American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

Part three of my review of RODERICK HUDSON by Henry James. It is his first strong novel but a bit repetitive and banal in the end. I guess the lesson is Americans should stay away from Europe.

The final part of my review of THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD by H. P. Lovecraft. The final chapter is an epic story of the conscious eradication of memory.

We go back to the present in chapter 3 of THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD and witness the consequences of Ward's exploration into his family history. Some strange mysteries are revealed and the horror begins again.

Let's start over with Henry James by looking at his first decent novel, RODERICK HUDSON. In this novel, an aimless rich man adopts a poor artist and brings him to Europe for fame and adventure. What they find is that Europe is a bad place for anyone, especially artists, to be.

A solid second chapter of H. P. Lovecraft's THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD almost works as a stand-alone horror story set in the 18th century, climaxing in the context of the American Revolution. Through this story we see Joseph Curwen as a metaphor for America's founding sins.

More forgettable stuff in the second half of WATCH AND WARD by Henry James. Let's hope his later novels are a bit more interesting. If nothing else, this novel is a good piece of evidence of why certain authors will never be cancelled.

The second of two posthumously published novels by H. P. Lovecraft, THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD also happens to be my favorite Lovecraft story. There is no better place to go for Lovecraft's historical vision.

A new series and a new novel: Henry James' WATCH AND WARD. While it is not a good novel and can be easily forgotten we can at least introduce ourselves to Henry James as we prepare to read his first five novels.

The final to my review of DODSWORTH by Sinclair Lewis and the final of my series on Lewis's mid-1920s works. While DODSWORTH is not my favorite, I think it has some interesting things to say about marriage, aging, and the habits of the elite.

A trio of works by Lovecraft are examined in this episode. Two of them explore the mythology of the Necronomicon and the other deals with footnotes.

My final thoughts on Lovecraft's DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH appear in this episode. In this part of the story we see the battle between the Men from Leng and their Moon creatures allies and Carter's forces before arriving at the final confrontation between the Dreamer and the Outer Gods.

Part two of my review of DODSWORTH by Sinclair Lewis has us explore a wealthy expat couple in Europe as their marriage begins to fray as the European setting exposes their different dreams. Mr. Dodsworth return to America in these chapters is a nice diversion.

In the third part of my review of DREAMQUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH we explore the realm of the ghouls and other dark places, while learning more about the Men from Leng.

Part one of my review of DODSWORTH by Sinclair Lewis. My least favorite of these novels by Lewis, it centers on a rich American business man who retires to Europe with a restless wife.

Part two of my review of DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH by Lovecraft. My interest in this series of episodes is to explore how the themes of Lovecraft's horror novels are revealed in the 'dreamlands' stories. As it turns out there is more than I thought.

The four and final part of my review of ELMER GANTRY by Sinclair Lewis. A final crisis emerging from his girl-crazy ways, leads Elmer Gantry to triumph and a bright future. But what does that say about our institutions?

Part three of my review of ELMER GANTRY by Sinclair Lewis covers Gantry's rise in the aftermath of the death of Sharon Falconer. He finds himself recruited by Methodists and has no problem making the transition.

A favorite of Lovecraft fans, "Pickman's Model", ties directly to DREAM-QUEST and was written around time, but is a great tale in which we see Lovecraft trying new narrative techniques. And in good Lovecraft fashion we get a look at the underground architecture of decaying city.    

In part two of my review of ELMER GANTRY by Sinclair Lewis we follow Gantry as he got pushed out of his ministry due to drunkenness, but finds his way back into evangelical Christianity through the popularity of revival-style worship.

My review of Lovecraft's "Strange High House in the Mist" allows us to return to Kingsport in preparation for our upcoming "Dream Quest".

Elmer Gantry is a student at a religious university who far from lives the religious life, but find himself on the career path of a Baptist preacher. Sinclair Lewis' novel ELMER GANTRY is a great look at the culture wars of the 1920s.

The "Silver Key" is Lovecraft's greatest Randolph Carter story with an enduring theme of childhood saving us from the banality of modern life. Carter's quest for meaning, set years after the events of DREAMQUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH has lessons for the importance of childhood.