Saul Bellow: Greatest American Writer
Ranked #6,857 in Books, Poetry & Writing, #247,518 overall
Greatest American Writer of His Time: Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow (June 10, 1915 - April 5, 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only writer to have won the National Book Award three times, and the only writer to have been nominated for it six times, according to Wikipedia.
Bellow was easily the greatest American writer of his time, maybe of all time.
In the words of the Swedish Nobel Committee, his writing exhibited "exuberant ideas, flashing irony, hilarious comedy and burning compassion... the mixture of rich picaresque novel and subtle analysis of our culture, of entertaining adventure, drastic and tragic episodes in quick succession interspersed with philosophic conversation, all developed by a commentator with a witty tongue and penetrating insight into the outer and inner complications that drive us to act, or prevent us from acting, and that can be called the dilemma of our age."
Saul Bellow's best-known works include The Adventures of Augie March, Herzog, Mr. Sammler's Planet, Seize the Day, Humboldt's Gift and Ravelstein. Widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's greatest authors, Bellow has had a "huge literary influence."
Contents at a Glance
Squidoo Lens Review Notice
for Saul Bellow
Adventures of Augie March
by Saul Bellow
Bellow had intentions of writing "the great American novel," as so many before and after have attempted and failed to accomplish. It's a rollicking adventure with Augie chasing love, romance and adventure from a gritty Chicago to Paris, talking with big city toughs, wise veterans of a scared world, passionately being taken in by a woman and failing.
Much is memorable in this novel, but what always stuck most with me is the closing scene. Having lost at love and everything else, still young, Augie has a philosophic moment, comparing himself to Columbus, the explorer. Columbus, Augie reckons, must have believed he was a failure when, later in life, he was taken off to debtors' prison in chains, but it still "didn't prove there was no America."
A breathtaking, lyrical literary moment.
Herzog
by Saul Bellow
Herzog is a brilliant intellectual who easily comes up with proposals for solving problems that he recommends to prominent officials in what seems a compulsive series of letters. At the same time, his personal and emotional life is a disaster. He can't get himself together to finish a book he's been contracted to write, and he is constantly going broke.
His very capable and sensible brother, who Herzog must go to for money repeatedly, considers him a beloved fool. His wife, who he desires intensely, has kicked him out and taken up with his good friend. Much of the story is taken up by his figuring out how he has been tricked by a man with a swashbuckling style that rendered his intellectual demeanor effete.
As he so often does, Bellow closes this novel with a transcendental insight that gives him some emotional peace.
This book made Bellow a star, and it made me fall in love with him as incomparable storyteller.
Humboldt's Gift
by Saul Bellow
Even so, the main character is still faux Bellow. Charlie Citrine is a more polished and able Herzog. He has Bellow's classic concerns about the meaning in life, a deep conviction that there is "something more," call it what you may, and trouble with beautiful women. Bellow himself was married four times and became a father for the last time at age 84, circumstances easily predictable for the overwhelmed Herzog and the elegant Citrine.
He is, by turns, hassled by a Chicago thug with pretentions about class, his jealous lover and Humboldt, with whom he has had a falling out.
This book is a ride, full of wise, mind-expanding ideas passionately explained, the tumult of Chicago and New York described well enough to let you feel your feet are on the street and keenly observed human relationships. Citrine almost seems Augie March as a grown up.
The Actual
by Saul Bellow
As an old man, Bellow brings his lead character into unintended contact with a woman he loved as a young man but did not marry.
What is stunning about this story is his carefully woven discovery that their "actual" selves remained unchanged over the years, unaffected by decades of experience.
As a writer, I'm awestruck at his ability to tell this story, but also at his guts in accepting the challenge.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
More great books at bargain prices, unlimited selections: Dave's Nonfiction Showcase, Also, a massive Fiction Collection and every textbook under the sun, all available now.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The Rest
Novels, Short Stories, Nonfiction
Saul Bellow, The Greatest American Writer
Nobel Prize Winner, Teacher, Essayist, Master of the 20th Century
Bellow was born in Canadian but came to America with his family in childhood.
