrouvailles. Il lui écrit plus tard mais elle se fiance à un militaire. Il retrouve Alice en avril sans rien lui dire de ce qui s'est passé avec Julia et ils se marient.
Anatomie du mariage où Howells s'écarte significativement de la psychologie complexe à la James et fait simple et long pour l'intrigue. La conversation est sophistiquée avec énormément d'allusions et de "double-entendre". Mrs. Brinkley, avec ses paradoxes et son intervention finale en faveur des époux voués au malheur conjugal contribue beaucoup à une satire extrêmement pessimiste. En avril, il y a encore des espoirs, en juin, lorsqu'on se marie, il n'y en a plus. En chemin, la religion, la richesse et l'émancipation féminine en prennent également pour leur grade et plus encore l'art, bien impuissant, voire trompeur, surtout la littérature, bien sentimentale. le laconique Boardman, presque fataliste et d'origine modeste, peu versé dans la rhétorique (bien creuse au demeurant) s'avère en outre le personnage le plus clairvoyant, ironie cruelle: pauvres jeunes hommes riches.
Nous avons donc deux personnages principaux: Dan Mavering et Alice Pasmer. Dan est le fils d'Elbridge Mavering, un industriel américain qui possède une usine de papier peint à Ponkwasset Falls. Il termine ses études à Harvard et son père lui demande de choisir entre une carrière dans le droit ou travailler dans l'entreprise familiale. Les Pasmer reviennent à peine d'Europe (entre autres parce qu'Alice n'aurait jamais été en mesure d'épouser un lord). Ils s'installent à Boston, un peu désargentés. Lors du "Class Day" à Harvard, Dan tombe amoureux d'Alice et lui présente toutes les sections: il est fort sociable et très populaire, Alice est assez renfermée. Malgré ses parents unitariens, elle est très versée dans le rite anglican et s'est attirée la sympathie d'un certain nombre de dames âgées à l'île de Campobello où les Pasmer se sont installés, en particulier l'obèse et sarcastique Mrs. Brinkley. Elle a aussi une amie, Miss Julia Anderson, au nez tordu et à la voix masculine. Un jour, Dan Mavering débarque à Campobello et demande sa main: elle refuse après une soirée théâtre, où il a joué avec Miss Anderson le rôle de Jupiter et elle Junon. Il revient à la charge, ils se fiancent puis rompent. Il passe à Washington pour l'entreprise familiale et une histoire de brevet. Il y rencontre Julia et Mrs. Brinkley qui favorise leurs retrouvailles. Il lui écrit plus tard mais elle se fiance à un militaire. Il retrouve Alice en avril sans rien lui dire de ce qui s'est passé avec Julia et ils se marient.
Anatomie du mariage où Howells s'écarte significativement de la psychologie complexe à la James et fait simple et long pour l'intrigue. La conversation est sophistiquée avec énormément d'allusions et de "double-entendre". Mrs. Brinkley, avec ses paradoxes et son intervention finale en faveur des époux voués au malheur conjugal contribue beaucoup à une satire extrêmement pessimiste. En avril, il y a encore des espoirs, en juin, lorsqu'on se marie, il n'y en a plus. En chemin, la religion, la richesse et l'émancipation féminine en prennent également pour leur grade et plus encore l'art, bien impuissant, voire trompeur, surtout la littérature, bien sentimentale. le laconique Boardman, presque fataliste et d'origine modeste, peu versé dans la rhétorique (bien creuse au demeurant) s'avère en outre le personnage le plus clairvoyant, ironie cruelle: pauvres jeunes hommes riches.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews