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Thomas Wolfe (1900–1938)

Forfatter af Look Homeward, Angel

144+ Works 8,150 Members 125 Reviews 36 Favorited

Om forfatteren

Thomas Wolfe was born in Asheville, North Carolina on October 3, 1900. He graduated from the University of North Carolina and Harvard University. He taught at New York University from 1924 to 1930. His four long autobiographical novels are Look Homeward, Angel; Of Time and the River; The Web and vis mere the Rock; and You Can't Go Home Again. He also wrote short stories that were collected in The Hills Beyond and From Death to Morning. He wrote several plays including Welcome to Our City. From an early bout with pneumonia, he suffered from tuberculosis of the lungs, which led to fatal tuberculosis of the brain. He died following brain surgery on September 15, 1938 at age 37. (Bowker Author Biography) vis mindre
Image credit: Photo by Carl Van Vechten, Apr. 14, 1933 (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection, Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-87328)

Serier

Værker af Thomas Wolfe

Look Homeward, Angel (1929) 3,553 eksemplarer
You Can't Go Home Again (1934) 1,749 eksemplarer
Of Time and the River (1935) 641 eksemplarer
The Web and the Rock (1937) 491 eksemplarer
De fjerne bjerge (1941) 244 eksemplarer
From Death to Morning (1935) — Forfatter — 149 eksemplarer
The Lost Boy: A Novella (1937) — Forfatter — 145 eksemplarer
O Lost: A Story of the Buried Life (2000) 115 eksemplarer
A Stone, a Leaf, a Door: Poems (1945) 95 eksemplarer
The Face of a Nation (1939) 51 eksemplarer
The Story of a Novel (1936) 47 eksemplarer
Of Time and the River, Volume 2 (1965) 43 eksemplarer
The Thomas Wolfe Reader (1962) 38 eksemplarer
Of Time and the River, Volume 1 (1971) 36 eksemplarer
The Party at Jack's (1995) 31 eksemplarer
The Letters of Thomas Wolfe (1956) 29 eksemplarer
The Portable Thomas Wolfe (1946) 29 eksemplarer
The Short Novels of Thomas Wolfe (1961) 27 eksemplarer
The Good Child's River (1991) 26 eksemplarer
Thomas Wolfe: The Complete Works (2018) 21 eksemplarer
Short Stories (1947) 20 eksemplarer
The Starwick Episodes (1994) 17 eksemplarer
The notebooks of Thomas Wolfe (1970) 15 eksemplarer
Mannerhouse (1948) 13 eksemplarer
Welcome to Our City (1983) 11 eksemplarer
Thomas Wolfe's Civil War (2004) 10 eksemplarer
Letters 8 eksemplarer
No Door (2012) 8 eksemplarer
La mirada del ángel (2022) 7 eksemplarer
Hermana muerte (2014) 7 eksemplarer
Especulación (2013) 7 eksemplarer
CUENTOS (2020) 6 eksemplarer
Tengo algo que deciros (1964) 5 eksemplarer
The story of a novel (2017) 5 eksemplarer
Notebooks of Thomas Wolfe (1970) 5 eksemplarer
The Medical Students (2000) 4 eksemplarer
Wolfe, Thomas (1957) 3 eksemplarer
Thomas Wolfe LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL Modern Library Giant (1777) — Forfatter — 3 eksemplarer
Der verlorene Knabe Erzählungen — Forfatter — 3 eksemplarer
Der zerstörte Tag. Erzählungen (1964) 3 eksemplarer
Gewebe und Fels 3 eksemplarer
Anteus or a Memory of earth (1996) 3 eksemplarer
Von Zeit und Strom (2018) 3 eksemplarer
Return (1976) 3 eksemplarer
Stories by Thomas Wolfe (1944) 3 eksemplarer
Circus at Dawn (1935) 3 eksemplarer
Sämtliche Erzählungen (1967) — Bidragyder — 3 eksemplarer
Mountains: Two Plays (1970) 2 eksemplarer
L'Histoire d'un roman (2016) 2 eksemplarer
What a writer reads 2 eksemplarer
K-19: SALVAGED PIECES (1983) 2 eksemplarer
Death the proud brother (1964) 2 eksemplarer
La red y la roca (2022) 2 eksemplarer
The Child by Tiger 2 eksemplarer
Willkommen in Altamont! / Herrenhaus (1962) — Forfatter — 2 eksemplarer
My Father's Hands 2 eksemplarer
The Streets of Durham. (1982) 1 eksemplar
Tres relatos 1 eksemplar
The Whore 1 eksemplar
O času in reki 1 eksemplar
No puedes volver a casa (2023) 1 eksemplar
El ángel que nos mira (1901) 1 eksemplar
Selections (1952) 1 eksemplar
Chickamauga 1 eksemplar
The Death of Gant 1 eksemplar
Complete Works Of Thomas Wolfe (2016) 1 eksemplar
Nie ma powrotu 1 eksemplar
O trem e a cidade 1 eksemplar
Mannerhouse 1 eksemplar

