What do you think?
Rate this book
Of Time and The River
Of Time and the River is a 1935 novel by American novelist Thomas Wolfe. It is a fictionalized autobiography, using the name Eugene Gant for Wolfe's, detailing the protagonist's early and mid-twenties, during which time the character attends Harvard University, moves to New York City and teaches English at a university there, and travels overseas with the character Francis Starwick. Francis Starwick was based on Wolfe's friend, playwright Kenneth Raisbeck. The novel was published by Scribners and edited by Maxwell Perkins.
826 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1935
549 people are currently reading
5425 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Wolfe
393 books1,129 followersPeople best know American writer Thomas Clayton Wolfe for his autobiographical novels, including
Look Homeward, Angel
(1929) and the posthumously published
You Can't Go Home Again
(1940).
Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels and many short stories, dramatic works and novellas. He mixed highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing. Wolfe wrote and published books that vividly reflect on American culture and the mores, filtered through his sensitive, sophisticated and hyper-analytical perspective. People widely knew him during his own lifetime.
Wolfe inspired the works of many other authors, including Betty Smith with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Robert Morgan with Gap Creek; Pat Conroy, author of Prince of Tides, said, "My writing career began the instant I finished Look Homeward, Angel." Jack Kerouac idolized Wolfe. Wolfe influenced Ray Bradbury, who included Wolfe as a character in his books.
(from Wikipedia)
Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels and many short stories, dramatic works and novellas. He mixed highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing. Wolfe wrote and published books that vividly reflect on American culture and the mores, filtered through his sensitive, sophisticated and hyper-analytical perspective. People widely knew him during his own lifetime.
Wolfe inspired the works of many other authors, including Betty Smith with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Robert Morgan with Gap Creek; Pat Conroy, author of Prince of Tides, said, "My writing career began the instant I finished Look Homeward, Angel." Jack Kerouac idolized Wolfe. Wolfe influenced Ray Bradbury, who included Wolfe as a character in his books.
(from Wikipedia)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
April 11, 2023
A little railroad station… A lot of noise, small talks and farewells… Not a fledgling anymore, Eugene Gant leaves his native nest flying into the wide outer world…
He is full of expectations and hopes… The world is huge… What is awaiting him in all those unknown places?
Reconnoitering, elaborating, expounding, exaggerating, embellishing Thomas Wolfe surrounds his hero with grotesque personages… Makes him meet all sorts of characters… Naïve, wise, self-serving, selfless…
In the university Eugene studies dramaturgy… Simple minds – that is the majority of the world – are obsessed with the inane idea that if only they knew some magic formula of living their life would’ve been perfect…
He tries to write plays but doesn’t succeed… He is disappointed… He goes to Europe… He becomes acquainted with many strange people… His love is unanswered… His friend turns out to be a different person from the one he supposed him to be… He is disenchanted with the world and existence…
Time is a river we swim in and it carries us down to the bottomless ocean.
‘Harvard, eh!’ George Pentland said again, slowly looking his cousin over from head to foot. ‘Son, you’re flyin’ high, you are!… Now don’t fly so high you never get back to earth again!… You know the rest of us who didn’t go to Harvard still have to walk around upon the ground down here,’ he said. ‘So don’t fly too high or we may not even be able to see you!’
He is full of expectations and hopes… The world is huge… What is awaiting him in all those unknown places?
He saw the furious streets of life with their unending flood-tide of a million faces, the enormous library with its million books; or was it just one moment in the flood-tide of the city, at five o’clock, a voice, a face, a brawny lusty girl with smiling mouth who passed him in an instant at the Park Street station, stood printed in the strong October wind a moment – breast, belly, arm, and thigh, and all her brawny lustihood – and then had gone into the man-swarm, lost for ever, never found?
Reconnoitering, elaborating, expounding, exaggerating, embellishing Thomas Wolfe surrounds his hero with grotesque personages… Makes him meet all sorts of characters… Naïve, wise, self-serving, selfless…
In the university Eugene studies dramaturgy… Simple minds – that is the majority of the world – are obsessed with the inane idea that if only they knew some magic formula of living their life would’ve been perfect…
Yes, for the most part, the members of Professor Hatcher’s class belonged to this great colony of the lost Americans. They belonged to that huge tribe of all the damned and lost who feel that everything is going to be all right with them if they can only take a trip, or learn a rule, or meet a person. They belonged to that futile, desolate, and forsaken horde who felt that all will be well with their lives, that all the power they lack themselves will be supplied, and all the anguish, fury, and unrest, the confusion and the dark damnation of man’s soul can magically be healed if only they eat bran for breakfast, secure an introduction to a celebrated actress…
He tries to write plays but doesn’t succeed… He is disappointed… He goes to Europe… He becomes acquainted with many strange people… His love is unanswered… His friend turns out to be a different person from the one he supposed him to be… He is disenchanted with the world and existence…
Man’s youth is a wonderful thing: it is so full of anguish and of magic and he never comes to know it as it is, until it has gone from him for ever… And that is the reason why, when youth is gone, every man will look back upon that period of his life with infinite sorrow and regret. It is the bitter sorrow and regret of a man who knows that once he had a great talent and wasted it, of a man who knows that once he had a great treasure and got nothing from it, of a man who knows that he had strength enough for everything and never used it.
Time is a river we swim in and it carries us down to the bottomless ocean.
April 24, 2022
Las opiniones sobre Thomas Wolfe se movieron desde sus inicios entre aquellos que, como Faulkner, pensaban que era uno de los más grandes novelistas norteamericanos y los que, sin negarle el genio como escritor, destacaban por encima de todo su desmesura, sus excesos líricos, su incapacidad para dotar de forma y estructura a sus novelas.
Tras leer esta, me sitúo claramente en el segundo grupo. Como por las ventanas de ese tren en marcha -gran imagen que pierde su potencia a fuerza de repetición-, las escenas se suceden una tras otra sin una ligazón clara y separadas por unos arrebatados interludios de un, muchas veces, exagerado lirismo.
Yo tampoco pude encontrar una estructura clara que hiciera de este río una corriente única y atractiva de seguir. Wolfe escribe angustiado por la fugacidad de la vida, por ese tiempo que se escapa, por la necesidad de dejar huella y testimonio de todo y de todos, aunque no pocas veces lo escrito sea de una total intrascendencia. El río de Wolfe, de aguas calientes, caudalosas y rápidas, sufre con mucha frecuencia espectaculares desbordamientos que, aunque impactantes y dignos de ser contemplados y gozados, rompen el curso de la navegación dejando la visión del amplio paisaje muy fragmentada y dispersa. Demasiada prisa en su prosa: lo que gana en expresividad, que no niego que es mucho, lo pierde en cohesión y unidad. He leído con la ineludible sensación de estar ante el propio manuscrito de la novela que ha llegado a mis manos con sus hojas desordenadas. A pesar del arduo trabajo de edición que se hizo con la novela, no sé si hasta Gordon Lish hubiera fracasado igualmente.
Y por si todo esto fuera poco, he tenido que aguantar más veces de las deseables su racismo, su condescendencia hacia todo aquel que no sea blanco y anglosajón, su chovinismo exacerbado y su fastidioso empeño en contradecir a Heráclito y hacer que nos bañemos una y otra y otra vez en el mismo río.
November 20, 2008
Of Time and the River picks up almost at the exact spot where Look Homeward, Angel ended. And much like its predecessor, this novel follows Eugene Gant with all the same passion and endless examination of the overbearing intensity of life in one's youth. However, unlike Look Homeward, Angel, this book is constantly moving. It is an endless search for a "what" and "where" that can only be known once it has been reached. Where Look Homeward, Angel delved deep into the unbearable idleness of youth, small town America and the cyclical nature of family life; this novel follows Gant into his mid-twenties, out of his small town, and through his search to quench that desire for knowledge and the world around him that plagued his younger years. The results are effective and dare I say that oh-so crige-worthy term, "life-affirming."
