On its debut, this brilliant, innovative, and influential study established Alfred Kazin's reputation as a leading literary critic. Now, in its fiftieth year of publication, Kazin's work is as relevant as on the day it was first written, a classic that brings fresh perspective to our interpretation of the literature belonging to what many consider the golden era of American letters. Kazin discusses the work of Edith Wharton, Sinclair Lewis, Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and William ...
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On its debut, this brilliant, innovative, and influential study established Alfred Kazin's reputation as a leading literary critic. Now, in its fiftieth year of publication, Kazin's work is as relevant as on the day it was first written, a classic that brings fresh perspective to our interpretation of the literature belonging to what many consider the golden era of American letters. Kazin discusses the work of Edith Wharton, Sinclair Lewis, Willa Cather, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and William Faulkner, among others writing in the period embraced by the Civil War and World War II, and declares this era the advent of a truly American literary style: sensitive to economic and social issues while expressing an intense national consciousness. Importantly, Kazin believes that this emerging American literature reflected not simply a reaction to Victorian gentility and repression but something greater -- the moral transformation of our entire society under the gathering impact of industrialization, science, and world wars. It was this idea of a nation's principal literary figures being bound so directly to its social development that made Kazin's analysis revolutionary and that maintains its vitality fifty years later.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In poor condition, suitable as a reading copy. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 800grams, ISBN:
Kazin write as one who has studied American lit and who wants to share what he found with everyone, not just academics. He wants to show the uniqueness of American writers. Some of his opinions have changed since the 40's. He came to believe, rightly, that he had undervalued Faulkner. But the book let's us see what is unique about the American experience, how we were no longer Europeans living in the New World. The book is enormously readable. I recommend to people who love American lit and those who to better understand what we have become.
rejoyce
Oct 4, 2007
Lucidity and Intelligence
Published in 1942, Alfred Kazin's On Native Grounds is a brilliant study of American literature from the late 1800s to mid-twentieth century, contextualizing that literature within the context of history, culture, and social change from industrialization, science, the Gilded Age, the Great Depression and the proletarian or social protest novel it spawned, to World War II. Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald are among the writers he discusses. One might quibble with some of Kazin's critical evaluations; as with most Eastern critics, he seems to underrate John Steinbeck, while few would probably accept his preference for Thomas Wolfe over Faulkner. Still, by and large, Kazin's criticism is marked by intelligence, learning, fairness, and an acute lucidity. Also recommended is Kazin's 1984 An American Procession in which he does take the full measure of Faulkner's greatness.
