Look Homeward, Angel by thomas wolfe

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

William Faulkner allegedly once made a comment about Thomas Wolfe, suggesting that he might have possessed the most talent among their generation of writers. Ernest Hemingway, however, had a rather different opinion, referring to him as "the over-bloated Li'l Abner of literature." After finally getting around to reading "Look Homeward, Angel," I can somewhat understand both of their viewpoints.

On one hand, the writing in this novel is truly exquisite. I found myself constantly highlighting sentences and paragraphs that I adored. For instance, consider this passage: "Each of us is all the sums he has not counted; subtract us into nakedness and night again, and you shall see begin in Crete four thousand years ago the love that ended yesterday in Texas." Or this beautiful sentence: "The old church, with its sharp steeple, rotted slowly, decently, prosperously, like a good man's life, down into its wet lichened brick." And this one is also remarkable: "A slow trickle of lust crawled painfully down the parched gulley of desire, and ended feebly in dry fumbling lechery." It's truly amazing. Moreover, it's difficult to envision a more poignant account of a death than the one presented towards the end of this novel.

But if we take Hemingway's side for a moment, it must be admitted that the novel does tend to wander and meander, taking an inordinate amount of time to reach its destination. There isn't really a proper plot beyond the autobiographical elements, and even then, we are treated to a (very) lengthy account of his parents, their history, their meeting and courtship, and the birth of his siblings before we even reach the birth of our main character. I believe it was around 500 or 600 pages (I read it on Kindle, so I'm not entirely certain), and that's after his editor had cut 60,000 words. I read somewhere that Pat Conroy considered reading this book one of the pivotal moments of his life and stated that his writing career began on the day he read "Look Homeward, Angel." I can indeed see many similarities to Conroy's often oversized yet beautifully written novels.

Ultimately, I have decided that I love this book, flaws and all. I'm disappointed that Wolfe isn't read as much anymore, and I would highly recommend taking the time (a significant amount of time) to read this wonderfully crafted book.

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OverlordBel

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

This book truly had a profound impact on my life.

Recently, after watching the movie "Genius" and reading the screenplay, my curiosity led me to search for the unedited manuscript, "O Lost".

I was completely spellbound by each and every virgin paragraph within it.

The words seemed to leap off the page and transport me into a different world.

As I read those lines, such as "Each moment is the fruit of forty thousand years. The minute-winning days, like flies, buzz home to death, and every moment is a window on all time.", I was struck by the beauty and depth of the author's thoughts.

Another quote that really resonated with me was "We are not those characters we want to be. We're those characters we are."

It made me reflect on my own life and the importance of being true to myself.

From this experience, I not only realized the value of a well-revised manuscript but also came to appreciate the charm of a cluttered one.

Sometimes, a manuscript with misused grammar and misspelled words can have more life and personality than a boring, perfectly polished one.

It shows the author's raw creativity and the journey of their ideas.

I am grateful to have discovered this unedited manuscript and to have had the opportunity to explore its unfiltered essence.

It has opened my eyes to a new way of looking at writing and has inspired me to embrace the imperfections in my own work.

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r1z0_n

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

Eugene thought of the beautiful institution of human slavery, which his slaveless maternal ancestry had fought so valiantly to preserve.

I carried this book along with me, aiming to remind myself of the small southern town I was about to leave for a year. However, what it actually did was to remind me of those people who love my part of the country not for what it truly is, but for their misconstrued and harmful concept of what it represents. This unremittingly offensive book, even for the era it was written in, was in desperate need of a better editor and a change in perspective.

Even those parts that had the potential to be fascinating, like a firsthand account of UNC's campus during the years of WWI, were instead depicted as a series of events that the author seemingly endured alone. It comes as no surprise that Wolfe became an outcast in his hometown. His unsympathetic and self-righteous character descriptions lacked any depth beyond the role they apparently played in his own life. It is a miserable read by a miserable man who clearly had the intellect to write beautifully but lacked the ability to convey anything worthy of being read.

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zglade

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

I don't think it is possible for an author to use any more words and talk about anything less boring.

It seems that the author has reached a point where they are stretching the content to an extreme. Using an excessive number of words often leads to a loss of clarity and conciseness.

Moreover, the topic being discussed may not be inherently interesting, and the author's attempt to pad it with more words only makes it even more tiresome.