As for Wolfe? Well, what can you say? Its Wolfe as you have come to expect, as you want him, as you have come to love or hate. He is steeped in the same shameless romanticism that suddenly, with the turn of the page or the ending of a chapter, transforms into the most beautifully dense, strange and surreal free-verse that (probably) rivals moments of Ulysses. He is overbearing, ceaselessly descriptive and tirelessly poetic. He is, and I say this without hesitation, like no other writer of the English language. Whether you enjoy it or like it is another discussion. Yet, you cannot deny that there really no other writer in the English language like him. And the sad thing is, he seems all but forgot by so many.
Admittedly, Wolfe isn't so much a writer that could appeal to many today. Although, by reading him, many connections to contemporary writers can be made. However, his appeal, understandably, may not always be immediately apparent.
Nevertheless, this book has much to offer. Wolfe's obsession with exploring every possible aspect being young leaves something that anyone, regardless of background or sex, could probably find fascinating and immediate familiar. Secondly, Wolfe's descriptions of America and France in the pre-World War 2 period are enough to make this book required reading. (Note: his descriptions of New York City, written almost 80 years ago, are so fascinating and strangely still applicable!) Finally, the most poignant aspect may be that while Wolfe writes about a time which has passed and whose people have since gone to the grave, the experience of what is to be human that he describes still correlates. Certainly, things are different, but the heavy, overbearing emotion of what it is to be young, still resonate effectively over 80 years later.
Yes, he is lengthy and wordy. And yes, with over 900 pages, it does drag sometimes. However, in the end I don't see how anyone could not find something intensely redeemable about his work. Even for a fans of post-modern irony, surrealism, chick-lit, travel narratives or otherwise. Please indulge.
(steps down from the "Why Wolfe fucking Rules" soap box)
As for Wolfe? Well, what can you say? Its Wolfe as you have come to expect, as you want him, as you have come to love or hate. He is steeped in the same shameless romanticism that suddenly, with the turn of the page or the ending of a chapter, transforms into the most beautifully dense, strange and surreal free-verse that (probably) rivals moments of Ulysses. He is overbearing, ceaselessly descriptive and tirelessly poetic. He is, and I say this without hesitation, like no other writer of the English language. Whether you enjoy it or like it is another discussion. Yet, you cannot deny that there really no other writer in the English language like him. And the sad thing is, he seems all but forgot by so many.
Admittedly, Wolfe isn't so much a writer that could appeal to many today. Although, by reading him, many connections to contemporary writers can be made. However, his appeal, understandably, may not always be immediately apparent.
Nevertheless, this book has much to offer. Wolfe's obsession with exploring every possible aspect being young leaves something that anyone, regardless of background or sex, could probably find fascinating and immediate familiar. Secondly, Wolfe's descriptions of America and France in the pre-World War 2 period are enough to make this book required reading. (Note: his descriptions of New York City, written almost 80 years ago, are so fascinating and strangely still applicable!) Finally, the most poignant aspect may be that while Wolfe writes about a time which has passed and whose people have since gone to the grave, the experience of what is to be human that he describes still correlates. Certainly, things are different, but the heavy, overbearing emotion of what it is to be young, still resonate effectively over 80 years later.
Yes, he is lengthy and wordy. And yes, with over 900 pages, it does drag sometimes. However, in the end I don't see how anyone could not find something intensely redeemable about his work. Even for a fans of post-modern irony, surrealism, chick-lit, travel narratives or otherwise. Please indulge.
(steps down from the "Why Wolfe fucking Rules" soap box)
January 27, 2018
I have read, and re-read this book several times. Although not quite as good as Look Homeward, Angel, Of Time and the River is still a mesmerizing, life-changing read. I still think the death scene of Mr. Gant in Chapter 33 is one of the most powerful scenes in all of 20th century literature. Book IV Proteus: The City is among my favorite passages in all of literature. I have read this book several times and likely will again. Highly recommended.
October 27, 2025
Of Time and the River is the exquisitely beautifully written sequel to Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe. The book opens as Eugene Gant, now twenty, stands on the railroad station platform in his native Altamount about to go North to attend Cambridge and Harvard, enrolling as a graduate student. This book essentially covers the years 1920 to 1925, where in the course of the narrative he will return home and then set out once more for New York, Oxford, Paris, and throughout the French countryside, coming back at the end of the book to the beautiful and incomparable substance of America and all it embodies as there are reflections on the breadth and history of America as it is viewed from the New York Harbor and the Hudson River.
I was fortunate enough to have in my bookcase since 1999, the re-issuing of Of Time and the River by Scribner’s publishing house to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Thomas Wolfe’s birth in Asheville, North Carolina with a lovely introduction by one of my favorite contemporary authors, Pat Conroy. He was blessed by being given Thomas Wolfe’s books at age sixteen by a high school English teacher who recognized his talent. Conroy’s love of the writing of Thomas Wolfe lit a fire in him leading him to let him know that his teacher was right, “There is a relationship between life and art.” And it might be best to include Pat Conroy’s beautiful words:
Of Time and the River contains some of the most magnificent writing that Thomas Wolfe ever accomplished. As Pat Conroy points out that if you ride the trains with Thomas Wolfe in these pages you will never look at trains in the same way again. As one who has been mesmerized by trains since I was a small child, I loved all of the beautiful writings about the trains as I could visualize it all.
It is said that Thomas Wolfe was gifted with almost total recall and that his fiction is characterized by an intense consciousness of time and place. That is why in both Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River, Wolfe was able to imbue his life story and that of his parents with a lofty and romantic quality evoking powerful emotions. I loved both of these books and I am in heaven when I am immersed in his beautiful prose frequently flowing with beautiful poetry. This is the best of literature. I will continue to treasure both of these books, opening them frequently to read certain passages as I immerse myself in Thomas Wolfe’s beautiful prose and poetry.
I was fortunate enough to have in my bookcase since 1999, the re-issuing of Of Time and the River by Scribner’s publishing house to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of Thomas Wolfe’s birth in Asheville, North Carolina with a lovely introduction by one of my favorite contemporary authors, Pat Conroy. He was blessed by being given Thomas Wolfe’s books at age sixteen by a high school English teacher who recognized his talent. Conroy’s love of the writing of Thomas Wolfe lit a fire in him leading him to let him know that his teacher was right, “There is a relationship between life and art.” And it might be best to include Pat Conroy’s beautiful words:
“In this small backwater town ringed by mountains, Wolfe would rise to manhood blessed with a prodigious memory and an eye for detail rarely matched by other American writers. He would leave Asheville and go to the great and glittering cities before settling down to write about these mountains and his family and his town and everything that happened to him on his star-crossed voyage along the plains of his own life. Thomas Wolfe took it all in and gave it all back and made it famous all over the world.”
Of Time and the River contains some of the most magnificent writing that Thomas Wolfe ever accomplished. As Pat Conroy points out that if you ride the trains with Thomas Wolfe in these pages you will never look at trains in the same way again. As one who has been mesmerized by trains since I was a small child, I loved all of the beautiful writings about the trains as I could visualize it all.
“The trains rushed on across the brown autumnal land, by wink of water and the rocky coasts, the small white towns and flaming colors and the lonely, tragic and elemental beauty of New England. It was the country of its heart’s desire, the dark Helen in his blood forever burning—and now the fast approach across October land, the engine smoke that streaked back on the sharp gray air that day.”
“Then the great train was given to the night and darkness, the great train hurtled through the night across the lonely, wild, and secret earth, bearing on to all their thousand destinations its freight of unknown lives—some to morning, cities, new lands, and the joy of voyages, and some to known faces, voices and the hills of home—but which to certain fortune, peace, security, and love, no man could say.”
