Eugene Gant picks up from where he left off at the end of Look Homeward, Angel.

This remarkable book takes him on a profound journey that encompasses death, growth, and self-discovery.

As Emerson so aptly said, “I cannot remember the books I've read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”

In a similar vein, I have the sense that while I might forget the specific details of Wolfe’s journey, the spirit of the book will indelibly be remembered.

The story unfolds with Eugene facing the trials and tribulations that come his way, each experience shaping him and adding to his understanding of life.

Death looms large, teaching him about the fragility and preciousness of existence.

Growth occurs as he navigates through various relationships and encounters, learning valuable lessons along the way.

Self-discovery becomes a central theme as Eugene grapples with his identity and purpose in life.

Overall, this book is a powerful exploration of the human condition, one that will stay with me long after I have turned the final page.

When I read "Look Homeward, Angel", I fell in love with the writing style of Thomas Wolfe.

"Of Time and the River" continues from the point where "Look Homeward, Angel" ended. It goes on to tell us about the life of Eugene Gant. He leaves his small town for Harvard, eager to experience everything, read all the books, and get to know all kinds of people, especially those who are extravagant and atypical, hoping they will give him the baggage for his career as a writer. But when his work is rejected, he returns to the South, to his hometown.

Later, he will travel to New York, which fascinates him, and then to Europe.

Because this book is the result of a journey, not just a physical one but also the journey towards Eugene's maturity. Through it, he shows us an era through the people who lived it, and Wolfe describes it wonderfully.

What fascinates me the most is his descriptive ability, especially of everything one can imagine. The precision and the adjectives he uses for absolutely everything. He describes the United States or France between the wars with the same passion as the emotions or feelings that even the tiniest event provokes in him, without leaving behind the exhaustive and precise description of the characters who succeed each other throughout the book, in such a way that it seems as if you know them.

The part I liked the most was the one dedicated to the origin of the family, its relationship with them, and very especially to the father of the protagonist. It is wonderful, especially a moving scene related to Eugene's father that broke my heart.

Wonderful, Thomas Wolfe is essential.

For some readers, this book may seem quite daunting at first glance. However, it is truly well worth the read. Thomas Wolfe, in this work, does not disappoint in the slightest. He continues to showcase his excellent lyrical style as we accompany the travels and tribulations of young Eugene Gant. Wolfe is really like a literary painter. His words have the power to evoke a bygone era, a sense of nostalgia that is deeply embedded within each of us.

Not many authors possess the ability to produce the vivid imagery that he does. I was completely enamored with his literary landscapes. His descriptions of the moonlight, trains, and October are truly majestic. They paint a picture in the reader's mind that is both beautiful and captivating.

In addition to that, I also loved his commentary on Americans abroad. It provides a unique perspective and adds another layer of depth to the story. Well done, Mr Wolfe! Your work is a true masterpiece that will be cherished by readers for years to come.

I really liked the beautiful and lyrical writing in this book. It was like a gentle breeze that caressed my soul.

However, I didn't have the same affection for the storyline or the mostly two-dimensional characters. The story seemed to lack depth and complexity, and the characters didn't feel fully developed.

Moreover, the book is simply too long! It felt like I was on an endless journey that I couldn't wait to end. I found myself skimming through some parts just to get to the end.

Overall, while the writing was beautiful, the other aspects of the book left me feeling disappointed. I hope the author can improve on these areas in future works.

Oh my God, he is extremely boring.

I understand that it's an autobiography and all, but goodness, the progression was so difficult. In fact, it was so hard that I didn't read the whole book but instead just skimmed through it. However, I have several issues with his writing.

To begin with, he should ease up on the adjectives. I know he has the thesaurus memorized, but it would be much better if he toned it down. I get that he can describe things, but his dialogues are just so strange. For example, what kind of laughter is 'k-k-k-k-k'? And while we're on the topic of laughter, why is every woman poking the protagonist in the ribs while doing that laughter? Moreover, it's always at the most peculiar and inappropriate times.

All in all, he is just plain boring. If you have trouble sleeping, perhaps this book can assist.