Associated Works

50 Great Short Stories (1952) — Bidragyder — 1,256 eksemplarer
The Crack-Up (1945) — Bidragyder — 917 eksemplarer
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology (1992) — Bidragyder — 392 eksemplarer
Baseball: A Literary Anthology (2002) — Bidragyder — 337 eksemplarer
A Treasury of Short Stories (1947) — Bidragyder — 292 eksemplarer
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (1998) — Bidragyder — 281 eksemplarer
An Anthology of Famous American Stories (1953) — Bidragyder — 139 eksemplarer
The Saturday Evening Post Treasury (1954) — Bidragyder — 137 eksemplarer
The Literature of the American South: A Norton Anthology (1997) — Bidragyder — 98 eksemplarer
A Treasury of Civil War Stories (1985) — Bidragyder — 77 eksemplarer
Rotten English: A Literary Anthology (2007) — Bidragyder — 75 eksemplarer
Bedside Book of Famous American Stories (1936) — Bidragyder — 72 eksemplarer
Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics (2005) — Bidragyder — 70 eksemplarer
New York (1980) — Bidragyder — 59 eksemplarer
Reading for Pleasure (1957) — Bidragyder — 51 eksemplarer
A Quarto of Modern Literature (1935) — Bidragyder — 39 eksemplarer
Food Tales: A Literary Menu of Mouthwatering Masterpieces (1992) — Bidragyder — 38 eksemplarer
New Masses; An Anthology of the Rebel Thirties, (1969) — Bidragyder — 38 eksemplarer
Fifty Best American Short Stories 1915-1965 (1965) — Bidragyder — 36 eksemplarer
50 Best American Short Stories 1915-1939 (1939) — Bidragyder — 28 eksemplarer
Vogue's First Reader (1942) — Bidragyder — 27 eksemplarer
The Seas of God: Great Stories of the Human Spirit (1944) — Bidragyder — 25 eksemplarer
Tell Me a Story: An Anthology (1957) — Bidragyder — 23 eksemplarer
A Good Man: Fathers and Sons in Poetry and Prose (1993) — Bidragyder — 20 eksemplarer
Confederate Battle Stories (Civil War Series) (1992) — Bidragyder — 19 eksemplarer
A Southern Appalachian Reader (1988) — Bidragyder — 14 eksemplarer
The night before Chancellorsville, and other Civil War stories (1957) — Bidragyder — 13 eksemplarer
Law in Action: An Anthology of the Law in Literature (1947) — Bidragyder — 13 eksemplarer
Great Tales of City Dwellers (1955) — Bidragyder — 8 eksemplarer
Writer to Writer: Readings on the Craft of Writing (1966) — Bidragyder — 8 eksemplarer
Time to Be Young: Great Stories of the Growing Years (1945) — Bidragyder — 7 eksemplarer
Our lives : American labor stories — Bidragyder — 6 eksemplarer
Tredive mesterfortællinger — Forfatter, nogle udgaver3 eksemplarer
O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1935 — Bidragyder — 2 eksemplarer
The Undying Past (1961) — Bidragyder — 2 eksemplarer
Great Railroad Stories of the World — Bidragyder — 2 eksemplarer
Strange Barriers (1955) — Bidragyder — 2 eksemplarer
Enjoying Stories (1987) — Bidragyder — 2 eksemplarer
The Ethnic Image in Modern American Literature, 1900-1950 (1984) — Bidragyder — 1 eksemplar
Modern American short stories (1963) — Bidragyder — 1 eksemplar
Carolina Folk-Plays, Second Series (1924)nogle udgaver1 eksemplar
O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1934 (1934) — Bidragyder — 1 eksemplar
Kerouac Quarterly, V. 2, No. 1 — Bidragyder — 1 eksemplar

