america vs rest of world 1920-1939 literary rumble

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Indeed.

Steinbeck and Hemingway are the two brightest US lights from the period...

Only cause folks here are so down on Faulkner, for reasons that arent all that clear to me.

[Jon Miller]

I think that Faulkner is better then either Steinbeck or Hemingway

although the last two are good

JM

[duke o' york]

Jean Toomer's Cane is another major work of the Harlem Renaissance. While I can't deny its literary power and it's a wonderful work of the genre, like Joyce, it's an exceptionally tough read.

[Agathon]

Note that a lot of American writers felt that they had to go to Europe to write anything of substance.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Agathon
Note that a lot of American writers felt that they had to go to Europe to write anything of substance.

Note that Joyce spent most of his career outside Ireland, in Trieste. Writers often have to move to a different country, to gain distance, perspective, etc. Also the cost of living played a role for some, IIUC.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by lord of the mark



Only cause folks here are so down on Faulkner, for reasons that arent all that clear to me.

Faulkner's very good too.

But he doesn't compare.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse


Faulkner's very good too.

But he doesn't compare.

Im a Faulkner fan - ive read Absalom, Absalom, As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and Wild Palms. Maybe i should give Steinbeck another try, Ive only read The Pearl, which i dont recall being overwhelmed by. What did he write that would compare favorably to Absalom or The Sound and the Fury?

[duke o' york]

Cannery Row!

I love the Sound and the Fury though.

[Jon Miller]

Absalom Absalom is the bomb

JM

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by lord of the mark



Im a Faulkner fan - ive read Absalom, Absalom, As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and Wild Palms. Maybe i should give Steinbeck another try, Ive only read The Pearl, which i dont recall being overwhelmed by. What did he write that would compare favorably to Absalom or The Sound and the Fury?

This is hilarious. I've never read "The Pearl", but the only other person I know who dislikes Steinbeck has also only read that one book of his.



Read "Cannery Row" or "The Grapes of Wrath"...

[KrazyHorse]

The only Steinbeck book I didn't like was "The Winter of our Discontent"

The only Hemingway book I didn't like was "The Sun Also Rises"

[MosesPresley]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse

The only Hemingway book I didn't like was "The Sun Also Rises"

Maybe I will have to give Hemingway another chance. That was the only book that I have read by him. I didn't like it either.

[KrazyHorse]

It's his first novel. He was still busy imitating F Scott Fitzgerald.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by Agathon
Note that a lot of American writers felt that they had to go to Europe to write anything of substance.

No, they had to go to Europe to drink anything of substance.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by lord of the mark

Im a Faulkner fan - ive read Absalom, Absalom, As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury, and Wild Palms. Maybe i should give Steinbeck another try, Ive only read The Pearl, which i dont recall being overwhelmed by. What did he write that would compare favorably to Absalom or The Sound and the Fury?

I like both Faulkner and Steinbeck. As has been mentioned before, you might enjoy Cannery Row. It's pretty light with a lot humor. Steinbeck really varies a lot book to book. Most of it I like in one way or another, and some of it I just don't get.