*Please note that this is in no way a cure for insomnia. For proper medication, please consult a physician.

I was joking to myself that this book is already long enough as it is, so maybe in the review I'll just say that apparently Eugene Gant really likes trains, but I actually have a bit more to say.

"'He's dead,' said Mr Flood, still wheezing rapidly for breath and gazing at the spittoon. 'That's the reason you haven't seen him,' he said seriously."

The highly autobiographical "Of Time and the River" is a continuation of Wolfe's first novel, "Look Homeward, Angel" - it follows Eugene in the years of early adulthood, visits college with him, with the main character as a student and then a teacher, his places of residence, the homes of his friends and the countries where he will search for the meaning of life and his purpose. The action of "Of Time and the River" takes place over several years, and I love this type of novel.

The main idea of this book could be presented as Eugene's growing up, but Thomas Wolfe perceived and paid attention to the people around him so particularly that Eugene is almost never alone, and on all these people he met along the way, the process of growing up is also shown, in my opinion - because one can grow up in so many different ways, in so many different environments, at such different ages, because after all we can grow up our whole lives, and that's probably what happens, and we can end up in so many different places, each has its own beginning and end, its own original story - this is not a "lonely" story. Eugene's relationships with his friends are mutual, they mutually influence the course of their stories. I really like the motif of the father, the old Gant, who is a doctor (he also got his own short story, but what a fascinating one) and Eugene's sister, who perhaps only in her thirties (??) discovers how she really wants to spend her life, with whom, and is pushed in that direction. How Thomas's sister's fate really turned out, I have no idea, but I just hope that she managed to find at least a little happiness, and I think that it ideally illustrates my conclusion - it's never too late in the process of growing up, and how it goes is an individual matter. The inclusion of so many human lives and also places in the world makes Wolfe's novel huge internally, that in it the whole world is also enclosed, like a miracle, and I would like to do such things myself someday.

While reading "Of Time and the River", I also had a completely new reading experience - when in the middle of the novel I got such a feeling of complete satisfaction with the book and the impression that I had already finished it for myself - and not in a negative sense that I was tired of it, but already... in a certain aspect it was over for me and I felt fulfilled. Then I took a short break and some time ago I calmly returned to Eugene's story when I missed it.

To convey so much of the history of people and places, so many situations, Wolfe used, in my opinion, several different techniques of presenting reality, sometimes it was surrealistic, sometimes there were reflections and dreams, sometimes it was disturbing, and sometimes the author even wrote comical scenes, and because of this internal diversity, "Of Time and the River" sometimes gave the impression of a "fever dream", but in the best sense.

I also like the description of America, probably my second favorite after Nabokov's in "Lolita", but here there was, in my opinion, more love, patriotism and affection, but not overbearing, but very natural, sensitive and related to the sense of family and family heritage. We can criticize this country, and I myself do it from time to time, but Thomas warmed my image of this nation a little. Really, it must have been a great happiness to be loved, even for a moment, by Thomas Wolfe, because this love is overwhelming.

And precisely regarding Wolfe's love - I think that his relationship with Aline Bernstein was not the happiest and most wonderful event, they drove each other crazy and to despair, and Aline probably suffered a lot from all this, but this description of Eugene's feeling at the end... From this perspective, their love looks beautiful and the strongest in the world.

I would also like to say that, of course, it's probably a matter of the fact that Thomas was brought up with a stuttering brother, and he himself sometimes struggled with this disorder, but it's like in some modern mainstream productions where they still joke about stuttering and use this expression that I hate, "did I stutter", and I don't see any moment of hesitation on the part of the "woke" creators of these films and series, but Thomas Wolfe, in 1935, was able to skillfully insert into the novel several well-written stuttering characters, and of different types of stuttering, and they were so visible and were so respected... We can do better.

And, and I threatened at the beginning that if I didn't see my beloved Ben even once in this book, I would mercilessly lower the rating by one star, and I would definitely do it, but fortunately Wolfe fulfilled my dream - and one of the scenes with Ben is probably one of my favorites in literature. What a great job.

But to not be all so pleasant, I like to criticize Wolfe for some reason, and here I also have a few remarks.

1. Some scenes were just terribly boring for me, they didn't draw me in. But also... literature has changed a lot since the time this book was published, and perhaps I don't belong in a certain sense to the target group, I already have a differently formed taste and expectations.

2. Problematic moments, for example, the scene in prison focusing on racial issues, racial inequality and racism, was very unpleasant to read. The red light went on for me during the fever dream description of Jewish women, and the scene of Eugene's approach to a certain woman.... gross, gross, gross for me. Nope. I could have done without this, Thomas.

3. "Of Time and the River" is a great novel and Wolfe managed the entire volume of it well, but it is still incredibly long, and even if I read a very good fragment, my mind just got tired, and sometimes more... I vibed with what the author wanted to convey to me, with his emotions, because the content in its entirety sometimes didn't reach me. Too much information.

I also wanted to say that while reading "Of Time and the River", out of my own interest, I looked for more information about the character of Starwick, and it turned out that one important aspect of his character was limited in the final version of the book, and in my opinion, this is a great plot line and it confirmed what I myself suspected, and I'm a bit disappointed that... I didn't enjoy it in the novel. But on the other hand, it was a sensitive topic at that time, and it was only Wolfe's second novel, and maybe Max Perkins just didn't want to take risks. I kind of understand this, although of course these are just my guesses!!

But I highly recommend you to be interested in the prototype of the character of Starwick, Kenneth Raisbeck. I want to read something by him someday, although his work is probably already hard to access.

I don't know why this is such a surprise for me, but "Of Time and the River" is really one of the best novels I've ever read in my life. It's beautiful and I liked Wolfe so much during this reading.

And I'm so sorry for Max Perkins, because it must have been a huge shock for him when Thomas died three years later. He loved him so much.

And, and thank you to my friends for their support, thank you to the vampire for the encouragement "time the river". You are loved in this support of my passions.

PS. I love how in those days, a plot twist was how someone turned out to be a "communist".

PS. 2. While writing this review, I was listening to the music of "Bleachers" and I think that "Chinatown" would have liked Wolfe.

PS. 3. And here are a few other quotes that caught me!

"Don't fool with a dying man, Robert. If you're going to play around with anyone, play around with the living, and not with the dead. Dead men are bad people to play around with."

"I shouldn't think you'd find many people anywhere at two o'clock in the morning. I should think most of them would be in bed - even on the East Side."

"The ruined people that we like are those who desperately have died, and lost their lives because they loved life dearly, and had that grandeur that makes such people spend prodigally the thing they love the best, and risk and lose their lives because life is so precious to them, and die at length because the seeds of life are in them. It is only the people that love life who die in this way - and these are the ruined people that we like."

"Young Icarus lies drowned, God knows where."

"Shall I know you, though I have never seen your face? Will you know me, and will you call me'son? Father, I know that you live, though I have never found you."

"But I can remember everything we said that night - it was that time when you came back just after your brother's death: that's when it was all right, I guess that's why I can remember it so well... It's time all little boys were in bed..."

The work would have truly benefited from even more extensive pruning. Apparently, it was already reduced from 330,000 words, but perhaps it still wasn't enough. Another option could have been to divide it into multiple books. In fact, it was already divided, but it seemed that it needed to be more like six volumes. There are also characters who are discarded for hundreds of pages only to be brought back later.

Since this is a thinly-veiled memoir, it should have capitalized on the most dramatic aspects of Wolfe's life. However, Perkins (or perhaps Wolfe himself) leaves the story before the real climax. I discovered this accidentally. The character of Francis Starwick is likely a composite, but it's definitely based on Kenneth Raisbeck, a playwright. (SPOILER ALERT - not for the book, as this happened after the events in "Of Time and the River") Raisbeck was murdered five years later. The case remains unsolved, but a book about him seems to suggest that he was killed by a man he either propositioned or had a sexual encounter with.

This would have been the perfect conclusion to this book, which only hints at the tragedy without directly mentioning it. Instead, Starwick and the other characters disappear from Wolfe's life, and we are left (SPOILER ALERT) learning that he met the woman of his dreams on the ship that brought him back to America. Did Eugene Gant/Thomas Wolfe learn from his appalling behavior towards Starwick and the others? We never really get to find out.

Reading Thomas Wolfe offers a powerful antidote to the fragmented attention span that plagues us in the age of social media.

When delving into his work, one must focus intently, and the payoff is truly substantial. So many of his passages are not only lyrical but also vividly evoke a plethora of circumstances and imagery. In a sense, they are universal, highly relatable, and almost poetically disclosed with an astonishing mastery and breadth of language.

Personally, I found "Look Homeward, Angel" to be even more to my liking, yet this work is also remarkable. It prompts me, just as it does the author, to contemplate our place within and passage through the world, and the fleeting span of time that is allotted to us.

Wolfe's writing forces us to slow down, to engage deeply with the text, and to reflect on the profound questions of life. It is a refreshing and necessary escape from the constant distractions of the digital age.

By reading his works, we can regain a sense of focus and appreciation for the beauty and complexity of language and the human experience.

My approach to Thomas Wolfe is through the Norwegian writer Agnar Mykle, who regarded Wolfe as his great literary idol.

One can recognize many similarities in the two authors. They both possess a slightly elevated sensitivity, the ability to be fully present in various situations, but also a certain pomp and self-celebration.

Surprisingly, for such a thick book, very little actually occurs to Eugene Gant throughout the story. However, the little that does happen is described comprehensively and repetitively.

At regular intervals, there are long, verbose, and poetic descriptions of Humanity, Literature, History, and last but not least, America.

One sometimes wonders if Eugene Gant truly likes any of the people he meets. Perhaps it is the longing to write that overshadows everything else in his life.

And that is perhaps why there are few, if any, other likable characters in the book, and none with much depth. Eugene is quite self-absorbed, and it is easy to assume that the author is as well.

This makes one question the true nature of the characters and the author's intentions in creating such a world.

Nevertheless, despite these flaws, Wolfe's writing still has a certain charm and power that keeps the reader engaged.

It makes us think about the human condition, our place in the world, and the power of literature to capture these complex emotions and ideas.

It was an extremely overly wordy book.

It seemed to go on and on without end.

The length of the book was truly remarkable.

It was so long that it felt like it would never finish.

Did I mention that it was a long book?

It was as if the author had used every single word in the dictionary and then some to fill the pages.

The excessive verbosity made it a bit of a chore to read.

Despite its length, however, there were still some interesting ideas and concepts within the book.

But one couldn't help but wish that the author had been a bit more concise in presenting them.

Overall, it was a long and wordy book that required a lot of patience and perseverance to get through.

Wolfe's "Of Time and the River" is the second novel that delves into the Gant family. The particular edition I perused has the subtitle, "Young Faustus and Telemachus", which consists of two self-contained units within the novel. In Marlow's play, Faustus is a solitary figure, discontented with his wide-ranging studies, much like Eugene. Telemachus, the son of Odysseus in Greek mythology, undertakes a journey to learn about his father. After his father's demise, Eugene, too, endeavors to make sense of his family and their numerous contradictions through remarkable character studies. Reading the many sections of this novel requires patience and a love for poetry. As author Philip Roth described in an editorial, it has a "sprawling consciousness" that gives rise to "a tone of elegiac lyricism".

The Quintessential Wolfe

Look Homeward Angel and this volume are truly remarkable works that should be regarded as required reading for anyone with a passion for writing. They offer invaluable guidance and inspiration to those who aspire to write well. The rich language, vivid descriptions, and profound insights found within these pages are a testament to Wolfe's literary genius.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this volume. It transported me to another world, filled with complex characters and their compelling stories. The way Wolfe weaves together the narrative, painting a vivid picture of the human experience, is simply breathtaking.

Whether you are a budding writer or simply a lover of great literature, I highly recommend giving this volume a read. It will not disappoint. You will be captivated from the very first page and will find yourself reflecting on its themes long after you have turned the last page.

So, don't hesitate. Pick up a copy of Look Homeward Angel and this volume today and embark on a literary journey that you will never forget.