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This is the story of Eugene Gant, a southerner whose goal eventually becomes going to Harvard. It appears to be somewhat autobiographical as Thomas Wolfe grew up in the South and eventually went to Harvard. How much of Eugene Gant's story is also Thomas Wolfe's story is much less clear. Eugene is the youngest of a very dysfunctional family. His father hates his mother's family and she cannot stand his. The father had been a successful businessman but is erratic in the extreme and very alcoholic. His mother is excessively concerned about expenses wanting every cent to me invested in her passion, real estate. She knows the value of every parcel but is totally blind to the value and the problems of her family members, her spouse and her children. The children act out in rebellion in all directions.

Eugene, being the youngest, is his mother's last chance to get parenting right. He's her darling and can do no wrong, much to the dismay of his older siblings. They got punished for what he now gets away with. He gets support where they got nothing or less than they needed. He turns inward and becomes the scholar they never were. He reads Latin and Greek, reads and writes poetry, thinks about Gods and mythical creatures. They are real to him. They allow him to escape the dysfunction around him. Yet as he grows he sees more and more of what is around him. This is where my problem reading this book began. What was around Eugene was the South of the early twentieth century. As I read many classics I have to remember that was then and this is now and hold off seeing their lives with my eyes. We've moved on. Yet around Eugene is so much that is now repugnant. Wolfe is thoroughly comfortable with the N-word. It and it's variants are used hundreds of times in this book. Most importantly there seems to be no recognition that anything was wrong with this. After a while I found myself shutting down. My empathy for him diminished as he showed no empathy for those around him. Disappointing. I would have loved to see this book in a more positive light.

Back to the story. The mother in her penny-pinching mode has made their home into a boarding house. Many stories surround the less than savory boarders that pass through. Mother seems to totally ignore the fact that many of the boarders are prostitutes. She sees failings in none of then, just her husband and children. Her husband gets progressively ill and is cared for by one of the older girls. The mother always dismisses her husband's illness with there's nothing wrong, or he'll survive, or that's just his way to get attention – never any empathy. This constant theme is heightened when one of Eugene's older brothers gets sick. He was the one who escaped by becoming a sailor and often was never home. As he was dying he refused to even let his mother see him. He wanted no part of her false empathy. His death brought this into stark resolution, even for Eugene.