It is said that Thomas Wolfe was gifted with almost total recall and that his fiction is characterized by an intense consciousness of time and place. That is why in both Look Homeward, Angel and Of Time and the River, Wolfe was able to imbue his life story and that of his parents with a lofty and romantic quality evoking powerful emotions. I loved both of these books and I am in heaven when I am immersed in his beautiful prose frequently flowing with beautiful poetry. This is the best of literature. I will continue to treasure both of these books, opening them frequently to read certain passages as I immerse myself in Thomas Wolfe’s beautiful prose and poetry.
November 12, 2020
Το μυθιστόρημα του Γουλφ, αποτελεί συνέχεια του βιβλίου «Γύρνα σπίτι άγγελε μου», χωρίς η ανάγνωση του πρώτου να αποτελεί απαραίτητη προϋπόθεση για την ανάγνωση του «Περί Χρόνου και Ποταμού».
Το μυθιστόρημα είναι καθαρά αυτοβιογραφικό. Ο κεντρικός του ήρωας Γιουτζίν Γκάντ είναι ο ίδιος ο Γουλφ.
Η ιστορία που μας αφηγείται ο συγγραφέας είναι σχετικά απλή ενώ η ανάπτυξή της είναι εντελώς γραμμική:
Ο Γκάντ φεύγει από τη γενέτειρά του μια μικρή πόλη του Νότου και μεταβαίνει στο Χάρβαρντ για να σπουδάσει και να γίνει ��υγγραφέας. Εκεί θα περάσει τα στάδια της προσωπικής του ενηλικίωσης,
θα γνωρίσει ανθρώπους που θα τον σημαδέψουν, θα δημιουργήσει φιλίες, θα χάσει μέλη της οικογένειάς του.
Από εκεί θα πάει στη Νέα Υόρκη από την οποία μαγεύεται και τρέφει γι’ αυτήν αισθήματα έλξης και απώθησης. Μετά θα ταξιδέψει στην Ευρώπη (Αγγλία, Γαλλία), όπου θα δημιουργήσει φιλίες που θα διαμορφώσουν την προσωπικότητά του.
Η πλοκή του μυθιστορήματος, δεν έχει ιδιαίτερη σημασία.
Σημασία στην ροή του , έχει η περιπλάνηση και οι ιδέες του ήρωα, οι εμμονές του και η δίψα του για γνώση και λογοτεχνία ,οι μονόλογοι του και περιγραφές των ανθρώπων, των τοπίων, των συναντήσεών του και των συζητήσεων.
Με μακροπερίοδο λόγο, λυρικό και ποιητικό, ορμητικό και ζωντανό το μυθιστόρημα, δεν φοβάται την φλυαρία, δεν φοβάται τους χαρακτηρισμούς και τις επαναλήψεις, τις αλλαγές ρυθμού στην αφήγηση, τις εξαντλητικές λεπτομέρειες και τις μεγάλες περιγραφές.
Είναι ένα πληθωρικό και γεμάτο συμβολισμούς και μεταφορές βιβλίο, που έχει ως κεντρικό του θέμα την αναζήτηση του εαυτού, μέσα από την περιπλάνηση του ήρωα του, αλλά μιλάει και για την αναζήτηση
και την απώλεια της πατρικής φιγούρας.
Διαβάζεται εύκολα ,μόνο λίγη τόλμη (και χρόνος) χρειάζεται.
Το μυθιστόρημα είναι καθαρά αυτοβιογραφικό. Ο κεντρικός του ήρωας Γιουτζίν Γκάντ είναι ο ίδιος ο Γουλφ.
Η ιστορία που μας αφηγείται ο συγγραφέας είναι σχετικά απλή ενώ η ανάπτυξή της είναι εντελώς γραμμική:
Ο Γκάντ φεύγει από τη γενέτειρά του μια μικρή πόλη του Νότου και μεταβαίνει στο Χάρβαρντ για να σπουδάσει και να γίνει ��υγγραφέας. Εκεί θα περάσει τα στάδια της προσωπικής του ενηλικίωσης,
θα γνωρίσει ανθρώπους που θα τον σημαδέψουν, θα δημιουργήσει φιλίες, θα χάσει μέλη της οικογένειάς του.
Από εκεί θα πάει στη Νέα Υόρκη από την οποία μαγεύεται και τρέφει γι’ αυτήν αισθήματα έλξης και απώθησης. Μετά θα ταξιδέψει στην Ευρώπη (Αγγλία, Γαλλία), όπου θα δημιουργήσει φιλίες που θα διαμορφώσουν την προσωπικότητά του.
Η πλοκή του μυθιστορήματος, δεν έχει ιδιαίτερη σημασία.
Σημασία στην ροή του , έχει η περιπλάνηση και οι ιδέες του ήρωα, οι εμμονές του και η δίψα του για γνώση και λογοτεχνία ,οι μονόλογοι του και περιγραφές των ανθρώπων, των τοπίων, των συναντήσεών του και των συζητήσεων.
Με μακροπερίοδο λόγο, λυρικό και ποιητικό, ορμητικό και ζωντανό το μυθιστόρημα, δεν φοβάται την φλυαρία, δεν φοβάται τους χαρακτηρισμούς και τις επαναλήψεις, τις αλλαγές ρυθμού στην αφήγηση, τις εξαντλητικές λεπτομέρειες και τις μεγάλες περιγραφές.
Είναι ένα πληθωρικό και γεμάτο συμβολισμούς και μεταφορές βιβλίο, που έχει ως κεντρικό του θέμα την αναζήτηση του εαυτού, μέσα από την περιπλάνηση του ήρωα του, αλλά μιλάει και για την αναζήτηση
και την απώλεια της πατρικής φιγούρας.
Διαβάζεται εύκολα ,μόνο λίγη τόλμη (και χρόνος) χρειάζεται.
July 26, 2010
A book on a monumental scale. Nearly a thousand pages long. It is the sequel to Wolfe's first novel, Look Homeward, Angel. It chronicles the main character of that novel as he moves from small town North Carolina in the early nineteen hundreds to Harvard, then New York and Europe. It is intensely emotional, very passionate, and, oh-so-descriptive of characters, places, emotions. It's a book that blows your socks off. Not for the faint hearted. I absolutely love it.
August 19, 2012
Wolfe is now one of my favorite authors. I visited Asheville last October, learned about Wolfe, bought Look Homeward Angel in the Visitor's Center, read that, and now finished Of Time and the River. I am looking forward to reading more Wolfe and have even thought about going back to Asheville. I think I would see Asheville differently now, after having read >1500 pages of Wolfe.
February 28, 2012
This is my favorite book and favorite author. Recommend this to anybody at any age, but will probably have more Impact on college students as it did me back when most of my life was in front of me and not behind me.
December 8, 2008
This is a book that every young man (or person) should read. I read this freshman year of college. An absolute masterpiece. An inspiration to Kerouac as well as anyone else who has ever read Wolfe.
January 17, 2019
A powerful magnificent, slow-read of a book. A fictionalized autobiography, as the author goes to Harvard, teaches, and travels to England and France. The writing is simply amazing. When he describes the contents of a refrigerator, I become hungry. Of friends he treats poorly, I become ashamed. Almost every paragraph has a noteworthy, profound or lyric passage. Truly a remarkable work.
March 8, 2021
After recently watching the movie, "Genius" and reading the screenplay, I searched to find the unedited manuscript, "O Lost". The used copy I purchased should arrive this week.
Although this screenplay is a great writer's tool of information, it lures me back in time. We see blue eyes everywhere, we may even have blue eyes, but no matter what the color of eyes are, when you are stirred by first love, colors become poetry. You can go to the internet and search for related words to describe beautiful eye color, but that would never work for a young person falling in love for the first time.
Eugene Grant sees the girl from a distance, and writes, '...her eyes were blue beyond blue, like the ocean. A blue he could swim into forever and never miss a fire engine red or a cornstalk yellow."
Like many first loves from a distance, the girl didn't even noticed him.
“From that moment, Eugene understood what the poets had been writing about these many years, all the lost, wandering, lonely souls who were now his brothers. He knew a love that would never be his. So quickly did he fall for her that no one in the room even heard the sound, the whoosh as he fell, the clatter of his broken heart. It was a sure silence, but his life was shattered.”
