Yesterday I listened to a lecture called The Rise and Fall of F. Scott Fitzgerald by Dr. Elliot Engel. Professor Engel is a good storyteller and active lecturer on literary subjects. He has also written three plays, many articles and seven books, the most recent being A Dab of Dickens and A Touch of Twain.According to Engel, Fitzgerald is one of only four significant American authors of the 20th century. As he sees it, all the rest will be forgotten in 200 years, but these four will continue to be studied: John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and the topic of this lecture, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Hemingway’s significance is chiefly due to the impact he made on modern literature. His punchy prose smashed the old rules and replaced them with a new stylebook. Short is strong, shorter stronger. Steinbeck will always be associated with his keenly perceptive Depression-era stories. Faulkner’s landscape was the South, and Fitzgerald’s the Roaring 20’s.
Fitzgerald’s life story is itself like a novel. His sisters died while he was in the womb so that when he was born his mother doted on him excessively. When she lost the two girls she vowed never to have any more children.
Though his mother came from a family with means, his dad managed to do badly in business and when Scotty was eleven they were bankrupt. As a result, they returned to Minnesota to be near her folks who could then help them get on their feet. This and other anecdotes were presented to give a backdrop for Fitzgerald’s personality development and his fascination with the Jazz Age, particularly the lifestyles of the rich and infamous.
The irony is that his life seemed to be a repeat of his dad’s. He married a girl from a wealthy background, but somehow failed at providing for her. We’re talking about Zelda here, another tragic character whose insatiable zest for life was greased with wacko zeal. Though at one time the most sought after short story writer of his day, and highest paid, Fitzgerald’s books sold badly, after the first, and Zelda’s spending far exceeded the paltry pittance their sales provided.
Eventually, his nerves were shot, and he wrote about it in a three part feature for Esquire magazine. His extreme candor resulted in his inability to sell any more work. He was “out of favor.” Here are the opening lines of that Esquire piece.Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work -- the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside -- the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don’t show their effect all at once. There is another sort of blow that comes from within -- that you don’t feel until it’s too late to do anything about it, until you realize with finality that in some regard you will never be as good a man again. The first sort of breakage seems to happen quick -- the second kind happens almost without your knowing it but is realized suddenly indeed.
It was actually a three part series --“The Crack-Up,” “Pasting It Together,” and “Handle with Care”-- which was then published as a book. The irony is that several years later, this book helped restore Fitzgerald’s name as a writer of significance. But by this time he was dead.
Now my question is this. Do you believe Professor Engel is right? Is Fitzgerald worthy of being included in the short list of important American authors who will be remembered 200 years from now? Do you think Fitzgerald’s significance is overrated?
A few related questions: Where does Jack London stand in importance as an American writer? Are there no other American authors of significance? And who will be remembered from the second half of the twentieth century?
In closing, a description from near the end of The Great Gatsby, a summing up of what Tom and Daisy Buchanan’s lives were about. “They were careless people… they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money and their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…”
Link to The Crack-Up
More facts about Fitzgerald
NOTE: The photo of the painting on the left was taken in a gallery on Madeline Island and is not an Ed Newman original.
4 comments:
Now my question is this. Do you believe Professor Engle is right? Is Fitzgerald worthy of being included in the short list of important American authors who will be remembered 200 years from now? Do you think Fitzgerald’s significance is overrated?
A few related questions: Where does Jack London stand in importance as an American writer? Are there no other American authors of significance? And who will be remembered from the second half of the twentieth century?
It's impossible, of course, to predict with any certainty 4 authors whose work will be remembered 200 years from now. I can't even make up my mind about who MY favorite 4 are, but after some thought, I'll say (for the 1st half of the 20th century): William Faulkner, Katherine Anne Porter, Willa Cather, John Steinbeck, and Sinclair Lewis. (oops that's 5) Mark Twain did some of his best work during the 20th century as well, though he's generally considered a 19th century author.
For the 2nd half of the century: Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Walker, John Irving, Cormac McCarthy, and Ken Kesey. (oops 5 again)
200 years ago, there wasn't very much American literature in existence. Out of curiosity, I looked at some lists of English authors from the period, and found these easily recognizable names, Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe), Henry Fielding (Tom Jones), John Bunyan (Pilgrim's Progress), Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels), Robert Burns (a poet, not a novelist), Oliver Goldsmith (The Vicar of Wakefield), and Sir Walter Scott, (I don't remember what he wrote, but his name sticks in my mind anyway.)
There were many other other names which would probably be recognizable, but only by students of literature. Though they're not household names, their works ARE still being remembered by the "pointy heads". ;>)
The population of Great Britain was somewhere around 6 million in the 18th century, while the US population during the 20th century was around 200 million.
I HOPE more than 4 20th century US authors are still remembered 200 years from now, or it wouldn't say much for the general quality of 20th century US literature. I personally would rate it much higher than that.
Hemingway, Fitzgerald or London are not among my top 10 list, but I expect that they will be remembered 200 years from now, among many others.
I meant John Updike, not John Irving.
Don't count on me remembering anything 200 years from now. I can't remember much now already.
If we expand the list to authors who wrote in English, it includes a whole new set of names. As for American authors, I almost commented on Twain but was afraid the blog entry was getting too long. (I still wanted to say more about Fitzgerald and Zelda)
Yes, Updike and Vonnegut are serious and influential, as opposed to the more pop Steven King.
I wrote the blog entry primarily because I think Fitzgerald is overrated, though it is to be assumed that he was influential. He was the highest paid short story writer in his day. (Jack London once held the honor before Fitz and I'll write about him tomorrow.) I personally feel Gatsby is a great book and have read it several (at least three) times.
Sinclair Lewis, Willa Cather and Katherine Anne Porter are worthy names... they were certainly significant in their time. Like you, I'm not sure who will be remembered in 200 or even a hundred years.
As for Hemingway, I am of the school that believes he significantly influenced literature, even if his prose eventually begins to sound like a parody of itself. His early stories were remarkable.
For what it's worth, on the topic of Vonnegut, here is a link to my Tribute to Vonnegut when he passed away a couple years ago.
http://www.enewman.biz/vonnegut.html
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