Norris: Novels and Essays (Library of America)

by Frank Norris

Book Overview

This Library of America volume presents three novels and the collected essays of the most promising of the American naturalist writers. Inspired by the "new novel" developed by Zola and Flaubert,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0940450402
• Release Date: January 1985
• Publisher: Library of America
• Length: 1232 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.2" x 1.5" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent

I found it hard to put this book down. I purchased it in order to read "The Octopus" - the only Frank Norris work I was aware of at the time. I found it extremely difficult to put down. The writing was brilliant. "The Octopus" depicts the dealings of the Southern Pacific railroad and the consequences of those dealings: lives ruins, families destroyed. There are subplots within the plot. While the inhabitants of Nob Hill are planning to send a ship for fanmine releif a woman starves to death outside the mansions. This was very poignant. There are many such moments in "The Octopus". At the end a kind of poetic justice was served to the agent of the railroad. Just when you think how dispicable the railroad is the conversation with the head of the railroad puts things in a different light. The theme of "McTeague" is greed and what greed can drive people too: betrayal, murder, foresaking of family. There is also the subplot of the courtship of the old couple which was very tender. "Vandover and The Brute" is the portrayal of the downfall of one man. We read the descent from a life of privelege to the life on the bottom rungs of soceity. All of the books are powerful and riveting. They made me want to read everything that Frank Norris wrote.

Brilliant overlooked works

The Library of America (LOA)is a not for profit publisher dedicated to keeping great American writing in print. In this volume (number 33 in the series that currently has 140 volumes) LOA publishes three novels and twenty-two essays by Frank Norris. While this is not all of his writing, this is the only currently available source for some of these works within the budget of most readers. I purchased this volume simply because of the LOA. I had never heard of Frank Norris. My only expectation was great writing. I was not disappointed.The first novel, Vandover and the Brute, was written while Norris was a student at Harvard. It was published after his death and appears to have been altered by his brother who found parts of the novel and its then strong language objectionable. Even with this, I found it to be an interesting story of a indolent young man's moral slide. It is a story of the perfidy of a good friend, rationalizing bad moral decisions, and playing poorly the hand that the main character, Vandover, has been dealt. Good intentions never last long. Vandover takes advantage of a girl in his set. Her subsequent suicide sets in motion his slide. All along he takes the path of least resistence; he makes slopy, lazy, irresponsible choices that contribute to the inevitable outcome.McTeague, the second novel, was also begun while Norris was at Harvard and published in 1899. While not as lurid a subject as Vandover, parts of the book were quite controversial at the time. The book notes indicate that a passage describing incontinence was rewritten for its second printing due to pressure from the publisher. This LOA printing of this novel contains the original passage. I think that McTeague is the most enjoyable or the three novels. The writing is so clear and realistic. I think that it influenced some of the great realistic writers to follow. The last novel in this volume was titled The Octopus, and was an ambitious undertaking. It was to be the first part of a never completed trilogy, THE EPIC OF THE WHEAT. It has a hugh cast of characters and reminds me of both the novel and movie "GIANT". (Of course, the Octopus is better written.) Missing is the second part of the trilogy called the Pit. (Norris died suddenly in his early thirties before he wrote the third book.) For some reason LOA chose to include some of Norris'essays instead of the Pit. Regardless...This is a wonderful volume of extraordinarily well written works. Discovering the writing of Frank Norris was one of readings great pleasures. I highly recommend this book. I also encourage you to check out some of the other volumes published by the Library of America.

Grim tales well-told

This collection consists of three novels -- "Vandover and the Brute," "McTeague," and "The Octopus" -- and a series of essays.The novels are all grim, compelling stories. Another reviewer's remarking on the similarity between "The Octopus" and Zola's "Germinal" is apt. Unlike that reviewer, I found "The Octopus" most compelling. This is a grand tale with numerous subplots. The central theme is the struggle between the railroad (the octopus) and wheat farmers. I found it difficult to put down. And I found myself tearing up at points, somewhat disconcerting as I read most of this on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). All three novels are set in California with a least some if not most of the action taking place in San Francisco. These stories are excellent reads if you're not too squeamish.