Look Homeward, Angel - Thomas Wolfe

Look Homeward, Angel

By Thomas Wolfe

  • Release Date: 2018-11-26
  • Genre: Classics
4 Score: 4 (From 31 Ratings)

Description

A large family with a great appetite for living is dominated by the father until an older son, Gant, is able to free himself.

Reviews

  • A Wonderful Grind

    4
    By Charlie and Hootie
    At 1400 pages this book was a challenge but enriching, poetic and moving. For full transparency my Mother and Aunt were raving Thomas Wolfe fans - groupies if you will - so in my youth they pushed all of their kids to read and connect with the author. They even travelled to Asheville, NC to see the setting for this book. They were both southern belles of his generation so they followed his lyricism and rhythm I presume. His story, the book is largely autobiographical, is detailed in vivid color. The town, the people, his family, his family, his family. There are also love trysts and sojourns of the main character (Eugene/Wolfe) that are detailed colorfully. Wolfe was notorious for being wordy and, even with Max Perkins slicing and dicing his narrative as an esteemed editor of the time, Wolfe uses a paragraph when a sentence would do. He, for example, shares reading a story in the library, the story itself, for 12 pages! He describes the geology, the mountains, the weather, the town square in sometimes painful detail and yet only occasionally I felt like it was time to move on. And his family - hold on to your hat for there is endless dysfunction coupled with almost a painful love. It resonated and manifested the complexity, dialogue, hurt and affection only a family can sustain. This was a bucket list item to read in retirement as an ode to my Mother….I am glad I did.

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