You wanted to cry, when Max Perkins and Thomas Wolfe finally decided to go with:
“Eugene saw a woman. Her eyes were blue. So quickly did he fall for her that no one in the room even heard the sound.”
Now imagine a manuscript having 900 pages cut, but you have to remember it started with 5,000 handwritten pages.
I hope you enjoy reading, "Of Time and the River" as much as I did.
P.S.
Unedited... if you are as old as I am, you recognize Chesterfields and Lucky Strikes. Good luck editing the following. I loved every word.
"But it was her eyes that stopped his breath; that made his heart leap up. Blue they were, even through the swirling vapors of pompous Chesterfields and arrogant Lucky Strikes he saw her eyes were a blue beyond blue, like the ocean. A blue he could swim into forever and never miss a fire engine red or a cornstalk yellow. Across the chasm of that room, that blue, those eyes, devoured him and looked past him and never saw him and never would, of that he was sure. From that moment, Eugene understood what the poets had been writing about these many years, all the lost, wandering, lonely souls who were now his brothers. He knew a love that would never be his. So quickly did he fall for her that no one in the room even heard the sound, the whoosh as he fell, the clatter of his broken heart. It was a sure silence, but his life was shattered." -Genius 2016
Although this screenplay is a great writer's tool of information, it lures me back in time. We see blue eyes everywhere, we may even have blue eyes, but no matter what the color of eyes are, when you are stirred by first love, colors become poetry. You can go to the internet and search for related words to describe beautiful eye color, but that would never work for a young person falling in love for the first time.
Eugene Grant sees the girl from a distance, and writes, '...her eyes were blue beyond blue, like the ocean. A blue he could swim into forever and never miss a fire engine red or a cornstalk yellow."
Like many first loves from a distance, the girl didn't even noticed him.
“From that moment, Eugene understood what the poets had been writing about these many years, all the lost, wandering, lonely souls who were now his brothers. He knew a love that would never be his. So quickly did he fall for her that no one in the room even heard the sound, the whoosh as he fell, the clatter of his broken heart. It was a sure silence, but his life was shattered.”
You wanted to cry, when Max Perkins and Thomas Wolfe finally decided to go with:
“Eugene saw a woman. Her eyes were blue. So quickly did he fall for her that no one in the room even heard the sound.”
Now imagine a manuscript having 900 pages cut, but you have to remember it started with 5,000 handwritten pages.
I hope you enjoy reading, "Of Time and the River" as much as I did.
P.S.
Unedited... if you are as old as I am, you recognize Chesterfields and Lucky Strikes. Good luck editing the following. I loved every word.
"But it was her eyes that stopped his breath; that made his heart leap up. Blue they were, even through the swirling vapors of pompous Chesterfields and arrogant Lucky Strikes he saw her eyes were a blue beyond blue, like the ocean. A blue he could swim into forever and never miss a fire engine red or a cornstalk yellow. Across the chasm of that room, that blue, those eyes, devoured him and looked past him and never saw him and never would, of that he was sure. From that moment, Eugene understood what the poets had been writing about these many years, all the lost, wandering, lonely souls who were now his brothers. He knew a love that would never be his. So quickly did he fall for her that no one in the room even heard the sound, the whoosh as he fell, the clatter of his broken heart. It was a sure silence, but his life was shattered." -Genius 2016
December 2, 2017
A sequel to Wolfe's most famous novel Look Homeward, Angel. This is a looong book, just over a 1000 pages and after reaching the predictable ending i was asking myself, did this really need to be written?? It really serves no purpose ~ it's not that entertaining, doesn't really have a strong or rememberable story or characters and doesn't seem to say anything, it's pretty directionless in just about everything. It's a known fact that Wolfe wrote a hell of a lot and needed a good editor/editors, he's probably more famous for that than his books. It's not that he's a bad writer either, Look Homeward Angel is not an easy book but it does have beautiful descriptions and charm, it had something to like despite it being difficult, overwritten and a bit pretentious. At least it had something to say about family and growing up. This book on the other hand while trying to be about the same kinda thing ~ growing up, doesn't do as good of a job. It has beautiful descriptions too but they are lost in the overwritten fat of the book, characters come and go without bringing much to the story, it definitely is pretentious and it almost feels like 4 or 5 different books or Wolfe wrote this adventure for this character Eugene Gant 4 or 5 different times and put them all together. It had just enough to keep me reading but it really isn't a good book.
July 6, 2016
I don't usually get personal with these reviews, but I must say that this book will always be entwined in a strange and beautiful way with my mother's death. I was reading it during her last sickness, and I even remember that one of the lyrical sections, the part that Kerouac liked so much about "great boats blowing in the gulf of night", is the last thing I read aloud to her. Wolfe may have fallen out of fashion but I really think that the beautiful enthusiasm, the sheer lyrical wonder of this book will transcend all literary trends until - god forbid - people stop reading books altogether. It, honestly, doesn't hold together as a novel in the usual sense, other than the general arc of Gant/Wolfe's awakening into life and the relation of his experiences, but there is something so inherently American about it, not in a jingoistic or nationalistic way, but in a wholesome, Whitmanic sense, that makes this work so special. Perhaps because that kind of love for the American land is nearly impossible these days without acknowledging its slow destruction, perhaps because this kind of sincerity seems garish at present in the light of the evening news, but it will stand as a pillar, a kind of glorious aspiration and perhaps as the culmination of American Romanticism in the grandest sense.
November 18, 2008
Not much to really say about the book here. Much of what I got out of this is in my mind, inarticulate, felt. Which sounds terrible. So, for starters, the book is the most empathetic, humanistic, sensitive, fallible, poetic, rampant prose I have ever read. There is more human yearning and stern passion wretched out in that book, more human confusion and exultancy in there than anything I have read. This book goes far beyond Hamsun's "Hunger" and "Mysteries." I didn't get the sense that he really articulated what it means to be "American" clearly; he came close a couple of times to really describing "American" experience. I don't think anyone explicitly can do what he tried to do; but he, at least for me, dug into the metaphorical heart, which is still beating somewhere. I see it in Vollmann. Childish as they both may be, I have endearing respect for both of them.
May 12, 2009
Wow....I feel like I just ate a 10 course French meal....this book had some beautiful imagery and poetic descriptions....a huge and lovely journey...
February 8, 2018
Incredible
One of the great novels of the twentieth century. Thomas Wolfe's masterpiece sequel to the masterpiece that is Look Homeward, Angel.
One of the great novels of the twentieth century. Thomas Wolfe's masterpiece sequel to the masterpiece that is Look Homeward, Angel.
September 28, 2021
Żartowałam sobie, że ta książka i tak sama w sobie jest już wystarczająco długa, to może w recenzji powiem tylko, że najwyraźniej Eugene Gant bardzo lubi pociągi, ale jednak mam trochę więcej do powiedzenia.
"'He's dead,' said Mr Flood, still wheezing rapidly for breath and gazing at the spittoon. 'That's the reason you haven't seen him,' he said seriously."
Silnie autobiograficzne "Of Time and the River" jest kontynuacją pierwszej powieści Wolfe'a, "Look Homeward, Angel" - podąża za Eugene'em w lata wczesnej dorosłości, odwiedza z nim uczelnię, z głównym bohaterem jako studentem, a potem nauczycielem, jego miejsca zamieszkania, domy przyjaciół i kraje, gdzie będzie szukał sensu życia i swojego przeznaczenia. Akcja "Of Time and the River" dzieje się na przestrzeni kilku lat, a ja uwielbiam tego typu powieści.
