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Library of America #8
William Dean Howells: Novels 1875-1886
The four novels collected in this Library of America volume are among the classic works from the immensely productive career of America’s most influential man of letters at the turn of the twentieth century. William Dean Howells was a champion of French and Russian realistic writers and a brilliant advocate of the most controversial American writers of his own time. A close friend of Mark Twain and Henry James, he defended them against the attacks of their more genteel and nationalistic compatriots, and he was also sympathetic to the realistic starkness and radicalism of younger writers like Frank Norris and Stephen Crane. Howells’s own realism elaborates what he called a “merciful distrust of our own judgements.” This distrust, in part a recognition of the degree to which social institutions intrude upon and shape our private lives, informs both the subjects of his novels and the way they are written. Howells is always more deferential than didactic, and the difficulties of human relationships are intentionally left unresolved.
1217 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1982
2 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
William Dean Howells
1,205 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 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 11, 2021
Indian Summer/ the Rise of Silas Lapham
December 13, 2022
Four novels, each with a love triangle. Saying more would get me into spoiler territory. In every case, the reader sees things well in advance of the characters involved. I kept imagining Leo McKern as Rumpole in place of the protagonist, especially in Indian Summer. Howells feels easier to read than, say, Henry James: fewer “just get in with it” moments. Fewer moments of awe-struck admiration for the luminous quality of the writing, too. All four are worth reading for the story and for the portraits of late 19th century Americans (not necessarily in America).
June 4, 2017
A contemporary of Twain, his most celebrated novel and the final one in this volume, "The Rise Of Silas Lapham", has subtle echoes of Twain's humor and is a fine introduction to social mores and customs of Boston society in the last third of the nineteenth century.
The other 3 novels are also good reads and social commentaries upon their respective societies.
The other 3 novels are also good reads and social commentaries upon their respective societies.
February 16, 2013
See reviews for individual works in this volume.
A note about an erratum: This book was first published roughly thirty years ago. Evidently the publishers have never reviewed their product in the printings since then, since they have missed a very large erratum. Page 1068 is missing; in its place is page 1168 (which is repeated in its proper place). Luckily this occurs at a point in the novel where there is not much damage done to plot continuity. Still, this lowers the monetary value of the book for collectors.
A note about an erratum: This book was first published roughly thirty years ago. Evidently the publishers have never reviewed their product in the printings since then, since they have missed a very large erratum. Page 1068 is missing; in its place is page 1168 (which is repeated in its proper place). Luckily this occurs at a point in the novel where there is not much damage done to plot continuity. Still, this lowers the monetary value of the book for collectors.
March 8, 2008
Another one I had to read for graduate school. I made minimal notes on my journal back then, but I remember liking it. I remember that back then I was interested in the tension between realism and romanticism in the novel.
March 10, 2013
Read: The Rise of Silas Lapham
Howells provides fascinating commentary on the rise of realism and the downfall of romanticism during this time, but I found the book tedious. The story was good (I enjoyed the love triangle), but it wasn't like I couldn't put the book down.
Howells provides fascinating commentary on the rise of realism and the downfall of romanticism during this time, but I found the book tedious. The story was good (I enjoyed the love triangle), but it wasn't like I couldn't put the book down.
Read
November 5, 2015I think I've read only A Foregone Conclusion.
September 27, 2015
A Foregone Conclusion - finished 10.05.12
A Modern Instance - finished 11.02.13
Indian Summer - finished 07.11.14
The Rise of Silas Lapham - finished 09.26.15
A Modern Instance - finished 11.02.13
Indian Summer - finished 07.11.14
The Rise of Silas Lapham - finished 09.26.15
Read
March 26, 2010The rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells (1962)
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews