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The Mailer Review/Volume 3, 2009/A British View: Mailer’s American Language: Difference between revisions
The Mailer Review/Volume 3, 2009/A British View: Mailer’s American Language (view source)
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established the parameters of his study: “This book is an analysis of the | established the parameters of his study: “This book is an analysis of the | ||
American vernacular in Norman Mailer’s literature. Mailer’s bid to carve out | American vernacular in Norman Mailer’s literature. Mailer’s bid to carve out | ||
an American language or idiom is central to each | an American language or idiom is central to each chapter” He goes on to | ||
define the reasons for choosing the works to be discussed and for omitting | define the reasons for choosing the works to be discussed and for omitting | ||
others. Of those published by 2007, he dismisses the four biographies and five omnibus collections of various genres. “Nor does work set beyond the | others. Of those published by 2007, he dismisses the four biographies and five omnibus collections of various genres. “Nor does work set beyond the | ||
borderlines of the United States ... receive an extended analysis.” These are, | borderlines of the United States . . . receive an extended analysis.” These are, | ||
of course, ''Ancient Evenings'' (1983), ''The Gospel According to the Son'' (1997) | of course, ''Ancient Evenings'' (1983), ''The Gospel According to the Son'' (1997) | ||
and ''The Fight'' (1975). The rationale behind not considering the first two is | and ''The Fight'' (1975). The rationale behind not considering the first two is | ||
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In Chapter Five, ''The Armies of the Night'' (1968), Wilson points out the obvious indebtedness in point of view to Henry Adams and more strikingly refers to Mailer’s “literary nod to Gertrude Stein’s ''The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas''.” He goes on to analyze the style Mailer chose for ''Armies'': | In Chapter Five, ''The Armies of the Night'' (1968), Wilson points out the obvious indebtedness in point of view to Henry Adams and more strikingly refers to Mailer’s “literary nod to Gertrude Stein’s ''The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas''.” He goes on to analyze the style Mailer chose for ''Armies'': | ||
{{quote|he began to structure inordinately long sentences ... containing clause after clause after clause [which] are more in keeping, however, with the spirit of the event than with any direct literary predecessor. They are improvised, spontaneous outpourings, a marriage of metaphors, formal images and adjectival pile-up. The technique is again a manifestation of Mailer’s existential outlook. }} | {{quote|he began to structure inordinately long sentences . . . containing clause after clause after clause [which] are more in keeping, however, with the spirit of the event than with any direct literary predecessor. They are improvised, spontaneous outpourings, a marriage of metaphors, formal images and adjectival pile-up. The technique is again a manifestation of Mailer’s existential outlook. }} | ||
Making the easy segue from ''Armies'' to ''Miami and the Siege of Chicago'' (1968) in Chapter Six, Wilson makes the unequivocal and certainly defensible statement that “Beyond any religious, philosophical or aesthetic standpoint, Norman Mailer is a political writer and political figure.” After a brief, cogent recapitulation of the political contexts of the first two novels, he concludes that “The critical backlash against ''Barbary Shore'' and ''The Deer Park'' . . . hastened Mailer’s move from literature to politics.” Wilson continues with a history of Mailer’s political writings from ''The Presidential Papers'' (1963) through ''Miami'' and ''Chicago'' and ''Saint George and the Godfather'' (1972), giving him due credit for pioneering the New Journalism. Yet, true to his subtitle to Chapter Six: “Confessional Prose,” he goes on to focus on this aspect of ''Miami'', ''Armies'', and ''Advertisements for Myself'' (1959). After drawing the obvious (and hardly new} parallel between the latter and Fitzgerald’s “The Crack-Up,” he makes some perceptive judgments on Mailer as confessional writer, as in this comparison of Mailer and Robert Lowell in ''Armies'': | Making the easy segue from ''Armies'' to ''Miami and the Siege of Chicago'' (1968) in Chapter Six, Wilson makes the unequivocal and certainly defensible statement that “Beyond any religious, philosophical or aesthetic standpoint, Norman Mailer is a political writer and political figure.” After a brief, cogent recapitulation of the political contexts of the first two novels, he concludes that “The critical backlash against ''Barbary Shore'' and ''The Deer Park'' . . . hastened Mailer’s move from literature to politics.” Wilson continues with a history of Mailer’s political writings from ''The Presidential Papers'' (1963) through ''Miami'' and ''Chicago'' and ''Saint George and the Godfather'' (1972), giving him due credit for pioneering the New Journalism. Yet, true to his subtitle to Chapter Six: “Confessional Prose,” he goes on to focus on this aspect of ''Miami'', ''Armies'', and ''Advertisements for Myself'' (1959). After drawing the obvious (and hardly new} parallel between the latter and Fitzgerald’s “The Crack-Up,” he makes some perceptive judgments on Mailer as confessional writer, as in this comparison of Mailer and Robert Lowell in ''Armies'': | ||