Główny zamysł tej książki można by było przedstawić właśnie jako dorastanie Eugene'a, ale Thomas Wolfe tak szczególnie postrzegał i poświęcał uwagę ludziom wokół niego, że Eugene prawie nigdy nie jest samotny, i na tych wszystkich osobach, które spotkał po drodze, również jest według mnie pokazany proces dorastania - bo dorastać można na tyle różnych sposobów, w tylu różnych środowiskach, w tak różnym wieku, bo przecież możemy dorastać całe nasze życie, tak pewnie się dzieje, i możemy skończyć w tak wielu różnych miejscach, każdy ma tutaj swój początek i koniec, swoją oryginalną historię - to nie jest "samotna" historia. Relacje Eugene'a i jego przyjaciół są wzajemne, wzajemnie wpływają na bieg swoich opowieści. Ogromnie podoba mi się motyw lekarza ojca starego Ganta (też dostał własną krótką historię, ale jak fascynującą) i siostry Eugene'a, która być może dopiero w wieku trzydziestu (??) lat odkrywa, jak chce tak naprawdę spędzić swoje życie, z kim, i jest popchnięta w tym kierunku. Jak naprawdę potoczyły się losy siostry Thomasa, nie mam pojęcia, ale mam tylko nadzieję, że udało się jej poznać choć trochę szczęścia, i myślę, że idealnie obrazuje mój wniosek - nigdy nie jest za późno w procesie dorastania, i to jak przebiega, to indywidualna sprawa. Uwzględnienie tylu ludzkich żyć i również miejsc na świecie sprawia, że powieść Wolfe'a jest ogromna wewnętrznie, że w niej również zamyka się cały świat, jak cud, chciałabym kiedyś dokonywać takich rzeczy.
Podczas czytania "Of Time and the River" doświadczyłam również całkiem nowego doświadczenia czytelniczego - kiedy w połowie powieści dostałam takiego uczucia pełnej satysfakcji książką i wrażenia, że dla siebie już ją skończyłam - i nie w negatywnym znaczeniu, że miałam jej dość, ale już... w pewnym aspekcie była dla mnie zakończona i czułam się spełniona. Wtedy zrobiłam krótką przerwę i jakiś czas temu na spokojnie wróciłam do historii Eugene'a, kiedy zatęskniłam.
Aby przekazać tyle historii ludzkich i miejsc, tyle sytuacji, Wolfe posłużył się według mnie kilkoma różnorodnymi technikami przedstawiania rzeczywistości, czasami było surrealistycznie, czasami były to refleksje i sny, czasami robiło się niepokojąco, a czasem autor pisał wręcz sceny komediowe, i przez tę wewnętrzną różnorodność "Of Time and the River" sprawiało wrażenie momentami "fever dream", ale w najlepszym sensie.
Podoba mi się również opis Ameryki, chyba drugi mój ulubiony obok tego Nabokova w "Lolicie", ale tutaj było według mnie więcej uwielbienia, patriotyzmu i miłości, ale nie napuszonej, tylko bardzo naturalnej, wrażliwej i związanej z poczuciem rodziny i rodzinnego dziedzictwa. Możemy krytykować ten kraj, ja sama od czasu do czasu to robię, ale Thomas ocieplił mi trochę wizerunek tego narodu. Naprawdę, to musiało być wielkie szczęście, być chociaż przez moment kochanym przez Thomasa Wolfe'a, bo ta miłość jest powalająca.
A właśnie co do miłości Wolfe'a - uważam, że związek jego i Aline Berstein nie był najszczęśliwszym i najbardziej fartownym wypadkiem, doprowadzali siebie do szaleństwa i desperacji, Aline chyba bardzo to wszystko zaszkodziło, ale ten opis uczucia Eugene'a na koniec... Z tej perspektywy ich miłość wygląda przepięknie i najsilniej na świecie.
Chciałabym jeszcze powiedzieć, że, jasne, to pewnie kwestia tego, że Thomas wychowywał się z jąkającym się bratem, i sam od czasu do czasu zmagał się z tym zaburzeniem, ale to jak w niektórych współczesnych mainstreamowych produkcjach nadal żartuje sobie z jąkania i używa się tego znienawidzonego przeze mnie określenia "did I stutter", i nie widzę żadnej chwili zwątpienia ze strony "woke" twórców tych filmów i seriali, ale Thomas Wolfe, w 1935 roku, potrafił zgrabnie wkręcić w powieść kilka dobrze napisanych postaci jąkających się, i to o różnych rodzajach jąkania, i były tak widoczne, i zostały tak poszanowane... We can do better.
A, i groziłam na początku, że jeśli nie zobaczę w tej książce ani razu mojego ukochanego Bena, to obniżę bezlistośnie ocenę o jedną gwiazdkę, i zrobiłabym to na pewno, ale na szczęście Wolfe spełnił moje marzenie - a jedna ze scen Bena jest chyba jedną z moich ulubionych w literaturze. Co za świetna robota.
Ale żeby nie było tylko tak przyjemnie, ja lubię z jakiegoś powodu krytykować Wolfe'a, i tutaj też mam kilka uwag.
1. Niektóre sceny były po prostu dla mnie okropnie nudne, nie pociągnęły mnie za sobą. Ale też... literatura sporo się zmieniła od czasu wydania tej książki, pewnie nie należę w pewnym sensie do grupy docelowej, mam już inaczej wykształtowany gust i oczekiwania.
2. Problematyczne momenty, np. scena w więzieniu skupiająca się na kwestiach rasowych, nierówności rasowej i rasizmie, bardzo nieprzyjemnie się to czytało. Czerwona lampka zapaliła mi się przy fever dream opisie żydowskich kobiet, a scena zbliżenia Eugene'a z pewną kobietą.... gross, gross, gross dla mnie. Nope. Mogłabym się bez tego obyć, Thomas.
3. "Of Time and the River" to świetna powieść i Wolfe dobrze zagospodarował całą jej objętość, ale jest jednak potwornie długa, i nawet jeśli czyta się bardzo dobry fragment, to umysł mi się po prostu przemęczał, i momentami bardziej... vibowałam z tym, co autor chciał mi przekazać, z jego uczuciami, bo treść w jej pełni już czasami nie docierała. Za dużo informacji.
Chciałam jeszcze powiedzieć, że podczas czytania "Of Time and the River" sama z własnego zainteresowania poszukałam więcej informacji na temat postaci Starwicka, okazało się, że jeden ważny aspekt jego postaci został ograniczony w ostatecznej wersji książki, a według mnie jest to świetny wątek i potwierdził to, co sama podejrzewałam, i jestem trochę rozczarowana tym, że... nie nacieszyłam się nim w powieści. Ale z drugiej strony to był wtedy wrażliwy temat, a dopiero druga powieść Wolfe'a, i może Max Perkins nie chciał po prostu ryzykować. Trochę to rozumiem, chociaż oczywiście to tylko moje domysły!!
Ale bardzo wam polecam zainteresowanie się postacią pierwowzoru Starwicka, Kennethem Raisbeckiem. Chcę kiedyś przeczytać coś od niego, chociaż jego twórczość chyba jest już ciężko dostępna.
Nie wiem, dlaczego to jest dla mnie takie zaskoczenie, ale "Of Time and the River" to naprawdę jedna z najlepszych powieści, jakie w życiu przeczytałam. Jest przepiękna i tak bardzo polubiłam Wolfe'a podczas tej lektury.
I tak bardzo jest mi żal Maksa Perkinsa, bo to musiał być dla niego ogromny wstrząs, kiedy trzy lata później Thomas zmarł. Tak bardzo go kochał.
A, i dziękuję moim przyjaciołom za wsparcie, dziękuję wampirkowi za zachętę "czasuj rzekę". Jesteście kochani, w tym wspieraniu moich pasji.
PS. Uwielbiam to, jak plot twistem z tamtych czasów jest to, jak ktoś okazuje się "komunistą".
PS. 2. Podczas pisania tej recenzji słuchałam sobie muzyki "Bleachers" i myślę, że "Chinatown" spodobałoby się Wolfe'owi.
PS. 3. A tutaj macie kilka innych cytatów, które mnie ujęły!