His passion for writing came early and never left him. He was still publishing impressive fiction into his eighties.
When the Nobel Committee awarded him for literature in 1976, they cited, "... the human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture that are combined in his work."
Bellow, in 2003 said, "There was a disturbance in my heart, a voice that spoke there and said, I want, I want, I want! It happened every afternoon, and when I tried to suppress it it got even stronger."
The concluding paragraph of Bellow's Nobel lecture:
"The novel can't be compared to the epic, or to the monuments of poetic drama. But it is the best we can do just now. It is a sort of latter-day lean-to, a hovel in which the spirit takes shelter. A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life. It tells us that for every human being there is a diversity of existences, that the single existence is itself an illusion in part, that these many existences signify something, tend to something, fulfill something; it promises us meaning, harmony and even justice. What Conrad said was true, art attempts to find in the universe, in matter as well as in the facts of life, what is fundamental, enduring, essential."
The full lecture and a sound recording can be found Here.
Blessed by Squid Angels
Thank you!A "thumbs up!" please, if you like what your seen.
Thanks!
This module only appears with actual data when viewed on a live lens. The favorite and lensroll options will appear on a live lens if the viewer is a member of Squidoo and logged in.
Have you read Saul Bellow?
-
-
Mickie_G
Aug 14, 2011 @ 6:00 am | delete
- I have not read Saul Bellow since college. I do remember that I loved his writing. I think that after I graduated, I just wanted to read junk for a while. Discovered quickly that I had no stomach for bad writing, though.
-
-
-
sukkran Jun 26, 2011 @ 1:55 pm | delete
- thanks for introducing this great writer.
-
-
-
puerdycat
Jun 25, 2011 @ 11:48 am | delete
- You bet. I always thought he seemed like a Chicago sort of guy. He's the kind of writer that makes me feel like a friend, a friend who is sometimes more than a little worried about him (in a good way).
-
-
-
DaveStone13
Jun 25, 2011 @ 4:54 pm | delete
- He was a Chicago, although born in Montreal. His early life in Chicago provided the background material for "The Adventures of Augie March,""Herzog," and "Humboldt's Gift," plus many others.
-
-
-
SereneSea Apr 5, 2011 @ 11:53 am | delete
- Saul Bellow must be a great writer, it is surprising that he isn't among the most heard of and popular writers, the review gives an intelligent insight on his writing style. I will certainly look for his works.
-
- Load More
Donations, More Needed Than Ever
Characters of Character is committed to making a difference in the lives of as many children as possible. Our organization establishes a strong foundation for children to develop strong civic values.
![Henderson the Rain King (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) [Paperback] by Saul Bellow (Author)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21gzHDRhDSL._SL75_.jpg)
![Saul Bellow: Letters [Hardcover] by Saul Bellow (Author) Benjamin Taylor (Editor)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21TUz5RgMHL._SL75_.jpg)
![The Adventures of Augie March (Penguin Classics) [Paperback] by Saul Bellow (Author)](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/11bJ5ECwLSL._SL75_.jpg)
My Writer Fan Page
Join Us On Facebook!
Facebook Fan box widget may not always appear in the Workshop. Please preview or publish your lens to see the widget.
My Recently Updated Lenses
Other writings and recommended...
And On SEEKyt
Hot orphans...
by DaveStone13
A full time writer these days and living in New York City. In my career I've published everything from gags for cartoonists and greeting cards... more »
- 173 featured lenses
- Winner of 33 trophies!
- Top lens » Esther Hicks Scam's Mean Streak
Explore related pages
- Tropic Of Capricorn by Henry Miller Tropic Of Capricorn by Henry Miller
- Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
- Mr Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow Review Mr Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow Review
- Henry Miller Our Filthiest Literary Giant Henry Miller Our Filthiest Literary Giant
What's new in lit?
Others Worth Checking Out
Traveling Without A Passport
Writing Shaped From Reading Bellow
Traveling Without A Passport: The Autobiography of X-Book Two
Amazon Price: $12.85 (as of 05/28/2012)
Once Bellow's intense, personal style of writing gets into your system, it stays.