Eugene escapes by going back to college, becoming a star pupil and preparing to go to Harvard. At the end I was wanted nothing more to do with this dysfunction. It was clear that Wolfe was an impressive writer. The lyricism of his prose reminded me of Thomas Mann, my favorite writer. Wolfe's prose was constantly spinning a situation, wandering almost aimlessly, had many unconnected observations all reminding me of Joyce. Those qualities kept me reading.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
Ed_Schneider | 49 andre anmeldelser | Nov 2, 2023 |
This book was a major disappointment. I really looked forward to reading it for a variety of reasons. I was fascinated that the simple phrase "you can't go home again" is often prefaced by "As Thom Wolfe has said". He owned it. I wanted very much to explore the phrase and thoroughly expected this book to answer that need. The phrase is rich with psychological meaning. It talks to both our present and our past, our seeing the past rosier than it ever was and our having needs that nostalgia addresses. But my hopes were dashed. While Wolfe does explore going back home he puts a spin on it that takes us in an entirely different direction. Instead of being the prodigal son who returns to his people he is the writer who has exposed everything about where he came from and more than anything the failings and faults of all the people back there. No wonder no one welcomes his homecoming. He's not the hero, he's a traitor. That was not the exploration of a yearning we all feel. Has he ruined the phrase by immediately associating it was this other issue? Hopefully only those who actually read the book will be sidetracked. A cold shower may not be enough. The phrase " you can't un-ring a bell" comes to mind.

This novel again feels autobiographical. The central character, George Webber, is a southern writer struggling to focus on writing. It also is very much of a time and place. It was written at the height of the depression and with the rise of Nazis and fascists in Europe. Lots of easy targets. The roaring twenties is exposed for its lack of a real foundation. All those beliefs in growth and reward make easy targets for lack of foresight. They didn't see the ground coming out from under them. Wolfe sees them as pure speculators and hucksters, not as builders of a better future. The banker who had been seen as a pillar of the community is now someone who stole other people's money. Not surprising that Wolfe became popular, everyone wanted to put the blame on someone for their predicament. In the beginning of the story George has a wealthy older, married, mistress. He's even invited to a party she's giving with her husband. He reluctantly attends. The party turns out to be a disaster. The performer she's hired brings his own entourage and a fire ends the fiasco. George decides he can't continue with the relationship, he clearly disapproves of her life, her husband and their friends. He decides enough of that, that's all false and he wants to have nothing to do with that. He saw it as interfering with his writing. I was disappointed. That storyline seemed interesting.

George then moves to Brooklyn living a much sparer life style and concentrating on finishing his first book. Not clear that this is what Wolfe did but it would not surprise me. Once his book is published he has some money and moves to Paris, like many writers of that time. He falls under the sway of a major writer who believes that George, based on his first book, is a major writer. George appreciates the attention. He even visits Berlin. He eventually returns to New York living in a apartment with some other Southerners. I found this section of the book less engaging. I did not see the point of it. It's a shame Wolfe dies young and we have so few of his works. He was definitely a talented writer.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
Ed_Schneider | 28 andre anmeldelser | Nov 2, 2023 |
Wolfe re-creates his early 20th Century North Carolina childhood from infancy through adolescence in the character of Eugene,, depicting his family members, friends, and neighbors in caricatures without humor, warmth, or affection, in impressionistic, brocaded language in which almost every noun, almost every verb is tangled with modifiers, like burrs on a country dog, and with such an uncontrolled love of similes that frequently he offers the reader a choice of them for a single scene. The book is an inventory of all the places he has seen along with their smells, sounds, and colors; a catalog of all the people he has known, carefully described along with their histories, many of them never mentioned again. It's difficult to read 200,000 words about a person who is too young to have had interesting experiences, too meek and introspective to make observations on human nature, too absorbed in melodramatic fantasies of love and heroism to engage in reality.… (mere)
 
Markeret
estragon73 | 49 andre anmeldelser | Sep 29, 2023 |
After many years away from reading Thomas Wolfe, I am reminded again why he is my favorite writer. He is a poet who writes prose, and this brief tone poem to his youth, his father, and to the vast promise and sorrow of America that infuses everything Wolfe wrote is as musical and profound as anything he ever wrote.
 
Markeret
jumblejim | Aug 26, 2023 |

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Værker
144
Also by
51
Medlemmer
8,150
Popularitet
#2,968
Vurdering
4.0
Anmeldelser
125
ISBN
253
Sprog
13
Udvalgt
36

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