"Don't fool with a dying man, Robert. If you're going to play around with anyone, play around with the living, and not with the dead. Dead men are bad people to play around with."
"I shouldn't think you'd find many people anywhere at two o'clock in the morning. I should think most of them would be in bed - even on the East Side."
"The ruined people that we like are those who desperately have died, and lost their lives because they loved life dearly, and had that grandeur that makes such people spend prodigally the thing they love the best, and risk and lose their lives because life is so precious to them, and die at length because the seeds of life are in them. It is only the people that love life who die in this way - and these are the ruined people that we like."
"Young Icarus lies drowned, God knows where."
"Shall I know you, though I have never seen your face? Will you know me, and will you call me 'son? Father, I know that you live, though I have never found you."
"But I can remember everything we said that night - it was that time when you came back just after your brother's death: that's when it was all right, I guess that's why I can remember it so well... It's time all little boys were in bed..."
"'He's dead,' said Mr Flood, still wheezing rapidly for breath and gazing at the spittoon. 'That's the reason you haven't seen him,' he said seriously."
Silnie autobiograficzne "Of Time and the River" jest kontynuacją pierwszej powieści Wolfe'a, "Look Homeward, Angel" - podąża za Eugene'em w lata wczesnej dorosłości, odwiedza z nim uczelnię, z głównym bohaterem jako studentem, a potem nauczycielem, jego miejsca zamieszkania, domy przyjaciół i kraje, gdzie będzie szukał sensu życia i swojego przeznaczenia. Akcja "Of Time and the River" dzieje się na przestrzeni kilku lat, a ja uwielbiam tego typu powieści.
Główny zamysł tej książki można by było przedstawić właśnie jako dorastanie Eugene'a, ale Thomas Wolfe tak szczególnie postrzegał i poświęcał uwagę ludziom wokół niego, że Eugene prawie nigdy nie jest samotny, i na tych wszystkich osobach, które spotkał po drodze, również jest według mnie pokazany proces dorastania - bo dorastać można na tyle różnych sposobów, w tylu różnych środowiskach, w tak różnym wieku, bo przecież możemy dorastać całe nasze życie, tak pewnie się dzieje, i możemy skończyć w tak wielu różnych miejscach, każdy ma tutaj swój początek i koniec, swoją oryginalną historię - to nie jest "samotna" historia. Relacje Eugene'a i jego przyjaciół są wzajemne, wzajemnie wpływają na bieg swoich opowieści. Ogromnie podoba mi się motyw lekarza ojca starego Ganta (też dostał własną krótką historię, ale jak fascynującą) i siostry Eugene'a, która być może dopiero w wieku trzydziestu (??) lat odkrywa, jak chce tak naprawdę spędzić swoje życie, z kim, i jest popchnięta w tym kierunku. Jak naprawdę potoczyły się losy siostry Thomasa, nie mam pojęcia, ale mam tylko nadzieję, że udało się jej poznać choć trochę szczęścia, i myślę, że idealnie obrazuje mój wniosek - nigdy nie jest za późno w procesie dorastania, i to jak przebiega, to indywidualna sprawa. Uwzględnienie tylu ludzkich żyć i również miejsc na świecie sprawia, że powieść Wolfe'a jest ogromna wewnętrznie, że w niej również zamyka się cały świat, jak cud, chciałabym kiedyś dokonywać takich rzeczy.
Podczas czytania "Of Time and the River" doświadczyłam również całkiem nowego doświadczenia czytelniczego - kiedy w połowie powieści dostałam takiego uczucia pełnej satysfakcji książką i wrażenia, że dla siebie już ją skończyłam - i nie w negatywnym znaczeniu, że miałam jej dość, ale już... w pewnym aspekcie była dla mnie zakończona i czułam się spełniona. Wtedy zrobiłam krótką przerwę i jakiś czas temu na spokojnie wróciłam do historii Eugene'a, kiedy zatęskniłam.
Aby przekazać tyle historii ludzkich i miejsc, tyle sytuacji, Wolfe posłużył się według mnie kilkoma różnorodnymi technikami przedstawiania rzeczywistości, czasami było surrealistycznie, czasami były to refleksje i sny, czasami robiło się niepokojąco, a czasem autor pisał wręcz sceny komediowe, i przez tę wewnętrzną różnorodność "Of Time and the River" sprawiało wrażenie momentami "fever dream", ale w najlepszym sensie.
Podoba mi się również opis Ameryki, chyba drugi mój ulubiony obok tego Nabokova w "Lolicie", ale tutaj było według mnie więcej uwielbienia, patriotyzmu i miłości, ale nie napuszonej, tylko bardzo naturalnej, wrażliwej i związanej z poczuciem rodziny i rodzinnego dziedzictwa. Możemy krytykować ten kraj, ja sama od czasu do czasu to robię, ale Thomas ocieplił mi trochę wizerunek tego narodu. Naprawdę, to musiało być wielkie szczęście, być chociaż przez moment kochanym przez Thomasa Wolfe'a, bo ta miłość jest powalająca.
A właśnie co do miłości Wolfe'a - uważam, że związek jego i Aline Berstein nie był najszczęśliwszym i najbardziej fartownym wypadkiem, doprowadzali siebie do szaleństwa i desperacji, Aline chyba bardzo to wszystko zaszkodziło, ale ten opis uczucia Eugene'a na koniec... Z tej perspektywy ich miłość wygląda przepięknie i najsilniej na świecie.
Chciałabym jeszcze powiedzieć, że, jasne, to pewnie kwestia tego, że Thomas wychowywał się z jąkającym się bratem, i sam od czasu do czasu zmagał się z tym zaburzeniem, ale to jak w niektórych współczesnych mainstreamowych produkcjach nadal żartuje sobie z jąkania i używa się tego znienawidzonego przeze mnie określenia "did I stutter", i nie widzę żadnej chwili zwątpienia ze strony "woke" twórców tych filmów i seriali, ale Thomas Wolfe, w 1935 roku, potrafił zgrabnie wkręcić w powieść kilka dobrze napisanych postaci jąkających się, i to o różnych rodzajach jąkania, i były tak widoczne, i zostały tak poszanowane... We can do better.
A, i groziłam na początku, że jeśli nie zobaczę w tej książce ani razu mojego ukochanego Bena, to obniżę bezlistośnie ocenę o jedną gwiazdkę, i zrobiłabym to na pewno, ale na szczęście Wolfe spełnił moje marzenie - a jedna ze scen Bena jest chyba jedną z moich ulubionych w literaturze. Co za świetna robota.
Ale żeby nie było tylko tak przyjemnie, ja lubię z jakiegoś powodu krytykować Wolfe'a, i tutaj też mam kilka uwag.
1. Niektóre sceny były po prostu dla mnie okropnie nudne, nie pociągnęły mnie za sobą. Ale też... literatura sporo się zmieniła od czasu wydania tej książki, pewnie nie należę w pewnym sensie do grupy docelowej, mam już inaczej wykształtowany gust i oczekiwania.
2. Problematyczne momenty, np. scena w więzieniu skupiająca się na kwestiach rasowych, nierówności rasowej i rasizmie, bardzo nieprzyjemnie się to czytało. Czerwona lampka zapaliła mi się przy fever dream opisie żydowskich kobiet, a scena zbliżenia Eugene'a z pewną kobietą.... gross, gross, gross dla mnie. Nope. Mogłabym się bez tego obyć, Thomas.
3. "Of Time and the River" to świetna powieść i Wolfe dobrze zagospodarował całą jej objętość, ale jest jednak potwornie długa, i nawet jeśli czyta się bardzo dobry fragment, to umysł mi się po prostu przemęczał, i momentami bardziej... vibowałam z tym, co autor chciał mi przekazać, z jego uczuciami, bo treść w jej pełni już czasami nie docierała. Za dużo informacji.
