I am thoroughly enjoying reading through the Pulitzer-Prize winners. Years of Grace is a delightful novel. It is a surprisingly whimsical and light read for a 600-page book, yet it is sorely lacking in substance. Margaret Ayer Barnes spends a great deal of time describing the world of little Jane Ward; the books she reads, … Continue reading Thoughts on Years of Grace
novel
The Pursuit of Beauty in Edna Ferber’s So Big
So Big by Edna Ferber is going to take some time for me to mull over. It was an enjoyable novel, albeit scattered. It was published in 1924, and won the Pulitzer in 1925. It is a novel that strives to find beauty in the ordinary. It rejects modern materialism while seeking to expose the new … Continue reading The Pursuit of Beauty in Edna Ferber’s So Big
The Unremarkable Able McLaughlins
I finally finished the next Pulitzer Prize winning novel after dragging my feet for much of the summer. It is altogether difficult to go from reading the beautiful rolling novels of the great American pioneer writer, Willa Cather, to the bland landscapes of Margaret Wilson's Pulitzer-Prize winning book, The Able McLaughlins. Wilson's novel is a story … Continue reading The Unremarkable Able McLaughlins
The Harsh But Forgiving Prairie in O Pioneers!
I recently detoured from reading the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels to venture into the harsh but pleasantly forgiving fields of Willa Cather's pioneers on the prairie. When Willa Cather was thirty-nine years old she wrote her first novel, Alexander's Bridge, which was published as a serial in McClure's Magazine in 1912. It was a tragic story … Continue reading The Harsh But Forgiving Prairie in O Pioneers!
The Pioneer Spirit in One of Ours
One of Ours is a surprisingly deep and powerful novel. In truth, it is two stories in one book told in five parts: Book I "On Lovely Creek", Book II "Enid", Book III "Sunrise on the Prairie", Book IV "The Voyage of the Anchises", Book V "Bidding the Eagles of the West Fly On". The … Continue reading The Pioneer Spirit in One of Ours
Thoughts on The Magnificent Ambersons
The Magnificent Ambersons (1918) is the second novel to win the Pulitzer (awarded in 1919). Its author, Booth Tarkington, was one of the few authors to win the Pulitzer Prize twice (amazingly, he won it again for Alice Adams in 1922). With these accolades, he joins the exclusive club of William Faulkner and John Updike (as of … Continue reading Thoughts on The Magnificent Ambersons
