The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) By Booth Tarkington

Booth Tarkington was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1919 for his classic The Magnificent Ambersons. While seeming lost to time, Tarkington is experiencing a revival of sorts with the re-publication earlier this year of his major works by the Library of America. In addition to The Magnificent Ambersons, the volume also includes the novel Alice Adams, awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1922.

    

The Magnificent Ambersons is a family history set in “a Midland city,” a fictional version of Tarkington’s hometown of Indianapolis.  The novel also serves as a social & cultural history of the U.S. spanning from post-Civil War, through the Gilded-Age, and the beginning of the country’s industrialization,and urbanization. The conversion of the nation from the days of horse and buggy, to the automobile, plays a major subplot in the book, providing ample opportunity to espouse thought-provoking and sometimes biting social commentary.  Tarkington (1869-1946) was clearly a keen observer, evidenced by his writing.

The Ambersons are the leading family in town, their wealth made through shrewd investments made by Major Amberson, the patriarch of the family.  They stand at the top of the pecking order, economically and socially.  Their story is told through the character of George Amberson Minafer. 

George is the Major’s only grandson.  Raised in the lap of luxury, he figures out at a very young age he will be the heir to the family’s fortune and prestige.  The idea he would ever need an occupation has never occurred to him.  With that upbringing, it is only natural he would become an arrogant, spoiled, holy terror, with an oft validated belief he was above personal responsibility. The town folk, at all economic levels, hate him and can’t wait for him to someday get his comeuppance. How and when that happens is near the book’s conclusion.

Movie Clip

In 1942, Orson Welles directed a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the novel with an all-star cast, and lending his own voice to narration, much as he did in Citizen Kane.  The movie (available on Amazon Prime) is good, but to be a manageable length had to cut out most of the social commentary that ties it all together.  Also, unbelievably edited out the film was any specificity as to George’s final comeuppance – you’ll have to read the book.

Recommendation:  Yes, defnitely. This ranks as one of the best books I’ve ever read. 

The Lost Language of Cranes (1986) By David Leavitt

In 1986 when I first read David Leavitt’s novel The Lost Language of Cranes, gay-themed literature was in transition.  It was still a small publishing niche but was becoming commercially viable and slowly developing an audience beyond the LGBTQ community. The plots dealt almost exclusively with coming-out stories. In the years to come the genre’s focus would shift sharply, to stories about the plague years of AIDS. Leavitt’s novel is set near the beginning of that period, 1980’s New York.

My first read of the book was for all practical purposes in “real time” -- I lived in New York from 1982 through 1984. The plot lines were familiar, and the locations recognizable. Re-reading the book now, at the end of 2019, is like opening a time capsule. This wasn’t so much a case of “I’ve read this book before” as it was I have seen it with my own eyes.

  

The central characters are Philip, a 20-something native New Yorker, and his parents Owen and Rose Benjamin. The book details his coming out to them and the chain of events that kicks off. It includes the subplot of Philip’s first boyfriend, essays the co-dependency of some relationships, and the fear of commitment in others. It also brings in the issue of relationships serving as safe havens, too often merely providing emotional security, and addressing the fear of living one’s life alone – both relevant topics at the advent of an epidemic. Importantly, each of these relationship issues are mirrored in Philip’s parents. Leavitt’s character development of Rose is particularly of note, it is a compelling depiction that seldom gets its due in books written by men.

Beware, a movie was made based on this title. It took multiple liberties with the story, not the least of which was moving it from New York to London.

 

Recommendation:  Yes, a great book.  Skip the movie.