Chciałam jeszcze powiedzieć, że podczas czytania "Of Time and the River" sama z własnego zainteresowania poszukałam więcej informacji na temat postaci Starwicka, okazało się, że jeden ważny aspekt jego postaci został ograniczony w ostatecznej wersji książki, a według mnie jest to świetny wątek i potwierdził to, co sama podejrzewałam, i jestem trochę rozczarowana tym, że... nie nacieszyłam się nim w powieści. Ale z drugiej strony to był wtedy wrażliwy temat, a dopiero druga powieść Wolfe'a, i może Max Perkins nie chciał po prostu ryzykować. Trochę to rozumiem, chociaż oczywiście to tylko moje domysły!!
Ale bardzo wam polecam zainteresowanie się postacią pierwowzoru Starwicka, Kennethem Raisbeckiem. Chcę kiedyś przeczytać coś od niego, chociaż jego twórczość chyba jest już ciężko dostępna.
Nie wiem, dlaczego to jest dla mnie takie zaskoczenie, ale "Of Time and the River" to naprawdę jedna z najlepszych powieści, jakie w życiu przeczytałam. Jest przepiękna i tak bardzo polubiłam Wolfe'a podczas tej lektury.
I tak bardzo jest mi żal Maksa Perkinsa, bo to musiał być dla niego ogromny wstrząs, kiedy trzy lata później Thomas zmarł. Tak bardzo go kochał.
A, i dziękuję moim przyjaciołom za wsparcie, dziękuję wampirkowi za zachętę "czasuj rzekę". Jesteście kochani, w tym wspieraniu moich pasji.
PS. Uwielbiam to, jak plot twistem z tamtych czasów jest to, jak ktoś okazuje się "komunistą".
PS. 2. Podczas pisania tej recenzji słuchałam sobie muzyki "Bleachers" i myślę, że "Chinatown" spodobałoby się Wolfe'owi.
PS. 3. A tutaj macie kilka innych cytatów, które mnie ujęły!
"Don't fool with a dying man, Robert. If you're going to play around with anyone, play around with the living, and not with the dead. Dead men are bad people to play around with."
"I shouldn't think you'd find many people anywhere at two o'clock in the morning. I should think most of them would be in bed - even on the East Side."
"The ruined people that we like are those who desperately have died, and lost their lives because they loved life dearly, and had that grandeur that makes such people spend prodigally the thing they love the best, and risk and lose their lives because life is so precious to them, and die at length because the seeds of life are in them. It is only the people that love life who die in this way - and these are the ruined people that we like."
"Young Icarus lies drowned, God knows where."
"Shall I know you, though I have never seen your face? Will you know me, and will you call me 'son? Father, I know that you live, though I have never found you."
"But I can remember everything we said that night - it was that time when you came back just after your brother's death: that's when it was all right, I guess that's why I can remember it so well... It's time all little boys were in bed..."
February 16, 2014
Uneven and lyrical, Of Time and the River could be described as an elegy. Wolfe's largely autobiographical prose (unconsciously or consciously) focuses on the dead: Eugene's father, brothers, friends, ancestors. "One lies in Oregon, and one, by a broken wheel and horse's skull, still grips a gunstock on the Western trail. Another one has helped to make Virginia richer. One died at Chancellorsville in the Union blue..." (8568). The list continues with the rhythm of the Chronicles of the Old Testament.
Even a character such as Francis Starwick, who remains living within the course of the narrative, but whose real-life counterpart, Kenneth Raisbeck, dies before publication, receives an amplified attention near idolatry. "[Starwick] had the power, as few people in the world have ever had the power, instantly to conquer and command the devotion of people because, while they were with him, everything in the world took on a freshness, wonder, joy and opulence it had never had before..." (2065) At times it seems that Starwick controls the story line, upstaging Eugene completely. One wonders if Wolfe gives Francis carte blanche out of sentimentality or authenticity. What is clear, however, is that these chronicles only represent a slice of Wolfe's original full depiction. (Richard Kennedy, a Wolfe scholar, found many excised passages in Wolfe's papers and published them as the The Starwick Episodes .)
It seems to be Wolfe's objective to feverishly capture life before it fades from history:
Even a character such as Francis Starwick, who remains living within the course of the narrative, but whose real-life counterpart, Kenneth Raisbeck, dies before publication, receives an amplified attention near idolatry. "[Starwick] had the power, as few people in the world have ever had the power, instantly to conquer and command the devotion of people because, while they were with him, everything in the world took on a freshness, wonder, joy and opulence it had never had before..." (2065) At times it seems that Starwick controls the story line, upstaging Eugene completely. One wonders if Wolfe gives Francis carte blanche out of sentimentality or authenticity. What is clear, however, is that these chronicles only represent a slice of Wolfe's original full depiction. (Richard Kennedy, a Wolfe scholar, found many excised passages in Wolfe's papers and published them as the The Starwick Episodes .)
It seems to be Wolfe's objective to feverishly capture life before it fades from history:
This is all: their words have vanished, all memory of the moments they made then has also vanished: one remembers only their silence and their still faces lifted in phantasmal light of lost time; one sees them ever, still and silent, as they slide from darkness on the river of time; one sees them waiting...all silent and all damned to die...That silent meeting is a summary of all the meetings of men's life: in the silence one hears the slow sad breathing of humanity, one knows the human destiny. (18762-68)Given the density and duration of the story, all this might seem too much for the reader to bear. Yet undercurrent of the mad sadness is so subtle that it easily becomes overshadowed by moments of wonder and beauty. "Brother, have you seen starlight on the rails? (18000) The novel concludes with the dissolution of Eugene youth. He writes "that proud inviolability of youth was broken not to be restored" at the same time he throws open the door to a new chapter, marked not with tragedy, but love.
November 25, 2024
It's not hard to see why Wolfe has been shunned from the common early 20th American canon - he's plotless without the experimentation of the modernists (does anything truly change in Eugene? Or do things simply happen to him in the same way they happened to Wolfe?), vaguely racist (toned down somewhat here although he's got some fairly Confederate views regarding the "happy slave"), somewhat antisemetic (or at least exceptionally interested in letting us know who is Jewish), potentially homophobic (although Starwick is a strong character who only ends up defined by his homosexuality as a product of Eugene's anger - and Wolfe clearly regrets the choices he's fictionalizing here), and blatantly obvious (every fifteen pages, a three page digression on American loneliness and strangerhood). Again, I don't really care. By page count, this is the longest book I've ever read, and yet I flew through it, partially, I feel, because this was one of the rare times in a life when you read a book at the exact moment it will make the most possible impact. Reading the scenes where the Rhodes scholars discuss their distaste for studying abroad while on the plane back from an almost entirely parallel situation was an experience that will stick with me more than any in my actual semester abroad. I give novels 5 stars for one of two reasons: 1) I am floored by the writing (see Toni Morrison) or 2) I relate deeply to multiple parts of the book in ways I never thought possible - it teaches me something about me. This, as with Look Homeward, is both. Of the two, LH is clearly the more coherent, but the episodic rambling nature of this one grew on me - besides, if I was tired of this plot, I knew it would change in a matter of pages. And again, what an ending, in an entirely different way. I love Wolfe. I knew I would, but I didn't know it would be this much.
May 23, 2009
This novel picks up where Look Homeward, Angel leaves off. Wolfe's writing here is just as rich and detailed as any of his other novels. It also has one of the most moving death scenes in all of American literature, the death of William Oliver Gant, the father of the novel's protagonist, Eugene Gant.
February 1, 2017
This is a long book and made even longer by Wolfe's exceedingly lengthy sentences. Even then, he took me on a journey, along with him, and never once allowed me put down the book, bogged down by ... like a gazillion metaphors. That's how great the prose is - increasingly vivid and never bereft of details. Such overwhelming and 'curious' attention to the scenes gives the reader an omniscient view of all the happenings. In terms of a 'plot', for the want of a better word, the happenings described are pretty mundane and one might not find engaging experiences or any such about his life or his fictionalised counterpart. But the way they have been described will capture most hearts. And for people who love vivid story-telling, this book should be one of their top reads.
