This is my favorite book of all time.

The cliche summary of You Can't Go Home Again is that it is the story of a writer who pens a novel about his home town and includes as characters many actual people who live there. The book comes out, everyone is enraged by their portrayals and the author concludes that "You Can't Go Home Again." However, this book is far more profound than that.

The reaction of the folks back home to the author's book is just a tiny part of the story. In fact, as the author's friend points out, the book's characters are not those home town residents at all. The real people were merely the starting point for the author's imagination, which created the book's town, characters and circumstances. Instead, this is a story about a man's growth, both as a writer and an empathetic human being.

George Webber, the book's main character, is based on Wolfe himself. He has a great yearning for greatness, not just for fame or success, but to write great literature depicting the human condition. To achieve this, he goes out into the world, observes, thinks and writes. He is constantly searching and striving to improve, realizing that there is much he must leave behind, such as comfortable surroundings, loved ones, respected colleagues and his own earlier self. It is a heavy price to pay, but necessary to achieve his goals.

Webber also realizes that fame and success are not really what he is after, though they are nice to have. He resists complacency and discards those who have become self-satisfied due to worldly success. He is more interested in finding significance in the commonplace and the ordinary.

Clearly, this isn't a book for everybody. It is wordy, often slow-moving and doesn't have a lot of plot. However, the real journey is in Webber's mind and emotions. Many parts of the book work as independent stories, such as a touching tribute to Wolfe's editor and friend, Maxwell Perkins, an examination of the life of a man who leaped off a building, an amusing road trip with a character based on Sinclair Lewis, and a chilling section on Germany under Hitler.

The phrase "You Can't Go Home Again" has many implications. It means that you can't go back to your family, childhood, romantic love, youthful dreams, exile, aestheticism, the ivory tower, or the old forms and systems of things. It means that you must move forward, away from the past and towards a new freedom in the wide world of all humanity.

This is a wonderful, marvelous book that I will cherish for a long time.

Thomas Wolfe was indeed a remarkable writer. His ability to vividly describe emotions, feelings, people, and places was truly extraordinary. In his works, he could make the reader experience every sentence as if they were living through it. For example, when he wrote “…and when they laughed, there was no warmth or joy in the sound: high, shrill, ugly, and hysterical, their laughter only asked the earth to notice them…”, just one sentence was enough to paint a clear picture of those people in the reader's mind.

Moreover, Wolfe's use of inner monologues to describe a person's gaze was equally impressive. In the passage “…Child, child, have patience and belief, for life is many days, and each present hour will pass away…”, the reader could almost step into the shoes of the person and experience their life through that one paragraph.

Wolfe's writing style was such that it could physically affect the reader. His sentences seemed to tickle the brain, creating a unique and wonderful feeling. However, reading his books was not easy. They were emotional rollercoasters, taking the reader from the depths of sadness and solitude to the heights of joy and elation in just one paragraph. It was exhausting, and the reader needed breaks to cope with the flood of emotions.

Despite the challenges, I always found myself drawn to Thomas Wolfe's works. “You can't go home again” was a constant companion, always on my nightstand no matter where I was. Whenever I lost interest in reading or felt a void inside, I would simply open a random page of his books and start reading. Immediately, the thirst for more reading would return, and I would be able to enjoy literature in its purest and most beautiful form.

This is the very first book I've delved into since becoming a part of Goodreads that has an irresistible pull, compelling me to pen a review. Never before have I come across a novel that so flawlessly, and in so many uncanny ways, mirrors current affairs, almost as if by pure coincidence. This is precisely what a classic ought to look like, dealing with truly timeless themes.

I initially began this book nearly two years ago but set it aside after reaching the 100-page mark. However, the social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic presented me with an opportune moment to start afresh and this time, persevere until the very end. We often say that books patiently await us until we are truly ready for them, and the striking parallels between the plot and the present state of affairs in the US left me completely dumbfounded.

This semi-autobiographical work revolves around the life of a writer during the era of the Great Depression and the dawn of World War II. Nevertheless, you will discover profound modern meaning (and perhaps even a sense of solace) within this journey. Spanning nearly 700 pages, it does demand a certain degree of effort on your part. But Wolfe's exquisitely beautiful prose will more than recompense you for your investment. I've underlined and dog-eared my copy extensively so that I can share the more relevant passages with anyone willing to listen. Do give it a try.

The enormity of this man truly astounds me. I chanced upon a 1966 copy of this book in a used bookstore. As I read the back cover, I was instantly captivated by the story of an author who endured such a tremendous blow. His mistake of writing about his hometown, with the characters thinly disguised, led to outrage. I simply had to take this book home, despite the outrageous cost of just $1.00.

I read this book to my husband, and I marvelled at so much of what Wolfe was saying. The main character, George Webber, was clearly himself, although I didn't realize this until I was almost finished with the book. It was a thinly disguised autobiography of his own experiences. My heart ached for him and his struggles, as well as his realizations.

*Spoiler* Wolfe concludes the book with his journey to Germany and his inevitable departure from a country he adored. What occurs to him on that train has a profound impact. He witnesses the enormity of Nazism through the fate of one little Jewish man who is removed from the train and not permitted to leave the country. He and his fellow travellers are powerless to do anything.

He closes the book with a letter to his publisher, sharing his realizations about life and the existence of man. He knew what needed to be done to save the world and America. He believed that evil didn't have to be an inevitable and unavoidable occurrence, but that we could evolve from it and ultimately eradicate it completely. We just have to have hope that it is possible.

What an incredible man Wolfe was. I can fully understand why he had such a significant influence on Kerouac before Kerouac was seduced by Neal Cassidy. Kerouac occasionally captured that Wolfe style, as seen in his description of Dean Moriarty's exit in "On the Road".

I wonder what Wolfe would have thought of Kerouac if he had seen him and Dean Moriarty as his Lloyd McHarg. Perhaps McHarg was an influence on Kerouac and Dean Moriarty. This fascination with a truly chaotic human being is both intriguing and captivating.

I am extremely excited to read all of Wolfe's books. I would have loved to have known him and perhaps shared a cup of coffee with him. We would have undoubtedly talked about books and the existence of life until the sun set and the cows returned home.