Readers are likely to become disengaged when they encounter such verbose and uninteresting writing.

Authors should strive to convey their ideas effectively and engagingly, using only the necessary words to make their point.

This way, they can capture the attention of their readers and keep them interested throughout the piece.

Less is often more when it comes to writing, and authors should keep this in mind to avoid producing content that is both wordy and dull.

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VanAlex

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

4.5 RTC

Real-time communication (RTC) has become an essential part of our digital lives. It enables seamless and instantaneous interaction between individuals and groups, regardless of their geographical locations.

With the advancement of technology, RTC has evolved to offer more features and capabilities. It now supports high-quality audio and video calls, screen sharing, and real-time messaging.

These features have made RTC an indispensable tool for businesses, educational institutions, and individuals alike.

For businesses, RTC facilitates efficient collaboration among employees, enhances customer service, and enables remote work.

Educational institutions use RTC to conduct online classes, hold virtual meetings, and provide students with access to educational resources.

For individuals, RTC allows for easy communication with friends and family, regardless of distance.

In conclusion, 4.5 RTC represents a significant milestone in the evolution of real-time communication. Its ability to connect people in real-time and offer a wide range of features has transformed the way we communicate and collaborate.

As technology continues to advance, we can expect RTC to become even more integrated into our daily lives, offering new and exciting possibilities for communication and interaction.

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TheMagicStik

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

DNF at page 150

This is a white boy coming of age story that was written in the 1920s. Initially, I didn't anticipate liking this particular piece. However, given that I reside so close to Asheville, NC, I felt compelled to give it a try. I thought it might offer some local context or perhaps a unique perspective. But as I reached page 150, I've come to the conclusion that I've given it a fair chance. While it may have had some interesting elements, it just didn't fully engage me. Maybe it was the writing style, or perhaps the story didn't develop in a way that held my attention. At this point, I feel it's time for me to move on and explore other literary works that might better suit my interests. There are so many great books out there waiting to be discovered, and I'm eager to see what else lies ahead.

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yokobluu

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

Caótico, largo, tedioso y una enorme decepción. Estos son los términos que mejor describen mi experiencia reciente. Todo comenzó de manera desordenada, sin un plan claro ni una dirección precisa. El proceso resultó ser extremadamente largo, prolongándose más allá de lo que cabía esperar. Y lo peor es que fue tedioso en extremo, sin ningún momento que destacara o que pudiera mantener mi interés. En definitiva, fue una enorme decepción, ya que esperaba algo completamente diferente. Me sentí frustrado y decepcionado con el resultado final. Sin duda, esta es una experiencia que no deseo repetir en el futuro.

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fai_fluorite

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

July 15,2025

Thomas Wolfe's classic quasi-autobiographical coming of age novel had been sitting on my bookshelf for years, in fact, for decades. It was quietly rebuking me for my failure to crack it open. Now that I've finally read it, I truly wish I had done so when I was much younger. Ideally, it would have been when I was an undergraduate English major at a university just several miles away from the university in “Pulpit Hill” attended by Wolfe's protagonist, Eugene Gant. I firmly believe that if I had read it then, first, I might have had more patience for Wolfe's Faulknerian writing style. Second, Eugene Gant's story might have resonated with me more powerfully than it does now.

I can indeed appreciate a great deal of the beauty in Wolfe's lyrical and poetic style. However, I must admit that there were numerous occasions when I thought it was a bit excessive. I found myself silently urging Wolfe/Eugene to just move on with the story. I found Eugene's view of Shakespeare rather ironic. He thought, “it seemed to him, moreover, that Shakespeare often spoke absurdly and pompously when he might better have spoken simply.”

That being said, the story of Eugene's intense desire to break away from the dysfunctional Gant family is truly compelling. It also serves as a means through which Wolfe addresses profound questions about life, death, love, loss, war, and the impermanence of humans and their achievements. These are questions that are always worthy of our deep pondering.

Does Eugene manage to get away? Near the end of the book, he has a vision in which he converses with his (dead) brother Ben about his longing to experience the world. “‘Where, Ben? Where is the world?’ ‘Nowhere,’ Ben said. ‘You are your world.’”

Warning: This book was published by a Southern writer in 1929. There is frequent and casual use of the “n-word.”

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Look Homeward, Angel

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