June 1, 2020
The greatest of all American novels in my opinion. Left me breathless two weeks ago. Not only some of the most beautiful writing I've ever read but insights into literature, poetry, human behavior and NY city in the 30's/ A searing and magnificent book where nothing is black and white but full of grays. American racism of Jews ,travel to Europe, family, death, love, desire, becoming an adult, making a living. The pain of creation. Train travel. The joys of life and nature told in stunning and beautiful emotional language. A coming of age story par excellance by a Southern writer who comes to NY. The novel knocked me out and will need to reread some day to fully grasp its wonderful power. Much credit must go to the editor, Maxwell Perkins in whose name the book is dedicated.
March 4, 2008
i would give this book ten stars if i could. i thought it was amazing.
February 3, 2010
An under-appreciated American genius. Not for everyone, but sit down, buckle your seatbelt, and ride the white water rapids of Wolfe's torrential prose.
December 24, 2020
“Of Time and the River: a legend of man’s hunger in his youth,” by Thomas Wolfe (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1935; Classic edition, 1999). O woe, my hero has feet of clay! Wolfe was my hero during adolescence. How enthusiastically I read a portion of “The Web and the Rock” to my completely indifferent college roommate! And consider my pleasure in re-encountering Wolfe recently in “Look Homeward, Angel.” So I began enthusiastically with the sequel, as Eugene Gant goes to Harvard, experiences the death of his father, spends time with the extremely wealthy, encounters New York City. So what if it turns out that Gant/Wolfe is deeply racist and as anti=Semitic as Hitler, if he is still that wonderful, luscious, exuberant worker of words. Wolfe’s dialogues and conversations among characters are almost photographically rendered, not often to their benefit. His voice is Whitman’s barbaric yawp. His style often parallels Joyce. If Hemingway’s concision was the epitome of literary modernism, Wolfe was baroque, even rococo. The death of W. O. Gant is an extraordinary, dramatic, profoundly moving set piece, as are others throughout, including that dismaying episode when Eugene goes on a drunken rampage because the cops plan to put him in a cell with a black man (you know the word he uses). Part way through, I went through the introduction by Pat Conroy, and from there looked up the eviscerating essay by Bernard DeVoto that began Wolfe’s posthumous downfall. Pshaw, thinks I. But then….Gene goes to London, and to France, and Wolfe just begins slathering pretension. The ruminations become blather, interesting when first encountered but eventually turning boring and pointless. The novel loses its way as Eugene loses his way in Europe. Wolfe just throws all his notes, every encounter, every little sketch into the book. It’s not just that the plot almost disappears; so does any interest in the character himself. There are extremely revealing episodes. After spending much time describing various friends’ effeminate movement, voices, clothing, Gant discovers that his best friend, Francis Starwick, is…..a fairy! This, Gene realizes, is the decayed corruption at Starwick’s core! So Wolfe is racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, and not quite misogynistic. All of that might be forgivable if he had created something truly deep and admirable. But at the last I was just rushing through, skimming and skipping lengthy passages just to see if the plot was going somewhere. Nope. It was just getting on a ship (magnificently described) to go home.
https://thomaswolfe.org/
June 14, 2022
Cuando leí La mirada del ángel me enamoré de la manera de escribir de Thomas Wolfe.
Del tiempo y el río continúa en el mismo punto en el que terminó La mirada de Angel. Y continúa contándonos la vida de Eugene Gant, cuando se va de su pequeño pueblo a Harvard y quiere vivir todas las experiencias, leer todos los libros, conocer a todo tipo de personas mejor si son extravagantes y atípicas esperando que le den bagaje para su carrera de escritor pero cuando escribe una obra que es rehusada, regresa al Sur, a su pueblo natal.
Posteriormente viajará a Nueva York que le apasiona y más tarde viajará a Europa.
Porque este libro es el resultado de un viaje y no solo físico sino el viaje hacia la madurez de Eugene, en el que nos mostrará una época a través de las personas que la vivieron y que Wolfe describe maravillosamente
Porque lo que más me fascina es la capacidad descriptiva sobre todo lo que uno pueda imaginar, la precisión y los adjetivos que dedica a absolutamente todo. Describe con la misma pasión los Estados Unidos o la Francia de entreguerras como las emociones o sentimientos que le provoca hasta el suceso más nimio sin dejar atrás la descripción exhaustiva y precisa de los personajes que se suceden a lo largo de todo el libro de tal manera que parece que los conoces.
La parte que más me ha gustado ha sido la dedicada a los orígenes de la familia, a su relación con ellos y muy especialmente al padre del protagonista. Es maravilloso, especialmente una escena conmovedora relacionada con el padre de Eugene que me rompió el corazón.
Maravilloso, Thomas Wolfe es un imprescindible.
Del tiempo y el río continúa en el mismo punto en el que terminó La mirada de Angel. Y continúa contándonos la vida de Eugene Gant, cuando se va de su pequeño pueblo a Harvard y quiere vivir todas las experiencias, leer todos los libros, conocer a todo tipo de personas mejor si son extravagantes y atípicas esperando que le den bagaje para su carrera de escritor pero cuando escribe una obra que es rehusada, regresa al Sur, a su pueblo natal.
Posteriormente viajará a Nueva York que le apasiona y más tarde viajará a Europa.
Porque este libro es el resultado de un viaje y no solo físico sino el viaje hacia la madurez de Eugene, en el que nos mostrará una época a través de las personas que la vivieron y que Wolfe describe maravillosamente
Porque lo que más me fascina es la capacidad descriptiva sobre todo lo que uno pueda imaginar, la precisión y los adjetivos que dedica a absolutamente todo. Describe con la misma pasión los Estados Unidos o la Francia de entreguerras como las emociones o sentimientos que le provoca hasta el suceso más nimio sin dejar atrás la descripción exhaustiva y precisa de los personajes que se suceden a lo largo de todo el libro de tal manera que parece que los conoces.
La parte que más me ha gustado ha sido la dedicada a los orígenes de la familia, a su relación con ellos y muy especialmente al padre del protagonista. Es maravilloso, especialmente una escena conmovedora relacionada con el padre de Eugene que me rompió el corazón.
Maravilloso, Thomas Wolfe es un imprescindible.
Currently reading
November 25, 2008I bought this copy that I'm reading from a used bookseller online since it is out of print. So far, the book has held two surprises for me. Its old and falling apart for $27. Its a 1st edition, 6th printing, from 1935, pages are yellowed and the binding is falling off as I read it but I was surprised to find that Wolfe had wrote a dedication and signed it in 1935.
Last weekend I was in Boston for the first time and as I read, Eugene Gant, wolfes character was too. We were visiting a few of the same spots, quite unplanned.
Last weekend I was in Boston for the first time and as I read, Eugene Gant, wolfes character was too. We were visiting a few of the same spots, quite unplanned.
November 22, 2012
For some readers this book may seem daunting, but it is well worth the read. Thomas Wolfe does not disappoint as he continues his excellent lyrical style as we follow the travels and travails of young Eugene Gant. Wolfe is really a literary painter as his words are evocative of a bygone era, a sense of nostalgia that is embedded in each of us. Not many authors can produce the imagery that he does. I loved his literary landscapes. His images of the moonlight, trains and October are majestic. I also loved his commentary on Americans abroad. Well done, Mr Wolfe!
August 18, 2013
This sequel to Look Homeward, Angel is set in the 1920s and covers the death of Eugene Gant's father, his departure from home to teach in New York and his time travelling in England and France. It's very long and Wolfe can be quite repetitive at times (although this is clearly for poetic effect rather than contempt for the reader) but it remains an almost uniquely intense experience thanks to the author's brutal honesty, which spares no-one, least of all himself (Gant is clearly a self-portrait). And Wolfe's descriptions of people and places are so vivid it's like being there.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews