Vandover and the Brute

by Frank Norris

Book Overview

Vandover and the Brute, a classical book, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9362924501
• ISBN13: 9789362924506
• Release Date: October 2024
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

An early example of American realism

Recalling Crane's "Maggie" in its sexual candor and several of Dreiser's novels in its brutal portrayal of the decline of its protagonist, "Vandover and the Brute" can be read as the American realist version of Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." (The lead character is, not coincidentally, reading Stevenson early in the novel.) Written in 1895, when Norris was 25, but not published until 1914, after Norris's death, it is an important if uneven precursor to the naturalist tradition in American literature.Young Vandover, a Harvard-educated man-about-town whose chief traits are a lack of ambition and a sense of entitlement, is a San Francisco native who wastes every advantage his privileged life presents to him. Yielding to his inner "brute," Vandover gradually descends the rungs of civilized life, losing first his status in "proper" society and then all his wealth and what remains of his integrity. He suffers from the devastation of self-inflicted scandals, the trauma of a shipwreck during exile, and the ravages of syphilis. Yet Norris doesn't direct his barbs solely at indolent, amoral youth like Vandover; just as reprehensible is the ambitious, double-crossing Charles Geary, one of Vandover's friends, who aims "to make his pile in this town and make his way, too." (An interesting aside: unlike most realist fiction, the novel's last sentence ends with a glimmer of hope and a piece of bread--very much like McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City.")Although this novel is no longer available on its own in any edition, interested readers will find it included in The Library of America's omnibus collection of Frank Norris's works.